"Somehow, Someway, We Would Have a Baby"

My husband and I have known each other since junior high school and have dated since high school. We have been married for four years and have been through so much together. Sometimes, I think we still see each other as we did back in junior high, but now we are parents!

I wanted to start our family right after we were married, but my husband wanted to wait awhile. After two years, we began trying to have a baby. Soon, I knew something was wrong. I was taking the ovulation predictor test and saw that I never ovulated. I tried Clomid, but still had no luck.

I didn't want to be like one of the stories I have heard about people who tried for four or five years to have a baby. I felt ready to take action now! I even said to my husband, "Let's just adopt." I was thinking that once we adopt, the pressure would be off and we would become pregnant. My husband said he wasn't ready for that yet. I knew that somehow, someway, we would end up having a baby.

In June 2000, I went to Dr. David Kallenberger at a fertility institute. The institute is in Oklahoma City, where I have lived my entire life. People come to this well-known facility from all over and I felt fortunate to have it nearby. The doctor immediately ran all kinds of tests on me, including blood testing, a cervical biopsy and an x-ray of my pelvic cavity. We learned that one of my Fallopian tubes was closed, so I had a surgery to open it up. During the surgery, the doctor also found that I had endometriosis and was able to remove it. Next, I waited (impatiently) to have a period. My surgery had been on August 23 and by September 20, I still had no period. After an injection of progesterone, my period finally started on September 30. A few days later, I began daily injections and before long had the intra-uterine fertilization (IUF).

I remember how nervous we were at first when my husband tried to give me an injection in my thigh. We anxiously looked at each other and started laughing. My friend's mother is a nurse, so we had her come to our house to show him how to give the injection. It was also helpful that I was able to call IVPCARE anytime and always spoke to someone who had answers for me. Through the course of several days of injections, I had three vaginal ultrasounds to make sure I was not experiencing hyperstimulation. After the last ultrasound, I was told everything looked great. The IUF was scheduled and 12 hours before that, I had an injection of Novarel to release the egg. The IUF was really so simple. My husband gave a sample and I had the procedure.

Waiting two weeks was the hard part! On October 26, a friend of mine came with me to the doctor's office where I had my blood drawn and had to wait an hour. The nurse said to me, "Are you sitting down? You are so pregnant!" I went home and was hoping to surprise my husband, but he knows me too well. As soon as he walked in the door and looked at me, he knew. We drove to my parents' house and then his parents' house to share the good news. I was so excited that I was ready to tell anybody who walked in front of me!

The pregnancy, labor and delivery all went smoothly. I had a midwife and delivered the baby at home. Our son was born on July 15, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. Ben is a wonderful baby and has been sleeping through the night since four and a half weeks old. I guess when some things are hard, other things come more easily!

In the future, we will have another baby and won't wait too long to try. For anyone else in my shoes, I encourage you to educate yourself and ask your doctor lots of questions. Also, ignore discouraging people who tell you to just "sit and wait." That is easy for people to say who already have their own child or who do not want one. Those people may not realize such advice can be hurtful. I also feel that with the technology now, there is no need to struggle and wait for years and years to have a baby. The IUF isn't the most romantic way to conceive a baby, but that is not important to me...having the baby is what is important.