February 2007 – Met J, fell in love instantly
March 2008 – Stopped BC
July 2010 – Married!
December 2010 – Started “trying”
January 2012 – First appointment at fertility clinic, diagnosis: PCOS
January 2012 – First cycle of Clomid. Thyroid levels come back slightly elevated (2.8). Start Synthroid (0.025 mg).
February 2nd – HSG–CLEAR!! Wa hoo!
February 7th – First trigger shot (Ovidrel)
February 8th – First IUI
February 9th – Began progesterone suppositories
February 21st – BFN. Insert string of curse words right here.
February 26th – Second round of cycle monitoring begins…now. Can’t wait.
February 26th – Start Metformin (1/2 pill)
February 27th – Start second cycle of Clomid (2 pills/day)
March 9th – Trigger shot (Ovidrel)
March 10th – IUI
March 11th – IUI, progesterone suppositories start
March 12th – First day at full dosage of Metformin (3 pills/day)
March 23rd – BFN. Losing hope quickly.
March 28th – Start third cycle of Clomid (2 pills/day), start daily regimen of baby aspirin
April 3rd – Start co-enzyme Q10, chelidonium, myo-inositol, and melatonin on direction of naturopath. Stop prenatal vitamins in favor of regular multivitamin on direction of naturopath.
April 12th – Trigger shot (Ovidrel)
April 13th – IUI
April 14th – IUI, progesterone suppositories start
April 26th – BFN. Adios, progesterone. Hola tears and Kleenex.
April 30th – Switching things up with Femara this month. 5mg/day. Bumped up the laparoscopy waiting list.
May 27th – BFN. Starting to wonder if pregnancy tests actually CAN show anything except negatives. Weird pain on left side.
June 2nd – Femara begins for this cycle with a bump in dosage: 3 pills instead of 2 (7.5mg?).
Later in June – BFN.
July 10th – Laparoscopic surgery. Results reveal endometriosis (mild), and a blocked left tube. Endo removed, tube opened, though no promise of functionality.
August – First IUI cycle on injectables (Puregon). Cycle results in BFN, but ovulated on my own.
September – Second injectable IUI cycle. Hydrosalpinx detected on left tube. Second laparoscopy booked for December. Cycle results in BFN.
October – Review appointment with RE to review what we’ve done so far and where we should go. IVF recommended, but not until after laparoscopy. Rest cycle.
November – Second laparoscopy seals left tube, clears up some more endo. Begin birth control in anticipation of upcoming IVF cycle. Start short protocol stims cycle with Puregon, Orgalutron, and Repronex.
December 3rd – Egg retrieval. 23 eggs retrieved. 13 fertilized: 11 via ICSI, 12 via natural insemination.
December 6th – Day 3 transfer. Fertilization results not stellar, so the best two eggs are transferred. Both naturally fertilized.
December 10th – Surprising results from lab: 4 eggs made it to blastocyst stage, and have been frozen. 3 were 5-day blasts, and 1 was 6-day.
December 17th: POAS. BFP. OMG!
December 20th: First beta. 217.
December 22nd: Second beta. 522.
December 27th: Third beta. 3641. Done with betas.
January 8th: 7-week ultrasound at 7w1d. 2 heartbeats, 2 sacs. Babies measuring 7 weeks 1 day, heartbeats at 121 and 130.
January 15th: 8-week ultrasound at 8w1d. Babies measuring 8 weeks 1 day, heartbeats at 140 and 150.
January 28th: 10-week ultrasound at 10w. Babies measuring 10 weeks, heartbeats at 171 and 180.
January 31st: Major bleed. Subchorionic hematoma is the cause, though very small. Babies still doing great, and have grown since Monday’s ultrasound. Mum, on the other hand, is recovering from a terrifying day.
February 4th: Stop Estrace pills (x2 daily) and Progesterone suppositories (x4 daily).
February 12th: NT scan at 12w1d. Official “graduation” from fertility clinic. Released to regular OB/GYN.
February 26th: First OB/GYN appointment. Cried in waiting room. Obviously.
March 27th: Anatomic scan at 18 weeks. First ultrasound outside of the fertility clinic. Will have to wait a week for results at OB/GYN appointment.
April 4th: OB/GYN appointment. Anatomy scan results are great! Both babies are doing great and growing nicely.
April 18th: Growth ultrasound. Tech freaks me out by saying she needs to show something to the doctor. Have to wait 2 weeks to find out results. Awesome.
May 1st: OB/GYN appointment. Echogenic bowel found in Twin B. Doctor not at all concerned, but sending me for high resolution ultrasound at the hospital the next day.
May 2nd: High resolution ultrasound with perinatologist. Echogenic bowel still present in Twin B, no sign of right kidney in Twin B. Blood work for cystic fibrosis and infections done. Pants shitting and hysterical crying begin.
The Family Van 
Fingers crossed for your recent IUI :)) xoxo
Hi there, I was just wondering if you had any updates on baby b’s condition? Our baby has just been diagnosed with both a missing left kidney and echogenic bowel. We are still waiting on test results but obviously can’t stop worrying about the outcome. I would love to hear how your baby is doing.
Hi Louise,
First, congrats on your pregnancy! I’m sorry you’re going through the echogenic bowel nightmare. In our case, everything turned out to be absolutely fine. Baby B is here and he’s perfect. No issues at all with his bowels–the kid is pooping like a champ!
As for the kidney, they actually located the second one in a subsequent ultrasound, but thought it was ectopic (in a weird spot). Do you know if you’re having a girl or boy? We were told that missing or ectopic kidneys are more problematic for girls, as it can suggest uterine abnormalities as well. It’s much more common with boys, though, and not really a worry. In our case, Baby B had an ultrasound the second day he was born and they found the second kidney in great working order, and just slightly off in terms of location.
The paediatrician who saw us in the hospital after the boys were born actually rolled his eyes when I told him about the echogenic bowel. He says people keep getting diagnosed with this, causing unnecessary worry.
I won’t tell you not to worry, because I did right up until I saw that they were both healthy. Try not to let it overtake your pregnancy, though. It’s such a great time, and goes by too fast.
Good luck!y