Our Story Year Three: 2010

When 2010 began, Noah and I had been married for two and a half years and were living in the guest bedroom at his mother’s house in Huntsville, AL. Noah was working as both a substitute in Madison County, Madison City, Huntsville City, and Randolph and as a tutor at Appleton. I was working as a full-time maternity substitute at Sparkman High School.

In January of 2010, we had been trying for a baby for 20 months but it had been a year since I had seen a doctor. My job as a high school choral director was stressful but it was a great experience that taught me a lot. I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity before beginning as a first year teacher.

As the spring approached we readied ourselves to begin the long job search process over again this year feeling better prepared and more confident. With the added stability of a steady job and regular pay, I began to search for a new doctor. I wanted to go to a practice that would give me just a little bit more personal attention than where I had been before. I wrote down a list of places and numbers to call during my planning period one afternoon, but I never got up the courage to do so.

In April of 2010, Noah began his full time maternity position at Bob Jones High School He loved working there and it was a wonderful experience for him to get to work with high school students. In April, I found out that the there was an elementary job opening in Huntsville. The next day, I called the principal and set up an interview.

In May of 2010, I found out that I had gotten the job. I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to return to elementary students. I finished up the school year at Sparkman and was sad to say goodbye to everyone but excited about the upcoming school year. Noah too was finishing up the school year at Bob Jones.

In June of 2010, we were very excited when we found out that Noah too would have a permanent teaching position in the fall. With our newly established financial security, we looked for a place to live. The house that I had seen two years previously was still vacant and available to rent so we happily decided to move there.

In August of 2010, we moved into our new (rented) house. We had all of our belongings and wedding gifts out of storage and in our new home. I also called my new doctor’s office and set up an appointment.

On August 3, 2010 I had my first doctor’s appointment in nineteenth months. I said that we had been trying to have a baby for 27 months with no success. The doctor explained the most likely scenarios for our troubles and ordered a progesterone blood test on August 5^th. This week Noah and I were also beginning our in-service training as new teachers. Over the weekend, I prepared my lesson plans for the upcoming school week and became horribly overwhelmed. I did not think I was going to survive my teaching schedule and class load. I was scared and stressed and completely petrified. I did not think I was going to succeed at all.

August 10^th was my first full day of work, it was also my first day to actually teach classes. During my lunch break, the doctor’s office called and told me that I had failed my progesterone blood test. They look for a progesterone level of at least 10 but I only had a level of 3. The nurse explained that this indicated that I had not ovulated and she called in a prescription of 50mg of clomid that I would begin taking that day and would take for the next five days. I would also have a blood test again on August 28^th to measure my progesterone levels to see if the clomid worked. It was actually a bit of a relief to find something wrong, because that meant they could fix it. I once again was optimistic about our chances on clomid.

I had my blood test on August 28^th and a few days later the nurse called and told me I had a progesterone level of 18, which was very good. All we needed to do now was wait and see if a baby would come. But a baby did not come.

On September 6^th I started the 50mg of clomid for five days again and had a blood test scheduled for September 24^th to measure my progesterone level. This time the doctor’s office called me a few days later and said the my progesterone level was only at 14 and even though that did indicate ovulation they wanted at least a level of 15 in patients who were taking clomid. We were still to wait and see if a baby would come. But a baby did not come.

On October 2^nd I started 100mg of clomid for five days to see if this would raise my progesterone levels up above 15. I had a blood test scheduled for October 20^th. This month because of the increased medication, I had a few painful side affects but nothing too horrible. After my blood test, the doctor’s office called to say that my progesterone level was 40, a huge jump. This month I felt certain a baby would come, I even felt that I had early pregnancy symptoms. But a baby did not come and my symptoms were just from the medication.

On October 29^th I once again took 100mg of clomid for the next five days and had a blood test scheduled for November 16^th. But because I had ovulated for the past three months, the doctor wanted further tests done.

On November 5^th Noah and I went to Huntsville Hospital for the HSG. The hysterosalpingogram is an x-ray that looks at the uterus and fallopian tubes to make sure there is no blockage. I was very scared about going in for this test. I had read a lot about it and I knew it was rather invasive and potentially painful. I was admitted to the hospital and then sent back to the imaging waiting room. When I was called back, I had to go by myself. When the doctor came in, he and the nurse continually told me I was about to feel a little bit of pain or a little bit of pressure which made me very, very nervous. It never really hurt though; it definitely did not live up to their hype. It was uncomfortable yes but not painful. They could tell the results of this x-ray immediately, and everything went perfectly, not a problem. In November, our doctor also had Noah retested since he hadn’t been tested since January of 2009. All of Noah’s tests once again came back with perfect results. I even passed my progesterone blood test that month with a level of 20. We were once again told to wait for a baby to come. We had added hopes because the doctor at the HSG said that many times women became pregnant after having the HSG. But a baby did not come.

On November 26^th I once again took 100mg of clomid for the next five days and had a blood test scheduled for December 14^th. The nurse called a few days later and told me that my progesterone level was fine for this month but if a baby did not come, I would need to set up an appointment with the doctor again to discuss further medications and procedures, or see about going to a fertility specialist. We were told to wait and see if a baby would come. But a baby did not come.

On December 22^nd I once again took 100mg of clomid for the next five days. I also called to set up an appointment to see the doctor but because of the holidays, I was told to wait until January and after my next blood test. My doctor’s appointment was set for January 18^th.

In December of 2010, Noah and I finished our first semester at our new jobs. Though my semester had been crazy stressful and I had definitely survived and everything had gone very well. Noah also had had a very successful first semester. We then celebrated our third Christmas as TTC.