LTTTC - Success Stories

[SunnyDreamz]

I want to share my success story ..it was a long journey.In 1991 when I was 22 I required an emergency C section to deliver my beautiful daughter.She was born weighing near on 8lbs & oh so healthy.Unfortunately for me I aquired a nasty infection which resulted in a pelvis abscess & obstructed bowel.It was 2 weeks after my c section that they operated again to drain the infection...causing infertility.It was truely a nightmare.I was so traumatized by the surgery & illness resulting from an otherwise healthy pregnancy that I was unable to consider having another child for many years.I was resigned to not having another child... or so I had convinced myself.

Fast foward 15 years..my dear husband just couldn't let go of the idea of having another child luckily for me.He convinced me to try IVF. I became pregnant after our first fresh cycle.I delivered our beautiful second daughter (VBAC) on the 10/06/2007.A wrong was righted on that day & we are overjoyed by her birth.To see our two daughters together was the most joyous day of our lives.All of the pain of the past had just melted away.Why did we wait so long

[monnie]

Vanessa Guy...pre seed is a sperm friendly lubricant...

Apparently lots of lubricants aren't particularly friendly to the little swimmers, where as this one nourishes them...not sure if it made a huge difference...but I'm sure it hoped.

Wishing you all the very best...

Bei bei...lovely to see you around...just wishing you the very very best chickie!

[vanessa guy]

thanks sazzafrazz, i will try them, monnie thanks for that......

[satya]

Well by the time I get there it will be a 14 year journey for me. I started TTC at the age of 28 and will be 42 when our little boy arrives.

My ex and I were married for 3 years before we tried. I thought it would happen within a few months. I learnt about temping, and CM and thought by doing that it would come in time, it didn't. After 2.5 years of no luck I saw a FS. Ex's testing came back on the low end of normal which meant there should be no issues. My testing came back completely normal. Unexplained infertility. That hurt. I wanted to have it explained. They couldn't explain it. I tried Clomid for 3 cycles but I couldn't handle the extreme mood swings it gave me. I got a BFP 3 months after stopping Clomid (3 years after starting TTC) but had spotting from that day onwards. The pregnancy was confirmed by BT but was no longer when the spotting stopped two weeks later. That's all it was - continual spotting but my much wanted baby was no longer. It was hard to believe.

I figured that if I could get pregnant once, it would happen again. It never did again in that marriage - 8.5 years of unprotected sex in total and it never did we get another BFP. We discussed IVF & adoption we decided against both. I tried cutting out caffeine and alcohol, nothing happened. I tried Ruth Sharkey herbs, nothing happened. After 13 years together we went our separate ways. Our infertility put a wedge between us but it was not the cause of our separation.

I had a couple of years of singledom and was always very careful about contraception just in case it was possible for me to conceive.

I met a much younger man and we fell madly in love and moved in together. Soon after we were engaged and he started talking about us having a family. He already had a young daughter and wanted another child. I was hesitant because of what I'd been through but after some thought figured "why not"? We started trying but I put all thoughts of having children out of my head. I really did not think that at my age (40 by then) that I would have much chance at all, considering my history.

Nine months later I realised I was about a week late. I'd always had regular cycles (that's why I was so shocked when I couldn't get pregnant), so I thought something was up. I tested and got a BFP. We were over the moon. I was going to wait a week before getting a BT done. I tested the next day another BFP. Day after BFN. Panic stations. My DF rushed me out to a pharmacy to get one of those digital HPT's - a nice big PREGNANT this time. Next day I had slight spotting. Saw a GP - he sent me to the local hospital due to my history and due to my age. He was asian and said that this is what we call a "precious baby" due to those factors. My BT at the hospital came in at 3 - anything over 5 would've been positive. I was told I'd either been pregnant and was miscarrying or it's just too early to tell. You can't get 3 different brands of HPT all be wrong (I had a gyno confirm this some time later). My next BT was 3 days later and it was zero. My m/c was only very light bleeding, no pain, but yet another baby was gone.

I found Belly Belly the day I started to spot and it was my saviour. I don't know how I'd have got through without the support of all the lovely ladies here. I started temping and found that I had a short LP - 10 to 11 days...not good. I noticed I was very rarely getting fertile CM.... not good.

