With so many women struggling to conceive, I eagerly accepted an invitation from Astroglide TTC Trying to Conceive™ to share my own struggles and successes with becoming pregnant with my readers. Even though my challenges may not be nearly as tough as what some of you have faced, I think if we all open up a dialogue to help those who are having a tough time conceiving, it can lend some hope! I’d encourage any of you who are reading this to share your own story in the comments section if you think it may lend some encouragement to someone else.
My own experience with trying to conceive started in April of 2006 when I was just shy of 29. My husband and I had been married for 7 years and both felt it was finally time to start a family. I was elated to find out I was pregnant in the very first month I went off the pill! Sadly, that pregnancy ended in miscarriage and a D&C at about 10 weeks. I was devastated but hopeful that I would get pregnant again soon. Unfortunately, my body didn’t have the same plan. As was normal procedure, I had my HCG levels checked after the miscarriage and wouldn’t be able to start trying again until they were back to baseline levels. After nearly 2 months of continuously elevated HCG, an ultrasound was done and my doctor discovered this miscarriage was incomplete and that I would need another D&C. It wasn’t until 2 months after this procedure, in October 2006, that I was finally given the green light to try again to conceive.
I naively assumed that I would get pregnant quickly again the second time around. Boy was I mistaken. October, November and December passed without a positive pregnancy test. I started learning about taking my basal temperature, about charting, and was active in many online “trying to conceive after a loss” groups. Another 4 months pass with still no success. It’s now April 2007 and it’s been a year since I found out I was pregnant the first time. Defeated and exhausted from obsessing about getting pregnant, I decided I needed a break. My 30th birthday was on the horizon and I decided a trip to Italy was in order. My husband and I could decompress from the stress of not getting pregnant and enjoy a week of wine tasting around Tuscany. I figured I definitely didn’t want to be pregnant for this trip, so I put an active stop on the process. I nearly avoided my poor husband altogether! I planned out our entire trip and was just shy of booking when I realized my period was a few days late. I took a pregnancy test and then took another one, and I think maybe even a third one before I realized, I really am pregnant again! But wait, we stopped trying, how did this happen?!
We still joke that our son Austin was a product of immaculate conception, but in reality, I think taking away the stress of “trying” to get pregnant is what worked to actually get me pregnant! So, the trip to Italy was off and I would instead spend my 30th birthday pregnant, with almost the same exact due date as my first pregnancy. I hit some rough patches early on, some issues here and there that made me think I was for sure miscarrying again. Once he started kicking, if I didn’t feel him for a few hours I would fear the worst. I think after you miscarry, you experience a whole different type of pregnancy. It’s filled with fear and anxiety that the same thing will happen again. For me, luckily, it didn’t. The only oddity of this pregnancy was that at 16 weeks, this baby was a girl. The 4D ultrasound tech was “100% sure”. However, 4 weeks later at my routine 20w ultrasound, we realized she was in fact a he! That emotional roller coaster is enough for a whole different blog post, but I had to keep reminding myself that a healthy baby is all I needed! We welcomed baby Austin into the world 12 days early in January 2008. He was the picture of perfection and worth every struggle I had endured to have him.
Fast forward a bit to late 2011 and my now 3 1/2 year old son had asked Santa for a baby sister for Christmas. I thought “great, now he’ll never trust in Santa again for not delivering on this request!” Days later, I found out I was pregnant! This pregnancy was no walk in the park for me either. I spent Thanksgiving in urgent care with heavy bleeding, sure that I was suffering another loss. I actually mourned the loss over the weekend after Thanksgiving and went in Monday to confirm my HCG levels had dropped but they had in fact tripled as they should have in a healthy pregnancy. I was shocked and delighted. In just a few weeks I could tell my son that Santa decided to give him a sibling! Several months later, we found out it was in fact a baby sister! Santa delivered, albeit 7 months after Christmas! I will admit, I had like 5 ultrasounds to just make super duper sure it was a girl after the mixup with my son! Audrey was born in July 2012, just 2 days before my 35th birthday, and my son finally had his Christmas wish.
I share my story in hopes of encouraging any woman who has suffered a loss, or who is even struggling to conceive the first time. Nature doesn’t always have the same plan we do. There are also many great resources available now like online calendars, support groups and products like Astroglide TTC™ that help to give you the best chances possible of conceiving. Astroglide TTC™ is a specially formulated lubricant for couples who are trying to conceive. It supports fertility with adjusted pH levels, compatible osmolality and a consistency similar to your body’s cervical mucus. Best of all, Astroglide TTC™ has a retail price of just $12.99, the best value compared to any competitor, and comes in pre-filled applicators so it is easy to use and less messy because you don’t have to fill them yourself! If this product was around when I was struggling to conceive, I most definitely would have given it a try!
Astroglide TTC™ sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine
