Applying for Residency in the State of Denial.

Well, today was a pivotal day for Clan Donovan (this may be news for Dave-- I can never tell).  We've 'officially' decided to start In Vitro (aka IVF) treatment to address our infertility issues.

Just what are our infertility issues?  Here's a brief history of our quest to start a family:

2001:

I discovered I had endometriosis.  I tried suppression therapy for a few years.

2005:

We did laparoscopy and the diagnosis was mild/minor endometriosis (the doc said my tubes, ovaries and everything else looked healthy.  Yea, Em!).  

2006:

Dave and I started trying to conceive around November 2006.

2007:

In August, my gyno recommended we try Clomid.  Clomid is a fertility drug, taken orally; it promotes ovulation of both ovaries.  We tried this for 6 months (the recommended trial period).  Apparently, if you haven't gotten pregnant within 6 month on Clomid, continued use of it will not increase effectiveness.

2008:

In April, we were referred to the REACH fertility clinic.  To my surprise, I was told I had Stage IV endometriosis.  During an ultrasound the doctor found 2 cysts in my left ovary, 1 cysts in my right ovary and a polyp in my uterus (for those of you wondering, Stage IV is the most severe form of endometriosis--boo, Em!).

In June, I did laparoscopy to remove the cysts and polyp (Dave was a champ for taking care of me).  Post surgery, my doctor wanted me to do 2 months of Lupron (a common suppression therapy drug) then move into IVF.  He said we had a 60% success rate doing IVF.

Not feeling completely comfortable with this decision (let's just be honest, I was trying to avoid IVF), I opted to try a 'clomid-type' drug for a few months in hopes of bypassing IVF.  The doctor said we had a less than 20% chance of success (then again, my sister told me 'it happens to someone, why not you?').

So here we are-- 2 months of fertility drugs later and no conception; a looming severe case of endometriosis that will only get worse with time and a possible 60% success rate if we bite the bullet and do IVF.

I made the call to my doctor today.  We are going to do IVF!  I'll outline what this means soon.