The Road Ahead

Well folks, it looks like we may be in for a long haul. I spoke with Carylon the other day about what she thought was going on with me medically, and she gave me her advice on what we should do next. She said that she believes I am having anovulatory cycles every month. I get a period, but am not ovulating. If you don't ovulate, you can't make a baby! We are trying to determine what to do right now. Carylon suggested that we start by taking clomid:

"Clomid is the most well-known fertility drug, probably because it is the most commonly used. And with good reason. About 25% of female factor infertility involves a problem with ovulation, and clomiphene citrate, as a fertility drug, is easy to use (taken as a pill, not an injection), with not too many side effects, is pretty inexpensive compared to other fertility drugs, and is effective in stimulating ovulation 80% of the time." -- I found this online.

They said that you are not supposed to take clomid for longer than a 6 month period, for whatever reason. We (Darren and I) think that we would like to start clomid right away, and then see if Carylon's main doctor, Dr. Byerly, will do preliminary lab work. If not then we are going to get Carylon to recommend us to a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). The problem with the RE is that they are expensive. She told us that our initial visit with the RE would be for a bunch of lab work, a semen analysis on Darren, and that it would cost around $1500. We have a $5000 deductible on our insurance... that means that is all out of pocket! =/ Fortunately we have been putting away a savings bucket all year with my income, so we should be ok... it just sucks. There is an RE in Odessa, Lubbock, or San Antonio that Carylon recommends. The San Antonio one is more for when things get serious and we really know there is a problem. For now we will either go to Odessa or Lubbock, depending on what Dr. Byerly will do. If Dr. Byerly will do preliminary tests then maybe we can just go to the RE afterwards. The RE will still have to re-do the labs, but maybe we could just get some sort of understanding.

I'm so scared about all of this. I am glad to finally know something, and am anxious to start trying to get help, however, I don't want to go and them tell me, "oh yeah, you're never going to be able to have children". Or, I don't want to try for years and then try invitro, and still have no success. I seriously applaud Carylon and Brian for still being such amazing people throughout their whole process. They have the most amazing little girl, that was God's gift to them after trying for forever, and failed adoptions. They are so inspiring. Carylon has been amazing through this. She told me Saturday that if I ever needed anything that she was there for me. It was so nice to hear. I know that I have others who I go to a lot (my mom, Cristina, Andrea), but medically it was just nice to know she was a phone call away. Heck, I'll probably put Evan's medical knowledge to use too! ;-)

I just pray that God will recognize how much we want to be parents, and how ready and willing we are to accept children in to our lives. We understand that this may be a long journey, and although that is scary we know that we will have God with us every step of the way.

So, please keep us in your prayers, and I'll keep updating on our process!

"But Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble." ~ Isaiah 33:2