The Score
Okay, so here is the summary of the three years of my life in an egg shell…
January 2007: Nadia and I pay our nervous first visit to our lovable RE, Dr. Feelgood. I have an ultrasound and he tells me I have fibroids. He orders some tests and we agree to start with the inseminations as soon as possible.
March 2007: My first round of IUI’s. This one is called a ‘natural cycle’ because I don’t use any fertility drugs, just a HCG trigger shot. I feel ovulation pain, but it doesn’t stick. I am still pretty hopeful. ‘Cause no one gets pregnant on their first try, right?
April 2007: Second natural cycle. Nothing happens but I’m okay with it. Nadia and I plan to get married next month.
May 2007: We have another natural cycle and run off to Canada to have a romantic wedding on the beach. I give up all alcohol and dream about an January birth.
June 2007: I turn into a bitch on clomid. Nothing noteworthy happens.
July 2007: I skip a cycle.
August 2007: I have an incredible IUI experience. After this cycle fails, Dr. Feelgood strongly recommends that I have the fibroids removed. I reluctantly schedule a surgery for October 2007. The waiting begins.
October 2007: Surgery=pain and pain medication. According to Feelgood, the surgery is successful.
November 2007: I join NaBoMo month to kill time while waiting to TTC. And torture all of my faithful readers. I am horrible at being forced to blog every day. I will never do that again.
December 2007: Merry Christmas! I have my first round of injectible IUIs after the surgery. It doesn’t take.
January 2008: Another back to back injectible cycle. This one is called the Tougher than Tina Cycle. I hate needles. Failed again.
February 2008: Skipped cycle. I am getting sick of this sh*t. The nervousness and trepidation is over and I am completely sick of waiting in my RE’s office to get wanded by this point. Yawn! Nadia and I discover that her insurance will pay for my IVF. I just have to wait until I get on her plan.
March 2008: IUI #7. I inject menopur into my stomach for 10 days straight only to discover that I have only one egg follicle. The cycle is canceled. I turn 38.
April 2008: Failed IUI #7. The next stop is IVF.
July 2008: I receive my new health insurance and I start a new job, switch my blog from blogger to wordpress and rename myself Eva. Nadia and I decide to wait until the fall to try IVF.
September 2008: Suffer through a brutal IVF cycle only to achieve a BFN.
October 2008: Spend the month wallowing in existential angst as I figure out what the hell to do next: another costly IVF? IUIs? turkey baster? or adoption?
November 2008: Nadia is diagnosed with thyroid cancer and is immediately scheduled for a thyroidectomy.
December 2008: Nadia is given a clean bill of health. I do my last required IUI (for insurance purposes) and have a wonderful vacation in South America.
January 2009: Return to the United States after vacation, ready to do IVF #2 and am crushed when my insurance company denies my IVF authorization. I make a deal with the devil and agree to do one more IUI, which brings the count up to 10 IUIs.
February 2009: My doctor suggests that I do a HSG test to see if, by chance, my tubes were blocked during my fibroid surgery. He thinks that if we can show tubal blockage, my insurance company will have no choice but to approve my request for IVF authorization. Unfortunately, he tells me too late in my cycle and Nadia and I wait until next month so I can have that test.
March 2009: I have the HSG test and, unfortunately(?), it turns out that my tubes are not blocked. Nadia and I are resolved to move forward with IVF no matter what. Fortunately, for, my appeal letter to the insurance company was so compelling that the insurance agreed to authorize my IVF!
April 2009: Waiting to start pre-IVF estrogen priming cycle.
May 2009: Tried my second IVF and it was a bust.
October 2009: After several months of waiting and praying, I started my third IVF.
Novemeber 2009: Unfortunately, November’s cycle was also a bust–no fertilization, no transfer– and Nadia and I have decided to move on to domestic adoption.
December 2009: We have met with an attorney and are filling out the paperwork to petition the court to certify our home. Our homestudy is scheduled for later this month. Needless, to say I feel so many different emotions. I am looking for a therapist to help me deal with this loss.
January 2010: Happy New Year. We are moving along with our adoptiong story. We’ve completed our homestudy and by the end of the month all of our paper work with be submitted to our attorney. Next month, we will launch our website and start the wait for a match with a birthmom
