Up to speed

Let me catch you all up to speed. I was going to kind of back track and fill you in on all the details of everything I've felt for the last few months, but I think I will just tell you the facts and then I may go back and fill in the details later (maybe!) This way I can post current updates and current feelings.

Just to let you know, Heath and I have decided to be very open with our journey so you're going to get the nitty gritty of it all!

September- We had been trying for about 13 months at this point. For the most part doctors tell you not to come in for fertility stuff until you have been trying for at least a year. So in Sept. I made an appt. with my OB/GYN. The first thing she did was order a semen analysis for Heath and she also put me on Clomid to make sure I could ovulate. My ovulation test came back fine. The semen analysis on the other hand did not come back fine. Heath has a low sperm count and very little motility (movement of the sperm). On a side note, I have never said the word semen or sperm as much as I have in the last two months!
The next step was for him to go see a urologist to see if there was something physically wrong. Thankfully there was nothing physically wrong. So the next step was another semen analysis and some blood work. We did another semen analysis to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke-it wasn't. Also, his blood work (at this point) came back normal. So we were referred to a fertility specialist in Indianapolis.

October- We went to the fertility specialist and honestly it wasn't what we were hoping for. We were under the impression that there was some type of medicine that could help improve the sperm count-we were wrong. Basically the doctor wanted to re-do all the tests we had already done here. We were less than thrilled about that idea. We did redo the blood test because apparently there are 6 things to check for in the blood and our doctor in Lafayette only checked for 3.
At this point our doctor told us if the blood tests came back normal then there was nothing he could do and our only option was Artificial Insemination or In-Vetero Fertilization. You can imagine our shock. We thought we were going to get a prescription and some helpful advice and we find out that potentially our only option was AI or in-vetero. After the doctor's appointment, Heath and I just sat in the car and cried for a long, long time. Both of those procedures are pretty expensive, not covered by health insurance and not super successful (a 10% chance of pregnancy with AI and a 40% chance with in-vetero). It was so discouraging for us.

November- It was actually late October we got a call from the doctor and said some of the blood work came back abnormal. It's the only time in your life (probably) that you want a test to come back abnormal! Heath's testosterone and estradiol are very low. The doctor said usually that means something is going on with the pituitary gland. So this past Tuesday Heath had a MRI to look at his pituitary gland and as I type is on his way to our fertility doctor to get the results and get treatment options.

So, we will go from here. We have no idea what our future holds, but we trust in a God who does. And again, we will follow Him wherever He leads our journey.