A Success Story of One Woman's Journey Through Infertility Treatments

Ever since I can remember, I've never had normal periods. I've never been a woman that could time the arrival of her period to the day. Throughout my high school years I remember summers when I had my period for several months straight, and then years when I didn't have my period at all.

To solve these problems, my doctor put me on birth control pills. I was one of the lucky ones on birth control. They seemed to work well for me, and I had minimal side affects. Birth control seemed like the right answer for me, that is until I met my future husband.

Once I was married, I knew it was time to talk to my doctor about pregnancy options. I knew I had to start early. I knew it could be difficult, just based on my past history. The doctors were puzzled by me. They ran several panels of blood work, I had tubal scans, I had my ovaries checked, I had ultrasound's, and my future husband had tests. My doctor didn't seem to know what to do, and I was frustrated with the relationship I had with my doctor, so I decided to get a second opinion at another hospital that had a department specific to fertility treatments.

The switch made a night-and-day difference. I was treated with more care, with more sincerity, and gained a new respect for doctors and fertility nurses. Without even running any tests, they determined by the tests that I had in the past, that I most likely had a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is commonly a genetic disorder that causes infertility due to hormone imbalance and insulin resistance. I was really doubtful that I had PCOS because they seemed to be able to diagnose me quickly. After a few months of medications including metformin and clomid, I was able to produce a cycle.

I was thrilled! We ran ultrasounds and I was ovulating! We tried cycle-after-cycle without success. I had other tests to see if I had any blockage, and we started to get frustrated after a couple years of treatment. The stress of it all was getting to us, and we were beginning to have doubts. Were children and option for us?

My OBGYN at the time had me speak to a fertility specialist for a phone consultation in another city. He gave a few suggestions, looking at my history, but concluded by saying that I may need to think seriously about in-vitro fertilization or having a baby may not be in my future. I was shocked. I couldn't believe that he giving up on us. Although in-vitro isn't an end, it is very expensive and wasn't something we could afford at the time.

I was disheartened. My husband and I decided to take a few months off from thinking about it all. We decided to take a trip together, and forget about having a baby. We needed a vacation from it all. And just like that, I was pregnant!

I'm convinced that with our faith, and vacation from the stresses of the treatment, or timings, that we were able to make things happen on our own. We were elated. I had no idea I was pregnant when I found out, and still remember the day as though it happened yesterday.

We gave birth to our baby in June of 2008. She's our miracle. We are going to think about treatment to see if a second baby is in our future, but we feel so wonderful knowing that we were able to have the baby of our dreams. If a second baby is in our future it will happen, if not, we have our miracle.

The reason I wanted to publish this article is to inspire other women to stay strong and keep moving forward. Although it feels impossible sometimes, it can and has been done by other women. Have faith, remember to love each other, and the rest will work itself out in one way or the other.