Today’s journey story of a woman named Amanda. She is a 29-year-old labor and delivery nurse who enjoys playing with her pets, crafting, and reading. Amanda and her husband started trying for a baby in 2016 when she was 25. After 2 years of trying, an OB attempted to diagnose her with PCOS, but she didn’t meet the criteria. A new OB performed an HSG and referred her to an RE. The RE gave them an unexplained diagnosis, and they began IVF. Their first retrieval resulted in 4 untested embryos. After 2 failed transfers, they did another retrieval. A different protocol yielded the same results. Her doctor chalked it up to poor egg quality. From there, they sought an unconventional second opinion. After a laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and biopsy with a NaPro surgeon, Amanda was diagnosed with silent endometriosis and chronic endometritis, which were treated. They moved back to their RE after 2 more early losses. She had an ERA, which showed a displaced window of implantation. Join us to hear how Amanda is currently in the two-week wait following her third transfer — and what’s coming up next in her journey.
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What you’ll hear in this episode:
- Before infertility, Amanda was naive, ambitious, and goal-oriented
- How she met her husband through a dating app when he was a Marine stationed in her home state of NC; they had cheeseburgers together on their first date
- As a couple, they are strong together and good communicators who have been through dark times
- Why Amanda always thought she would be a mom; she wanted a family that was closer than hers was as she grew up
- How they canceled a lot of trips because of infertility, and Amanda even changed careers to help women fight infertility
- When they started trying to conceive, Amanda thought it would be easy; she voiced her concerns to her doctor, but they were brushed off
- She used OPKs and saw her OB; her diagnosis was PCOS because of her symptoms, and she was prescribed Metformin that gave her horrible side effects
- When she switched doctors, the new one said there was no PCOS; she had an HSG done, which was painful and traumatic
- Her tubes were clear, and she was referred to an RE; the closest one was more than a four-hour drive from her house!
- In 2019, the RE diagnosed her with unexplained infertility and recommended IVF
- Since their insurance coverage included a $10K lifetime benefit, they moved straight to IVF
- With the first retrieval, the result was four embryos on Day 5-6, but they were not good quality
- The first transfer failed, but the second resulted in a positive pregnancy test; it ended quickly in an early miscarriage
- Since they had transferred two embryos each time, they had no embryos left; with maximum doses of medications, they did another retrieval that yielded the same result
- Because Amanda started nursing school, she put her fertility treatment on the back burner for a while
- Since Amanda felt stuck, she turned to NaPro technology, which included an interesting process of daily ultrasounds to check for ovulation
- The NaPro doctor recommended a laparoscopy and then a hysteroscopy with a biopsy; they prepared for surgery, and then 2020 and COVID happened
- The surgery took place a few months later, and the doctor found endometriosis and chronic endometritis, an infection of the uterine lining
- Unrelated to her infertility, Amanda was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis; she returned to her previous RE because of her insurance coverage
- Amanda had an ERA and then her third transfer just a few days ago; she’s currently in the two-week wait but has had positive pregnancy tests
- Amanda explains her experience with the first doctor who discounted her concerns and how she felt imposter syndrome regarding infertility because of her young age
- Amanda’s experience with her RE and the NaPro doctor
- How she felt about the back-and-forth nature of her endometriosis diagnosis
- What it was like to have two very child-focused careers while battling infertility
- The lowest point for Amanda was after her first loss, but talking about her experience has helped her work through her feelings
- Positive moments include getting answers and diagnoses, along with leading her to a career about which she feels completely passionate
- Examples of how Amanda advocated for herself
- How infertility changed Amanda: “Infertility made me more compassionate and more aware of the questions we ask people.
- Infertility gave me a passion for reproductive health and a new career to help people.”
- Amanda’s advice to her past self: “Go see the doctor earlier.”