I saw a GP who did a little testing - she said my hormones were all over the place. I had a scan done to check for PCOS - didn't appear to have it but they thought I had a fibroid. Referred to a gyno. He decided I needed a lap & at the same time I should get the fibroid resected. He felt the fibroid had caused the m/c. I was put on a waiting list..... and the shocker...... I was told my only hope was to have IVF - it was too late for me to do things naturally. I was in complete shock. I had not expected that.

Four cycles after my m/c I tested positive again. I had been using evening primrose oil for the first time during that cycle to help with fertile type CM - it had worked!!!! I had a BT done and the doctor congratulated me when the results came in. My face fell when I saw the result. The HCG was only 21 and it should've been higher... the doctor didn't even realise this.... I knew this from BB, it was early but it should have been at least 100. I asked for another test and had it done 3 days later. It had dropped to 17. By then I was spotting so I knew what was going to happen. Same as last time, spotting followed by light bleeding, no pain for 3 days....less than a period. How can that be a miscarriage? It was. A week later I was back to zero again. My gyno said there was nothing to do but wait for the lap. It was the fibroid causing the m/c's. That was that.

My DF and I didn't handle this m/c well. We didn't lean on each other and things went very bad very quickly. We split briefly. I thought my TTC days were well and truly over. I swapped my family sized car for a little one as I had no need for anything bigger than me and my little doggy. We got back together and I fell pregnant immediately. Yep immediately. At the time I was very stressed at work, and of course at home (was this going to work out) and I was drinking bucketloads of coffee. I thought there's no way this one will stick, I've been too stressed and I've had too much caffeine.... but stick it did. I knew I was going to fall pregnant this cycle. It will sound weird but I just knew. The day we DTD I saw fertile CM that I very rarely got - just one little bit and then I O'd the next day (I hadn't got out of the habit of temping yet). I had a temp dip at 6&7DPO and I'd had a 3 day dip in my last pregnancy cycle so I just knew what was coming... I couldn't believe it. I also had bleeding gums and a stuffy nose - another sign for me - from when I had the dip.

I tested positive at 12DPO day 24 of my cycle. BT confirmed it with a nice number in the 100's - it was higher than the doc expected and he said.... could be twins. I had a couple of drops of brown blood a week later and panicked. Put on bed rest for a couple of days. All OK. Again about a week later - a couple of spots.... put on bed rest for a week this time. Was sent for a scan but the sonographer would tell me nothing. Back to the GP for the results a whole 24 hours later and a live bub was seen in the scan. Yay!!!! No mention of fibroid at all.

Being 41 by this time I had to have the NT scan - the risk at my age for downs is 1/45. The measurement came in at 4.2. My risk increased to 1/37. Four very long weeks later I had the amnio done. 24 hours later I had the FISH results. No abnormalities detected.... and it's a boy. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I had to wait another two long weeks for the karyotyping tests to come in for all the other more rare genetic things but all came back as no abnormality detected. Huge sigh of relief.

I'm exactly 20 weeks today - the halfway mark. It's been pretty stressful at times but I've felt really well throughout and love every ache and pain I get, it's just a sign that he's growing nicely in there. It's just amazing to think that all going well in 20 more weeks I will have my baby boy safely in my arms. I can't wait for my next scan in two weeks to see him again.

I hope I can provide some inspiration to someone out there who is feeling the despair of LTTTC. Whatever you do don't ever give up.

[Lissie]

Hi Satya,

Loved reading your story - even tho i remember most of it from the other thread.
Made me cry but also made me so happy- miracles happen and they happen every day and you are proof of that. Thankyou for sharing your story - it is an inspiration to me and i often wonder how you are - glad to hear all is well. Not long and you will have that little bundle of joy in your arms.

[kbanitskas]

Hi everyone. I too, like many others had a hard time trying to fall pregnant. We started trying in 2003, it started off fun but then got to 1 year with no results. I'd spend days crying and it got to the point where I couldn't even serve the pregnant customers or even look at other babies....awful I know. When one day in late 2004 my mum told me that my younger sister was pregnant and was too scared to tell me herself I flipped but it also made me want to do something about it. I went to my GP and he gave me a referral to an IVF specialist. I started 6 months of AI with those painful injections and then when that didn't work went straight to IVF. Thinking this was going to be another looooong journey we started planning to enjoy our life and travel a bit....as you do, to get away from it all.....anyway, I went in for the procedure and they got 18 eggs out of me, out of those I got 12 embryos, one of which was implanted and I got my beautiful little girl on June 1 2006. I'm about get another transfer next month and hopefully this will work as well.
To everyone on this journey.... Never give up hope, my parents always said that we are very lucky to have these options available to us as in their day if you couldn't fall pregnant then that was it..
Good luck to all.

