Re: Infertility Success Stories

Here's my story
May be this will help/encourage you

We were told that we needed ivf to conceive DD, told to skip iuis, that they would not work for us. The cycle before we started ivf I got pg with her. We started ttc#2 when she was 8 months old.

It took us 3 years and 1 month to get our sticky bfp

This was literally my last shot, our hail Mary. We did 4 iuis for this baby, all bfns. I had 1 cancelled ivf due to poor response. My next ivf was a bfn but I had 4 frozens from it. It was my best response. After that ivf, I did a FET which was bfn. I switched clinics and my new RE thought that my 2 remaining embies "were not that good" he recommended another fresh cycle in hopes of getting me pg from that and perhaps having more frozens to choose from in the future. I got pg that cycle and had a heartbreaking m/c at 8 weeks. I did one more fresh ivf in June on 2009 which was also bfn.

My due date anniversary was Aug and we decided to do our last frozen cycle in Sept. We had ins coverage for 2 fets and 2 ivfs. We paid for the June 2009 cycle oop. We were out of $ and pretty much out of hope.

I did not want to go back to the clinic that had my embies. I did not like the RE and neither did DH. I found the clinic witht he highest FET success rates around. I switched to them. In order to transfer my embies. I had to pick up a cannister from the new clinic at 9 am drive 50 miles to the old clinic, have the embies loaded in the cannister and go 50 miles back to the new clinc by 3pm. My mom knows a guy who has a car company and I hired him to do it. I told her them if this works I will tell my baby his first ride was in a limo.

Both my remaining embies survived the thaw, my RE said they looked great. I was totally at ease that cycle. I felt like everything came together. At 10dpo I had a dream I had a son with blond spikey hair I did not test until 12dpo. I saw that beautiful clear line.
My entire pg I took lovenox 2x a day in my stomach. I had GD, I saw Dr Kofinas (who I worship!) every other week. I have given myself more shots than I can count, including 12 weeks of prog. I did the intralippid infusions 4x. I had taken tons of supplements and lost a lot of my hair bc of it. I was on steroids to suppress immune issues and my face was huge and puffy.This road was long and hard.
Bf I got pg I had more people than I could count ask me when I was giving up, why didn't I give up. I KNEW he was out there, I KNEW he was supposed to be in this family. I COULD NOT give up until he came home. My heart is complete. My son is here, my daughter has a brother. Every time she looks at him and says she loves him, I say this is why I never gave up. I am beyond blessed, luckier than I deserve. Praying for everyone!!

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Thanks for posting this. Sometimes my pesism gets the best of me, but reading success stories does help. Congrats to all and again, thanks for sharing.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Wow, I thought I had posted on here, but I guess I never did.

Something of mention,before all this IF stuff, I was TERRIFIED of anything medical related and used to pass out during regular OB exams....IF REALLY changed me!

DH and I were "older" when we got married (2005) and decided we would try after 9 months of marriage. In August of 2006 I cam off the pill and never got my period. Prior to being on the pill I was like clockwork (I was only on BCP a year and a half before coming off it).

By December I had gone to my OB (who was awful, I switched shortly after) who put me on Provera and Clomid. I got my period after the provera but the Clomid did not work. In January of 2007 I went to a new OB who put me on Metformin and based on test results said it looked like I might have PCOS (bloodwork was borderline for it). The metformin helped a little as I got my period after 40 something days rather than not at all. In August of 2007 I did another Clomid round with timed intercourse. I did get pregnant, but it was a chemical pregnancy. The following month we did another Clomid round and an IUI in my OBs office, which didn't work. At that point, I decided it was time to move to a RE.

In October of 2008 we met with Dr. Bergh at RMA of NJ (one of the founding partners of RMA, and IMO a TRUE miracle worker). My diagnosis stayed the same, but also my age was a factor (36 at the time, and DH was 42). As it turned out we were also dealing with severe MF as well. After multiple SA's DH's morphology consistently stayed at 0-1%. However, we still did 3 Clomid IUI rounds without success. We took a short break, went on vacation and came back to start the IVF process in February of 2008.

