1998
Nov/Dec - I got pregnant and had an abortion*
2008
Aug - we started TTC
2009
May - went in for check-up, endometrial cyst found
Nov - surgery to remove cyst and endometriosis confirmed
2010
Mar - 1st medicated cycle on Clomifen, no IUI due to the 2 follicles are too big, TI instead w/HSG trigger, BFN
Apr - 1st IUI with Puregon, BFN
May - 2nd medicated TI with Puregon, BFN
Jun - 2nd IUI, BFN
Jul - nothing, clinic is closed entire month
Aug - 3rd IUI, BFN
Oct - IVF explained, injected myself with Procren to hard stop my body's hormones
Nov - IVF #1, BFN
2011
March - IVF #2, BFN
May - FET #1, BFN
June - natural cycle + FET, didn't happen because my body O'd at the wrong time
July/August - natural cycles + 3 acupuncture appointments
September - natural cycle, but no chance at pregnancy as I'll be out of the country on a work trip before, during & after O. When AF arrives later in the month, I'll call the clinic to get our 2nd and final FET from IVF #2.
Oct - beginning of the month our thawed and lonely 8/8 cell embryo was transferred. Exactly 2 weeks later, AF arrived.
Nov - IVF #3 starts.
Nov/Dec - Retrieval and Transfer for IVF #3, Dec 16th, BFP
2012
January 9 - first ultrasound = 1 baby at 7 weeks & 5 days and graduated from fertility clinic to regular pregnancy procedures at neuvola appointments.
March 8 - heard heartbeat for the first time at the neuvola doctor's office (I heard it on my own at home with a fetal monitor a few days earlier).
April 4 - 20 weeks and halfway!! Had the anatomy scan, with Mr Siili. We're (most likely) having a boy!
August 1 - 37 weeks. Paxlet is considered full term and can arrive at any day now
EDD August 21/22, 2012
EDD has come and gone and we are still waiting for Paxlet to arrive.
August 30th our baby boy is born!
Long story
1998
January - Hubby and I met face-to-face
October/November - I got pregnant
December - I had an abortion*
Off and on birth control for years
-Depo provera (horrible!!!!!)
-pill (different brands)
-Nuva ring
-copper IUD
-condoms
2006
August 1 - We got married
2008
June - stopped using Nuva ring, only to continue for 1 more month in July
August 26th - I stopped using Nuva ring for good and we started TTC
2009
May 20th - I decided to get the ball rolling a little bit early and went in for my lady bits check-up. The doctor found something a bit questionable while doing the routine exam and ultrasound. I was referred to a 2nd doctor.
June 26th - The 2nd doctor said the questionable thing is an endometrioma (endometrial cyst) and that I most likely have endometriosis. It can only be 100% diagnosed with surgery. I will get a letter sent to my house in the fall (Finland basically shuts down during the summer months) to let me know about surgery dates and times. In the meantime, keep TTC like normal.
September - The letter never arrives, so I call to find out what is going on.
early October- The letter finally arrives, my surgery is scheduled for November 23rd (pre-op the week before).
October 26th - Hubby and I went to a free 1st consultation with a private fertility clinic to find out what our options were and what they might recommend. Since I had my surgery scheduled, the doctor recommended waiting for that to see what happens. And if I could get into the public services quick enough (for our liking), to go for that, as it is cheaper.
November 23rd - I had a laparoscopic surgery and stayed over night. Endometriosis was confirmed and the endometrioma was removed. I recovered nicely from the surgery and my period came as it was supposed to (no delay from the surgery, which was a possibility). The doctor sent a referral to the local Reproductive Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic (for short PGH, that's what they use!) and I was put in line for public IF services for IF treatments. (Public services generally take a bit longer to get things done and harder to get into as you need the referral, but they are much cheaper. I also don't think hubby would have been ready to pay private clinic costs yet.)
