So excited!

So much has happened since the last time I posted!  We had our first IUI yesterday!!!  We are cautiously optimistic since we know it can take a few attempts to get the timing right but I can't tell you how good it feels to get started!!!  The IUI itself was very quick and painless.  I am so happy Lewis got to be in there with me because it was a big moment for the two of us.  I wasn't sure how they would do that - if they would have him wait while they got me ready or if he could go on back with me.  When I asked the nurse, she said, "Well, you don't want to get pregnant without him do you?"  It made me laugh because she was so right!  Maybe we never imagined that we would need to conceive our babies in a cold sterile setting like that, but it was actually very sweet.  Lewis held my hand the whole time and even got a little choked up and had to hold back tears.  He said he started picturing what it will be like when he holds my hand when we see our little baby's heartbeat for the first time and when he's there with me during labor and delivery.  We felt so connected to one another.  It was a moment I hope I never forget. :)

Now, the waiting begins.  I go back in this Friday for another progesterone test to see if I still need to take the supplements.  I took my first round of Clomid this month and she said that sometimes, Clomid helps regulate your progesterone so there's a chance it will be normal this time.  The Clomid also hopefully helped me produce some good, strong eggs this month.  At my midcycle ultrasound, I had 3 good size follicles so hopefully, one of those produced a nice healthy egg and we timed the IUI right to "catch it"!  We won't know if it worked until the following Friday, March 26th.  I go in then for a blood pregnancy test.  I'm going to try my best to relax as much as possible over the next 2 weeks.  To help with that, I'm going to be staying off the fertility message boards and I'm going to try really hard not to over-think or over-analyze anything.  We are prepared to do this at least 3 times if necessary but we are praying we won't need to.  God has always been so good to us and I know this is in his hands.  This process is a real lesson is patience.  There is so much waiting involved and you really have to turn things over to your doctors and ultimately to God.  I know he has a great plan for us and part of that plan is for us to be parents.  We just have to know that it will happen in his timing and trust that.

The really great news is that none of the fertility tests they did on us showed anything major wrong for either of us. :)  Lewis's last SA was great- very high count and motility!  His morphology was a the lower end of normal but the doctors aren't concerned about that since they said his high numbers in other categories should make up for it.  The HSG showed that my uterus and fallopian tubes were normal and open so that was good.  The only test that revealed anything a little abnormal for me was the day 3 ultrasound (also called a baseline ultrasound) to check for antral follicles.  My left one looked okay but it looks like my right ovary may be a little polycystic, meaning it produces too many follicles every month which can cause that ovary not to produce the best eggs.  The condition is called PCOS and it can cause all sorts of other health problems.  Luckily, it appears that my case is very mild and other than gaining weight easily, I don't have any of the other symptoms.  The biggest thing is that I still ovulate on my own every month, some people with PCOS do not ovulate at all and have to take medications to force ovulation.  They said the fact that I ovulate on my own means my case should be highly treatable.  They immediately started me on a medication to help treat it and I will continue to take it every day until I get pregnant and maybe even beyond that.  I also have to cut way back on carbs since PCOS can lead to insulin resistance and I definitely want to prevent that if I can.  A great side effect of the medicine and the low carb diet is that I've already lost a little weight.  :)

Our families are so excited and they keep saying they just know this is going to be it for us.  We are both much more reserved because we want to be realistic in case we need to try more than once.  Even so, deep down, we are just so full of hope because this definitely feels like we're on the right track.  It's going to be a long two weeks!