In March I had my ER and ET. 6 Eggs retrieved, 3 fertilized. I had a 3dt and all 3 were transferred back. 11 days later I had my beta and was told I was pregnant. I went 2 days later for my repeat beta only to get a phone call that my beta dropped and I was going to miscarry. To say we were devestated is an understatement. I was then in beta hell for almost 5 weeks and miscarried naturally on my 37th birthday. We immediately did another fresh cycle as soon as my beta was below 5. I also added twice weekly acupuncture to this cycle as well as a treatment before and after my transfer. This time around we got 18 eggs, and if I remember correctly 9 fertilized. Again, we put 3 back and had 6 left over to freeze. 9 days later I had my beta and was pregnant. Of course since nothing can go easy for us, my beta did not rise enough two days later and I had to go back two days after that for another beta, which then more than doubled. The following week we had our first sono at 5w0d. We saw the start of the gestational sac, and they told me to come back two days later for another sono. To our surprise we saw 2 sacs with fetal poles and a possible 3rd sac. The following weeks sono we saw 2 nice heartbeats. Sadly though one of the babies stopped developing. But 9 months later gave birth to my gorgeous daughter.

When she was 6 months old, we went back to the RE to try for #2. We did genetic testing on the remaining embryos and only 2 were viable. We did a FET right after Thanksgiving, and the day after DD turned 10 months old, I was pregnant again. Once again, pregnant with twins, but one didn't develop. I now am a member of the 2 under 2 club. DD is 22 months old and DS is 4 months old.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Posted by bride07



I had saved this thread to my Notebook and couldnt wait to one day share my success story. I know when I was on this board I loved reading all the Infertility Success Stories for inspiration.

Dh and & were trying for a year with 2 losses. We were fortunate to get pregnant the first time within 3 months and the same for the second pregnancy too. However, both ended in miscarriages. I remember feeling broken and thought my dream of becoming a mother would never happened. I kept thinking "What was wrong with me...how many more losses was I going to Experience?'

After the 2nd loss I started working with a few RE's. I found out I had two copies of MTHFR, Anexin, and Protein S. Also was told I had High NK cells and needed prednisone and intralpids. I was so overwhelmed with all of this news and the treatment.

I eneded up taking Lovenox, Metanx, and baby aspirin. I chose against treating the NK cells after discussing with a few different Doctors.

My RE just had me doing Schedule BD with the trigger shot- while starting the lovenox in the 2 ww. Well sure enough I got pregnant again a 3rd time that very first month. Through out the pregnancy the lovenox/heparin became habit..it really wasnt nearly as bad as I imagined. ( it really just becomes habit and part of your routine).

On Dec 21st 2010 I had my baby Girl, Ava Rose! She is the most amazing gift and we are so in LOVE! It was well worth the wait to bring her to me. I couldnt imagine any other child but this one, it was well worth the wait and struggle for her.

I wish you all the best of luck!!!



Continued prayers for you all. One day you will be joing that parenting board too.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Bumping

Re: Infertility Success Stories

BUMP, for inspiration.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

Bump...

Re: Infertility Success Stories

I will add my story I never saw this thread.

My DH and I got married in October of 2009. We knew we wanted to have kids right away so we started trying right away. I went for my annual pap and had the Dr. do all kinds of blood work. Everything came back fine. We tried for 5 months and I knew something was not right. In March 2010 we went in to an RE. We did many tests and I was fine no reason why I could not get pregnant. Well my husband had an SA done and turns out he had low sperm count. The first test was 1 million the next was about the same. He went to a urologist and they did many tests and turns out it was unknown male factor infertility. He tried vitemans and nothing ever changed. We did an IUI and it did not work. I spoke to many people and they said do not even waste your time doing an IUI because it would not work with such a low sperm count. Well we tried for one more IUI and on the day of the procedure my husband 0 sperm after the wash. I was devastated at this point. I never thought I would have to do IVF. In October 2010 we started IVF treatments and in November 2010 we I had my egg retreival. We got 21 eggs from that ER. We implanted 1 embryo (although I wanted to do 2 my Dr. said I was so young and we should only do 1). Well that did not work, again I was devastated and felt defeated. We had 4 embryos make it to freeze. We did an frozen cycle in February of 2011 and we put back in 2 embryos. I had changed to a different Dr. at the practice who said she wanted to do two embryos and I agreed that 1 was just not an option. That FET did not work. With the last 2 embryos we did another frozen cycle on March 21, 2011. Well I took a pregnancy test 5 days after the 5 day transfer and it was positive. I went in for my beta and that was positive and the numbers kept rising. I then went in for a sono on April 8, 2011 and they saw TWINS!

My girls were born on November 9, 2011.

That whole process was very upsetting to me. I saw many friends, and family get pregnant very easily and I kept thinking why me? It was very hard to go through this and my DH was very supportive and actually felt horrible that we were going through this. But in the end I am so happy. We have two beautiful healthy baby girls.

