Faith, Hope, and Sorrow

I have been reading this blog for quite sometime but hiding and I have never introduced myself. I always just thought I will be pregnant next month and then will be done with this infertility thing but 21 months later and still working on it so it is about time to introduce myself......Hi, I'm Kathy Twitchell, I live in Cedar City Utah. My husband and I have been married for 3 1/2 years. We thought when we first got married that we would wait a year so I would be done with school and then have a baby. Four months later we found out that we were 3 months pregnant! I was taking the pill everyday and never missed but at the same time I really wanted to have a baby. I had served a mission and gotten married a little later and was ready to start a family so while taking the pill I was praying at the same time that somehow I would get pregnant. My husband is a couple years younger than I am and was not as anxious as I was but once he got here he was in love. Our pill baby....our miracle ...

I went to college with Jill and she linked me here a few months ago, but I haven't posted. I guess I'm in denial about that "i" word. I am 27 1/2 and have been married just over 6 1/2 years. We have an incredible daughter that turned 3 in January. We ttc for 18 months with her. At first it was just trial and error I guess, but then I started charting. I did just temp and pms symptoms at first, then later cf and cp. I also was using an otc progesterone cream. The month I finally got pg with her I was doubling the progesterone, but I don't know if that was relevant. I had a pretty easy pregnancy and delivery. Unlike many people, I wanted my kids closer to 3 years apart than 18-24 mos. We started ttc #2 a few months before DD's (dear daughter) 2nd birthday and this month marks 18 months again. I haven't done any testing & haven't done any fertility treatments. Right now I'm looking for an ob/gyn here. There are a few that are highly re...

Hello! My name is Emily. I live in Michigan and know Jen L. and Stephanie P. My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years. I have a little girl that will be 4 in July. It took us 6 months to get pregnant with her. We have always wanted a big family, so we started trying for our second before Abby was 1. So in May we will have been trying for 3 years to get pregnant. It is so weird to read some of your posts, because I feel like you are saying my feelings exactly. I have really irregular periods. My husband got a sperm count and that came back with good results. I haven't been in to see a specialist, mostly because of money and the stress. I was wondering how easy it is to get Clomid. I have been told that might work for us. But I talked with a nurse of a specialist and she made it sound like it was quite a big thing to be on it. She said usually you have to have a TSG first, and get your blood drawn and have ultrasounds. Pricing that was definitely discouraging. My husband...

I did a post a while ago on my family, I just thought I would include some pictures now. My husband,Kurt, and I have been married 5 years this July. We a beautiful daughter, Lillian, who is quickly approching the 3 1/2 mark. We TTC for just under two years and found out in Oct. we are finally expecting our second child. On Feb. 11 we discover baby's gender. My husband is in his final semester of Law School. We are in the job hunting phase - yuck! I went to a community college and currently hold an Associates Degree. I taught preschool for about three years. I "retired" to be a SAHM. Some days I miss teaching, but I wouldn't go back unless I financially had to. Lillian McKenzie: Pictures taken for her 3rd birthday! Our Family: My hot husband and daughter. (Taken at my brother's wedding)

Better late than never-it's been a busy week! Here are pictures of my little family. I think I introduced myself near the start of the blog, but for newbies who don't feel like going back to read....My husband and I will have been married for 5 years in June. We met through Institute while we were going to school. We have an adorable (if I do say so myself) daughter Skyler, who is 28 mos. old. She is the joy of my life, and I cannot even remember what life was like before her! My husband recently started his own landscaping business, and I am a nurse. I dropped to part-time when I had my daughter, but I still work two nights a week in the neonatal intensive care unit. Home with my daughter is still my favorite place to be, but thankfully (since it's necessary for me to work at least part-time) I love my job as well. Some of my other hobbies and interests include scrapbooking, reading, being outdoors, and exercising. As far as fertility issues, we ttc for about 6 mos. with o...

Here are some pictures of my family. I forget to check the blog now that it doesn't update in my google reader, I'll have to work on that. Kaden *Update: I recently started the EAGeR study, which is a study for women who have miscarried. It tests the effects of asprin in gestation and reproduction. Although kind of a pain, it has been somewhat helpful. I figure if I can get some help and also help others in the process, why not. They give you a fertility monitor to use daily (which you can purchase at several places online), it tells you if you are low, high or peak fertility. I just started my 2nd month in the study. I had myself totally convinced that I would get pregnant right away, which didn't happen. We are quickly approacing our year mark and it is getting harder each time I see that negative. Here's hoping that next month brings better results!

