First things first...

Well, we are completely new to blogging, in fact, I have rarely read anyone else's blog, so to say this is foreign territory is the understatement of the year. We are normally very private people and baring our souls to people known and unknown will also be a new adventure.

We began our journey to parenthood shortly after we got married - it was something we both wanted. our plans were put on hold when R was sent to Afghanistan. This was the longest time period of my life! So worried all the time and just wanted him to be home and safe. Thankfully, he did come home to me and all in one piece!

While he was gone I had been to the gyno and she did an FSH test due to a family history of early ovarian failure. Unfortunately, my FSH was a little higher than she would have liked to have seen. So, she wanted us to try for 6 months, once R got home, and, if we weren't pregnant then she would have us start Clomid.

Much to our surprise and delight, we found out we were pregnant in June of 2009. We had 6 weeks of excitement (and a week long delayed honeymoon) before I "had a feeling" something wasn't quite right. I just stopped having the pregnancy symptoms I had been having. Then the bleeding began. It was light, but concerning, so we went to the ER. They did an ultrasound and saw the sac...but no baby. We were told it could just be "too soon" to see anything yet, and to follow up with the ob/gyn. I had my appointment with her a few days later - where another ultrasound was done with the same result. Blood work showed hcg in my system, and the follow up blood work indicated that I was pregnant since it was increasing...but not as fast as it "should" have been. After 2 more weeks of bleeding and more blood work we went back to the doctor. We were given the devastating news that it was a miscarriage and we could either wait it out or have a d & c. I opted for the d & c because I couldn't stand the thought of just waiting for it to be over....had I known it would be done without even a mild sedative, I may have made a different decision. All I could do is lay there and bawl...
 Following that I continued to bleed from July to November when they made me take birth control for a month to try and 'kick-start' my system into doing what it is supposed to do.

Our journey in life moved us from Hawaii to the rainy Northwest where we currently reside. Since being here we have continued in our quest to have a baby. I, unfortunately have started to show further signs of early ovarian failure - missed periods and ever shortening menstrual bleeding. Some friends tell me I am "lucky" that my period lasts 1 day or less...I tend to disagree since it is just one more sign of the difficulties ahead. Been taking Clomid (first 50mg, then 100mg, now 150mg) for several months and have had a few cycles of IUI...all to no avail. Had an HSG done - another uncomfortable test - and got good results - no blockages!

We finally decided we needed to find a fertility specialist. Our first appointment was less than encouraging. R's semen analysis showed low motility and morphology. That, coupled with my signs of and family history of early ovarian failure and not always ovulating means that we are unlikely to conceive on our own. We were instructed to repeat the semen analysis because "everyone can have a bad day" and I had to have a repeat FSH (since the last one was 2.5 years ago) and an estradiol test.

We follow up with the doc on Nov. 15 to discuss the results and treatment options....