2010
January 18th - Called the PGH clinic, during January as instructed, and I have an appointment for next month.
February 24th - My first IF appointment. The doctor said I had ovulated recently. (yay!) I was to start Clomifen (clomid equivalent) on my next cycle's day 3 (CD3) and call the clinic to set up next appointment. Hubby and I were told to get some blood tests done. (I'm not sure what tests were done, I think that is something I really should ask.) And hubby was asked to do an SA. Hubby's swimmers are in great shape!
March - Cycle #20 - I have 2 big follicles from the Clomifen. The follicles are actually too big to do an IUI (Intrauterine insemination). So we do a TI (timed intercourse) with an HSG (Pregnyl) injection at home.
April - I'm given a new drug to try (Puregon) as the doctor wasn't satisfied with my body's reaction to Clomifen. I triggered with Pregnyl again and our first IUI took place. I was also given Lugesteron (progesterone) suppositories to take (1 in morning,1 in evening).
May - Same drug regime as April, but again follicles are too big to attempt IUI, so we go with another TI.
June - Same drug regime as previous 2 months and 2nd IUI performed.
July - the clinic is closed for the entire month, so nothing medical happens.
August - 3rd and final IUI is performed. Next step is IVF. (We could have stopped at 2 IUI's, but with the clinic being closed July and hubby and I going to the USA in Sept, we wouldn't have been able to start IVF any sooner that we did, so I figured why not give it one more go. It was better than not doing anything, in my opinion. Not that it did any good.)
October - The IVF process was explained to hubby and I. And I was given the injectable Procren (aka Lupron aka gonadotropin releasing hormone aka GnRH or LH-RH) to hard stop my body from producing its own hormones.
November - When my period came, I started injecting Puregon. Harvest date was Nov. 22 and transfer date the 25th. We had around 18 eggs, 2 of which were transferred to me and 3 or 4 were left to continue to grow, but they didn't continue to thrive. (I also outed myself on Facebook at during this time.)
Dec 6 - Finnish Independence Day and start of cycle #30. I was totally devastated.
2011
January - I tried going gluten free for the month and doing Mayan Womb Massage on myself. When I discussed this with the doctor, she said not eating gluten isn't my problem, but it couldn't hurt if I wanted to go that route. And about the MWM, she basically laughed at the idea. Discouraged, I stopped both. I looked into acupuncture, but never did anything about it.
End of January I started taking a nose spray, Suprecur, 4 times a day in both nostrils. (Suprecur tastes awful!) This replaced Procen and is a softer hormone suppressing drug.
February - The lining of my uterus wasn't correct, so I was given some progesterone pills to take for a short while and then stop them to bring on my period. Only problem was, I forgot to stop taking them and my period hadn't arrived by the next appointment. It was my fault for forgetting to write the stop-date down in my calendar and also, I took hubby to the ER the day I was supposed to stop taking the pills with appendicitis. The doctor (different then previous) laughed, good naturedly and had me stop taking them and come back in the next week. I was given Menopur (instead of Puregon) this time and told to still take the nose spray, but only half the dose as previously. (Suprecur doesn't taste as bad anymore...or am I just getting used to it?)
March - Harvest #2 takes place on the 7th and transfer on the 10th. The results are much better this time. There was only 11 follicles harvested, but of those that fertilized, 1 was of excellent quality, 2 of great quality and 2 of good quality. Two of the top embryos were transferred to me. And the 3 others were frozen.
April - No hormones this month as my body is getting a rest after IVF. Although, I did have so much stress this month (from the strike at work) that I managed to delay ovulation for an entire week.
May - FET #1 happened. 2 embryos survived freezing and thawing and were transferred back to me. One embryo was 8/8 cell quality (8 cells after and before freezing) and the 2nd embryo was 5/6.
May 18th - 1WW and trying not to think about it.
May 25th - BFN
June - If possible we will do an FET with our last & lonely embryo during this natural cycle.
