LTTTC - Success Stories

[MamaCaz]

Thanks kbanitskas. Congratulations on your pregnancy I love positive outcomes!! Good luck with it all you deserve it. It's nice to know that there is somewhere to talk about these issues. The stories on here are very inspirational. We've been trying for 2 years we're not giving up now. Good luck to everyone on here. I send you all and .

[marcellus]

I've been meaning to post for a while - here goes

DH and I decided we wanted to have children together in early 2005. A few months went by and nothing, so I started researching. Learning all about how babies are made (and discovering it wasn?t all that simple after all); the different methods of tracking fertility, the pills and potions that promised success?.
We had been trying for about a year when we first went to a fertility specialist. The initial prognosis was that I had PCOS and a laparoscopy showed mild endometriosis, but our doctor didn?t think it would impede fertility too much. DH was another story ? plenty of sperm, but few swimmers. And every test he took the results got worse.
We were set to start IUI in a couple of months ? giving the supplements the urologist had suggested for DH a bit of time to (hopefully) do their magic. But then one day I thought I felt a lump in my breast. The doctor thought it was nothing, but decided to send me for an ultrasound to make sure. My breasts were fine, but the sonographer picked up a lump in my thyroid. It turned out to be cancer, so we put TTC on hold for a while.
When we were ready to try again we headed off to a local FS (having relocated to Australia) with our previous test results in hand. Our doctor decided that IUI was probably not going to work with DH?s low motility, so we began our first IVF cycle last April. I handled it all fairly well, no side-effects or anything, until the egg collection. I woke up in recovery to be told that they hadn?t got any eggs. It was fairly devastating to think I?d gone through all that crap for nothing and thoughts of never being able to have children floated through my head. DH was great as usual and we bounced back fairly quickly.
A couple of months later, we tried again. This time was different ? 14 eggs. We tried not to get our hopes up too much in the coming days, but we were so thrilled to hear that 13 fertilised, 9 survived to day 3 (they froze the 4 ICSI ones then) and finally we had 3 blasts on day 5. This time we got to transfer. In the meantime I?d started to develop symptoms of OHSS, but we went ahead anyway. The OHSS got worse and I ended up in hospital for a few days, but we got our BFP. Our beautiful son is now four months old.

Wishing the best of luck to everyone on the TTC path

[MamaCaz]

Wow Marcellus what a huge journey you've been on. I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through. You are an inspiration and I am so happy that you got through it all. Congratulations on your beautiful baby. Being a mother is the best thing in the world. Enjoy . We are still not pregnant but we know it will happen one day. Staying positive....

[tarkine]

**warning some way out spiritual beliefs mentioned and mention of violence against a woman**

I was married at 21 to a man who I thought was perfect for me. Unfortunately he changed. Violent, jealous and controlling, I spent the next 8 years of my life watching him beat our pets with dripper hose, when they stepped out of line (and he would threaten me with it if I tried to intervene). He was abusive, emotionally, financially and physically (although this was in the form of raping me, so there would be no brusies to show). I feared becomming pregnant and was very regimented with contraception. In 1998 my beloved mother died of cancer and at the end of the year my father moved to Victoria. My family was safe and so I fled the state, walking out on all my worldly possessions and started a new life in a new place. Easy it was not and it has taken me years to get over what happened to me. I chose not to let my experience make me bitter, and instead followed a spiritual path, looking for answers.

It was in the new city here I met the man of my dreams - he was everything I had always dreamed about. We were soulmates from the start, we clicked, became good friends, then lovers and in 2002 married. I knew he would be a perfect father - it took him quite a lot longer to realise this and I had to change the way I thought about children (I desperately wanted them since we married). It wasn't until his sister feel pregnant in late 2006 that his mind began to change. He was on medications which resulted in no sperm being produced, so I knew IVF and donor sperm was our only option (now I just had to convince the doctors and DH).

Late 2007 we saw a FS who performed two surgical sperm collections on DH (to prove there was no sperm there).. I bluntly informed the FS "I ain't getting any younger here doc, do something" and he did. We went through the counselling process, got registered and in April 2008 started our first cycle of IVF.

I dragged my poor darling husband to Mary Mackillops chapel in sydney - I'm not catholic, and I'm not religious, but very spiritual. It was there that I received a message of strength and I sat crying in the chapel for awhile....I underwent Reiki to make sure my energy levels were right and I receive a lot of spiritual healing during my sessions.

On monday, I'll be 6mths pregnant. I count my blessings every single day. My shoulders are extremely painful and have been so since the first month. I haven't slept through the night or had a day without pain since. I am seeking alternative treatents, but every time my shoulders hurt, I am reminded of the blessing that I have been given and am eternally grateful for IVF to work for us first time. Shoulder pain is a price I am more than willing to pay to be able to have bubs on board.

Namaste

[marcellus]

Congratulations Tarkine and thank you for sharing - what a lot you've been through!
Have you seen anyone about your shoulders? I just ask as I've heard some kinds of pain can indicate certain problems with pg - don't want to alarm you or anything, and perhaps you've already ruled out other problems anyway, but just thought I'd stick in my meddling nose and mention it just in case.
Take care