Ashley

When I was 21, I accidentally threw out my birth control pills. What else disappeared? My period. I didn’t think too much about it at the time due to my age, plus I wasn’t ready for children yet in any case. I said “whatever”, listened to my doctor, and trusted that “it will come back”.

Fast forward 4 years - and that period still did not return. I started seeing multiple doctors, going through various tests and assessments… And nothing. Due to anovulation, meaning I do not ovulate, I cannot get pregnant without assistance.

When I was 26, my husband and I started the testing and process to begin IVF. While waiting to get into our fertility clinic we tried using Clomid, however that was not successful. By this time I was 27. That same year, we finally received a call from the fertility clinic to schedule our first appointment. We did multiple tests, and I started Provera to induce a period to begin my first IVF cycle. Provera did not work and while I was initially devastated, they checked my hormones and gave us the ok to begin IVF regardless of not having a period. That first IVF cycle resulted in two embryos, and we proceeded with a fresh transfer. Unfortunately, the embryo stopped growing. During that time, my new little Yorkie was delivered and I was so thankful I had him to comfort me as my husband had to leave for work while we dealt with the loss of the embryo.

Fast forward a few months, we decided not to use our frozen embryo and instead do another round of IVF. This round started with a Provera-induced period and was much more successful. We ended up with 10 embryos to freeze! Unfortunately, I developed OHSS and I had to take a break while I recovered.

A few months after that, I was preparing to start the medication to prepare for a frozen embryo transfer and my husband was preparing to leave for another job. I woke up about 4 days before starting my meds and I had symptoms I’ve never had before, indicating I was possibly ovulating (IYKYK!). I took an ovulation test and sure enough, BOOM - two big, dark red lines. I started my meds that week and about four days in, I took another ovulation test and the lines were still dark. I messaged my clinic and they asked if I could possibly be pregnant. I took a pregnancy test the next day and, sure enough, a little faint second line appeared. I couldn’t believe it. I ovulated one time in 8 years and ended up pregnant on my own. It was the best surprise we ever could have gotten!