Chronicles of a Fire Wife

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and  Part 3 ,  Part 4 , Part 5 , and Part 6  so that you're up to speed on where we're at. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here we are. IUI #1 didn't work. I honestly didn't have a plan for if it didn't work. I was naive and assumed it would work on the first try. Why wouldn't it? The doctor said he had high hopes. Either way, here we are. I made the call. I told the nurse that IUI #1 didn't work and that we would like to move on to IUI #2, without skipping any cycles in between. This was a difficult decision because I was emotionally shut down. I was numb and I was operating on auto pilot. Life in our house was tense.  The Money I cried when I thought about having to write another check for thousands of dollars. It made me sick knowing that we literally had nothing to show for it...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and  Part 3 ,  Part 4 , and Part 5  so that you're up to speed on where we're at. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Uffda. This whole process has been mentally draining. I've experienced every single emotion possible. I had no idea what to expect when embarking on this journey and I don't wish it upon anyone. It's devastating, unfair, and frustrating. The unknowns are unbearable. The statistics for IUI rates are slim. But... I have hope. We have hope. We are not giving up. We decided to go through with the IUI procedure.With any procedure that's done through the Reproductive Medicine Program, everything needs to be prepaid. The cost for the IUI procedure (not including medications) came to $1,494.35 - this included the procedure and ultrasounds required for monitoring. As previously stated, MN is one of the many state...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and  Part 3 , and Part 4  so that you're up to speed on where we're at. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a recap of the Game Plan that we discussed after the FemVue test (October 22, 2018): My doctor mentioned putting me on birth control for a month or two so that the cysts on my ovaries have a chance to resolve themselves. When the ovaries become enlarged and develop numerous small collections of fluid (follicles/cysts), they fail to regularly release eggs. If we can eliminate the cysts, we have a better chance of getting my ovaries to function properly. If they still do not function properly, we can try different fertility medications (Clomid or Letrozole) or the "trigger shot". If that doesn't work, we can go the IUI route. Basically, we have a couple options that we can try. I was nervous about go...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and  Part 3  so that you're up to speed on where we're at! ------------------------ "Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble & never stop praying." -Romans 12:12 Yowza! It has been a couple months since I've posted, but as the old saying goes... no news is good news. I haven't posted because I haven't had any updates. We went on vacation to Texas and then decided to take a break from the testing to just RELAX. The break was much needed, mentally. **I'd classify this post as TMI! If you're a male or you really  don't care to know specific details about the HSG/FemVue test, skip right on over this post. You're welcome for the heads up!** If you've been following along our journey, you know that the next step in the testing process for us was the FemVue (Sono HSG) test. You might be wondering why I didn...

"A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink." - Gina Carey 2011 When I graduated college and became a police officer in 2011, I was in the best shape of my life. I consistently worked out and ate clean. In 2014, I met my husband (Tony) and moved 45 minutes away from everything and everyone that I knew. Shortly after moving in with him, I suffered a severe concussion off duty. I was out of work for 2+ weeks. The concussion symptoms were overwhelming (vertigo, constant headache, nausea), so I spent most of my time on the couch watching TV or laying in bed. On my first day back to work, I  put my pants on and they were too tight. I was frustrated, but remembered that I hadn’t worked out in weeks. The concussion symptoms continued on/off for the next year, so workouts didn’t happen. Engagement '15 In July of 2015, Tony proposed! I was SO EXCITED. When we received our engagement pictures back, I was embarrassed by how I looked - my cloth...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and Part 3  so that you're up to speed on where we're at! "If you want it bad enough, you will find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse." Hi ya'll! I realized it has been way too long since I've posted a blog, so here we go! The past month and a half has been very busy with work and life in general. Unfortunately, I don't have any updates regarding our journey to parenthood. I decided to take a month off from testing to save up some money and to alleviate some stress. The last phase of our testing process if the Femvue test to evaluate my tubes and check for blockage. This test costs approximately $1,026... out-of-pocket. As you can imagine, there is added stress with the financial aspect of this process. Can we afford it? Meh... we do pretty well and could probably make it work. But I'm the type of person that likes to have a set a...