Hi everyone,

I've been checking in at this board for a couple of weeks now. I am hoping to find out who is actively a part of our online community here and hoped we could start a "getting to know you" thread so we can get to know each other better and know where each other stands in our path toward parenthood. Here is my story:

I am 28 and live in southwestern NH with my partner of almost 2 1/2 years. We both share the same first name (Michelle - my partner spells hers with just one "L"). In October we had a committment ceremony with 80 friends and family members in attendance. It was absolutely the best day of my life.

Michele and I both have a strong desire to become parents. We made our first attempt in December and although we had a strong sense that I was pregnant, it turned out that I was not. I guess it was psychosomatic or something Anyway, we tried again this month and I am on day 26 of my cycle. This month I don't feel any signs of being pregnant, but I am holding onto every thread of hope.

We have been inseminating at home, but we are considering IUI at a physician's office if we aren't successful by our third cycle. We are using an anonymous donor through California Cryobank and have found them to be great to work with. My cycle varies between 27 - 29 days. We decided I would be the one to get pregnant due to my cycle and the fact that my partner only menstruates 3 - 4 times a year.

One of the things I am having the hardest time with is keeping things quiet. My partner doesn't want our families or anyone else to know we are trying because she doesn't want them to go through all the ups and downs. For me this is hard because I am someone who needs to talk things through, but I can understand her caution. Another thing that has been difficult is that my older sister is currently pregnant (almost 6 months) with her first child. She got pregnant without even trying and while I am thrilled for her I would be lying if I didn't say I was insanely jealous and at times can't even deal with talking about babies with her. I know that is selfish, but it is so hard...

Well enough about me, I want to hear about all of you! I hope we can ge this board a lot more active because honestly, I need you guys! I don't know anyone who has gone through insemination before and just seeing a new post here every once in a while makes me feel like I'm not alone.

Hope to learn about you all soon!
Michelle

Hi Michelle. It's nice to meet you. My name is Kim and my partner Inger and I have been together for over 8 years. We had a commitment ceremony on May 15, 1999 and we began our quest for starting a family back in October. I graduated from college (for the 2nd time) back in May and I'm a physical therapist assistant. I was just made director of our facility back in November, so now I have that responsibility as well. I will be 36 in April and Inger will be 40 in October. We always thought I would be the one to get pregnant for a couple of reasons: 1) I've always wanted to be pregnant and 2) because Inger is older than I and she really hasn't had the "pregnancy fever" like I have. But we both want to be mommies more than anything. We had our first insemination in October and I got my first BFN. We inseminated again in November and I could've sworn I was pregnant, mainly be/c I had 5 or 6 symptoms that my mind couldn't control. I was three days late for AF, then she came. My M.D. thought it was possible that I was chemically pregnant (apparently, the egg just didn't develop after the spermy got through). Anyways, Inger and I decided to have a HSG to make sure everything was flowing smoothly. Turns out, I possibly have a unicornuate uterus (see my thread titled "Bad News") . I'm having a laporoscopy this coming Friday to unblock a tube and take a closer look at my uterus. Fortunately, Inger's desire to be a mom is alot stronger than I thought because she is willing to get pregnant if I can't.

We have been doing IUI and we also use California Cryobank. They are fantastic there and a lot of different donors to choose from. We were looking for a 1/2 black donor because Inger is 1/2 black, along with some American Indian and English. She's the one sitting in the chair with our niece and nephew sitting on her lap in our signature photo.

Michelle, I'm like you and told everybody that we were inseminating be/c I wanted all of my close peeps involved with our journey. It is hard when everybody knows be/c they want to know how everything is going, but when we get a negative test, it's hard on them too be/c they are so supportive and excited for us to become moms. I guess that's our story for now, which could possibly change directions after my surgery on Friday. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the radiologist made a mistake with his diagnosis. I've been crying alot for the possibility of not being able to get pregnant and carry to term, but also for the possibility of us not becoming moms. It's really hard to keep positive, but I'm trying. Anyways, it was nice meeting you and I wish you and your partner all of the best of luck and lots of baby dust in your quest to become parents. Take care.
Kim

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Kim 38 The one getting knocked up

Inger 42 The one who's knocking me up

Cycle #1
Cycle #2

Kim - Just wanted to say good luck tomorrow. I am thinking of you and Inger and sending positive energy and lots of prayers your way.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,
My name is Stacy. I will be 36 next month and my partner Amber will be 24 next month as well. We have been together for a year now and although it hasn't been THAT long, we have been planning on getting married sometime this year. Amber has a 3 year old daughter that we are raising together. We want to add to our family and we have been planning that I will be the one to carry our next child, due to the fact that one, she has already done it, and two, if I am going to have a child, I need to do it now. We first attempted back in July with a known donor who we thought was a very good friend of ours. That attempt did not work and we were all set to try the next month when he and his boyfriend just disappeared. There are other circumstances to go along with that, but that is enough to share at this point. It was ok with us really, because he wasn't our first choice anyway. In November, my first choice for donor agreed to donate. We had our first attempt in December. We tried again almost 2 weeks ago and I am currently on CD 25. My cycles have been very regular for the last few months at 28 days. AF is due to arrive on Tuesday. Of course, the welcome mat is not out. I have been keeping track of my monthly cycles for the past 10 months or so, but not indepth as far as charting and such. This last attempt we used an OPK and I started charting at the beginning of my cycle this month. We are seriously hoping this works, as our donor will be moving 2-3 hours away next month after my next insemination attempt, so we are feeling the pressure. If it doesn't work this time or next, his moving will make things more difficult to plan. So, that is pretty much where we stand at this moment. If we have to, we will use a sperm bank later down the line. And we do have a backup plan to have Amber carry our baby if it becomes too difficult for me to get pregnant. In the meantime, I just try to stay calm and not think about it all too much. I spent a lot of time obsessing and researching before we started trying. If it is meant to be, it will be. Lots of Baby Dust to everyone. And Kim, I hope things went well for you today.

