TTC Success Stories
A common acronym used in forums and blogs written about getting pregnant is TTC, which is short for “trying to conceive”. It’s always heartbreaking to see yet another single line in your home pregnancy test, but remember that you are not alone in your journey. Many couples with fertility problems have given birth to healthy babies, even when doctors said they had a very small chance of conceiving successfully. By sharing in the TTC success stories of those who thought they’d never get pregnant, you may feel comforted and discover a renewed sense of hope. Here are a few such stories that may help lift you up when you need it the most.
Getting pregnant with endometriosis
Sara from Texas tried to get pregnant for eight long years. The first four years of trying to conceive was spent with her first husband, who was a military guy stationed in Guam. During their time on the island, they had to live in family housing, where she was surrounded by women who were either pregnant or had happy children. The experiences of these women made Sara long for motherhood even more. Unfortunately, trying to conceive was a constant source of frustration, especially when there were those around her who were getting pregnant on their first month of trying!
To find out what was causing her reproductive problems, she and her first husband got a complete infertility work-up. Her husband was fine, but Sara was diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease. Her uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries were covered in scar tissue. She had surgery to get the scar tissue removed, and her doctors said she had a promising 90% chance of conceiving after that operation. Despite that, she still had difficulty getting pregnant. A year later, Sara went back to see the doctors, who performed another ultrasound. Her heart fell when she was told that the scar tissue had grown back. This time, she was told her chances of conceiving were less than 40%.
It was too much for her to see everyone’s bellies swell while hers stayed flat, and her husband could not understand her “obsession” with trying to conceive. Heartbroken, she ended up divorcing him and joined the military herself. During this time, she met another military guy who eventually became her second husband. This time, the people they lived with were their age and had no children to remind her of what she was missing.
Throughout her second marriage, Sara and her second husband constantly had unprotected sex. Even though they had pretty much accepted that they would never have children because of Sara’s health issues, they still figured it wouldn’t hurt to have frequent sex and see what happens. The couple decided to leave the military and return to the mainland United States. Three months later, Sara was shocked when she discovered that she was pregnant. At the time, she and her husband were both out of work, and getting pregnant was the last thing on their mind. But they still received the news with so much joy and excitement. Sara is still not sure why the move to the US and away from the military environment was the precursor to her conception after eight years without a successful pregnancy.
Their baby boy was born nine months later, absolutely perfect and healthy. Although they are still adjusting to their transition away from military life, they are so happy because they were finally blessed with their miracle baby, completely by surprise.
Conceiving a big family with PCOS
Leslie and her husband patiently tried to conceive for three years. The OB/GYN she went to told her that it was normal to have problems conceiving; contrary to everyone’s wishes who is ttc, getting pregnant often doesn’t happen on the first try. But she would menstruate continually for months at a time, sometimes very painfully – which didn’t seem to alarm her doctor. Frustrated, she went to see another doctor who was recommended by a friend from her church. Her fallopian tubes were screened, her husband’s sperm count was checked, and the new doctor found no problems with either. She was given Clomid to help her conceive, but after seven months of taking the fertility drug it did not bring her any closer to getting pregnant.
Finally, the couple decided to see a fertility specialist, who performed a more rigorous physical exam and asked in-depth questions about her history. Not long after, her diagnosis came – polycystic ovaries.
To get pregnant, Leslie went through an IVF. Leading up to the IVF, she did some research that led her to drastically change her diet to get her body in the best condition she could to prepare for conception. During their first try, she was able to ovulate 18 eggs, which formed six class-A embryos. Two were transferred and the four were frozen. After the agonizing two week wait, Leslie found out that she was pregnant with twins! She and her husband were completely shocked – they didn’t expect the procedure to work on the first try.
Unfortunately, during a follow-up two days later, the doctor told her that one of the twins was too weak to survive. Leslie was devastated about the baby that didn’t make it, but comforted herself with thoughts of the little one growing inside her.
Her daughter was born at 37 weeks, weighing 5 lbs absolutely healthy. After giving birth, Leslie’s doctor gave her Glucophage so she could ovulate regularly. Five months later, a miracle happened – she got pregnant naturally! Leslie’s son was born 6 lbs and as healthy as her sister. When the couple decided they wanted a third child, they went back to use their frozen embryos.
Three of the four embryos survived the thaw and two survived the transfer. Leslie was pregnant with twins – one boy and one girl – but the pregnancy was not without its complications. She had to go on bed rest for three months because of the pressure the pregnancy was putting on her body. At 36 weeks, she was rushed to the hospital to have an emergency Cesarean section – her blood pressure was getting dangerously high. Her daughter was delivered first, weighing 4lbs while her son came next, weighing 5lbs. Although the twins had to spend a week in the NICU and the boy had to be on oxygen for a month, both babies are the picture of health and curious about the world around them.
