Fertility Follies - Jealousy, Miscarriage, In-Vitro Book

Jealousy — The Green Eyed Monster

I finally got pregnant due to jealousy. Not IVF, not IUI, not having sex on a full moon with the bed facing east or any of the other supposedly surefire ways to help get you pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I tried all of those methods and more. After four miscarriages, multiple failed attempts at IUI, and enough synthetic hormones to qualify for a change in sexual status on my driver's license, I decided to give IVF a try.

With IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization), the process involves pumping your body full of hormones that hyper stimulate your ovaries so they can produce multiple eggs. When your body has reached a sufficient level, the eggs are then surgically retrieved, fertilized with sperm and transferred back to the uterus with the hopes that the eggs will continue to grow and develop into a fetus. When talking with others about their experience with IVF or watching shows on TV, everyone seems so relaxed and excited. It's as if people are rolling off on their gurney's to get a pedicure, not an anesthetized surgery. I am the first one to point out that I am a medical wimp. To this day, I still sweat before every checkup and no matter how many cookies they offer, I could never donate blood. That being said, I was terrified of undergoing IVF. The possibility of a baby was the only thing that kept me from running as far away from anyone in a white coat as possible. I was temporarily appeased with the knowledge that after IVF there would be no more surgeries, no more hormones and if I was lucky, no more tears and frustration. I could only close my eyes and hope that it was all going to be worth it.

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