Coming off contraception and trying to conceive
So, probably it all started when I was placed on the DEPO [DEPO-PROVERA, medroxyprogesterone acetate] injection. I was looking for different contraception options, and I thought when I went through them that DEPO [medroxyprogesterone acetate] was the best idea. I got married and stopped the DEPO [medroxyprogesterone acetate] a couple of months before I got married, so that was three years ago, now. Then realised how long that takes to come out of your system, and knew that that would probably just mess up my cycles, and start me off on maybe not the right track.
Seeking help and ovulation tracking
So, yeah, I was on the DEPO [medroxyprogesterone acetate] injection. Then after about a year, I thought, “Okay, it’s still not happening, but I can understand that that is normal.” So I went to my GP, and my GP said, “It’s all fine. Your cycles are normal now. They’re at the regular length”, so not to worry about it too much. “Just keep trying, and I’m sure it will happen.”
So then 18 months after that was when I started thinking, “No, this is probably a bit too long now. Two and a half years is quite a long time.” So I went back to the GP again, and I said, “Look, it’s not happening. We’ve been trying for about a year now, and I’m just wondering if there’s anything else that I can do.” So she sent me to have a blood test done through every cycle. So I had the blood tests starting from day five, and then they would let me know when to come back, and do all that sort of stuff. Then they would phone me to say, “You’re going to ovulate or you’re just about to ovulate; come back in seven days and we will check your progesterone.” So that was fine. I did that for three or four months, I think; and thought, “Okay, things still aren’t progressing. I know that I’m ovulating.” We’d try and get the right times. “What’s going on?” basically. So I went back to my GP, who didn’t really have any answers for me. She just said, “Look, these things happen.”
Getting a second opinion
So I ended up contacting a previous employer of mine who is actually an obstetrician gynaecologist, and she works at a fertility clinic. So I went to her, and I said, “Look, I’m just really confused. I need some answers.” I said, “I’ve been having the calls to say, “You’re about to ovulate today, your progesterone is great.” My GP has phoned me and said, “Your progesterone is great, it’s at the right level.” So why isn’t this happening?”
So within five minutes, clicking through all of my different results, said, “You’re not close to ovulating, and your progesterone isn’t where it should be.” So that was a bit of a kick to the stomach, to think that I’ve been doing this for so long, and things really weren’t the way that they should be, even though I was being told differently. So she said, “I don’t have any concerns whatsoever that you are completely infertile; I don’t think that at all. But we should get some tests done, just in case.”
Fertility testing and preparing to start ovulation induction
So my husband got his sperm count done; I had a HyCoSy [Hysterosalpingo Contrast Sonography] performed, and then she said, “I think the best option is going to be to go forward and do ovulation induction.” And that’s where I am at the moment, basically; waiting to start that.
We want to start in a couple of months’ time. We’re going to look into doing the treatment. I expect… I hope that it’s going to work, and that we will fall pregnant, and that we have our family that we so desperately want. I see… I’m positive for the outcome since I’ve seen the specialist. Since I’ve seen her, and she’s put my mind at rest with a lot of things, I feel better now. Before, it looked a bit bleak; it looked a bit… you know, “I’m not sure if this is going to happen.” But I feel better now, knowing, and I feel positive about the future.
