I can’t believe we are right in the middle of National Infertility Week 2016! I was in such a different space mentally last year for my first NIAW. I did a big #NIAW inspirational gifting mail out to all the IVF sisters I had on my mailing list. I talked about it on my vlog and was just trying to keep it together because at that point I had been through two failed IVF cycles and didn’t know if I could pull myself together to do another one.
My outlet for stress, anger and frustration has always been exercise. I am naturally athletic and enjoy kicking some serious butt five times a week (I know crazy, but after my failed PGS tested FET in February 2016 it’s mandatory). Beyonce’s song “Who Run The World” plays when I go to my music video cycling class, and it gives me that needed mental strength to remind myself YES, I run my infertility world. It wasn’t always like that when I first started out on this incredibly difficult unchartered infertility journey in early 2014.
We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility in 2013. I had no idea what that meant, what I should do about it, why this was happening, and Lord knows I didn’t know how to starting asking about anything. You get real smart when you go through three failed IVF cycles in a row, and your reproductive endocrinologist suggests to you to do donor eggs without ever testing your embryos. If my husband and I didn’t start asking questions my local RE had planned to do another three cycles doing the same protocol he did for the first failed three {enter the definition of insanity} Who’s running my infertility world?
My husband and I went into full MBA mode. We researched, asked questions to other IVF sisters, compared notes from other couples, found Fertility Success Rates website to see where all the clinics in the country rated. We ended up cycling in Colorado for IVF #4 and IVF #5. Women ask me all the time how did you do five IVF cycles in one year, and the only thing I can think of is I looked straight at the horizon. My husband helped me to stay focused because there were many times that I said I am done with this nonsense, this is such a joke; I can’t believe I am doing this again. It’s times like those that you need to not only look at the horizon but beyond what the horizon may hold.
IVF #4 in Colorado was my best cycle producing 25 follicles and retrieving 14 eggs resulting in one normal PGS tested embryo. IVF #5 was also another amazing cycle in Colorado for us resulting in one more normal PGS tested embryo. This is why the National Infertility Awareness Week’s theme #StartAsking is so important to me. You could see by our story if we didn’t Start Asking questions, suit up for out of state IVF cycling and take immediate action we would not have known that YES we do produce normal embryos.
Who’s running my infertility world now?