I always thought or rather was made to assume (courtesy movies) that getting pregnant is very simple - if you have unprotected sex, you just get pregnant. Whoooo !
What an incorrect misconception!
It was after 4 years of our marriage that we thought we are ready to have a baby and so we started trying around January 2013.
My cycles have been quite regular all my life and having issues in conceiving in my family was unheard of. So I thought I should get pregnant in 3-4 months.
Each month I would calculate the so called "fertile days" accordingly and try accordingly.
Every month I would wait for my periods not to come but they would show their face bang on time.
I remember once I was late by 6 days and this made me hopeful & excited. I even got the strips to test but they showed negative and the periods did arrive after 2 days.
May 2013 - bought the ovulation strips to make sure I was ovulating and to make sure I was not missing my fertile days.
July 2013 - bought the ovulation thermometer and started charting my body temperature.
Aug 2013 - went to a general physician (gp) to consult for starting a family and got the basic blood tests done. I also started Elevit on the doctor's advice.
Since nothing happened till Feb 2014, the gp referred me to a specialist as we had actively tried for more than a year with no results
.
We followed the following tests as given by the specialist -
Feb 2014 - blood work to see I was ovulating, Semen analysis for my husband (to check motility, morphology, count of sperms viable for a pregnancy)
April 2014 - HSG test (tube test)
All these tests showed no issues which meant we were put under the "unexplained infertility" category. In a way, I felt good as it meant that there was no issue and maybe it was just bad luck. But as I investigated and read more, I realised that it might indicate a bigger problem It could suggest an issue which has not been found out by science yet. You can't solve issues until you understand the root cause.
I became a bit obsessed about the whole thing - about not being able to conceive, about all my friends getting pregnant so easily. I started remaining very sad, lonely and was always reading about infertility and its remedies. I didn't feel like talking to people as all conversations would lead of questions about my plans for family or friends telling about their kids activities etc.
It was a difficult time!
We also got the Preseed lubricant, just in case. Trying became a monotonous and boring task and we just did it for the sake of a baby.
July 2014 - Ovarian reserve (AMH test)
The test showed that my egg reserve was in normal range for my age but towards the lower limit. The specialist advised us to start thinking of assisted technologies like IUI, IVF given that we had tried for more than 18 months now and the chance of successful conception was getting lesser and lesser.
We first thought of going to IUI but then decided to use the best technology available to maximize our chances.
Oct 2014 - IVF cycle 1
Medication Gonal-F , Orgalutron , Ovidrel
No of eggs retrieved - 7
No of embryos created - 4
1 blastocyst (5 day) transferred
Result BFN
No eggs suitable for freezing
Jan 2015 - IVF cycle 2
Medication - Gonal-F , Orgalutron , Ovidrel
No of eggs retrieved -3
No of embryos created - 1
1 three day embryo transferred
Result BFN
No eggs available for freezing
May 2015 - IVF cycle 3
Medication Menopur , Orgalutron , Ovidrel
No of eggs retrieved - 5
No of embryos created - 3
1 three day embryo transferred
Result BFN
1 5 day blastocyst was suitable for freezing
I became very depressed after the 3rd failure. It felt as if there was no point continuing. I felt my body had cheated me. I felt so incomplete and incapable (even with medical assistance).
I didnt know what to do next.
But there was some inner voice which kept telling me that if it is meant to be, it will and if not it will not.
I should keep the hope and do whatever I can to make my dream come true!
I did not want to risk my frozen embryo straight away. I wanted to give it the best possible chance.
So these are the things we did:
1. Started doing small yoga exercises (breathing, chanting om) in the morning. These made me calmer (from May)
2. I started eating baby aspirin (based on my googling) 4-5 times a week
3. I started acupuncture from last week of August (weekly session)
4. I participated in a study which was being tested on women like me who were not getting pregnant despite having no known issues. This was called endometrium scratch study.
This was done in July and Aug (basically done around 6-7 days after I ovulated in those cycles)
It is believed (not proven yet) that the scratch increases the changes of implantation in the next cycle. This also meant that we could not do our FET transfer in those cycles.
Since the scratch was being done, I also got a pathology test done (biopsy) of the cells to check for NK cells (natural killer). Again NK cells thing is still under research if an increase of such cells has an influence on fertility. The result showed normal NK cells.
5. My specialist also recommended that we investigate more before moving to the next step. So she ordered for more blood tests:
a) This showed a high ANA (antinuclear antibodies of the order of 1:2560).
However further tests on auto-immune disorders showed that there was no issue.
b) Chromosome test for my husband and me. All came out good
During the scratch study, it was found that I could be having a short luteal phase as I was ovulating around day 19 in my 28-29 day cycle. (We had to detect the ovulation days for those 2 cycles so that scratch could be done accordingly).
So the specialist recommended progesterone support for my FET cycle).
Sep/Oct 2015 My FET cycle
This was a natural FET cycle. My dear and only blastocyst was thawed and put inside me and it is now my baby 
Things that I feel could have helped me and make this cycle successful-
1. It was a frozen embryo cycle. I felt my body was much more relaxed than in previous cycles where I had some pain from the egg retrievals (3-5 days before)
2. I had a peaceful mind. I was calmer this time. I tried not to take stress about the possible outcome.
3. The baby aspirin could have helped
4. Acupuncture pre and post transfer and also the weekly sessions in September and October (took some even after transfer and even after testing positive)
5. The scratch
6. The process/equipment used during the transfer.
In my previous cycles, the transfer was done blindly. The doctor simply inserted the embryo inside me from a fine test tube. They did not check it on any ultrasound machine.
This time, an ultrasound m/c was connected, so the doctor could see where she was putting the embryo on the monitor. Even I could see!
7. Progesterone type used:
The progesterone used during cycle 1-3 was crinone (it was a vaginal gel using applicators) while the progesterone used in my successful FET cycle was progesterone suppositories. I liked the latter more and found it more convenient to apply.
8. Testing progesterone levels before my pregnancy test (beta)
After my embryo transfer, I had my blood tests after every 3-4 days to check my progesterone levels . This was done till my pregnancy blood test was done. This had not been done in previous cycles.
Either of these or a combination or better embryo could be the factors that made this cycle different from the previous ones.
I have shared my story and it will be great even if one person benefits from this. Please be positive and happy. The only thing that is in our control is not to give up hope and not be too stressed/anxious.
A stressed mind makes it all the more difficult.
Sometimes, the time is not right and so we have to wait for the right time.
It can happen and it will just keep up the faith. Best of luck to all the ladies who are trying and God be with you. Bay Dust to all !
