October 9th
So, far this baby making process is nothing but stressful
and emotional. It’s a lot of up and
downs. We went to our first IUI. Somehow things came together and we were able
to do the insemination. But not before
multiple phone calls and some tears. We
were never told or maybe we missed it somehow between the sex ed lesson and
multiple blood tests that the sperm needs to be ordered in my name. Well, Sara just happened to be the one at the
computer when we decided on our ‘baby’s daddy’ and ordered the sperm in her
name. Since it was in her name the HIPAA
laws would not let me use the sperm. It
was less then a week before I needed it and transferring the sperm to my name
was going to take 4 weeks. What to do? Finally, some nice guy at the Cryobank bank
said, “There are a few more specimens from your donor left. Why don’t you just
order one more in your name and we can ship it out today?” Genius.
We ordered another vial and had it shipped overnight to Shady
Grove. The procedure was
interesting. Basically, they use a
syringe to insert the sperm into my uterus.
However, to get there they need to go past the cervix, which mine did
not want to cooperate. After some convincing
my cervix allowed passage and we released the little swimmers to do their thing. The next two weeks of waiting was a lot of
ups and downs. One day I was sure I was
pregnant and the next I knew I wasn’t.
In the end, I know I wasn’t pregnant before we had the test.
The best part of this whole thing is I get to learn lots of
new ‘grown-up” words. For example, it’s
not a sperm bank or sperm it’s a cryobank or specimen. And when you say “When should I have the
sperm bank send you the sperm.?” The
person you are talking to simply corrects you like this “You will need to call
the CYROBANK and have them SHIP the SPECIMEN to us a week before your
procedure.”
November 8th
We are getting ready to do our third insemination. It’s so frustrating to go through this
process. It’s only been three months and
already I’m starting to get frustrated.
It’s probably difficult for anyone who is straight to really understand
this whole process. Making a baby is
supposed to be fun and careful, but this whole process is anything but. Everything is so scientific. There is no fun in this at all. The whole process is so stressful, time
consuming, and financially draining.
Typically, when a couple wants a baby there is a lot of love involved
and probably plenty of fun love making.
The baby is at some point conceived between two loving people in a act
of love. That is not our case at
all. We have lots of love, but our child
will be conceived in a room full of strangers.
December 26, 2013
Well, I’m still not pregnant. Last month, I sorta was. The egg apparently fertilized but didn’t implant. It’s called a chemical pregnancy. So I took a pregnancy test and it was
positive and then two days later I got my period. Which was not my normal period because there
was no spotting leading up to the period.
Just jumped right into heavy bleeding.
Probably much more info than you need.
It was very upsetting and it made it harder by being at Thanksgiving
time. A time that we had a houseful of
people and we had thought, months ago, we would be announcing we were going to
be mommies to our family. I got several
different tests done and all of them come back normal. I went into the December insemination with
little hope and just wanting to get it done.
The inseminations have already become very routine at this point. And starting to get sick of people telling me
it will happen and that sometimes it takes a few months and how it took them 6,
7, 9 months to get pregnant. These
people don’t really understand because they are straight. They did not spend hundreds of dollars each
month to try and get pregnant. I’m sure
it’s hard and frustrating for straight couple to not conceive after a few
months, but they are not throwing away money each month. I feel like we are just tossing money into
the medical trashcan. Thanks doctor for
nothing. Here’s another $1,000. I’ll see you next month. Straight couples do not have to worry about
the finical stress that fail conception creates for gay couples. It costs them nothing to try over and over
again. But if I want to have a baby, I
have no choice but to roll the dice every month for the low, low cost of
$1,000. I needed to get that out.
January we start a medicated cycle, which will increase our odds a bit, and
hopeful result in a pregnancy. I never
thought I would have such trouble getting pregnant.
February 15, 2014
Well, we were not able to do a medicated cycle in January,
just another failed natural IUI. In February, we did do a medicated cycle. The meds
were not bad. I was on a very low dose
of Clomid and then did a trigger shot of Oviderl. I was happy that I did not have any real side
effects from either besides a little bloating and some weight gain. I thought I would be very nervous about giving myself a shot, but I just
didn’t think about it until the day I had to do it. Then I just did it as quick as possible
without thinking. Apparently, it looked
liked I’d done it a million times before.
So now we are in the two-week waiting period. I’m a little more hopeful this time
around. I just want to be pregnant and
be able to enjoy the idea of having a baby again. Right now, it’s more of a job then anything
else.
March 26, 2014
Well, we are officially pregnant. 5 natural IUIs and one medicated cycle, we
have done it. When the nurse called me
to tell me, I couldn’t believe it. I
asked her several times on the phone if she was sure. LOL.
But we have now had 3 blood tests and two ultrasounds and there is
definitely a baby in there. Today was our second ultrasound. We are eight weeks ago. It’s amazing to see. I can’t believe that there is actually a
little baby growing inside of me. After
all this time of waiting, we are actually having a baby!! So far, everything is
going well. Lucky for me, I have not had
any real symptoms. Last week, I had some
‘night-time’ morning sickness. I would
wake up in the middle of the night nausea.
So, of course then I was very tired the next day. The mid-night sickness seems to have gone
away, but still tired. Thanks for
everyone’s support through the journey so far.
Now the fun really begins!
