Our Infertility Story - Part 2

Read Our Infertility Story - Part 1 here

Again, January 2010 wasn’t our month.  I called Dr. W’s office, and she said to just keep trying.  I took the same dose of Clomid for February, March, and April, and grew increasingly frustrated that Dr. W was not being proactive enough or monitoring me AT ALL during this time.  Now this may not seem like a big deal, but Clomid can have some major side effects, and can also really increase your chance of multiples if not monitored closely. 

At this point I decided it was worth it to change ob/gyn’s, and I switched to Dr. R, who many of our friends used, including several who had also dealt with infertility. 

Side note: If you don’t know me in real life, I’m a children’s minister for a medium-size church.  In our church family, there are literally no less than 8 families who have dealt with infertility in the last 4-5 years.  That is not a normal statistic, and I truly believe that God has placed each of us at our specific church to be able to support and pray for one another.  I could not have made it this far in this journey without each of them. 

Normally it takes a while to get in to see Dr. R, as he is really one of the best ob/gyn’s in town.  However, many years ago, when I was new to this town and looking for a Dr., I had gone to him for my annual exam.  He was nice, and I liked him, but I was young and really wanted to have a female instead, so I started going to Dr. W.  Since I had seen him once before, even though it had been at least 4 years, I was considered an established patient and was able to get an appointment the next week.  Just one of many ways that I believe God was putting everything in order. 

I saw Dr. R at the end of April, and I immediately knew I had made the right choice.  Rather than just diagnosing me with PCOS based off of my blood work, he did an ultrasound to see what was really going on inside of me.  He immediately saw the classic “ring of pearls” on one of my ovaries – tiny cysts that would likely prevent ovulation.  He decided to increase my dosage of Clomid, but also monitor me during the cycle to see if any follicles would grow.  I left feeling encouraged that things would finally happen for us now that I was with a Dr. who took things more seriously. 

The first increased dosage of Clomid didn’t work in May 2010, nor did an additional increase in June.  At this point while Dr. R didn’t think we were out of options, he said he could either refer me to a specialist, or we could try a medication used to treat diabetics that also has shown positive results for those with PCOS.  Sometimes PCOS and the “ring of pearls” can be caused by your body not processing insulin properly.  Instead of using and then disposing of the insulin, your body retains it and small cysts form on one or both ovaries.  He put me on Metformin to see if this might help my body begin processing insulin correctly, and thus shrinking or eliminating the cysts. 

I took the medication from June to August 2010, and then went back in for another ultrasound.  While the medication had not changed the cysts, it did seem to be helping me.  I have always struggled with my weight, and despite eating well and exercising, I had never been able to get the excess weight to come off.  With just 10 weeks of taking Metformin, I had dropped 15 pounds without even trying.  Dr. R recommended trying Clomid once more in combination with the Metformin to see if that might do the trick for me. 

According to the monitoring ultrasound, the lowest dosage did not have any effect, and instead of waiting for a new cycle/month to begin, he immediately had me increase the dosage for 5 more days.  Again, nothing new appeared on the next ultrasound.  We immediately tried once more using the maximum dosage of Clomid.  Again, nothing.  At this point I was considered Clomid Resistant, and Dr. R was out of options for me.  His recommendation was to move on to a specialist, a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE), for more in depth fertility treatment. 

This was my breaking point.  I was disappointed, frustrated, and feeling hopeless.  We had prayed and prayed, and still had no answers on when we might become parents.  Friends and our entire church family were pleading to God on our behalf, and nothing.  I was pouring through scripture reminding myself of God’s promises to other barren women, and wondering if He would ever do the same for me. 




Come back for part 3 tomorrow!