Hello,
When I first starting posting here in 2004 I had just had a heterotopic pregnancy (one in the uterus, one in the tube - neither viable) and had previously had a miscarriage as well. I received a lot of support and understanding here that I could get from nowhere else in my life, and to this day I am extremely thankful. I thought at the time it was just a matter of recovering from the ectopic and then trying again and like magic that much awaited baby would appear. I had no idea what kind of ride I would be put through.
In the two years that followed I found out that my left tube was completely damaged (it wasn’t removed when I had my EP), leaking fluid and actually preventing me from getting pregnant. I also found out that I had a septate uterus which needed to be repaired. And then the hard realization that DH and I could no longer get pregnant on our own. I had a total of four surgeries to ligate the damaged tube and fix my uterus, and then had to start fertility treatments to get pregnant. In early 2006, two years after the EP, I was finally pregnant again via IUI and Clomid - only to have that end in miscarriage. I was heartbroken. We kept trying and soon realized that our only option left was IVF. We went for it and were lucky that it worked on the first try. I was successfully pregnant in January 2007 and our beautiful son Dashiell was born in October of that year.
We repeated IVF (FET) in late 2008 and were once again lucky enough to have it work on the first try. And this time, both of the two embryos transferred actually took. I was in shock. I went on to have a horrendous pregnancy which included five months of hyperemesis (extreme nausea and vomiting), three months on STRICT bedrest (most depressing time of my life, second only to the EP recovery), gestational diabetes, and back pain so bad that only morphine would help. I held out until 34 weeks and then our twin sons, Rhett and Callum, entered this world. They were in the NICU for 19 days before we brought them home.
I can honestly say that since the day we brought our twins home life has been totally amazing. Our family is complete and we will never again have to endure what we did for about four years before we had our first child. Of course now I am too busy to sit and think about the past, but occasionally I do reflect on what we went through to get here. Many - actually most - of my friends have had babies with no issues whatsoever and I start to understand how unique our situation is and what miracles our sons truly are. Except for the extraordinary women on this site, I don’t know if many others can appreciate their kids in the way that I do.
I was so miserable when I was going through my trials and tribulations, but in the end I know it was something I had to go through to get to where I am today.
My son Dashiell is almost four and my twins just turned two. They are the light of my life and everyday remind me of how lucky I am, three times over. Life is very different today than it was five years ago. I live in a happy chaos and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I am forever indebted to this wonderful site and especially to Izzie (are you still here??) who was always so prompt about answering my questions about anything.
With much gratitude,
Patricia (aka Carys)