The road so far

Everything changes once you make the decision to go to the doctors. Up until that point, you can continue to think 'well, maybe next month...' But after you've made that first appointment, there's no going back - you're put on the waiting list for another appointment, and then another one, and then another one. You hand your body over to the medical profession, and then, somewhere much further down the line, you realise that you've lost the happy, healthy and instinctive relationship you used to have with that body.

After about a year of trying (initially to conceive, but then latterly to convince ourselves that we didn't have a problem in that respect), we made an appointment to see our GP, who referred us to a gynaecologist. After waiting twelve weeks, we saw the gynaecologist, who did all the usual bloodtests, and recommended a laparoscopy. The laparoscopy revealed some minimal endometriosis & two small fibroids. All my bloodwork came back normal. Only then did anyone think to test Mr H, at which point it became apparent that there were problems with both the morphology & motility of his sperm. We then received the devastating news that our best chances of conceiving lay with IVF/ICSI. Since then, we've moved house, changed clinics and been on more waiting lists.

Then in June 2006, the unbelievable happened. Against all the odds, I found out that I'd managed to conceive naturally. At long last, I was carrying the baby that I had longed for. Unfortunately, I had barely had time to get used to being pregnant before it was all over; I miscarried at seven weeks.

Since then, we've kept on trying, but to no avail. Time is marching on, however, and so we've made the decision to go ahead with a cycle of IVF/ICSI in December. In the meantime, I am trying to remain optimistic; there is a small chance that, with some judicious timing and copious amounts of Foresight vitamins, we may manage to conceive naturally.