Damn You Aunt Flo!

Let me start by saying "Welcome!" to my Blog. This is an entirely new experience for me (in more ways than one), but something that I felt compelled to do. Also, if are squeamish or get uncomfortable hearing about periods, needles, gynecologists, or vaginas in general, I don't think this is the blog for you! (but also, get over it...it's a part of life!)

I also want to say that everyone's experience with infertility and trying to conceive is different. Please know that there is no "right" way to tackle getting pregnant, and I respect and applaud those who have had different paths than I have had thus far. My goal in sharing my experiences is that I can simply shine a light on something that affects 1 in 8 couples, and to talk about something that is rarely discussed. This is a topic that many woman feel embarrassed by, and let me be clear when I say that there is no reason to feel ashamed of your journey to start a family, no matter how easy or challenging it may be! (side note: I am not pregnant...yet...)

A little back story:

My husband and I got married in 2014, a week after my 27th birthday. We had always talked about having children, and a little less than a year into our marriage we both decided that it was time to start "trying," and I went off my birth control. I, like many women, had this ideal picture in my head about getting pregnant, and figured it wouldn't take very long. Many of my friends and family members got pregnant relatively quickly and I had always assumed it would be the same for me. Each month would go by however, and Aunt Flo would show up...unwelcomed.

After about 6 months of "let's see what happens," we decided to start trying a few other things. Like many couples, we started using OPK's (ovulation predictor kits), and other home-remedy type things (I'll spare you the specifics). Another 6 months went by with no luck and we decided it was time to see my doctor. Unless you have previous health issues, most doctors won't discuss pregnancy issues/plans until you have been trying naturally for about a year. We went through some preliminary tests and we were both relatively healthy and there were no glaring issues on why we couldn't achieve natural pregnancy. My regular OB had referred me to a specialist who I did see once or twice but it became such a challenge to get an appointment (I would have to wait upwards of 3 months at a time just to see her!), that I decided to go elsewhere.

It was now almost a year and a half into the journey when I started seeing my current Fertility Specialist. He again, had us do preliminary tests to get a picture of our overall health. He also had me do a thyroid test and a HSG test (a very uncomfortable test to see if your tubes are blocked), all which came out normal. My husband, Matt also had two semen analysis done during this time, which showed there were no issues there as well.

Because there was no diagnosis to be given on why we were not getting pregnant, my doctor called it "unexplained infertility" which supposedly is given to 25% of the couples who have fertility struggles. (Basically, when there is no reason at all that they can find for a couple not getting pregnant, this term is"born").

It was around this time that I started to come to the realization that natural conception may not be in our future, even though nothing was "wrong."

Stay tuned for more updates, more topics that others don't discuss, and more about my personal (and ongoing) journey!