Finding out my diagnosis
Before coming to RFC, my husband and I had already been trying for years. We tried what felt like almost everything we could do to have a baby to call ours. We had been trying to conceive naturally, but no pregnancy ever resulted from that. So we decided to do Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). I ended up getting five IUI procedures in total, but none resulted in a pregnancy either. Our struggle with infertility was difficult for us not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. After 5 IUI attempts, we decided to take a break from trying so that we could take care of ourselves and heal from our stress and frustration.
After some time, we ultimately decided to seek medical assistance to help us understand why we weren’t getting pregnant. My primary care physician referred us to Reproductive Fertility Center to see a fertility specialist. My husband and I made sure to do lots of research on the clinic before deciding to go. Of course, we ultimately ended up at RFC where we luckily met Dr. Park.
Now that we were meeting with a fertility specialist, we were eager to get some answers. But our eagerness quickly turned into disappointment. Dr. Park ran numerous tests on both my husband and me to try to figure out why we weren’t getting pregnant. Everything looked normal; there wasn’t a problem with my husband’s sperm, my fallopian tubes weren’t blocked, and I had a high egg count. There was no clear reason as to why I shouldn’t be able to get pregnant.
Well, I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility.
I couldn’t believe we finally decided to seek some answers, but the answer we got literally could not be explained. As frustrating as it was, we decided we were not going to let this stop us from growing our family. We had Dr. Park now, and we had faith.
Going through my unexplained infertility
After doing IUI several times and being struck with no luck, Dr. Park suggested we try In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). We took Dr. Park’s recommendation and went on to do IVF. It was a difficult experience for me. I wasn’t particularly fond of having to give myself injections every day and it was unfortunate that injecting myself basically became second nature to me. But of course, it was necessary and after all, we were trying to make a baby, so I persevered.
We were able to retrieve several eggs during the retrieval. This was good news and so exciting, so we did the egg transfer right away. I was able to get pregnant after my first transfer, but my excitement quickly faded away. My first pregnancy turned into my first chemical miscarriage. I was left feeling disappointed and questioned if I was worthy of carrying a child. I couldn’t understand why I was struggling with infertility when there were so many people around me who were starting their families seemingly effortlessly.
After my first miscarriage, I desperately wanted to do another transfer right away and get back on track. But we found out that I had developed a polyp in my uterus. We weren’t going to be able to try again without getting that removed first. So, I had to wait about a month to get the polyp surgically removed, and then wait another 2 to 3 months before we could finally try again. All the waiting felt like delays and we were being delayed in achieving what we wanted so badly. It was a huge disappointment and heartbreaking. I thought we were finally getting somewhere close to parenthood.
Once the polyp was removed, as soon as we could, we did another embryo transfer. I remember feeling anxious because we were so scared that the transfer wouldn’t take and we would have to wait again. But we stayed positive and prayed that it would work, and the next thing we knew, I was pregnant!
I was finally pregnant
Even though I was finally pregnant, I was still scared. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something could go wrong and that my pregnancy wouldn’t last. So there wasn’t really a moment in my pregnancy where I felt safe and at ease. I remember around my 6th month of pregnancy I started bleeding. I was terrified and I thought I was for sure having another miscarriage. I rushed to the hospital and thankfully I was wrong. They told me I was just fine and that my baby had a good heartbeat and was still healthy.
I honestly couldn’t believe I was even pregnant. After trying for so long, everything felt so surreal. When my baby would kick in my belly, it would give me positive reinforcement and remind me that everything was okay. I think it was around one month before I had to deliver, I had a baby shower and that’s when everything started to feel very real to me.
In the end, I trusted that God had a plan for me and he gave me and my husband our beautiful daughter, who is now very real.
Faith, Support, Acupuncture
Initially, we kept our infertility struggles pretty private, as it was a difficult time for us. Struggling with something like this puts a strain on your marriage. It’s not the ideal situation. We felt like our bodies were failing us and we had to take an alternative route to family. At that time, we were also receiving a lot of pressure from people asking us when we were going to start having kids. We eventually decided to open up so people could understand that we were trying everything we could. I think infertility is something that’s not spoken about enough and it’s more common than most people think.
What got me through my difficult infertility journey was my faith, support system, and acupuncture. Going through it can feel isolating, so it’s important to have people around you for support. My husband and I joined a prayer group at church. Having our faith and supportive people around us played a big role in getting us through our journey.
What also made a big difference in my fertility journey was acupuncture. I did acupuncture for 6 months before my transfer and then continued throughout my pregnancy. It really helped me and I absolutely loved it. It made me feel physically and mentally better. It calmed my mind so I could put all my focus on becoming a mom and getting through my pregnancy. My fertility journey felt like an uphill battle the whole time and I didn’t know what could happen at any moment, so I went to acupuncture to calm my mind and keep me feeling positive.
Our little blessing
Every day I see my daughter and just think that she is such a blessing in our lives. It’s the little and simple things she does that makes 6 long years of trying worth it. I am beyond happy to finally see my husband become a father. There are no words for that, other than we’ve fallen in love all over again. When we see our daughter, it just feels like we’ve known her our whole lives.
We would like to thank Dr. Park and everyone at RFC. Dr. Park was amazing. She made our experience feel so personable and we could really tell that she cares about her patients. We’re so glad that we went through our fertility journey at RFC. Everyone was so warm and welcoming the second we walked through the front doors. I couldn’t imagine doing our journey anywhere else. My husband and I are planning on going back soon and doing it again! We still have some frozen embryos and we can’t wait for our daughter to have a sibling.