Try to stay positive. I know it is hard but just try.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

I am thrilled to be able to finally post my success story on here.
DH and I were married in 2003, I decided to stop my BCP in 2005 and let my body get used to not being on them. Well, I never got AF and went to the doctor - surprise, surprise I was PG! Unfortunately that pregnancy ended in a missed m/c around 7 weeks. Completely devastated we decided to wait to ty again. After we bough out house in 2006 we started to try. After a while and no BFP I went to the doctor and he sent me to ECF. We went thru all of the testing and they found nothing. We went ahead and had 3 IUI's all negative. We moved on to IVF, we did 2 cycles and both failed. After doing some research I decided to see Dr. Braverman - he ran the immunological testing and found I have elevated NK cells. We wanted to do another round of IVF right away, just waiting for AF. Again, surprise I am PG again (on my own)! We are so cautious this time around, but again it ended in a missed m/c. So afraid to try again, we waited and had some more tests done. Now we find I have thrombophilia - finally an answer that makes sense. We do one more round of IVF and it worked! I was on Lovenox for the entire pregnancy. I had no complications during the pregnancy. On January 16, 2012 we welcomed a little girl - Juliana. She was 7lbs 9oz and 21 inches long. She is our little angel.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

i'm so glad someone decided to bump this post! my pessimissm is getting the best of me but so happy to be able to see success stories as well as all the BFP's lately!

Re: Infertility Success Stories

i don't think i ever posted my success story, if i did, forgive me for the double post.

for lack of wanting to write the entire very long story again, you can read the story in entirety here. i am a Dr. B success story.

for the quick version...i was dx with PCOS after 12 years of being on BCP.. did 6 or 7 medicated TI cycles. had two chemical pregnancies during that time. after 18months we finally did IVF and I got my BFP. both embies implanted and but one never developed and the other is my 10m old . she is wonderful in every way. going through infertility got me the baby i was meant to have, and i gained so much perspective on the world and patience. i still hang out on these boards to offer my story to anyone it could help.

not sure if i will need to do FETs to conceive again in the future, we have 8 frosties when the time comes. i had an extremely complicated birth (theres a link on my journal to my birth story) so i don't kow what it will take to get me pregnant and delivered in the future. only time will tell!!

good luck to all of the ladies still trying!! you will all get wherever it is you need to go, it sometimes just takes some time.

Message edited 3/28/2012 4:49:42 PM.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

I thought I had replied to this when it was first posted but I guess I did not.

Here is my story...Dh and I were married later in life (I was 36) so we started TTC right away. I always had had irregular periods my entire life and somehow I knew I was going to have trouble. After two years of TTC, my OB wanted to put me on Clomid to regulate my cycles. I was nervous about the side effects so I went the natural route and took Vitex instead. This helped regulate my cycle and I conceived my first DS shortly after that. I had a wonderful pregnany and un-eventful birth. When DS was 18 mos old we started trying again and I got pregnant on the first try. Unfortunately, I miscarried at 10 weeks. I got pregnant again a few months later which also ended in a M/C. A few more months went by and again I was pregnant but lost that pregnancy a few weeks later. My OB at that point sent me to see an RE (Dr. Kenisburg) he told me that since I was getting pregnant, IVF would not really increase my odds. He ran a few tests and said that things appeared normal. I kept trying naturally and got pregnant again (4th try) but on Christmas Eve of 2008, I started bleeding and had horrible pains in my shoulders. I called my OB's emergency number and spoke to one of the covering doctors. I was worried about a ectopic after googling the symptoms I was having. She told me that I was 'a low risk for an ectopic' and that I should stay off the internet and go back to bed' Like an idiot, I listened to her and went to bed thinking I was just having another (typical) mis-carriage. After being in pain for hours, I told my DH that I needed to go to the emergency room. (different hospital then where my docs practiced-which in the long run, was a blessing) They immediately did a sonogram and found that my right tube was rupturing and that I was filled internally with blood (hence the reason for the shoulder pain, my diaphram was trying to keep the blood away from my major organs) I had emergency surgery on Christmas morning (I had a 2 1/2 year old at the time and I was so sad that I missed his Christmas) After that, I went back to Dr. Kenisburg and he now told me that IVF would now be a better option because I lost my right tube. I liked him very much but was just unsure how to proceed. I googled his name (to get opinions of him) and it was then that this site popped up. While reading this forum, I kept seeing Dr. Braverman's name mentioned (I had never heard of him before) After reading evreyone's glowing reviews of him, I made an appt with him. I did this online at 3:00 am and had actually forgotten about it until I got a call from Dr. B himself the following afternoon. We spoke for 20 min and I went over all of my history. I met him in his office a week later and loved him from the start. He did loads of testing and told me that I had immune issues, the MTHFR gene, an under acting thyroid as well as some other issues. I started the IVF process in April (along with prednisone, intralipids and lovenox shots) I had my ER on June 11 and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Feb 16,2010. I was 42 when I delivered him.

