Well I guess this is my way of telling everyone what goes on without having the awkwardness of asking Questions. Kevin and I have been trying to conceive a child since July 2006. It has been a very long and painful road and there is no end in sight. After about 10 months of trying and no luck we decided to seek help. If that is what you want to call it..... So I made an appt. with my obgyn he met with us and discussed our options. First of all they tell you to remember that you did not get married to have children that you got married because you love and care for each other and not to forget that in this process. Which can be very trying at times. So our first step would be to get Kevin tested with a semen analysis which did not come back good. They told us that his sperm count was very low but not dangerously low. Which meant we still had a chance. So they wanted him to do another one in about a month that one was a little better. He had to do one more after that and they progressofley got better each time. Dr. Rapaport then referred us to a urologist in town Dr. Cherry.
It took us a few months to get into him. In the mean time they started me on clomid in June 2007 to make sure that I was ovulating. They leave you on this medicine for 3 to 6 months. It is awful you are not yourself on this medicine at all. My poor husband god bless him he has been a saint. I was on clomid for 3 months and then my doctor was out of town when I needed my ultrasound and I started to think to myself why am I on this we don't even know what is wrong and they haven't found anything wrong with me. So needless to say I stopped talking the medicine which took me about three more months to feel like myself again.
In August of 2007 we got in to see Dr. Cherry and he gave Kevin a full exam and 2 more semen analysis' which he then told us that it wasn't his count that was low it was his volume. Which means it just doesn't have enough power to get to where it needs to go. Everything that he checked out in Kevin's exam came back fine. Which meant another dead end. He then referred us to a specialist in Monroeville named Dr. Bruning so off we were to Monroeville which thank god for my brother in law and sister in law for taking us in during our appts. and making sure we got there.
Our first visit to his office in September 2007 was very discouraging to say the least. We went in and he did another exam and came to the same conclusions as Dr. Cherry did. And yet again another semen analysis was ordered he sent us off to a place called RHS(reproductive health specialists) there in Monroeville. By this point we were very discouraged and ready to give up. Why do anymore semen analysis when they are coming back the same at this point. So back we come with no more knowledge than what we left with. They scheduled us another appt. with Dr. Bruning for a month which was the beginning of Oct.2007. All we learned from that appt. was that Kevin's testosterone level was coming back low. About half of what it was supposed to be. But he wasn't going to do anything about it unless he was showing signs like being tired all of the time and so on. And for any of you that know my husband knows that that is a big red flag. HE FALLS ASLEEP ALL THE TIME!!!! So they gave him a prescription for that. Then he told me that it would be a good idea to have an HSG done which in lamens terms means putting dye into my falopian tubes to see if they are blocked. He also told us it would be a good idea to make an appt. at RHS and see what they have to say. So atleast with this appt.we felt like we were getting somewhere. So on our way home that day I scheduled the appt. with my ob and got in a couple of weeks later.
In the mean time I did some research online to see what I could find out what this HSG was all about. Man was I nervous when I read what I was to expect. They say it can be the most excruciating pain you have ever felt or just like a cramp. So I went to the hospital to have this done on a Friday morning and what they have you do is put a gown and a robe on and go into this X-Ray room with the tech and lay up on a table then they X-Ray your bladder to make sure it is empty and then we waited a few min. for the doctor. When Dr. Rapaport arrived he put this pillow under my butt to elevate me and then they insert the dye into your tubes and make you move your hips from the right side to the left side. Let me just tell you this is no fun at all I would not wish this on my worst enemy. It felt like I had horrible stomach cramps like I had to got to the bathroom. I even took 3 aleve before I went. I felt like crap for about 2 days. But in the long run everything checked out ok. Thank god I don't know or even want to imagine the pain if they would have been blocked.
So we decided to make an appt. at RHS and see what they had to say so I made the appt. for November 12,2007. Kevin could not get the day off work to go so my mom and dad went with me. I met with Dr. Albert we discussed the option of an IUI (intrauterine insemination) she said we were very good candidates. I know some of you are thinking so why haven't you done this and the answer to that is money, money, money. Our insurance will not cover any of the expences, so this procedure will run us at the least $700.00. Which my not sound like a lot to some of you but what if it doesn't work???? Then we are screwed! So for now we are living on hope. In Feb. 2008 I started taking clomid again. God help us all! I just took my 5th month of this it is a 5 pill cycle and I am ovulating as we speak. So say a prayer that it works and we don't need round 6. Because round 6 is it that is the end as we know it. We are out of options until we can afford an IUI. I am so sick of monthly doctors appts. and ovulation kits and medicine that I am ready to SCREAM!!!!
I have also started seeing a reflexologist if you don't know what that is it is a person that works on your feet with massage and tells you if you are having any problems anywhere. She has told me that I have congestion around my ovaries and uterus. I am currently doing a detox kit and taking vitamins and herbal supplements(i will try anything at this point) so I feel like a drug addict taking all of these things and keeping them on schedule. I go back to see the reflexologist on July 7th so stay tuned. I will update with any new information as soon as it is available to me.
