The day I married Dustin, I thought I could never want anything more. We are quite literally best friends. Belly laughs every night. Knowing each other more than we know ourselves. As cliché as it is, he is my rock. The thing that keeps my head above water when I get in my own way. He is going to be an amazing father. There was a moment that I looked over at him, and imagined him holding a little one, our little one, in his arms, and I haven’t been able to look back since.

When Dustin and I decided it was time to start our own little family. We were convinced it’d be easy. Well, we were wrong. We tried for about a year before anything happened. I got that positive test. Finally, we were going to be parents. I immediately started dreaming about this little thing growing inside me. Unfortunately, before we could ever get a first scan, I miscarried. During this time we had watched a few friends and family struggle with infertility. And because of that, we decided to start seeing doctors. My gynecologist referred me to a fertility clinic. Each visit with the doctor felt like a college class (which, I loved honestly.) I learned so much about the human body. Haha

We found that I had a few issues, endometriosis which caused endometriomas on one of my ovaries. If you don’t know, endometriosis is not curable, and causes endometrial tissue that grows in the uterus is found growing outside in abdominal cavity. It can cause very heavy and painful periods. I also had low vitamin D, and elevated thyroid hormones. We also found that Dustin had low testosterone, and a severely low sperm count due to that. Dual infertility. It felt like a gut punch but, we soldiered on.

I was put on medication for thyroid and had surgery to remove the endometriosis and endometriomas. They found that my left tube, ovary, and bowel were all stuck together with adhesions. They cleaned it all out, and found that my right ovary and tube are perfect, but my left tube is partially blocked. And with every cycle I have from here on out the endometriosis can grow back.

Dustin was referred to a urologist that specializes in male infertility. He’s been on a medication called clomid and has now been on that for 2 years. It's helped his count, but were unsuccessful.

We moved to IVF, and completed our first retrieval. We ended up with three beautiful embryos on ice. Unfortunately, over the course of a year and a half, all of our transfers failed. We are now heading toward our 2nd, and potentially final retrieval. Our last shot. 

Fertility treatments can be emotionally exhausting, and expensive. I have a hard time asking for help. More of a do it on my own kinda girl. But the desire of wanting a little one requires me to fight harder, and realize that I have to set aside my pride. We asking for help paying for these treatments and procedures if you find it on your heart, and have the means to do so. We appreciate every penny, and word of encouragement that we receive. Please, please, please, do not feel pressured to donate. Maybe instead share our story in hopes that it might help another hopeful parent feel not so alone. 

Thank you for taking the time to read or story. We love each and every one of you.