Like others have posted, so many people (well meaning, I am sure) told me to give up, that it wasn't meant to be. And eventhough my head wanted to give up and certainly my body, my heart wouldn't let me give up. I knew I was meant to have another baby. Dr. B never gave up on me, it just wasn't an option and I knew it.

To everyone going through infertility now, I pray that you get your miracle very soon. It is the toughest thing I ever went through and I still have tears in my eyes writing this 3 years later because it is so emotional.

Message edited 4/2/2012 12:59:10 PM.

Re: Infertility Success Stories

oh, i never saw this thread either!

I don't come on much anymore, but if i can help share a little inspiration and give some hope to the ladies on here, then i'd be glad to share my story

DH and I started TTC'ing in Jan '09 - i was 36, he was 30. We used opk's for a few months, and really just BD'd when we thought we should. I went to see my gyno after about 6 months of trying and she suggested going to an RE to get some tests done because of my age. That's when the fun started
I went to RSofNY in Mineola and had the battery of testing run - basically there was nothing 'wrong' with me and they suggested starting me on 50mg of Clomid to stimulate follicle production and seeing how i responded to it. We did one or two months of timed BD with no results, and then decided to move onto IUI's. I responded well to the Clomid, producing at least 2 or 3 mature follicles each month. We did about 3 or 4 IUI's subsequently, and I had two chemical pregnancies (basically false BFP's with beta's that never rose) from that. I moved onto Gonal F and responded well to that also, but still had BFN's - At this point i was up to about 6 IUI's. Since my insurance didn't cover IVF, we knew that IUI's were our only option as we couldn't afford to pay for a cycle of IVF (or more).

All this time, there was no good reason why i wasn't getting pregnant. I was maddeningly 'normal' and DH had good sperm count and motility each time we had the IUI's. So, we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility

After about 7 months of this and both DH and i getting to the end of our rope, my RE found a fibroid in my uterus that he wanted to remove. So we chose that time to take the summer off from trying.. We figured i'd have to have the surgery, and we needed a break anyway from the stress and meds.
Took 3 months off (i was still mindful of my cycle and made sure to BD during key times, but nothing happened) and during that time i decided to try going to Dr B for a second opinion. Figured everyone raved about him so i might as well see if he could find something wrong with me and help get me pregnant! Had an initial consult with him, and he sent me for the battery of testing that he runs on everyone (all OOP btw). After the results came back, he said i had borderline thyroid issues and blood clotting issues, but that there was nothing else really wrong.
I personally didn't really like him, and his office hours were really inconvenient for me, so i decided to go back to RSofNY as i really liked my dr there (Trivax) and the hours were fantastic.
So, i went back there, started Gonal F and did 2 more IUI's - ended up with a false BFP around Thanksgiving that really hit DH and I hard.. so we decided to take the next month off. At that time, Dr Trivax let me know that the clinic was participating in an IVF drug trial study that i might be eligible for. So he put me in touch with the people running it and i went in for my interview and testing (it was for women at a certain age, with no medical issues).
Got the ok to begin the drug study in December and just had to wait for AF to show up to see if the month off of the meds had cleared any left over follicles out and then i would be ok to begin my first cycle of IVF. DH and i were thrilled!! It meant that we'd finally have a chance to up our percentage of getting pregnant and we wouldn't have the added stress of paying $10k if it didn't work.

Weekend of Jan 17th was MLK weekend - i drank a lot that weekend btw . On Sunday i realized that i was 2 days late and since i was usually pretty regular, i decided to take a pregnancy test to see what was up. Well, it was BFP!!! DH and i were not about to get our hopes up again though.. we'd been burned before and so i went on Monday for my beta and the numbers indicated that i was pregnant (i don't remember what they were), so we got our hopes up a little more.. then 2 days after that, the numbers had more than doubled! By Friday, my numbers clearly indicated i was pregnant and since it was further than i'd ever been before, by this time we definitely were excited and ready to accept that this time was really it!
Well, it was, and 9 months later on October 3rd, 2011 my wonderful DS was born!!

So, it took 2 years and tons of testing, heart aches and ups and downs, but we finally got there, and we somehow did it on our own when we were least expecting it!
I'm a firm believer now in luck and the randomness of it all (for anyone who doesn't have medical issues of course). I think its very easy for us to get so wrapped up in the scientific aspect of all of it because the procedures we go through give us the illusion that we have some level of control over what really happens in our bodies. While we may have a certain level of influence over circumstances with all the meds and in depth tracking.. i really do think its a matter of luck for some of us.

So hang in there ladies.. it will happen for you eventually!