Campaign Story

Aaron and I got together in February of 2017. Almost instantly we started talking about starting a family. In September 2018 I stopped my birth control and we officially began trying to have a baby. We were so hopeful that we would get pregnant instantly because I had been on birth control for 10+ years. The first year went by without 1 positive pregnancy test. We were referred by my OBGYN to a fertility clinic in Columbia MO. Within the first few appointments we were told that we had male factor infertility. Aaron was able to take medication for 3 months that resolved the issue. Then it came time for testing on me. Everything was perfect for me except a possibility of PCOS because of the ultrasound on my ovaries. After a few months of failed cycles of medication, we were then told that we had “unexplained infertility”. We saw this clinic for 16 months, only had 2 ultrasounds and did a total of 13 cycles with medication (10 with Letrazole and 3 with Clomid). During this time we also had two failed IUI’s. Finally in November 2020 I decided to reach out to a different fertility clinic for a second opinion. During my first appointment with ultrasound, the doctor told me that it was suspected that I had endometriosis. I also had a very large cyst on my left ovary. He said that I would need surgery. Covid made it hard but finally on February 1, 2021, I went into surgery for a laproscopy and a hysteroscopy. During this surgery it was found that I had severe stage 4 endometriosis. The doctor was able to excise everything that he could and remove the cyst from my ovary. At 3 weeks post op, I began to bleed…a lot and bled for almost 20 days straight. The doctor had me come in for an ultrasound and it was found that ANOTHER cyst was growing on my left ovary. The plan was to take birth control for 3 months to give my left ovary a little more time to heal. While on the birth control, I began to bleed..a lot and for weeks at a time. I finally went back for another ultrasound and the cyst was gone. The doctor then said we could begin taking Clomid that day and plan for an IUI. I took the Clomid, went in for several ultrasounds to check my follicles. My left ovary had 3 amazing follicles growing! I was shocked. I was not expecting my “weak” ovary to be the one to ovulate! On April 20, 2021 we did a trigger shot at 3am with a 22mm follicle for a scheduled IUI on the 21st at 3pm. The clinic that I go to has you come back the day after IUI for an ultrasound to confirm ovulation. During this ultrasound, it was found that I did NOT ovulate. The 22mm follicle turned into a 29mm. So the trigger shot failed. My doctor told me to wait for my period and to call back once it came. He also said that he would only do one more IUI before we ended to start thinking about IVF. My period finally came and I went in on cycle day 3 for an ultrasound. It was found that the cyst had grown and was now 3cm. My husband and I saved what we could, did a small fundraiser and ended up taking out a loan on the remaining balance to do IVF I’m August 2021. During my egg retrieval, we had 15 retrieved, 10 mature and 7 fertilized. On day 3, we got the call that all embryos were progressing amazing and had great ratings. When we went in on day 5 for our fresh transfer, we found out that we only had 2 make it to day 5. We transfered both. The transfer unfortunately failed. So we are back at square one needing to do IVF all over again.