[Neptune]

Thanks to all for your lovely and inspirational stories. It does help to give me hope that I will soon have my BFP.

[StephV]

Although I've been lucky and only had to wait 14 months, I know how hard it can be.

We started seeing a specialist after only 6 mths as I have little cysts on my ovaries (not full blown PCOS). According to my doctor everything was normal....although my LSH levels were high (not abnormal though) so loving his response when he put me on tablets and said we couldn?t even try to conceive!

After another 8 weeks I was put on Clomiphene and Dexamethasone. So each month I?d take the pills, go for a blood test and be told that I hadn?t even ovulated! The silly thing is, my cycle has never been regular so I think I single handidly kept the pregnancy test kit companies in business. I was so excited every time I may have been late, that I would test several times. Then I?d get my blood test results?and nothing. It didn?t help that my sister fell pregnant ( only 2 mths trying!) and then my best friend (they weren?t even trying she just wasn?t great at taking the pill!). So each month, we?d go through the same thing.

But keep your spirits up, as we are now about 8 weeks pregnant. I haven?t had any scans yet and am worried that I have no morning sickness in the last 24 hrs. But as everyone keeps saying, think positive thoughts! I wish everyone the best of luck. Keep focussed on how it will be when it finally happens!!

[runnermum]

hi everyone,
I cannot believe it is really ME posting this - I just got a positive blood test today!! I am still crying because I am so happy. I am also scared and hope this little darling stays around - it is still such early days.

My story? well, we concieved a beautiful boy in 2002 without IVF and without really trying...he is now 5. For 3 years we have been trying for a sibling for him.

Many people said ' you do too much training' (I am a runner/triathlete) but I knew this was not the reason...as I concieve my son while training for a marathon !! So I kept up my running, swimming and cycling, did most races in the season and even trained and did a Half Ironman (1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run).

Don't get me wrong, I did not go overboard at times when it mattered, like after a transfer!! And I have in fact LOST a lot of fitness in 3 years, compared to the very competitve athlete that I was in the past.

What was different this time? well, I still kept up my running and swimming in the TWW (HR under 150) but this time I had accuputure on Transfer day and also about 3 days later (implantation day?). I was also given some no-so tasty herbs to take...

I only had 1 embryo on this FRESH cycle - which proves it really one takes ONE!!

I did believe it could happen one day.... and I sincelely hope it will happen to all you lovely ladies who have been there for me on this forum..

[Neptune]

Runnermum, that is wonderful news!!!!! Congratulations. I run too, just did the SMH half marathon, but I have cut down quite a bit whilst TTC. I still love to get out there though.

All the best with your pregnancy

[runnermum]

thanks heaps for your post Neptune!! Nice to hear from a fellow runner! still sinking in that I am pregnant, and just hope so much this little one stays around...

[Mon]

Congratulations Runner mum! That is great news! Wishing you a H&H PG!
thanks for sharing your story! It is truly inspiring
Mon

[Lenny]

I was asked to write about our little success story while I was pregnant, but I wanted to save it until we had our treasure home safely with us. He is 9 weeks old as I write this.

