My Story: From Infertility to Three Kids in Three Years!

Sharing is caring!

This is my personal experience with infertility caused by PCOS. I conceived one child through fertility treatments, and spontaneously conceived my other two babies. This is my personal journey with infertility, pregnancy, and motherhood!

---

I never, ever thought I would struggle with infertility.

My husband, Eric, and I always dreamed of having a big family! I am one of four, and he is one of three. Kids were something we discussed on our first or second date.

There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a mother, and he a father. So when we struggled to get pregnant while others around us didn’t even have to try, it was very upsetting.

Getting pregnant should be easy, right?! And in most cases, it’s as simple as “egg meets sperm.”

As a nurse, I know all about what it takes to get pregnant fast. So why wasn’t it happening for me?

My infertility experience

My husband and I got married in 2015, and started trying to get pregnant a few months into our marriage. We were young, but we had been dating 5 years already, had a house and stable jobs, and wanted to get our family started! Our siblings were having kids, and we wanted our children to grow up with cousins close in age.

So when month after month passed, and I wasn’t getting a period, I decided to call my doctor.

My lovely primary care physician drew a lot of labs, and ordered an ultrasound. It was on those initial tests that my testosterone came back as being three times the normal range, my LH and FSH were abnormal, and my estrogen was low.

She said that on my ultrasound, they usually count the number of cysts seen on each ovary. But mine was marked an “immeasurable number of cysts.” There were so many cysts on my ovaries, the doctors said they looked like tiny gum ball machines.

I was diagnosed with “severe polycystic ovarian syndrome” and was referred to a fertility clinic.

After months of tests, blood work and ultrasounds, I was told they don’t believe I have ever ovulated on my own, and I would need medications to force ovulation.

In fact, they drew my AMH levels (a test that suggests the number of eggs a woman has) three times because they thought it was a lab error! I had so many eggs, the doctors couldn’t believe it.

Fortunately, my husband’s tests turned out fine and they believed once I released the egg there should be no issue with getting pregnant.

After being a non-responder to oral medications, I quickly moved onto injectable fertility drugs. It was with those injectables (Gonal-F, Ganirelix and Ovidrel) and intra-uterine insemination that I conceived our sweet Eliana!

Her name means, “my prayers have been heard and answered,” and she is truly the biggest blessing.

Our lives changed forever the day we got our positive pregnancy test! And our lives were blessed beyond belief the day she joined our family.

She is now 3 years old, and the smartest, funniest, sweetest and most amazing little girl ever!

Related: No Pregnancy Symptoms After IUI? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Panic.

Our fertility course with my first pregnancy

At the first clinic I went to, I first consulted with the fertility specialist. We thought he was wonderful, and we felt like we were in great hands.

They drew labs, reviewed ultrasounds, and discussed getting me in for a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to ensure my tubes were open.

Since my uterine lining was so thick from not having periods, they prescribed a cocktail of medications to force a period, and put me back on birth control pills for awhile.

Unfortunately, after my case was mismanaged by several different staff members, we decided to leave the clinic.

The office manager repeatedly scheduled appointments for me for an HSG at the hospital and then didn’t notify me. The number of late fees and snarky phone calls I received about missed appointments was ridiculous! When they cancelled a cycle a few days in because of missed lab values, I knew it was time to go. It was an emotional rollercoaster.

Finding the perfect fertility clinic

I then switched to CNY Fertility and had an amazing consultation. I met the nurse practitioner and the physician on the first day. On the first day they scheduled my scans, blood work and ultrasounds and got the process started.

I cried tears of joy when I met them! They took a very holistic approach and listened to all my concerns and fears.

The first test I did was the hysterosalpingogram (HSG). When that came back normal, we decided to start with Femara.

After taking Femara for about two weeks with minimal response and terrible side effects, I was switched to injectable drugs. I conceived on my first round of IUI with Gonal-F, Ganirelix, and Ovidrel.

After my IUI I started progesterone as well, and continued through my first trimester. I cried when I was discharged from the fertility clinic at 8 weeks! They became like family to me. There were times when I was at the clinic every other day for blood work!

I delivered my sweet girl at 38 weeks. She was (and is) perfect!

And then…surprise?!

When Ellie was 9 months old, I noticed she didn’t want to breastfeed as much. I thought it was because she was such a busy child that she didn’t want to stop playing to eat.

I then started to feel really sick! My husband and I thought I had a weird stomach bug, because I’d be fine one moment and then would feel like I was going to pass out or throw up the next. It was wild!