**I have tried and tried now to fix my pictures and they are just not working they way I wanted them to, so I am so sorry!** First of all, can I just say how beautiful everyone's families are. Such good lookin' couples, and the children - just precious. I'm so happy to put a face to the name! My husband Sam and I have been married for going on 9 years now. I am a stay at home mom and my husband is a GeoPhysicist. I've already told most of my infertility journey, but for a brief recap: we have secondary infertility. We got pregnant with our first son, Andrew, shortly after our marriage. We then tried for 2 years to have our second son, 1 year of that pretty continuously on fertility drugs or assistance of some kind. We finally got our Matthew in 2004. We then decided to try for our last baby right away, and surprisingly he only took 8 months (but 4 failed assisted cycles.) We have now been trying to have our last baby for almost a year with no luck other than a miscarria...

I've been following this blog since it started but have not yet posted. My name is abby. I've been married for 5 1/2 years. Bronson is my husband and we have a little boy named Sam who will be 3 in february. Here is my story. I miscarried before I got pregnant with sam. I was 12 weeks.. started bleeding.. went in.. no heartbeat. Got pregnant 2 months after with sam. Had a great pregnancy.. besides the first 17 weeks of throwing up. Had a great labor, but ending in a c-section. Starting trying for number 2 a year ago. figured there was no way I would miscarry again.. and didn't even think twice about having a hard time getting pregnant in the first place.. since I had gotten prego pretty easy with my first miscarriage and Sam. We tried for about 5 month and finally got pregnant. I know 5 months is not long.. but you know how long it seems when you are trying. Anyway went in for my first appointment at 12 weeks and there was no heartbeat. The fetus had died at abo...

I sometimes wonder how you guys feel about me being on this blog since I'm not currently TTC. After my miscarriage, it took 6 months to get pregnant again, which in reality is a short time, but felt like an eternity. My second was conceived without us trying. And my third took over a year. At this point, we aren't trying for #4, even though we want more. We moved to Lansing, MI in July of 07 for a general surgery residency. We love it here and were very happy. But in October, Brad was offered a position in his specialty of choice, Ear Nose and Throat surgery in Philadelphia. He's been living in Philly since October, while I wait in MI for our house to sell in a wretched economy. It has been quite insane. But when I want to complain, I think of the amazing military families enduring so much more than I could imagine. At least I can call him when I want, chat on the computer, and see him once a month. So, I'm living alone with my kids (6, 5, 2). Pregnancy just isn't a...

Hi! I'm Allie. Been ttc for about a year. We've been struggling with my doctor refusing to diagnose me because I am young in her eyes (23 in 2 weeks!) and she thinks that because I'm young, I shouldn't be worrying. Using her logic, it would seem that if I am young and have problems ovulating then it would seem to be more of a cause for worry instead of less... So we are in the process of searching for a new obgyn. I've been married for a little over a year and just celebrated our 3 year dating anniversary :) We live in Wisconsin, just moved here in February of 08, we thought it was going to just be one year but in the next week we will be at the one year mark and we are no where close to moving back to Michigan (where we're from) since there are no jobs in Michigan any more! These are my babies :) the love of my life & I on our 1 year anniversary trip :) So that's me in a nutshell. I love to quilt, crochet, knit. I am a housewife so anything having t...

I've already introduced myself a bit, but here is a picture of me and my hubby. We were married May 21, 2005 in D.C. We currently live in Ithaca, NY and are here another 3 1/2 years while Michael finishes his PhD in Chemistry at Cornell. And this is my pride and joy, Margaret! She turned 2 November 8th. And just incase you didn't get enough of her cuteness, here is another picture :) Can't wait to see your families!

I figured that I should add my own. My name is Kristina, by the way =) We got married in May 2000. I was on the birth control pill, and developed a sinus infection while on our honeymoon (a result of the snorkeling in Mexico, I believe) and was given antibiotics. The doctor told us that they could lessen the effectiveness of the pill, but we laughed. Not only did we think that was a moot point, but we also just really didn't care if we got pregnant. Well, I got pregnant with my oldest son who is now nearly 8. I thought I was sooo fertile. My periods never returned after he was born. I thought that was just because I had breastfed for awhile, but even after he weaned I still never got them back but instead had weird intermittent bleeding and painful episodes. I finally went to the doctor when my son was 8 months old, and during a vaginal exam he felt something up there. He sent me for a CT scan, and they found a rather large dermoid cyst on my left ovary. I was scheduled for surgery...