DH and I met in 1998, but we were young and travelled a lot and didn?t get married until early 2004. We had our family plans all laid out ? start TTC immediately. Naively, we had no thoughts of it taking any longer than a few months. After 12 months of TTC I started to question whether everything was OK, but DH works shifts and DH and anyone I spoke to all assumed that we were missing the right times. But honestly, deep down I knew we weren?t, and that something wasn?t right. After 17 months of TTC I went to my GP who ordered blood tests and a SA for DH. All the tests came back 100% good. So we were referred to a fertility clinic. Instantly they told me I probably had PCOS, and put me on Clomid which was monitored every month. Every month I had a great response ? lots of eggs, good sizes, but never a BFP. DH then got a new job and moved away. I stayed behind for 3 months selling our house etc and sorting everything out for the move. Oddly enough those three months were great for me emotionally? I knew I couldn?t be pg, so I didn?t spend days in anticipation, or crying once I knew it wasn?t going to be this month.
My new GP referred me to a new FS, who checked our whole history, discounted the PCOS theory, and suggested a laparoscopy. Sure enough, the lap showed endometriosis, and adhesions ? and not just a little bit either. It had been there for years and was a bit of a mess. It was now 12 months since we saw the first FS, and we were just so mad that we had spent all that time wasted. We were now told that we should have a good chance of conceiving on our own, and we should try for 6 months. Of course, another 6 months of sadness and frustration went by. Back we went to the FS and he wanted to see how we felt about IVF?well it?s all we had been thinking about for the last 6 months and we were just desperate to have some hope again. So we started all the tests again, and we were so surprised the learn that although DH had always passed his SAs with flying colours, it turns out that they had never done a motility test on the little swimmers, and he had a very low motility result. Chances of a natural conception were very very low. ICSI was the only way to go. So again we were just a bit angry and frustrated at the time that we had spent trying, when our chances were so low.
We jumped into our first IVF cycle in Feb 2007 ? very excited and with everyone telling us that our chances of a good result were excellent. All the medical professionals kept saying you are both young and fit and healthy ? if I only had a penny for everytime someone said that to us. Needless to say our first cycle was a complete bust! I was devastated and I would have been a mess if it had not been for a few very very special BB ladies who kept me sane. My body had not responded well to the drugs and my egg quality was quite poor. I think I found this harder to deal with because we had been given so much confidence by everyone we had spoken too ? I had not really thought about the possibility of only having one little embryo at day two, which we were not really given much chance of it implanting. I was given lots of support and reassurance by BB members, and I soon learned that first cycles are often a bit of trial and error. We were given the option of taking a break from all the stress and financial burden of IVF or jumping straight back into another cycle. We jumped straight back in ? I think I couldn?t bear doing nothing for another couple of months and found the best way for me to deal with the disappointment was to try again. Our FS suggested we manage the cycle a little differently due to my reaction to the drugs the first time. Again, the BB girls kept me sane for the duration of this cycle. The results were much better this time with 5 embryos making it to day two ? although the quality was not so great. We had spent hours talking about one vs. two embryos and had decided to only do one. This was what the FS had recommended too, but when we turned up on day two he told us that he thought two was a better idea considering the quality, and he had the two best ones there for me. So two it was, leaving 3 for the freezer. We were a lot less optimistic this time and we were so amazed and surprised when we got a BFP. I remained very cautious and I did not want anyone to know until the magic 12 week mark, so it was our little secret until then. If it wasn?t for the PG after LTTTC thread and the wonderful people who helped me through my pregnancy, I?m not sure I would have coped with the emotions that follow being pregnant after 4 years of trying. Our little miracle arrived on his due date, and is still a constant amazement to us. I feel lucky and blessed every day.
I am still so grateful for the help and advice I received from some very lovely and amazing Belly belly members, and I am just waiting for the days when I can celebrate with them all when they too have a bundle of joy in their arms.

[Lissie]

Lenny,

Congratulations on your new little bundle of joy. Thankyou for sharing your story with us - it always gives me hope when i read these stories - i hope one day i will be able to share my story here.

[dove]

Well ladies all our prayers have been answered we just finshed our first ivf cycle and after a few ups and downs and a hospital stay( due to very painful ohss) we got a
We are due in feb. 09 we are very exicited, my hcg levels were 440 at 12dpo so that al so is a great sign yeh yeh! so looks like i will be moving on to the preg. forum now so i wish you ladies all the best and my prayers are with you,

[kbanitskas]

Congratulations Dove, looks like we found out at the same time... I'm due then as well after my second attempt.

[MamaCaz]

Hi there.

I'm new to BB and my husband and I have been TTC#2 for 2 years. We have a 6 year old DD and we didn't expect to have any problems falling pregnant. (We fell pregnant with DD straight away). I can't believe the amount of stories I have read regarding TTC#2! It helps so much reading everyone's stories. We've had all testing done and they have come back with "unknown infertility". I have recently been diagnosed with Factor V Leidens Syndrome....this is where you are more prone to getting blood clots, which can cause miscarriages. This is where we think that having this syndrome has made us unable to fall pregnant . I would love to hear from anybody, especially from other's diagnosed with FVLS.

[kbanitskas]

Hey MamaKaz, I too couldn't fall pregnant as all test showed unknown infertility and I know your pain. This is a great group with heaps of support and people that will help you overcome your problems and just somewhere to vent your worries. My first child was born through IVF and I'm now pg with my second with the same batch. I had no hope of falling pg and it happened eventually. It is a hard time but it also makes a relationship stronger and I hope you will find success soon. Good Luck.