Hi, I’m Tasia. My husband and I have been together for about 7 years. We met in 2016 and married in 2018. We both wanted kids but didn’t want to start trying to conceive right away because we assumed, like most people, it would work immediately and we had a trip to wine country planned 9 months after our wedding. Not exactly a great place for a pregnant person. So we waited until after that trip to give it a go.
I told my OBGYN at my yearly appointment in 2018 of our intention to start trying to conceive the following year and she had the foresight to set an appointment for me to come in six months after we intended to start trying “just in case things weren’t working out.” I was 35 at that time.
Fast forward to early 2020 and there I was back at my OBGYN’s office. She ordered a bunch of tests including an HSG for me, bloodwork throughout my cycle, and a semen analysis. Even as this was happening I didn’t think much of it and certainly wasn’t worried. I was super healthy, so what was there to worry about? Oh how I wish I was as naïve as I was back then.
All tests came back normal. We continued to try naturally for six more months. After hitting the one-year mark of TTC and not a single positive pregnancy test in sight, I started to worry and called my doctor. She put me on Clomid and we did three rounds of it. Two of those rounds included ultrasound monitoring throughout. None of those worked.
Time to see a fertility specialist
I decided to call a local fertility clinic and start the process there. In early 2021 I met with my RE and she ordered more testing – all bloodwork – for me and my husband. Again, everything came back normal. After chatting with my RE we decided to do an IUI. I wasn’t ready for IVF and, truthfully, I never thought we would ever get to the point of needing to do IVF.
To increase our chances a little bit, we did IUI with injections and letrozole. After two unsuccessful IUIs, we decided to move on to IVF. Following a normal SHG, in November 2021 we underwent our first round of IVF. The results were disastrous. I didn’t respond well to the meds and we didn’t even have an embryo that made it to Day 3. After a long chat with my RE she suggested a different protocol and a much-needed mental break.
Following the nearly 3-month break, we decided to undergo a second round of IVF in February 2022. The results were terrific! We had six strong embryos on Day 3. Because of our round one results, my RE wanted to do a fresh transfer in case none of the embryos made it to Day 5, 6, or 7 (blastocyst stage). We transferred 2 embryos on Day 3 which ended in a chemical pregnancy.
The other four embryos did not make it to blastocyst. Unfortunately, we are back to square one.
Where to next?
Following our failed rounds of IVF, my RE has ordered a DNA fragmentation test on my husband. While she has no indication anything is wrong there, she figures this is one of the last tests we have not done and wants to be able to rule it out as an issue.
Depending on the results from the DNA fragmentation test, we are planning to do a third round of IVF sometime in the summer of 2022. We will be three years into this TTC ride and we are exhausted, but still plan to throw everything we have into another round.
I recently started acupuncture as well. Here’s to hoping the third time is the charm!
Tasia shares her story from USA.
Thank you for sharing x Emma & Lynette.
Join the movement and share your story too.
Comments