He suggested I purchase a pregnancy test. I was totally offended. My exact words were:

How many doctors need to tell me I’ll never conceive on my own for us to believe it?! I’m not wasting the money on a pregnancy test!

Well, after almost vomiting in the grocery store, I decided to take a test.

I peed on the stick, started washing my hands, looked down, and sure enough! Two pink lines!

It turns out your breastmilk changes when you’re pregnant, so Ellie wanted no part of it. And the weird “flu” I thought I had was actually morning sickness.

We welcomed our sweet Annaliese when Eliana was 17 months old. Having two under two was never something thought we had in store for our family!

Our girls are super close, and it’s been a joy watching them grow up together.

How did we conceive naturally with PCOS?

When I found out I was pregnant, I thought, but how?!?

I had not had a return of my cycle after Ellie was born, and I was still breastfeeding. I assumed I was not ovulating, because I had never ovulated before in my life.

The only explanation they could give was that I probably got lucky and randomly ovulated. I was fortunate enough to get pregnant when that random egg released.

My pregnancies actually “reset” my body

After Annaliese was born, I had a cycle return when she was about 7 months old.

Imagine my surprise when we took the kids to Disney World and all of a sudden I have a period for the first time since I was a teenager.

I mean, really?! The universe has a funny sense of humor.

Now, these cycles weren’t “normal” but they were regular. Every 40-50 days I could expect a period, which was a vast improvement from before!

I now wonder if I hadn’t conceived Annaliese when I did, if I would have had a regular cycle return. There’s really no way to know, but it seems that each pregnancy has “reset” my body a little bit more!

My third pregnancy

Back in March of 2020, I started feeling a little funny!

COVID-19 was hitting our area, there was a lot of anxiety, and I was paying attention to every symptom. I started feeling a little dizzy, lightheaded, and just “off.”

My husband and I weren’t “trying” for a baby, per say, but we knew at some point we wanted a third child. It was then I realized that I was on cycle day 42, and there was a chance I *could* be pregnant.

We went to my mom’s house for dinner that night, and she poured me a glass of wine. I took a sip and said, “this wine smells and tastes funny! I think your bottle is skunked!”

Uh, oh….

On our way home, we swung by the grocery store so I could grab a test. At 8pm in the evening, the test was bright positive. I was 5 weeks along!

We felt every emotion you can imagine! Joy, shock, denial, overwhelmed, ecstatic, nervous, scared, amazed, happiness…

Our third baby in three years!

Ellie just turned 3 in September, Annaliese is now 19 months old and we will be welcoming our third baby girl in late-November.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous to have three kids ages three and under! But I am also so excited!

I always wanted a sister, and I am so glad that my girls will be so close in age and have each other.

And I feel unbelievably blessed and lucky to have had two natural pregnancies after struggling so hard to conceive my first child!

PCOS can be a really tricky disease. But I am so happy that I was able to conceive my sweet baby girls!

My advice for anyone struggling with infertility

Infertility can be a really taboo topic.

I found it extremely helpful to confide in others. There are so many women that struggle with infertility, and finding others with a similar journey can be very therapeutic!

Look for support groups in your area, or even on social media platforms.

Be open and honest with your partner about how you’re feeling, and listen to their feelings as well. Fertility affects everyone differently!

Keep your head up through the unwanted questions and interrogations. I don’t know why some people feel that they need to repeatedly ask when you’re going to get pregnant, why you aren’t pregnant, or feel the need to remind you that the clock is ticking. Ignore those people, or come up with a witty response. I found it very effective to just say, “if I could be pregnant, I would be. Please don’t ask me again.” It was direct enough that they got the message but didn’t ask further questions.

Take care of your mental health! It’s very important to not get too wrapped up in the process that you forget to care for yourself.

Take care of your partner, too. Whenever a month passed that I wasn’t pregnant, my husband and I tried to make it fun. We’d indulge in things you can’t eat when you’re pregnant (i.e. wine, rare steaks, hollandaise sauce, sushi) and would plan weekend getaways.

We traveled a ton our first year of marriage as we went through infertility treatments. We have wonderful memories of that time together! It was a great distraction and great for our relationship, too.

Find an outlet. Maybe you want to start a blog, keep a journal, practice mediation and yoga, or want to see a therapist. Bottling everything up can make it all worse!

---

If you’re struggling to conceive, hang in there! It can be a really exhausting journey, and I don’t wish it on anyone.

I hope that you have a similar story to mine, and that you are blessed with many babies!