half way there

20 weeks! half way there!

it is absolutely amazing to know that i am pregnant! mr wonderful and i have been trying for seven (7) years. the last two more aggressively with fertility treatments.

i guess this would be a good time to give background to our new found joy.

seven years ago, like most young couples we didn't think that we would have any problems getting pregnant. mw decided he was ready to start a family (i on the otherhand had been ready for two years prior). so we ditched all forms of birth control and took the plunge. every missed period we would wonder excitedly would this be "it". when "it" didn't happen right away, we just decided to have fun and if we got pregnant, then that would be awesome. well, the months passed and the years passed and still nothing. finally at about year four (4) i decided, we needed to find out what was going on with us. the first three years it wasn't such a big deal, and also the doctor i was seeing at the time just said i needed to lose weight and then it'll happen. no need to do extensive testing because i was, from what she perceived was still young, i was 32 at the time. fortunately, my primary was retiring and i had to look for a new doctor. i ended up at lutheran general and a friend recommended i see her ob/gyne. i never really saw the ob/gyne but her associate who was a young, aggressive, very innovative physician. she ordered numerous tests to find out why we were having problems getting pregnant (mw's tests are a story unto their own, and quite amusing...for another post). turns out i had a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (pcos). bottomline, i had several cysts on my ovaries that were suppressing the eggs from releasing, as well as sending my whole hormonal makeup out of sync. she recommended fertility treatments right away starting with clomid pills. after consideration with mr w, i didn't feel we should jump right into meds and treatments if losing weight would help. go natural was my thing before using medical intervention. unfortunately, she left the practice and i was without her guidance and finally ended up seeing the original ob/gyn that i had intended on seeing in the first place. this is now year five of intertility. i expressed to the new physician my intention of pursuing pregnancy naturally by losing weight. unbeknowst to me, my condition didn't allow for that to happen. medical intervention was necessary. then, the whole insurance thing happened, lutheran general no longer was accepting my insurance (we were united healthcare ppo). so we had to leave the hospital. year 6, i ended up at resurrection medical center and found the most wonderful ob/gyn, dr. g. she was compassionate, caring, young, and innovative. she allowed me to try again on my own, but at the end of the year if nothing happened then she said we should pursue fertility treatments. turns out, at the end of the year we didn't get preggers and she referred us to feritility centers of illinois (fci).

the whole idea of going to fci was a turnoff for us, because we heard their commercials on the radio and didn't believe we would be treated as individuals; treated with care and compassion. we felt we would be treated like a number. well, again it was quite the contrary. from the desk staff, phlebotomists, nurses, and physician our whole experience was great. i actually enjoyed the whole experience. again, at this point we changed insurances because we found out that hmo covers 100% infertility treatments up to four (4) tries of in vitro. now that was enough to get us switching. (sidebar...i wish i had kept a blog during my intertility treatments, there are some good stories there. yes mw you were right).