The beginning: trying and trying

The process of trying to conceive, learning about my unicornuate uterus, and all the rest of it has been stressful and frustrating. I've gotten tremendous comfort and support through reading the experiences of and becoming online friends with other women who have this condition and are going through the same things -- some of whom have successfully had multiple children! This blog is to journal my own experiences and share them with others who might get that same kind of comfort from me.

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I guess the best thing I can do is start at the beginning -- of the baby-making process, at least. I went off birth control in February 2009, and we started trying to conceive in the spring of 2009. It started off relaxed enough -- not charting or monitoring anything. After a couple of months of that, with no luck, I started charting my cycles. Things looked good to me, and our timing seemed good -- but still no luck. After a month or two of that, I started using OPKs in conjunction with the charting to make sure I was actually ovulating. Again, nada.

In the midst of all of this, my dad was diagnosed with cancer in July and passed away in December, 2009. It was fast, somewhat unexpected, and incredibly, ridiculously stressful and emotional. I was very close to my dad and everything that he went through was very hard on our entire family. In addition to my normal levels of stress with being a doctoral candidate and trying to do my research, working, and teaching, I figured the added stress of my dad's illness and passing had something to do with our inability to conceive -- and, of course, trying took a backseat during that horrible time.

However, in April 2010, after continuing to try without any luck, we decided to undergo fertility testing to see if something was wrong. I just had a gut feeling that something was off, given my good charts, OPKs, and timing. Luckily, my regular gynecologist, who I've gone to for years, happens to be a reproductive endocrinologist with one of the best teams in Florida. This meant getting in to see him within a week of my phone call, which would not have happened otherwise.

Soon to be continued... :)