Hi everyone!!

I am so happy that people have found this board!! I wanted to keep it going so we could all have a place to go for questions and support... It has been nuts lately but I am glad others are keeping the posts going!

My history... My partner and I have been together for 7 years in February!! We had a baby 1 year ago . She has been the joy of our lives... we really can't remember a time without her!

I started by starting to take prenatal vitamins and temping religiously every morning... I got to know my body really well and understood all the signs... That was in November of 2002... In March of 2003 I had my first insemination. I did 2 inseminations per cycle. With the charting I realized I O'd on the 14-16 day of each month. So I planned the inseminations for the 12th and 14th day of my cycle. It didn't work the first cycle... and then on the 2nd cycle... I got preganant! I felt truely blessed that it happened so quickly...We did at home inseminations.

I am not currently trying... we hope to enjoy Lilliana for a few years before adding another to the mix... but if the cards show taht she will be our only one... we are going to be fine with that... she is truely the happiest outgoing easygoing baby... so we are extremely happy!

I hope all of you have the same success or experience I do... and know that I am here if anyone wants to PM me or email me... I would be more than happy to talk!!

Keep positive and ++++++ vibes for all!!

Chloe

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HI I am new to all this, so forgive me if I do it wrong. My name is Bay, my wife's name is Jo. I have been trying to get pregnant since May of '04. I have PCOS and we missed trying in October '04 because a 5.4 cm cyst on my left ovary interfered with ovulation. The cyst has resolved (yay herbs -- let me know if you want a recipe for an amazing tea that supports ovarian/uterine health), but my ovulation is still somewhat affected, I can't tell as clearly when I ovulate, and think I ovulated very early this cycle... I am super-frustrated with OPK's, have never gotten a strong positive reading, possibly due to my PCOS ?
We are trying with a known donor, one of my oldest friends, and doing at-home insemination. Since I have been trying for 8 months with no success so far, my doctor is willing to step up to the next level and do some more aggressive testing soon -- androgen levels, progesterone levels ?

I am hoping for feedback on OPK use with PCOS, and any info people have on IUI -- cost, effectiveness, etc. We don't want to go as far as IVF, but I'm seriously considering IUI... I'm only 24, but when I was diagnosed with PCOS I was told that if I didn't get pregnant by age 25, I wouldn't be able to at all. :-(

On the personal side, my wife and I will celebrate our 2-year wedding anniversary this Valentine's Day, and our families and friends are incredibly supportive of our plans to have a baby soon. I think my two best friends are more excited than I am !

I agree with the women on here who have mentioned how hard it is to be around friends/family who got pregnant easily... I've never before wished I was straight,until straight women around me started getting pregnant so easily.
My best friend at work is pregnant, and my sister-in-law is due in June with her second baby. I'm happy for them, but very jealous !
However, I have a 20-month-old niece who I see almost everyday, and playing with her always cheers me up and gives me hope.

I welcome any advice about at-home insemination, PCOS issues, etc.

Thanks,
Bay

Hi my name is Trisha and I am 36 and my partners name is Trista we have an 11yr old who name is Trevor. We have been together for 8 1/2yrs and 3 yrs ago we had a ceremony. Last year we decided to start trying to have children we tried for 8 months had two failed insem and then took about a 8 month break. Had to emotionally and financially. We both really want to bring another child into this world and because I am 36 my clock is running out I am carrying this one. I am so glad I found this board to talk to people who are in the same boat.

Hi Michelle,
I am new to this board but have been watching it for a couple of weeks now. I am 26 years old and just found out I am pregnant for the first time about 2 weeks ago. I have many friends who went through IUI and were unsuccessful so I was not expecting to get pregnant on the first try. So I just wanted to give you some ideas to consider.
I used a sister bank of California Cyrobank called Cryogenics Laboratory (not saying you need to use them). I would recommend if you haven't done so already purchasing the Clearblue Easy Fertility monitor once you peak wait 24 hours and then inseminate. I went to a Fertility treatment facility and convinced my doctor to inseminate twice each cycle. The other thing is depending on your health converage ask your gyno to have blood test run for your hormones to make sure you are not having any issues my gyno did a day 3 blood test and a day 22 and then also had an HSG done prior to me having any inseminations. (He adviced me that he understood how expensive this can get and he wanted to know what we were dealing with right away). Just some thoughts. I wish you lots of luck. -theluvof2moms