Please try and keep the faith, it is very hard and at times harder than others…but miracles DO happen!
What a journey it was for my husband and I when we began TTC (trying to conceive). Full of the highest and lowest moments, a true emotional rollercoaster, it brought us to where we are today, blessed with an incredible baby girl. I wanted to share what we went through, in hopes that it may help anyone at all reading this going through anything similar to what we did. Please try and keep the faith, it is very hard and at times harder than others…but miracles DO happen!
Ever since I can remember, my biggest dream was to be a mother and was SO excited when my husband and I decided we would start this chapter in our lives. We first began TTC in January 2010. We tried on our own for a year with no success. In February 2011 we decided to go to my then OB doctor and see if we could figure out any potential problems we didn’t know about. They did a basic hormone blood panel, a regular ultrasound on me and also wanted me to get a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG). All these tests came back “normal”, as did my husbands test. I was prescribed Clomid at that point which I began taking on my next cycle. In April 2011 we found out the first round of Clomid worked, we were pregnant! I could hardly believe it and was elated! My then OB’s office had me come in for blood work to make sure my HCG levels were rising as they should be. My first test was great, but then the next test showed my levels were about the same. My next test then showed my levels had started to decline and was told I would miscarry, which I ended up doing a few days later. It was an extremely difficult experience. We took a couple months to process things and began another cycle of Clomid. Then another…and another…no luck. We were nearing the end of 2011 at this point and a couple of tragedies in our family that had just happened were very heavy on our hearts. It was now January 2012, two years into the journey. We decided to try one more Clomid cycle that month and no luck. We were not happy with how my then OB’s office handled our miscarriage and the testing I had done there and decided to make a switch to another OB whom I am still with to this day and he delivered our daughter, and we love and adore him and everyone there. Their practice also did some fertility, but was limited to IUIs, which I was finding we were going to need to look into further. I had my first appointment with him in February 2012. We decided that we wanted to do a Clomid IUI cycle and see what happened. In March 2012 we started that IUI cycle along with follicle ultrasound checks. We had the IUI and we found out it worked and we were in fact pregnant. I went in for HCG and progesterone checks and we found out this time my numbers were going up. We were so hopeful. We were scheduled for our first ultrasound when I was about 7 weeks. My OB started the ultrasound and right away I knew it was bad. My sweet doctor told us to come back in a week but deep down I knew. After a grueling week of waiting we went back and our suspicions were confirmed. My OB did a D&C a few days later at the end of April 2012. It was one of the lowest points I have ever had in my life.
At this point we were faced with a decision. We could try another IUI with my OB. Yes, our miscarriages could have both been just “one of those things”. Yet, we were coupling recurrent pregnancy loss with years of infertility, in which we were “unexplained” at that point. We decided we wanted to take our journey further and wanted to get a recurrent pregnancy loss blood panel done before we tried another IUI treatment cycle again. This time we would know if there was something else wrong that we could fix it would be done before trying again. I knew we would have to go to a specialized fertility center to have this done. We kept hearing Dr. Silverberg’s name at the Texas Fertility Center from a few friends. I drove by TFC’s building almost everyday on my way to work. I knew that they were a highly reputable office and had done lots of wonderful things and helped so many people. We made an appointment with Dr. Silverberg in August 2012. Right when we met him we knew we had made the right decision to come. He asked my husband and I a lot of questions and was very thorough. He also said he wanted me to get another HSG done in addition to the RPL panel and wanted to do an ultrasound right then. He started the ultrasound, and was quiet for a minute and did some measuring and looking. He then said “this is a problem right here”. I had no idea what he was talking about. I had had 5 ultrasounds and an HSG by this point and had not been told anything was ever wrong. He said I had a septate uterus or a uterine septum. He said this was likely a huge cause of our infertility issues and also our recurrent miscarriages. In my case it was very likely I would never carry a baby to term unless I had surgery. It was a lot to process but we walked out of there that day and my husband told me he saw a glimmer of hope in my eyes that had been missing for a long time. If we had never gone to meet with Dr. Silverberg, it would be very likely I would have never been diagnosed with this and would have never known.
We decided to move forward with the surgery as soon as we could. The staff at TFC was amazing with helping us call our insurance and letting us know exactly what we were looking at cost wise out of pocket for the surgery and the RPL testing and genetic testing. We knew the treatment cycles we were going to do after the surgery would all be out of pocket but they were very helpful with letting us know what to expect. They were so very helpful with this process. My husband had a blood panel run on him, and I went in for the RPL panel testing. We also had genetic testing done on both of us. I walked out of there 20 vials of blood later. I found out that I had a mutation of the MTHFR gene, another possible cause of miscarriage which can be treated. I also found out my AMH level (egg reserve) was not at a great level so time wasn’t on our side. I had the surgery September 28th 2012. Dr. Silverberg was amazing and calmed my pretty big nerves. I ended up having hysteroscopy and laparoscopy surgery. I ended up having a very large uterine septum and endometriosis. It took a couple of months to recover from the surgery and letting everything heal. We then decided to do another IUI, this time at TFC. I had another HSG done, then started a Clomid IUI cycle in November 2012. We went in for the mid cycle ultrasound and realized I had a huge cyst and also the Clomid had thinned my lining and probably always had. Dr. Silverberg said it would be better for me to try Femara next time instead of Clomid. That cycle was then cancelled. We waited again and then started a Femara IUI cycle on my next cycle. Things looked better this time during the sonograms. I got a positive ovulation test while we were out of town on a Saturday, a little earlier than we had planned. I paged the TFC nurse on call and got a call back right away to schedule the IUI the next day on Sunday. We came back in town and had our second IUI at the end of November 2012. We found out 2 weeks later it didn’t work. It was very hard and very frustrating.
We were determined to make 2013 our year. We were three years into our journey. We were back at TFC ready for our third IUI cycle in January. We did Femara again and the ultrasounds during the cycle looked great again. Follicle size was great and progressing. Sunday, January 13 we had our third IUI at TFC and began progesterone. 9 days later we got a positive pregnancy test. I was so hopeful and so scared at the same time.
My HCG and progesterone levels were great and going up…so much so we thought there may be more than one baby!
Our first ultrasound was on February 15, 2013 when we were a little over 6 weeks along, and we were really nervous. Dr. Silverberg came in and as always eased our minds. I couldn’t even look at the screen until I heard him say, “There is your baby and there is it’s heartbeat”. It was at that moment that I knew that the Faith we had held on to for so long finally gave us this miracle and it was a flood of emotions. 9 wonderful months later on Thursday, October 3, 2013 I gave birth to our daughter, Adelynn Faith Tully, weighing 7 lbs 15 ounces and 21.5 inches long. She was and is perfect in every way and is the light of our lives.
Our journey was very tough as I know so many others are going through…emotionally and physically. Everyone at the Texas Fertility Center is incredible…from the doctors, nurses and staff, everyone was awesome. I called up millions of times from the time I had the surgery all the way up until our last appointment with him when we were 8 weeks pregnant. I always got a call back the same day, no matter the question. We would not have our daughter if it wasn’t for Dr. Silverberg. Everyone there at TFC helped in every aspect. We will always be so thankful to them, and we will be back!