Where it all began- A recap of our IVF journey part 1

Brandon and I were married in 2008.  For us, there was never any doubt about having children.  Initially, our only real question revolved around when to start.  Very shortly after getting married we considered starting right away.  The more we talked about it, the more we realized we needed some time.  Time to enjoy married life, time to enjoy our friends and time to save and mentally prepare ourselves for the idea of being someone's parent.  Little did we know that in the end we would have more time than we ever dreamed of and that NO amount of time will ever properly prepare you to be called mama or dada.


Apparently sometime in 2009 we decided we were ready. We were prepared to bring another life into this world and be responsible for that life (ha). Shortly before we made this decision I had seen my doctor.  I let her know we were thinking about starting our family and if she had any suggestions or immediate or obvious concerns, I would love to hear them.  My doctor said to me "You are young and you are healthy.  If you try for more than  6 months with no success, come back and we can talk."  Of course, at the time I was sure we would have no problems and I would be back only when I was pregnant.  I will never understand why my doctor told me to try for only 6 months and not at least a year like I so often hear from other people, but in the end I was grateful.


Approximately 8 long, frustrating, and sad months later I made an appointment to return to the doctor to discuss possible complications with conceiving.  I had tracked my periods for the past 6 months, knew my ovulation days and could tell you, almost to the minute what was happening with my cycle.  My doctor drew blood and ran all the normal tests to determine what might be causing issues.  Once my results were in, we would have a better idea of where a good starting point might be.  I got a phone call later that all my labs were fine.  The next step, my doctor informed me, was to have a semen analysis.


If I had to guess, I would say that most men would be apprehensive about giving semen specimens for testing.  My sweet husband, like most, shared this apprehension.  Thankfully, he knew this was the only way we could move forward with our process. Since my doctor had arranged for us to work with the clinic that would do the test on the semen, I was actually the one to receive the phone call once the results were in. At the time, I was working in the Development Department of a local non-profit and on this day in particular, I was setting up an event.  I got the phone call from my doctor about an hour before our event began....not exactly the best timing.


First, I was reminded that a normal or average semen sample contains between 40 million and 300 million sperm. Anything below 20 million sperm per sample is considered a low sperm count.  Okay, I think to myself, I must need to prepare myself for a low number.  I keep thinking she is going to tell me my husband has between 200,000 and 300,000 or something.  A number that, although very low in standards of average samples, still exists and can be worked with.  I was not prepared to hear that my husband's sample came back with zero sperm.  Not one.  Not a single one.  It's quite rare, she tells me. It's a condition called Azoospermia.  Azo-what, I think? Freaking great, now who is going to tell my husband?

To be continued.....