Painful TTC Journey

Hi, first of all, I’m sorry for your losses. We experienced a late loss (13.5 weeks) and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to live through. Throughout that experience we learned how common these things are but it doesn’t make that pain, grief, suffering any less valid. I hope you have a good support system around you for that. Lean on people and take the time you need to process and heal. 💕 We TTC for over two years, with one loss. We ended up working with a fertility clinic that told us my husband has low sperm and IVF was the only option. We wasted money on 4 IUIs and a bunch more testing (ex: we saw a urologist that sent him for a MRI to check for tumours on his pituitary gland, etc). Only to end up conceiving naturally for a second time, and this one has stuck around to 23+ weeks. This journey is hard. And it’s lonely. It’s living your life two weeks at a time. Spending thousands of dollars on test and strips and vitamins. It’s getting your hopes up just to get them

Crushed. It’s being afraid to live your life and go out to events with people or celebrate their milestones. It’s all of the feels and no one talks about that. I want to say it’ll get better. It has to. Just lean on your partner and keep doing what’s best for you guys as a couple. If you haven’t already sought medical/professional help that may be worth looking into too (whether it’s a fertility clinic or even just a therapist). Many many women have losses and go on to have healthy babies. 💕

Thanks Alana for sharing and I really appreciate you taking time to reply this! I'm also glad to hear about your healthy pregnancy 🙂 Yes we have 2 appointments coming up next week and then 3 weeks after, with an ob-gyn who has dealt with early recurring losses and ivf, and also at the recurrent miscarriage clinic. Hm if the fertility clinic said you both would need IVF how come you guys ended up doing the iuis instead? And after the failed iuis did you guys do anything differently that led to the natural conception? Thanks and appreciate your comments!

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I have also had two early pregnancy losses, finding out at the 8 week scan that there was no baby/it stopped growing. I also work in childcare, so it’s hard being around children from a few months old- nearly 5yrs. As well as working along side an 18 year old who’s 25weeks, first try. I pray we both get our rainbow babies 👶 🌈 x

Hi chick. Similar boat, I’m 40 this year. Have been trying since sept 2021. Partner has low motility and then later we got told low sperm count out of nowhere too! But we fell pregnant twice last year, a missed miscarriage and a chemical pregnancy. Saw a consultant privately and have had more testing. The good news is I’m now 9 weeks pregnant and all is going well so far! I’m on progesterone pessaries,blood thinning injections,higher dose folic acid and aspirin. Seems to be doing the trick,I’ve had 2 scans showing a heartbeat and healthy growth and I’m due just after my 40th birthday later this year!

@Sarah Yes indeed I pray we will have our rainbow babies soon! x All the best too with the TTC!

@Sarah Glad to hear all is going well with your pregnancy so far. It's interesting so it seems like a low sperm count doesn't really mean much as you have gotten pregnant thrice and now it's all going well. I also had a MMC and then a chemical. What were the conclusions from your testing and may I ask what amount of folic acids are you taking? I've taken progesterone the last time we had a chemical and it didn't help, but I guess the fetus wasn't growing properly so it couldnt save it. I'm taking 800mg of folic acid since March and a baby aspirin every other day alongside tons of other supplements. I heard Coq10 helps a lot too so I'm on 600mg of it now. Thanks!

I’m so sorry for your losses and what you’ve been going through ❤️ TTC is the toughest journey. I’ve had 4 early miscarriages and have had all the testing done with everything coming back normal so we were told to just keep trying. It’s the most heartbreak I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m currently 9 weeks pregnant which is the furthest I’ve ever gotten and baby is looking strong and healthy so I’m hoping this will result in a positive story!🤞 I know it’s so hard but don’t give up hope❤️ I was ready to quit but then my doctor told me about another patient that had 9 miscarriages and finally that morning she gave birth to a healthy baby. I told myself if she can keep going then I can too. It’s definitely not easy, but will be worth it one day. I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you Sarah for sharing your journey and I'm glad to hear all is going well so far with your pregnancy! Yes it has been really difficult emotionally, every time I get back on my feet, someone else makes some announcement and I'm affected again. I've already stopped looking at my Instagram for awhile to keep away from any updates. Your sharing has brought about some hope 😊 I hope all continues to go well ahead for your pregnancy!

Every time my partner goes on a diet I seem to get pregnant 😂 so weight loss must drastically affect his sperm motility. Test wise nothing has come back on my side, other than some issue with my blood which I’m not 100% sure about.It’s why I’m now on tinzaparin injections & aspirin, something to do with clotting issues.But issues with blood are also a big cause of miscarriage so that could well be why my first 2 pregnancies didn’t work out.Re progesterone, the way the consultant described it to me was that if the pregnancy is healthy,progesterone can help it to maintain and continue.But as most miscarriages are down to chromosome issues,if the baby wasn’t forming properly or there was a chromosome problem, the progesterone wouldn’t change that natural ending of the pregnancy,which I considered a good thing tbh.Have you or your partner had any testing done? COQ10 we took which I think really helped him in particular, and he also took ashwaghanda & vit C. I’m on 5mg folic acid,so a lot!

We didn’t want to pay for IVF, and where we live there’s a free IVF program (just need to wait awhile, like 1.5 years, for it). So we did the IUIs while we waited for the IVF program. Anything to give us better chances. And no we didn’t do anything differently. We got pregnant the first time naturally (after 7 cycles of trying) and this one took 11 cycles of trying with those fertility treatments. I think it’s just luck / a miracle when things line up perfectly.