Say when.

October 21, 2010.

I had put together a luncheon event for about ninety people, but my 3:30 appointment with the RE was really all I could think about.  I knew that the chances of him saying that all was well were pretty slim, but I really wanted to hear the words, "let's move forward with an IUI."  Intra-uterine insemination isn't the sexiest way of getting pregnant, but it's a lot less expensive than IVF, and it would mean that my husband's swimmers were performing well.

We got to the doctor's office, and we were seated in a small room with a table and four chairs.  Shortly thereafter, we were joined by a young man (resident? intern?) who started going over some of my results with me, but he couldn't answer any of my questions, and I quickly got impatient and annoyed.  This is my FERTILITY we're talking about - don't you think you could brief yourself on the basics before coming in to chat?  He dashed back out of the room, and Jared raised his eyebrows at me - apparently I should have been nicer to the kid.

Then the RE came in.  I like him because he's direct and doesn't sugar coat things.  This is also why I don't like him.

Our results:

My Estradiol = 69.5 (I don't know what this is, but it should be under 75, so we're okay.). 

My FSH = 7.8 (WOO HOO!  Yes, I'm aware that you shouldn't be over 7.0, but compared to my previous month's level of 11.2, 7.8 was FANTASTIC.)

My Antral Follicle Count = 17 (This was determined during the vaginal ultrasound.  They counted the number of follicles that were maturing that month.  If we were to pursue fertility treatments, the more maturing follicles to extract, the better.  17 is pretty darn good.)

Jared's Sperm Count = 4 million sperm/milliliter
Normal Sperm Count = 15-20 million sperm/milliliter.

The RE immediately told us that he wouldn't recommend IUI.  Why would we want to spend $2-3,000 on a procedure that still relies on Jared's sperm to do a lot of the heavy lifting?  They're not performing as they should, and they could use some help.

His recommendation?  IVF.  With ICSI (a process by which they directly implant the sperm into the egg).  ASAP.  To the tune of $12-15,000.

We decided that we weren't going to decide anything right now.  We would at least wait until the first of the year to figure out what we were going to do.  We don't have that kind of money, so if we were to try this sooner rather than later, we would have to borrow money from our parents.

The first of the year came and went.  Our parents have offered to help, but my struggle with that is another post in itself.  It's been seven and a half months since we were at the doctor's office at Emory, and we just keep trying.  There are so many miracle stories out there, and I keep hoping that one of these months, it will be my turn for a miracle.