News & Doctors

I figure some of you want to know the latest on our journey to parenthood. I will try to not go all science nerd on you but I'm not making any promises especially because some of these things it's just better to say it that way, so if you have questions about anything just ask and I will try to explain. Also I'll be using some abbreviations so I can get through this post as quickly as I can, and I apologize because this is going to be a long one.
So this summer we FINALLY took the BIG step and saw a fertility doctor, I mean we had been trying for 2 years at that point. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a free consultation with them thanks to it being infertility awareness week when I made our appointment. I heard about them from my dear cousin so I knew that the doctors at Reproductive Care Center (RCC) were going to be a good fit for us. We of course had to fill out PAGES of history both on ourselves and our parents AND our grandparents... fun questions. Anyway we met with our wonderful doctor, Dr Blauer, and discussed a plan. We had previously worked on things on my end so that put us a step further. I had a thyroid test done since my levels were higher the year prior. Jared also had a Semen Analysis (SA) done to see how things were on his end. I was also given 4 prescriptions (a prenatal vitamin, something to start my period because of course I was late, a prescription to aide in ovulation stuff, and a thyroid medication). 2 weeks later we got the results to our SA and learned that are swimmers are not what they should be, specifically that their morphology (shape and whether they have the enzymes so they can penetrate the egg) was not good. Our overall score was 16 out of 100, so not very good. So we started Jared on a supplement called "Fertility Blend" though we had found it earlier and had sort of started taking it already. It's supposed to help with sperm and whatnot, however it also makes Jared sick but he took it anyway. I started taking a prescription called Fremara to help with ovulation on days 3 through 7 of my cycle. We then used Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs) to track my ovulation so that we could make sure to have intercourse at the right time. FYI planning when to be intimate with your spouse makes an impact and takes a toll on your physical relationship. 1 week after getting that positive OPK I then went to the clinic here in Mussi, along with lab orders, to get a progesterone test done. As glad as I am that I could just drive down to the clinic less than 5 minutes away, getting my blood drawn there was more painful than at other places but it's better than driving an hour to the next nearest facility. After a week I'd call into my doctors office and find out the results, each month we'd learn that I was having sub-optimal ovulatory responses. Then my dose would change and we'd start the whole process over again, medication days 3-7 followed by OPKs and a blood draw. And of course with it being summer there was 1 cycle where we just had to take a break from it all because life was hectic especially as school started up again. But for several months we did this. We then scheduled a follow up SA for September 18th since we were going back up north for a Brad Paisley concert. 1 week later I looked up the results on RCCs patient portal website. And I was in complete shock and my heart just sank. Everything had dropped, and significantly at that. It was like someone had just punched my in the stomach. We got a hold of Jeanette on Dr Blauer's team (she's the one I talk to the most especially for results and such). They were just as shocked as we were it seemed, definitely not what the expected especially because we had started taking Fertility Blend. Our overall score then was 1 out of 100. 1 out of 100!!! We did a lot of crying (no seriously I was a wreck) and praying and all that of course. Dr Blauer also wanted to speak with us so we scheduled a follow up with him. So we made an appointment for October 23rd, this last Friday, when we would be up for my brother's wedding. We left for our appointment just as the luncheon for the wedding started, so we definitely felt a little over dressed for our appointment. We discussed what has been going on the last several months, test results, and where to go from there. It's not out of the question that we could conceive naturally, but not likely. Our chances are almost as likely as someone getting pregnant while using some form of contraception (birth control, condoms, etc). And the fact is that that does happen just not that often. Plus I'm only 28 so it's not like our time is running out. Anyway we now have a NEW plan, since it seems that we will need serious medical help in order for us to have a child of our own. So moving forward we will be doing more detailed diagnostic testing on my end of things. Checking my entire system to make sure there are no blockages, checking more hormone levels, and so on. We're also going to have Jared see a Urologist up at the University of Utah that Dr Blauer recommends to make sure everything is working right on Jared's end. Our goal is now to make sure we know any obstacles are in our way so that come June 2016 we can start on either IUI (IntraUterine Insemination) or IVF (InVitro Fertilization) depending on what we find out and money and such. We're going to start tightening our budget and such so that we can afford the costs that will be coming our way (anywhere up to $20,000). It's not going to be an easy road for us, especially because the doctors are 6 hours away, but hopefully it means by the end of summer 2016 we'll finally be expecting.
Thanks for reading through all of this. Thanks to all of you who have been super supportive through all of this, we couldn't do it without all the support we have.

Update in Pictures

Ok this blog has been neglected since like April. I apologize. So instead of my racking my brain on what has happened in like 6 months, I'm going to rely on pictures to tell what's been happening with us.

April

Ok in April we had Easter. Our complex had an Easter Egg hunt and we decorated. But unfortunately my pictures from Easter Events wouldn't load.

In April things started warming up so we started taking the boys down to the San Juan River to play. They LOVE playing at the river.

May

May was mostly trying to survive the end of the school year. I was SO ready for summer. 1 thing we did in May was we built a fort in our living room over Mother's Day weekend. And yes we slept in it.  

June

In June we ran in The Dirty Dash with friends from Mussi. Called ourselves the Mussi Mudders. It was a lot of fun, though if I decide to do it again I'd like to be in better shape.

Also in June my brother Ethan came and stayed with us for a week and a half. It was nice to have him here. We played at the river and he and I actually floated it. I hope he decides to come stay with us again soon. Unfortunately my phone wigged out and I lost the pictures I took when he was here.

We went to So Jo and had a little family reunion with my side since my sister and her husband came to visit. We went to Lagoon and had a ton of fun. And again sorry no pictures :( 

Overall June was busy.

July

In July Jared's family came to visit us after a family reunion in St George.We went camping in Mesa Verde and saw everything there. We also went to Monument Valley. We did some playing here and mussi too. It was nice to have the family here. I hate that they live 10 hours away from us.

The rest of July was us just trying to enjoy Jared's time off. Nothing too exciting.

August

August was spent getting ready for school to start up again and some last minute fun. August was a lot of trying to get back into a routine too. I teach Seminary during the last class of the day, which was different. We must have been busy because I took NO pictures.

September

September we were finally into a good routine. Jared spent Labor Day weekend in the Grand Canyon with the NACAP students. I was GOING to go, but it costs extra to have dogs and it just wasn't worth it. They had a great time, but I don't have pictures to prove it.

We also went to the Brad Paisley concert up in SLC. Brad is our favorite artist (partly because our song is "Then") and we hadn't seen him in concert in 5 years. Our "seats" were AMAZING, and that's because we didn't actually sit. We were right up at the stage. Seriously we were 5 feet away from Brad at times. We went with my sister and her husband and had A BLAST! Though my ears were still ringing the next day. Definitely a night I won't forget.

And that bring us up to date. I will try and be better going forward. Hope this post finds you well.