Fall 2005–We begin “not-trying-NOT-to-get-pregnant.” Having seen acquaintances in the past get so stressed out if they didn’t get pregnant right away, we thought we’d try sneaking up on it. That way, if it doesn’t work right away, no big deal. We weren’t really TRYing, after all. Also, I’d just gotten a new job, so maybe we shouldn’t get pregnant in the first 6 months anyway because then I wouldn’t have full FMLA rights yet.

Spring 2007–We get a little more intentional about things. We pay closer attention to timing, but still try not to get too stressed out about it. But life gets busy and sometimes we miss our window of opportunity.

Fall 2007–We begin using ovulation tests to be more certain that we’re doing this at the right time and to try to increase our chances.

Summer 2008–We finally go to see some fertility specialists. Tests are done. We both have “issues” but none are insurmountable. We discover our very great fortune in that our insurance actually covers IVF treatments and with that monetary hurdle out of the way, decide to proceed directly to IVF instead of fooling around with many more, less likely to succeed treatments.

Late Summer 2008–after many, many encounters with a needle, we undergo our first round of IVF. This first “fresh” cycle leaves us with 6 viable and healthy embryos (enough to freeze some for future attempts). Sadly, the first two embryos do not work.  (they transfer two embryos with each attempt.)

Fall 2008–We try our first “frozen” IVF cycle. The blood test results two weeks later show a low-ish beta number (but not the tragic “<5”), but the test was accidentally performed one day too early so … maybe? The second test, two days later, reveals that, in fact, the numbers have dropped, not increased. This cycle isn’t going to work either.

Winter 2009–We try our second (and last) “frozen” IVF cycle. No luck. Tired of needles and hormones and drugs and anxiety and dashed hopes, we’re beginning to more seriously consider adoption as a more “sure” way to build our family. Read along with us as we pick up the story at this point and let’s see where it takes us.