On a brighter note

last Thursday was our 4th anniversary. Jason and I went up to Breckenridge which is the town we got married in. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. I can't believe it's been 4 years already...time goes by so fast. My mom got us a Margaritaville Margarita Maker - God Bless you mom! We can't wait to try out. Now That I have my BFN maybe a cocktail or two are in order this evening.

I hate these days

I've only had two of them in my entire life, but already i hate them. I tested this morning and got a BFN. I try and talk myself in to not getting my hopes up but part of me just can't help it and then BAM...only one line. The disappointment is on the verge of unbearable. I can't help but wonder: Will it ever be our turn?

So many questions, So little time...

So i am sure a lot of people who are unfamiliar with IF have a lot of questions. I know i did once we started all of this. So here are answers to some of the questions that I had to begin with and hopefully they will answer some of your questions.

What is infertility?  Most experts define infertility as not being able to get pregnant after at least one year of trying. 1 out of 10 people struggle with infertility and 2/3 of couples who seek medical treatments are able to get pregnant and give birth to a baby.

Whose to blame?  Since i am blogging and putting myself out there, i will answer this question even though, no matter what, it is our challenge.  Jason has a "Not Overly Concerning" issue with his sperm’s morphology (the form and shape of the sperm) and Stacy has a borderline progesterone level. Our RE is not concerned about either of these "issues".  The frustrating part is that neither of these "issues" is really an issue, therefore, we are considered "unexplained".

What is an IUI?
An IUI -- intrauterine insemination -- is performed by threading a very thin flexible catheter through the cervix and injecting washed sperm directly into the uterus. The whole process doesn't take very long — it usually only requires the insertion of a speculum and then the catheter, a process that maybe takes a couple of minutes. (info from http://www.fertilityplus.com/). This is the first step for many people struggling with IF. Usually an IUI is coupled with meds that help to produce more eggs. However - this is a high wire balancing act because you don't want to produce too many eggs and you don't want to effect the quality of the eggs.

$12.33 per minute?!?!

I had my u/s for release yesterday and I was literally in and out of the Dr.'s office in 12 minutes. That 12 minutes included the time it took me to write a check for $148.00!!!! That is $12.33 per minute - crazyness!!! I need to find a job where I can make $12.33 per minute. I could get on a rant on how unfair it is that insurance does not cover IF but i will leave that for another day. The good news is that the u/s showed that both of my follicles released. So now we will sit back and wait.

Worth the Wait...

that is what I keep telling myself - that it is worth the wait. Once we are able to hold our child in our arms it will all be Worth the Wait. IUI #2 was today and the news wasn't all that great. The good news was that I had two follicles measuring at 20mm and 22mm but the bad news was we only had 3 million swimmers to work with instead of the 27 million we had last time. Although 3 million still sounds like a lot to me.
i asked Jason, "I wonder how they count them?". To this he replied, "With a sperm counter."
Okay smart ass.
So the dreaded 2 week wait (the two weeks you have to wait before testing for pregnancy) begins. I will go in for an ultra sound for release tomorrow to make sure that I ovulated.
Well, i am off to enjoy an evening of tacos and Rock Band.

I'm a blogger!

So i have decided to start a blog to keep track of our babymaking journey. With so many appointments and numbers and facts to keep track of I thought if would be easier to put it all in one place so i don't have to repeat myself which just leads to me confusing myself!
So where are we at so far?
We decided in June of 2006 that we would start "trying" to have a baby. Little did we know the journey we were about to embark on! I went of of my birth control pills (oh the money I could have saved had I known I did not need those little pills!) and we jumped feet first into the world of babymaking. I found out more about how my reproductive cycle works in that first month than all of those days of high school biology! After 1 year of trying our best we went to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE for short). That is a specialist in fertility. We had our first appointment with Dr. Swanson in August of 2007 and he set us up for a battery of tests. Stacy had blood tests, ultrasounds, an HSG, and even more blood tests. Jason had a sperm analysis (oh - to be a man). All of the tests came back normal so we were officially put into the "Infertility of Unexplained Origin" category. A plan was mapped out for us which started with Stacy popping pills and ended with an IUI (Inter Uterine Insemination). So that's where we are at. IUI #1 was on June 18th. I had two follicles (eggs) that released and we had a sperm count of 27 million. I though for sure we would be one of the "lucky" couples that got pregnant on the first go round with twins (thanks to the clomid) and our life would be happily ever after. But no. That happily ever after was not in the cards for us. So we are on to IUI #2. Let's hope this one is our happily ever after cycle because quite honestly - I am tired of writing checks.
So welcome to our journey. If you are a nestie visiting you are all to familiar with this journey we call IF. If you are not a nestie - welcome to a very strage world!