health wanted

My husband Cody and I got married in August of 2009. I was 20, he was 23.

We knew we wanted kids pretty early on, so we began “trying” in October of 2010.

After about a year of no success, I spoke to my OBGYN, assuming it had something to do with the fact that I have PCOS.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a complex hormonal condition affecting menstrual cycles and fertility in women. We also had male factor questions as well.

We were informed that the chances of getting pregnant naturally would take a miracle. My hormones were out of whack, I had irregular cycles and my husband had low sperm count and motility.

We continued to pray and give all of our hope and faith to God. Being so young, we needed more time to save money.

In 2012 we met with a reproductive endocrinologist to discuss our options. He told us my husband was in testicular failure and could possibly have only 5 years left to procreate.

In Vitro fertilization was our only option, and it came with a hefty price tag: around $12,000 for the egg retrieval and creation of the embryos in the lab with another $3-5k for the fertility drugs.

Every passing year lessened the likelihood we would be able to have a family of our own.

In October of 2016 we made the tough decision to send Cody to Iraq for contracting work to help pay for IVF. He was there for about 6 months. When he returned, we decided to go ahead with the treatments.

In October of 2017, I began stimulation to create follicles in order to do an egg retrieval at the end of that month.

There is an exact science to the method. It’s amazing and kind of scary all at once.

For 10 days I had to get shots in the stomach several times a day in preparation for the transfer.

We were among the lucky ones and ended up with 11 embryos.

Next: We get surprising news