IUI: Round Two

After waiting two VERY long weeks, on the night before I was supposed to take a pregnancy test, I started spotting. Aaron and I both tried to hold on to what little bit of hope we had left and decided we'd still test the next morning, just to be sure. Of course, when I finally worked up the nerve to put myself through the torture of taking a pregnancy test, we got nothing more than a big, fat negative.

I emailed my doctor to let her know and a nurse responded with her deepest apologies and told us to let them know if we wanted to do another treatment cycle. The whole process was so draining, mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally, that we decided to take a few months just to pray and give ourselves a break.
Being human, those months were so hard for me. It's one of the most difficult things to take your hands off of a situation completely and wholeheartedly give it to God. I guess I'm a slight control freak and I like to feel like I'm trying everything I can to move forward. In reality, there was nothing we could've done to better ourselves those months more than praying and trusting that in God's time, it would work out.

One afternoon, someone I had never met but my husband knew had seen our posts about our first IUI and messaged me. She told me that they had purchased a trigger shot (which costs $100) and just found out they were pregnant and couldn't use it. She said she wanted us to have it so it didn't go to waste. This sweet, sweet girl gave us the injection at no cost. *CUE THE WATERWORKS* It was truly one of the kindest gestures and such a blessing to us.
The injection sat in our fridge for a couple months as we decided what path we were going to take. After a lot of back and forth, we decided to go ahead with a second round of IUI since we had that injection and other forms of treatment are so expensive. We agreed that this would be our last attempt at treatment for a while as we plan to pursue some goals in other areas of our life.

Most of our IUI process this round has been nothing but a nightmare. When I tried to schedule my first appointment for the cycle, my doctor was completely booked so they told me I would be seeing a new doctor at their practice. That sent my anxiety through the roof right from the get-go. (Luckily, she turned out to be very nice and I didn't mind seeing her at all but at the time, it was a lot for me to process.) At my baseline ultrasound appointment, we found out that I had a cyst and we couldn't start the medications we needed because it would cause the cyst to grow. We then had to book another appointment five weeks out to see if that cyst was gone.
So, five weeks later we went back and my cyst had not gone away but had gotten smaller so the doctor gave us the okay to start our second round of Clomid. After my five days of meds, I went back for another ultrasound to see how many follicles had grown and what do ya know, my body wasn't responding to the medicine like it should've been. My doctor then put me on five days of Letrozole at a higher dose than I had taken the first time, calling it the "fast track." I was told that if I didn't have any follicles growing when I returned the following week, we would have to stop all treatment and give my ovaries a break for a few weeks. If there was growth when we returned, then we could schedule the IUI.

I am a firm believer that God's timing is absolutely perfect and I had to remind myself of that as I went in for my follow-up ultrasound. Although it took us a few extra appointments, a little more medication, and double the money, we finally got some good news. I have two follicles that are more than ready and my doctor instructed me to give myself the trigger shot when I got home from work.

So, the injection has been given and the rest of the night will be spent anxiously awaiting the morning with all sorts of emotions. Bright and early, tomorrow morning, we will tackle IUI: Round Two.