Introduction

Hello! We're Kerry and Jill and this is our journey through infertility.

A little history...

We met at a swing dance in 2001. Over the next year, we transitioned from friends to dance partners to husband and wife. We married in March 2002. We worked hard and bought our first home in 2003. We played hard and travelled the US swing dancing. We loved deeply and in 2005, the word "baby" found its way into our vocabulary.

Bringing a baby into our family would not be a simple task. Our first step was to call the plumber. In Jan 2006, we travelled to Tucson AZ to the International Center for Vasectomy Reversals. The reversal was performed by Dr. Marks, one of the best in the country. The surgery went perfectly and we left with the words ringing in our ears, "you better start thinking of a name for that baby". I can still remember the excitement and innocense, we were going to have a baby. I remember the naivety that it would happen for us on the first try.

Our dreams were suddenly crushed with the results of Kerry's first semen analysis. Everything was bad; extremely low count (less than a million), very poor motility at 3%, only 1% normal morphology and poor liquification. We were at high risk of him scarring over. As if this wasn't enough, we soon found out that he had developed ASAs (antisperm antibodies). This is a condition that results after sperm has been introduced into the blood stream. The body sees the sperm as foreign and produces antibodies against them. The ASAs bind the sperm together like glue preventing them from swimming. When attached at the head, they also interfere with their ability to penetrate the egg.

Over the next 2 years, we worked diligently trying to salvage this reversal. Kerry has been through the wringer with multiple rounds of prednisone/celebrex, countless semen analysis and a regimen of every supplement known to man to help with male fertility.

In March 2007, we decided to have me checked out as I had never been pregnant before. I endured blood work, a lupron challenge test, u/s, hysteroscopy, sonohysterogram and an endometrial biopsy. I was diagnosed with DOR (diminished ovarian reserve) due to a slightly elevated estradiol level. Everything else looked great. We were told due to male factor and DOR, our only chance was IVF. We refused to believe him and continued trying on our own, believing that God would answer our prayers.

In November 2007, we decided to get a second opinion. I had blood work and a clomid challenge test. Again, I was diagnosed with DOR, this time due to slightly elevated FSH and a failed clomid challenge test. Due to my diagnosis + severe male factor, IVF was recommended. We still weren't ready and continued to try on our own.

In February 2008, we accepted we needed help. We had tried on our own for 2 years. On top of countless prayers, we tried every over the counter assistance there was; preseed, supplements, vitex, fertilitea, mucinex, dong quai, epo, fertileCM, green tea, wheatgrass, baby aspirin, natural progesterone cream, saliva ferning, fertility monitor, conception kit, instead cups, healing services, acupuncture, electro-acup, traditional chinese medicine, opks, charting, diet and yes, we even tried relaxing.

We decided to try IUI first. This was very hard on me as I had to give up on my dream of conceiving naturally with my husband. They put me on clomid and Kerry on prednisone to suppress the ASAs. On my first u/s, I had 3 good sized follicles. We were excited that this could be our golden ticket, that was short lived for about 5 mins. The doctor came in and said we would need to cancel as the clomid had thinned out my lining and accompanied by Kerry's low count, our chances were not good. Again, we were told that IVF was our only option. I was crushed. Kerry said he didn't care about the money, he just wanted to see me holding our baby. He said let's go for it. Oh dear Lord, please help me overcome my extreme needle phobia. He would answer this prayer.

Here we go....