Infertility A to Z's

Ericka's Infertile A to Z's, courtesy of Lisa at the Pursuit of Pregnancy

A. Age when you started TTC: The first time I started at about 25 and was pregnant by 26 and had her a month before I turned 27. The 2nd time we started trying was around my 28th birthday...I will be 31 in a few months. :(

B. Baby Dancing or Sex: Baby dancing is a cute term but maybe too cute to use with my husband. Baby Dancing (BD) is great for the blogging world, but we prefer sex, often...even after 12 years together. :)

C. Children wanted: Well, I have always wanted 3 or 4. Both of us come from big families and would like to have a bigger family ourselves. Honestly though, right now, I'd be happy with 2. I so badly want to give Victoria a sibling.

D. Dogs/Cats/Fill in Children: we have an 8 year old Weimaraner, Bailey, and a one month old lamb, Lambchop.

E. Essential Oils/Vitamins/Snake Oils: Well, every day for the past 4+ years I have taken pre-natal vitamins. I also now take a Vitamin B complex which is supposed to help build the uterine lining (but also gives me energy, so definitely an added benefit).

F. Fertility Meds I’ve taken: Medicines to increase egg production: Clomid, Follistim, Gonal-F, Menopur, Soy Isoflavones.  
Medicines to help me ovulate: HCG triggers   
Other medicines to increase fertility: Metformin (helps regulate sugar levels and in-turn, hormone levels on PCOS sufferers) and currently am on birth control pills to help reset my system from developing too many cysts during my last cycle of fertility medicines...who would've thought birth control pills counted as a fertility drug?

G. Gain: What have I gained from infertility? Stress and Knowledge. I know more about the female reproductive cycle than I ever wanted to know. I know about luteal phases, temping, timing, all sorts of acronyms like (TTC, IUI, IVF, ER, FRER, US, RE, BCP, and more!). I have also gained the support of an invisible world of bloggers and message boards. I love my TTC buddies because they truly are a keyboard to cry on when there is no one else around or you have cried on every other shoulder available.

H. HSG (Hystosalpingogram): Been there, done that! (basically, a live Xray of your fallopian tubes as they are filled with a radioactive dye to see if there are obstructions in them) Wasn't too bad...crampy, but clear tubes, so that was great news!

I. Infertile Pet Peeves: Watching everyone else around me get pregnant "without trying"... hearing them complain about their pregnancy symptoms when so many people would give an arm to have those complaints. Being told "well, you already have one, maybe you should stop" and crap like that.

J. Job title: Mommy & college student. Maybe have to get a paying job some day soon....

K. Kid’s names you’re afraid will be taken by the time you can use them: I won't say them here...I can say that Victoria's name, if she was a boy, would have been Gabriel Bruce.

L. Length of time TTC: almost 3 years.

M. Miscarriages: none, thank GOD!

N. Number of times you’ve switched OB/GYNS, REs, FSs: Hmmm...OB's I'm not sure...but have only had one RE.

O. Ovarian quality: full of cysts....

P. POAS or wait for AF: (for my non-trying friends, POAS is "peeing on a stick" and AF is "aunt flow")...I wait most now...I used to POAS but was really tired of seeing the BFN's (big fat no's)

Q. Quote from an obnoxious fertile: "Just RELAX, it will happen if it's meant to happen"

S. Sperm: Got lots of those!! Woohoo!...now if my eggs would just get in the game!

T. Time you tried naturally: Total? Including the first time?? over 2 years. The 2nd time alone though, we only waited a year before seeking help

U. Uterus quality: Good as far as I know...has been sliced open due to the C-Section, but should be fine.

V. Vagina: Uh.....fine....

W. What baby stuff do you already have?: We got rid of almost everything. Tired of toting it around, hoping and praying. The only things we still have are a crib and a highchair and a few small things like crib sheets or blankets. Everything else is gone. (oh, and just so everyone knows...we got rid of most of this over 6 months ago and still aren't pregnant, so no, getting rid of it won't make me pregnant like I have been told multiple times)

X. X-tra X-tra Hear all about it! How many people know the ins and outs of our crazy TTC journey?: Pretty much everyone knows because having one child instantly makes people ask "When are you going to give her a sibling" and stuff like that. Trust me, it's not for a lack of trying. :) I try not to let it consume my life and my conversations, but sometimes it is hard not to.

Y. Yearly Exam (do you still go in even though someone sees your lady parts most months?: Yes. Even though they see it, they're not checking for the same stuff as a PAP does.

Z. Zits: OMG! I hate them! I wish my skin would make up it's mind...really, zits or wrinkles....not both! Stupid hormones!

So now you’ve read mine. What are your IF A to Zs? Maybe we can start the blog equivalent of a chain letter. (With out the fear of a year of bad luck if we don’t pass it along.)