I also debated for quite a while about doing an introduction post. Here I go…I found out at my pre-marital exam that I had some physical abnormalities that could cause problems with having children. When we started trying for our first I was scared to death every month that it didn’t happen that it wouldn’t. Thankfully it only ended up taking 3 months. I was also told that I would be high risk and should plan on delivering early. I had a very healthy pregnancy and ended up having my son at 39 ½ weeks. We felt so blessed that everything had worked out so well. When we decided to start trying for our second I wrongfully thought we would have the same luck. Three months after we started trying, in July, we found out I was pregnant! We were ecstatic! About a week later I started bleeding and miscarried. The doctor told us we were okay to continue to try. Two months later I found out I was pregnant again! We were so happy, but at the same time I was scared to death. I was constantly checkin...

I actually debated quite a while about whether or not to even do a post to introduce myself. I do have one child, and haven't tried for years like some people, so sometimes it makes me feel selfish and ungrateful to complain about infertility. However, I decided that's what this blog is for, so that we can vent to other people who do understand, and who don't think it's selfish to want more kids, even if you have one already. We tried for about 6 mos. before we had our beautiful daughter, who is now two years old. Once we were finally pregnant, I was able to be grateful that it took us awhile, because I felt like it gave me more empathy for women who have difficulty conceiving. Also, I felt I would never take pregnancy for granted, or assume it would come easily. I also (falsely) assumed that I wouldn't stress out too much the next time. I would just know that it would happen eventually, and that it might take awhile. Wrong. I did okay the first few months, but when...

I come from a non-LDS family of 3 children, my husband is descended from a long line of distinguished LDS pioneers and is one of 8 children. We have one son, Richard O., who is 2 years old and who has Type 1 diabetes. Richard O. came along after we had been married 5 years. At that point people (mostly church members) had started to ask questions about our desires to have children. What they didn't know is that I have struggled mightily with my health since my college days: I have battled multiple issues with autoimmunity, depression, being underweight, and extreme stress. I was surprised when we didn't get pregnant right away after we started trying in earnest 2 years into our marriage, but at that point I couldn't face the word "infertility," so I just tried to relax about it, kept working at my job, and waited. Finally, 6 months before our 5th anniversary, I decided to chart my basal body temperature with a special thermometer. It was clear that my cycle was a ...

I married my sweet husband, Tyler, in January 2001. Our daughter, Anna, was born on December 31st, 2001. We tried for 3 months and became pregnant. No problem. We declared that we must be a fertile couple! A year after Anna was born, we began trying for baby #2. I've always wanted to have a child every 2 years. I am quite overweight and my plan was to have our children quickly. I come from a big family, as does my husband. I want 6 kids and Tyler wants 10 kids. I knew that our family wasn't complete yet and we figured it wouldn't be too difficult to have more kids. Not so. We ttc (tried to conceive) for a year with no success. I was diagnosed with PCOS and began using clomid. No success. For 3 years all I thought about was becoming pregnant. Every month I would hold my breath in anticipation to see whether or not THIS was the month we'd been waiting for. Nothing. My husband joined the Air Force and we moved to our first assignment. This location had an infertility spec...

I've had a pretty mixed bag as far as fertility goes. I got pregnant a month or two after we started trying. But 13 weeks later, I had a miscarriage 4 days before our 1 yr anniversary. I was incredibly devastated. I hadn't even considered the possibility. Plus, I was in France, so my support system was no where close to me. It ended up being a good thing though. It is what really solidified my marriage. Our first year was pretty tough, but going through this together really taught us to rely on each other first. While I hope to never have to experience another heartache like that again, I'm grateful for what it did for our relationship. It was 6 long months before I was able to get pregnant again. I was wondering if I could even get pregnant again. It was made harder by all of the pregnant people around me. At church activities, all that was ever talked about was pregnancy or babies. I left in tears after almost every meeting. I remember one time, I had tried to change the ...

Well, I guess I should be the first to go ahead and introduce myself. I am slowly starting to add authors, so please, feel free to post, vent, share info, etc. as often as you want/need. Eventually I would like to make this blog private, but since it's still in the beginning stages, it'll be public for a while. I'm Jen, and I live in beautiful Ithaca, NY with my husband and 2 year old daughter. When things weren't going quite the way we planned, as far as having more kids goes, I started school again. Not only did I feel like it was something I needed to do (pregnancy or not) but I needed something intense to help me through a semester of tests, fading dreams and depression. I must say, going back to school was not what I pictured for me, but I'm glad Heavenly Father pushed me a year ago to fill out an application for the local community college. I would have never guessed I would be in my current situation. It just goes to show that He has a plan and can see the en...