"Unexplained Infertility"

April writing...

*the following may seem like personal information, but to me...part of blogging is therapy of thought. So for me, getting the information out of my helps to encourage decisions and support.*

After a recent conversation with my RE (reproductive endocrinologist), Cory and I have officially been placed in the "unexplained infertility" category. And basically that means, they just don't know why after 2 1/2 or so years we haven't gotten pregnant. Here is some more specific reasoning taken from a website I found online:

"What is Unexplained Infertility? Unexplained fertility simply means that your health care providers cannot find any medical explanation for why you are having fertility issues. There are two groups of people who usually get diagnosed with this frustrating problem: those couples who are simply unlucky, and don't have any biological problems interfering with pregnancy; and those couples who do have a medical reason for infertility, but this reason cannot be found due to insufficient medical knowledge or technology.

How Common is Unexplained Infertility? Unexplained infertility is actually quite common. Up to 10% of couples who visit a fertility clinic for treatment receive a diagnosis of unexplained fertility.

Diagnosising Unexplained Infertility
Diagnosing unexplained infertility is by no means an easy process. It tends to be a diagnosis based on exclusion. Your Reproductive Endocrinologist will examine you and perform a variety of tests to try to determine exactly what is going on. You may be said to have unexplained fertility if:

- You are ovulating normally
- Your fallopian tubes are open and healthy
- You have no pelvic adhesions
- You do not have endometriosis"

So there you have it...we fall into that category. So what is the next step you may ask? Well, starting next cycle (say end of June) I will start take what are called 'Injectables." Basically I will be injecting some fertility meds into my stomach once daily. And about every 2-3 days I have to go in an have bloodwork and a sonogram to track my follicles progress. At the end of the medicine cycle, Cory and I will go in for an IUI. (Intra-Uterine Insemenation) My RE says the success rates for pregnancy increase greatly with an IUI instead of the more 'traditional' methods (i.e. intercourse). Now we can still do that during this process. He did mention that the chance of multiple eggs dropping are greater, so the chance of insemenating multiple eggs is there as well. (wowsers....Cory may be right about twins after all!!) In fact, my RE said he will keep me on very low doses to ensure that my follicles to not over respond to the medicine. I am not trying to be the new Jon & Kate + 8 family, that is for SURE!

So that is the next plan. And after three negative rounds of Clomid I am ready for some positive results!! Especially after helping Brittany register for baby stuff last night, it got me all excited for my own. *And Cory you will be happy to know that there are really cute twin strollers at Babies R Us! haha! :)*

So keep us in prayer!! We are eager but we are patient! We know that God has his hand on this situation and his timing is way more perfect than ours could ever be!!! In the meantime, we keep plugging along at diminishing debt and building up our home!!!