Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Infertility: the longest 9+9 months of my life

I know some of you are not moms yet - so why not start at the beginning with the research - becoming a mom and some of the problems one can encounter.

So I'll start by sharing my experience with infertility, as personal as it may be.

Shortly after getting married I was diagnosed with epilepsy - this led to medicine - which led to the doctors telling us we had to wait to get pregnant, if we could at all on the medicine, since they weren't sure what the side effects would be on the fetus.

So, after not trying, but wanting to for about nine months. We strongly felt it was time to start our family and we'd just have to pray that things would be okay. The doctors put me on a prenatal vitamin and five times the normal dose of folic acid to help prevent defects.

Nine months later we were finally pregnant. So, even though we weren't trying for a full year we did qualify as having infertility problems. (infertility: not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying. Or, six months, if a woman is 35 or older. Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile. - womenshealth.gov)

After 7 months of trying the testing began. First they checked to make sure my husband's swimmers were good - then they put me on clomid. Clomid is meant to regulate ovulation cycles, not produce multiple eggs and is usually the first step used in treating infertility.

This drug made me a crazy lady!! My hormones were on one wild roller coaster ride. Luckily just over a month later we were pregnant, so it didn't last too long.

There were a few things we did the entire nine months to increase our chances of becoming pregnant - but I'll mention those in the next post: the research.

I'll just end by saying - not being able to get pregnant leaves a woman with a variety of intense emotions.

I felt broken.
I felt inadequate as a woman.
I was sad.
I hated going to church or the grocery store and seeing moms with their cute babies - all happy.
I felt I was letting my husband down.
I felt like no one knew how I felt, no one understood the longing or the pain.

Without trying to sound preachy: if you're currently experiencing infertility problems - know that you are not alone! 10% of woman go through this & know exactly how you feel.

Now that I'm on the other side, I'm glad we had problems and had to struggle to get our Little Miss. I appreciate her so much more and know just what a blessing she is in my life.

Did you have/are having infertility problems? What are some things that you've heard of to help with this common problem?

Other posts in this series:

6 comments:

  1. Since i am not a mom, and not close to being one, i can only imagine what that feels like! i'm sorry you had to experience that, but it's true, sometimes you have to go through things like that to really appreciate what the lord gives you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We tried for 3 months and finally got pregnant, only to have a miscarriage. It was so hard to have it first because then you wonder if you will ever be able to carry a baby to full term. We decided to wait for awhile and got pregnant 6 months later and now we have Ryan. Trying to get pregnant is the most emotional thing ever and no amount of I'm sorry can help. I'm so glad you have Little Miss. She's such a cutie! Thanks for sharing your experience!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My husband and I struggled with infertility for over three years. I took Clomid so much, I thought I would go nuts! Just before we were about to move on to more costly approaches, we got pregnant on our own. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS. It is so hard to deal with. I felt like no one could understand the pain I felt, but I know that unfortunately so many women go through the same thing. Here we are four years later with a sweet baby girl! Miracles happen! Thanks for the post. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually recently wrote a blog post on this very subject myself as my husband and I are currently dealing with infertility. SO this hit home hard.

    And I use that word a lot too. I feet broken.

    ReplyDelete
  5. the article reminds me of an my aunt who could not give birth & finally she did at the age of 40, it was a miracle. thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! It helps me to know what you're interesed in and what you would like to learn about. It also gives me the chance to get to know you better & find more qualified moms to be guest bloggers!

**I reserve the right to not publish a comment that is a personal attack on another reader - we all have differing views on parenting & this is a place where you can feel safe sharing your opinions. Please remember to be respectful!**

Thanks!
~Barb

Related Posts with Thumbnails