LolaInLove's Infertility Journey

[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you so much for sharing your story with all of us!! Beautiful and I hope and pray with every fiber in my being that this time next year you are well on your way to your next baby. :hear:

[Flava]

Lola- I really hope you do get a bfp just like that! I understand IVF is just so expensive we could never do it either for sure.
I was also thinking this all could be because of the stupid belt!

[Plum3]

Lola, thankyou for sharing this with us. You are an amazingly strong woman and I truly hope that one day soon you do get to hold another little baby in your arms. xx

[LolaInLove]

Thank you so much everyone. I really could not make it without the amazing support system this site provides.

ZB, I agree, I think it fluctuates.....I just think it's been in a rather poor way for a while, obviously. I will check out the tea, I remember you talking about how you think it helped!

So, here is Plan A, B, and C.

Plan A: continue to ttc for a year. No swaying, per se, but just general good fertility practices- eating healthy, vitamins, etc. I am waiting until his folks come for a little vaca next week and go so I can start a diet. I am going to try a crash diet, but not an unhealthy one, just a very calorie-restricted one and add in some more exercise. I am trying to get this weight off me (it's 40lbs now, I got a scale for the first time in my life the other day) before summer, for one, because I refuse to stay away from water-related activities because I look like a beluga whale- which also reminds me to make a note to self to get some self-tanner because fat looks better tan. But, I think it will help my fertility be optimal to be at my body's proper BMI. Not to mention that I'm tired of being asked if I'm pregnant (I apparently carry the weight in my face and stomach of all places) and knowing that there is always a murmur of "what happened to Lola? she has gained so much weight!" And we are going to just give it our best shot for a year. Hopefully knowing that there is a Plan B and C will do that magical thing for me that it does for so many and BAM, we'll get pregnant naturally. Oh, I'm also thinking of dtd in the backseat of the car occasionally. There is apparently some magic in that also.

Plan B: we go to Czech Republic for IVF, which is top notch and affordable for us. Plus, we can stay with my good friend's mom there, so even better! Here is some info about it: Special Guest Post & Limited Time Offer: Fertility Tourism in Czech Republic | Global IVF Blog My DH is actually super excited about this prospect, because he is such the artsy-pants dude, he is all about a good reason to go live in Prague for 3 weeks. And by the way, the other reason this is so appealing is because I am a 3rd generation Czech myself, so this kinda seems fitting. My friend actually offered to come with us- her whole family and ours- as they go for 2 months in the summer to see her family and friends, so we *could* bring our girls and make it a crazy awesome experience. I'm really digging this too because I've never been there, and have been dying to go. It just fits, for many reasons.

Plan C: donor sperm. DH does not like. But it is a last resort if for some reason we can't end up going to CR for the IVF, or we end up with no money at the time, or for whatever reason. I know it will take him lots of time to warm up to that idea, but I think if we are going with Plan C, we will have been through a lot in the next year and a half, and it will be time to think last resort and look at the bigger picture of having a baby, even if it's not biologically his. He's always said he'd adopt, and this is not much different. You are adopting some cells instead of a ready-to-go kid. I know it's a bizarre thing for him to process right now, and we would certainly need to see a counselor who specializes in this sort of thing. I know he would have issues knowing it's my DNA and not his, but it is also a much more affordable option than adoption, and he would get to experience the pregnancy/childbirth thing, which I also want to experience one more time.

So, that is the plan. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I have been super stressed and on the verge of depression for a few months now, and I think it was due to not knowing what we would do if nothing worked naturally. We talked about not ttc anymore, and being baby-free people and just concentrating on our girls, but all in all, I know myself and I know that I would very much regret not doing whatever I could to have a baby with R while I could. I really think he would regret it also, and then we'd be sad middle aged people who just wanted to buy sports cars and drink martinis all day long, and although I technically would enjoy both, I'd rather have a baby right now than resign myself to being a sad drunk in a cool car.

[begonia]

Lola the CR IVF has some very cool side benefits! I think having that as a back-up plan is fantastic!

[Hobbermittens]

I am glad you started this thread, Lola. I hope it helps both you and others.

A story I want to share is about a family I knew growing up. They had 4 kids, roughly the ages of me and my siblings, all adopted, because they thought they couldn't conceive on their own. Then one day, the wife found herself pregnant! She went on to have a second surprise baby a couple years later.

[LolaInLove]

Lola the CR IVF has some very cool side benefits! I think having that as a back-up plan is fantastic!

Yep, it would be a really fun cultural trip, too! Coming home pregnant would be the best benefit though.

[LolaInLove]

I am glad you started this thread, Lola. I hope it helps both you and others.

A story I want to share is about a family I knew growing up. They had 4 kids, roughly the ages of me and my siblings, all adopted, because they thought they couldn't conceive on their own. Then one day, the wife found herself pregnant! She went on to have a second surprise baby a couple years later.

Thanks, Hobbs! I hear stories like that all of the time, so I have hope that Plan A is all we need. Love you gals, thanks for reading my long posts and being so awesome!

[LolaInLove]

I am really getting more and more exciting about this CZ thing. I got a book about travel there on Amazon, and have been loving reading this SUPER long thread on an infertility website I joined about all the ladies who have been or are there now.

It is really so insane that IVF is so expensive here in the US. I am glad we have this option available. I am kinda scared about saving up the cash for it this year, but I think it's smart to plan ahead.

On another note, OF COURSE my DH is out of town this weekend when I ovulate. Oh well, just gives me a good reason to go ahead and start this crash diet soon and not worry about 2ww. I will need to take next month off too, I guess.

[Hobbermittens]

Lola, are your inlaws able to help with travel costs and the cost of the IVF? DId you say they would help out if you needed it?