Jamie & Lucy
Compared to so many of the girls on here I feel so very lucky and so very blessed that I really have not been through very much stress at all in my (rather short) journey through infertility !! I sometimes feel a bit like a fraud posting as well as I have never had IVF, and hopefully never will !!
It all starts about 8 years ago when I got together with Martin and we discussed the future - as you do - and both agreed that when the time was right we would have children. We wanted to do things "the right way" as a few of our friends had got pregnant (in stable relationships, but by mistake) so we were EXTRA careful so we didn't have an accident (by this I mean PARANOID - I was on the pill AND we used condoms !!!!!! HOW much money did we waste there )
We got engaged and "relaxed" our precautions - I came off the pill and we stopped the condoms - and said - if it happens we will be happy... This was 6 years ago
About 5 months before our wedding we started "trying properly" - not measuring temps or anything like that but being pretty active around the right time of the month!!! Anyway over 2 years later I went to the GP for a regular smear - and she asked - just in conversation really - and I ended up telling her we had been trying for 2 years... She referred me to the local NHS hospital at this point, saying that often "just getting the appointment is enough, and that lots of people find they are pg by that time" I assumed we would be like this too!!!!
We waited (and kept trying) for another 6 months, had the appointment and were referred for more tests... and so it went on - tests, appts, scans, appts for about a year - and nothing was reported.
A couple of my friends had mentioned asking for a Laparoscopy - so I had asked for one and was told I was on the list - it would take 18months minimum... so carried on waiting. (Looked into private and it was £3k decided NO WAY in case I need to pay fro treatment)
Joined Friends Reunited and met up with an old school friend - we were best friends from 3-15 but then her parents moved twice in about 2 years and we lost touch... ANYWAY - she was pg when I met her so we talked about stuff and she said that she had been through treatment and found out her Lap was covered on her husbands medical insurance. This was the push I needed to get going - so found out that it was covered so long as it was reported as "investigational" and not "Fertility" and the PA at the private hospital said don't worry it would be fine.... TERRIFIED we would end up with a £3K bill we went ahead - and it was fine - all paid for. Result of Lap - nothing wrong. We were "diagnosed!" unexplained...
The consultant said keep trying and come back in 3 months if not pg. 3 months later - still not pg, I also had been made redundant - so fertility treatment was out of the window... I then got a job (working for Microsoft) and ended up traveling a bit so left it about 6 months before going back to the consultant. He referred us to another hospital where he worked for private fertility treatment and we got seen quite quickly - a formality as he had already seen me for all the tests under the NHS - needless to say we had to have them all done again !!! THIS time I had "abnormally high LH" and IUI (with a drug protocol similar to IVF - syneral, menapur and profasi) was recommended.
The consultant was very straight and realistic about it and we really truly did it thinking - "it wont work first time, such a low success rate, they don't know my response to drugs" etc. We had practically booked out follow-up appointment before we started and I was trying to conceive my consultant to forget IUI and put us onto IVF without the "formality!" of the 3 IUI attempts (This was what we had been told in our consultations we would have before they would consider IVF) This is NOT a dig at the consultant or clinic though - I could not fault them at all - it was just our frustrations at (in our eyes) wasting £6k before we even started properly...
Anyway Miracle of Miracles - IT WORKED FIRST TIME...
When I called with the result (they had given me a HPT) they simply said OK we will book you in for 6 week scan (making us think - it hasn't really worked - we wont get to that date...) Got to the 6 week scan somehow (LONGEST Christmas and New Year EVER - it normally whizzes by -not last year!) and we were as shocked as the clinic to see not 1 but 2 sacs both with heartbeats!!!
And so on and so on... The next thing was a killer 6ww until 12 weeks... Until my 12 week scan I really did not believe it to be true, and told lots of people - more so that I would be able to tell them when (what I thought was the inevitable) it all went wrong.
Anyway - its history now and time seems to be almost back to normal speed again !!! I am now 14 weeks and plan to stick around here to prove to people as skeptical as we were that IUI can work first time off!
And that's all (for anyone still awake!)
Sally gave Birth to Boy Girl Twins!!! Jamie & Lucy
Sally
xxx