Well where do i start?
I suppose the beginning is always a good place........
Before i start i just want to say i want this blog to show the funny, light hearted side of trying to conceive with infertility on my journey to motherhood. The ups, the downs, the good, the bad and the ugly!
Well before we get started, this is the history of how it all began. There is a long version but i really don't want to bore you all to death!
My story began in January 2009 when i realised i had not had a period in 10 weeks. It's not as bad as it sounds. I had never had a regular menstrual cycle and was getting a period about every 2 months but when i got to 10 weeks and started feeling ill- tired and sick i assumed i must be pregnant. Then i worried, Am i ready for this? How will i cope? What will Mr E (my now husband) think about all this? We had not discussed having children in the current context only that we would both like children in the future.
Well 3 negative pregnancy tests later and still no period off to the Dr's i went. The Dr did a 4th pregnancy test..... Still negative so took my medical history about how regular my cycles are and provisionally said i have PCOS- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and ordered full blood tests to look at my hormones levels and an ultrasound scan of my ovaries. The outcome from both the blood work and scan confirm i have PCOS, my hormones were all over the place! If you don't know what PCOS is here is a link to some useful information.
www.bupa.co.uk/health-information/directory/p/pcos
My symptoms are-
- Irregular Periods- Means lack of ovulation hence difficulty in getting pregnant
- Insulin Resistance
- Acne- Luckily for me i only get it on my back!
- Weight around the middle
- Thinning hair on my head
- Recurrent Miscarriages
Later in 2009 we decided we would not necessarily try for a baby but would not prevent either and we were both overjoyed when we got a positive pregnancy test late in October but 2 weeks later i began bleeding and my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. This was very difficult to deal with and we were both devastated. It took me a long time to come to terms with the miscarriage emotionally.
Fast forwards 19 months to June 2011. We've just got married. 7 long years i waited for this! And it's time to starts our trying to conceive journey again.
July 2011 and we get our 2nd positive pregnancy test but we're not excited, we don't want to be hurt again like last time. This time i get an early scan at 5 weeks and everything is looking good! But that evening I'm in agony, i can't sit down or anything. I have to go to bed and assume this is yet another miscarriage. I'm not due another scan for a week but the next day I'm still in agony so go to A&E. They tell me to go home and rest. I say I'm very concerned i feel very bad and I'm in agony, my stomach is swollen i look about 3 months pregnant and i have shoulder pain on my left side. Again she tells me to go home and rest.
I do as I'm told and go for my 2nd scan later that week. The sonographer says "I'm very sorry but your uterus is empty". I explain to her because of my previous miscarriage i knew what was happening earlier in the week. The sonographer continues with her scan which is unusual and says i have free fluid in my abdomen and a mass in my left fallopian tube.
I'm kept in hospital as an emergency and have surgery- a Laparoscopy to take a closer look at my uterus and tubes- a small cut is made in your belly button and a camera is inserted to look round. They find i have an ectopic pregnancy in my left tube so they remove my left fallopian tube so this pregnancy ends at 6 weeks and 5 days.
It turns out i had a hetero topic pregnancy where my body released 2 eggs from my ovaries and both got fertilized. One implanted in my uterus and the other in my fallopian tube. Apparently this only happens to every 1 in 30000 pregnancies so i have just been unlucky.
My progesterone levels in both my pregnancies were very low and not high enough to sustain a viable pregnancy. I am now waiting another 4 weeks so i can have recurrent loss testing to check if i have any clotting disorders which may be to blame for these losses. I have to wait till 6 weeks after my miscarriage to have these blood tests done as they need to be done once your hormone levels return to normal. I have also been told they will give me a prescription for progesterone that i can take in my next pregnancy to help sustain the pregnancy and told to take baby asprin to thin the blood which can also help.
Now it's just the waiting game. It's been 2 and a half weeks since my surgery and I'm waiting for my period to show so we can start again.
Like i said earlier i want this to show the funny light hearted side of trying to conceive with infertility and this is my story so far!
