I am currently pregnant, the result of a long and tedious process. In my case, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 8 years ago and was told that with this condition it would be very difficult for me to get pregnant and that until this condition normalized, it was even better to avoid it at all costs.
This generated a search for options to manage this problem because when they tell you that the pill you should start taking is for life, it sounds gloomy. Also, in my case, they sent me a starting dose that turned out to be too high, and I was already moving on to hyperthyroidism. This caused me very annoying symptoms, and that is why I decided to explore natural medicine to see if I would do better on that side.
On this side, several problems were eradicated, and I felt much better. The problem was that the lab tests showed a TSH well above the normal level. So, according to these results, it was neither possible nor advisable to get pregnant. Finally, I was forced to change doctors because I left the country, and this generated a great imbalance, because I no longer felt well, and the tests were still very out of sync.
Finally, a doctor friend recommended that I go back to an endocrinologist, and so I did. As it was already known that I was sensitive to the drug, it was gradually increased until about 4 years ago when it was at a normal level. It was then that my husband and I started trying to get pregnant.
As we were in a new country, we also had to change gynecologists, and this was quite a process because some general tests were done, and since everything was fine, we were given a year to see if this could be achieved. It wasn’t achieved.
After this, I found no support from doctors to investigate what was happening, so I changed doctors, but it was worse because it was like starting over, the tests already done were not valid. Everything general was looked at again, it came back normal, and we started again with a year and so on.
This made the process very exhausting and painful, because that feeling every month when the period returns and you see that this month wasn’t it either, is very difficult to manage, frustrating, and generates some tension in the couple. Also, to a certain point, it affects sexual life because relationships become conditioned since they must be within certain days, etc…
After living this process, seeing that nothing was happening and the years were passing and the biological clock was pressing, I began to explore the world of fertility treatments and, after inquiring with a specialist and consulting, I understood that the best thing to do was to have more complete tests, which should include laparoscopy or hysterosalpingography.
In the country where I live, I could not get either of the two gynecologists to agree or recommend doing the laparoscopy, because they said that if the results of the hysterosalpingography had come out well and that if the tubes were permeable, it was not necessary to do it.
So another year passed, a three-month cycle was done taking medication to stimulate ovulation and scheduling sexual relations according to the ultrasounds that were telling us how the follicles were growing. The results were not successful.
While we were making these attempts, we continued to inquire about fertility treatments and scheduled ourselves to seek a second opinion on our next vacation with a specialist who had been highly recommended to us, as it became our priority for the year since I had just turned 37 years old.
The specialist recommended doing the laparoscopy, so that was the first thing that was done. When this was done, it was found that the fallopian tubes were very compromised and that both were very obstructed. This led to studying options, and it was determined that doing artificial insemination might not have good results because the passage through the tubes was practically impossible.
It was a painful process because although we were happy to finally have a documented diagnosis of what was happening, this generates a feeling of frustration in the woman when she confirms that the fertility problem is real. On the other hand, the viable option in these circumstances was in vitro fertilization, which we did not expect, because we believed that what we were going to do was artificial insemination. So, we had to think and make quick decisions, because since in vitro fertilization was not viable in our country of residence, we decided to take advantage and schedule the first in vitro cycle while we were away.
For this, we need a lot of support from the staff of the institution in which the medical specialist works, because there are many questions. On the one hand, it is a high investment that we were not counting on, on the other hand, doing it represented additional vacation time, and the most difficult thing is to reach the level of comfort that you understand what is going to be done to you and you overcome the fears one by one. In my case, I had never had surgery, so I was afraid of everything, and although part of the fear had already been overcome by doing the laparoscopy, anyway, when they explain the risks to you, you are afraid to subject your body to this process.
We were recommended to do the second cycle as soon as possible, so after 4 months we were trying again. For me, this time was important because it allowed me to prepare mentally and inject a large dose of positivism that everything was going to be fine.
So, since I traveled, I was in that frequency, and everything we did, such as the ovulation stimulation medicine that they give you before, was giving very good results, and everything was going very well.
When the egg extraction was done, we also did very well, and for example, my husband’s semen sample came out very well in this case. This allowed us to have better embryos and be able to count on three for the transfer.
Although there was one that did not seem to continue growing, the decision was made with the doctor to place it because it did not make much sense to freeze only one embryo. So, three embryos were transferred, this was done on the third day, that is, one day more than how we did it the first time, and since I saw them already more divided and when I saw the little light that one sees when the transfer is done, I told them that we needed them very sticky.
And no sooner said than done, after a wait that gets long but in which I was very optimistic and in which I prayed a lot and visualized myself already pregnant, after 15 days I was taking the pregnancy test and it came back positive. That call from the doctor is incredible, you can’t believe it.
Also, in my case, he told me that the level of the pregnancy hormone had come out high, so it was very likely that it was more than one baby. Anyway, I returned home to put myself in the care of the gynecologist where I live. At the beginning there was a bit of resistance to seeing that we had undergone this process, but then when they saw the laparoscopy and saw the successful result, they were more collaborative.
We had an ultrasound at six weeks and it was confirmed that there were three sacs but one did not have an embryo, the other two did. So, I was pregnant with twins. I am already 5 and a half months pregnant.
We are full and happy, my husband is fascinated. We do nothing but thank God who guided us on this path and we were making the right decisions that have allowed me to be pregnant at this time. There are still days when I wake up, look at my belly and can’t believe it.
To other couples who are going through a similar situation, on the one hand I recommend that if the woman is under 35 years old and after a year does not see results, they should consult with the specialist to see what is happening. If the woman is over 35 years old and after six months does not see results, she should consult with the specialist.
Sometimes it is difficult for us to make this decision, but the sooner the better, it greatly reduces anxiety to see that everything possible is being done to achieve a successful result. On the other hand, although it is true that we are living in an era where women, wanting to realize ourselves professionally, are leaving the issue of children for later, I wholeheartedly recommend that they do it before the age of 35.
The daily feelings of being pregnant at this moment are indescribable, it is an emotion and gratitude to life for making it possible for us to experience all these changes, at the couple level and in me as a woman that from every point of view has been worth the effort of being perseverant and having made it possible that this is our reality today.