The timing was off for the natural cycle + FET, so nothing was done this month.
July - The clinic is closed. For the first time in my life, I tried acupuncture (in July and Aug). I went 3 times. It's been an interesting experience and we'll see if it does anything. AF arrived a week too early (cycle #38), so FET is out for the beginning of August.
During these almost 3 years of TTC, I've seen 5 of my closest friends get pregnant and have their kids (one of them twice), along with my SIL (her 3rd kid), 3 of my cousins (two of them twice) and numerous other acquaintances get pregnant and have their kids. I've also seen so many co-workers (at least 20-30, not exaggerating) get pregnant, go on maternity leave (generally 10 months) and come back.
The journey through IF is definitely not for the faint of heart.
August - 3 years of TTC. At the end of Aug and first part of Sept, I am in Shanghai for a work trip. There is no way pregnancy will happen this cycle (cycle #39). Because of this work trip, the FET will hopefully take place at the end of September or beginning of October.
September - When cycle #40 arrived, I called the clinic to get the ball rolling for our final FET from IVF #2. This was going to be a natural cycle, so I had to use ovulation predictor tests to judge when I was going to O and then call the clinic. I also went for acupuncture one last time.
October - At the beginning of the month, our thawed and lonely 8/8 cell embryo was transferred. Exactly 2 weeks later, AF arrived. One month break before IVF.
November - IVF #3 starts. A week before cycle #42 starts mid-month, I start taking Synarela nasal spray to slow down my body's own hormone production. My body responds quicker to Menopur this time, so retrieval is moved up to November 30th.
December - 10 eggs were harvested, 8 fertilized with ICSI. On transfer day (Friday the 2nd), 1 excellent and 1 good embryo were transferred to me. The 5 remaining embryos were to continue growing during the weekend, only 1 was frozen. December 16th = BFP
2012
January 9 - Mr Siili and I went to our first ultrasound appointment where it was determined that was only 1 baby and we were 7 weeks & 5 days along, exactly where we should be. We didn't hear the heart beat, but just seeing the little thing on the monitor was quite cool. It was the last time I was to visit the fertility clinic, unless/until we wanted to try one last time with the 1 frozen embryo. This means we graduated from the fertility clinic to regular pregnancy procedures at neuvola appointments.
February 8 - 12 weeks. First ultrasound at the city doctor clinic (normal procedure for pregnancies here in Finland). Paxlet measured right on schedule and everything looked great. The chance of Down syndrome was low enough that I/we didn't feel the need for more testing or an amniocentesis.
March 8 - 16 weeks and 1 day. At our first neuvola doctor's appointment we heard the heartbeat for the first time. I had heard it on my own at home with a fetal monitor a few days earlier. (This appointment was supposed to be at 12 weeks, but the doctor was sick and I was too with the influenza. First time it could be re-scheduled was at this point.)
April 4 - 20 weeks and halfway!! Second and most likely final ultrasound during this pregnancy at the city doctor clinic. The anatomy scan, with Mr Siili along for the ride, was one of the most amazing things I've seen. We're (most likely) having a boy!
April 18 - 22 weeks. Neuvola appointment to discuss maternity related things: maternity package, leave from work, amount of pay I'll receive during this time, etc.
August 1 - 37 weeks. Paxlet is considered full term and can arrive at any day now. So far, this pregnancy has been very easy and uneventful. I am insanely thankful for that!
EDD August 21/22, 2012 - this day has come and gone and we are still (im)patiently waiting for Paxlet to make his debut.
August 30th - Four years and 4 days in the making and our baby boy is finally here! He's beautiful and healthy! The active labor and birth of Paxlet was very quick and everything went well.
*I have no regrets what-so-ever regarding my abortion. It was right for me at the time and what I chose to do (with the support of my husband). If you don't agree with this and don't have anything nice to say, please move along. If you have honest and true questions, I'll be happy to answer and discuss.