Unexplained infertility and conception success
After two years of trying to conceive, Samantha from Washington finally visited her OB/GYN and brought up her concerns. He didn’t seem too worried and told her to chart her basal body temperature, use an ovulation predictor kit, and stay away from alcohol – things she already knew about. After a year of no luck, she visited the doctor with her husband. This time, both of them got a complete fertility work-up. Unfortunately, the results confused the couple even more – her husband’s sperm were fine, and a hysterosalpingogram revealed no physical blockages in her fallopian tubes. She never experienced any symptoms that might suggest PCOS or other menstrual irregularities, either.
Another year went by, and this time Samantha was getting impatient. While she was watching TV, she saw a news special about an infertility specialist who commented about multiple births successfully delivered in her area. She took down the specialist’s name and gave him a call. She was excited about her first appointment – it’s been four years since she decided she wanted kids, and she was starting to lose all hope.
During her first visit, Samantha made plans to do all the necessary blood work. Her tests results were just as puzzling as the one from a year ago – her estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin levels were perfect. She ovulates at exactly the same time every month and has a perfect, 28-day cycle. So that was that – no explanation could be found for her infertility problem.
The fertility specialist suggested an IUI with Clomid and HCG injections, then working their way up to more complex procedures if needed. For Samantha, Clomid was a complete waste of time. The only thing she got was always bloated, cranky, and not pregnant. Five months later, when she got her period, Samantha gave the doctor’s office a call and started bawling as the nurse picked up. She tearfully requested that they try something else – she was so desperate and couldn’t take another month of dead-end dreams.
Her doctor decided to start her on a new synthetic injectible drug called Repronex using HCG shots, IUI, and progesterone supplements. The injections began that month and Samantha felt positive when she found that she had two well-sized follicles growing – a 23mm and 24mm. On her most fertile time period, an IUI was done and Samantha went home to rest and pray. The following day, she and her husband went out of town to a retreat where they did yoga and meditation so that they could completely relax and get emotionally grounded. Her next period was due the day after coming home from their retreat and while it didn’t come, she also experienced bad menstrual cramps.
Months before the IUI, Samantha would have taken a home pregnancy test to see if she was finally pregnant. But at this point, she was so tired of being disappointed and couldn’t bear to see another negative result. So she went to the doctor, who made her take a pregnancy test. Two seconds later, she got her first positive in four and a half years! Samantha was 34 years old then.
The rest of Samantha’s pregnancy was otherwise uneventful. In nine months, she gave birth to her son through a natural vaginal delivery.
TTC victory story over 40
Grace was almost 40 before she tried to become pregnant for the first time in her life. Although she was not married nor as financially stable as she would have wanted, she knew she may have waited too long to conceive and that time was running out. Six months after trying to conceive with her boyfriend without any results, she went to a fertility clinic to get tested. Her results came back and were poor at best – her anti-mullerian hormones (AMH) were 0.00, her ovaries were extremely small, and the last antral follicle count was 1. In other words, Grace was fast approaching menopause. In fact, the doctor said that it was unlikely that she’d be menstruating within a year. IVF was presented as an option, but the doctor warned her that there would be a very low chance of success – it was unlikely that she would produce enough viable eggs. Nonetheless, Grace decided to keep trying to conceive naturally; she didn’t have enough money to spare for an expensive IVF treatment that may or may not work.
After doing research on the internet, she found stories of women with an AMH of .02 and follicle count of 4 – these were very low scores and their doctors said they couldn’t get pregnant. Despite this discouraging information, Grace was determined to get pregnant. To make the most out of her remaining fertility, she started acupuncture and DHEA. Even though all the websites told her that acupuncture works best 4 months before trying to conceive, she did not have any time to waste.
Grace also started taking her basal temperature to determine the patterns of her ovulation. Prior to this, her periods were erratic at best – anywhere between 13-26 days. Before the IVF began, she had no period at 33 days but was worried because her temperature pattern fell completely flat. She was starting to think that IVF wouldn’t work because she had run out of eggs. Any time she felt a bit warm, Grace wondered if she was experiencing a hot flash. Her libido was dying and she could not feel any cervical fluids at all.
On the 45th day of no period, Grace took a pregnancy test and got a positive result. As soon as the two pink lines emerged, she started crying uncontrollably, amazed and grateful that she finally got the pregnancy she wanted. She wasted no time informing her doctor about the miracle – after all, who gets pregnant naturally while approaching menopause? The doctor’s response put a damper to her happiness; she was advised to wait about 3 more weeks before getting tested again.
Once the three weeks were up, Grace visited a colleague of her doctor. He looked through her chart and congratulated her for having beat the odds. Then she hopped up on the table for an ultrasound to see if it was a real pregnancy. By this time, Grace was no longer fond of ultrasounds and expected him to be as unimpressed as her first doctor. Instead, his first words were, “You seem to have done a good job. Here is the embryo – if you look close enough, you can detect a faint heartbeat already. And here is the other one.” He pointed to the second blob of fuzzy dark-gray pixels on the screen. Grace had conceived twins.
Story of successful pregnancy after secondary infertility
Jody never thought she’d have problems conceiving again. After all, she and her husband have two very active little boys to prove that they had no infertility problems. Unfortunately, it took two and a half years of trying to conceive baby number three before Jody and her husband decided to get tests at a nearby fertility clinic. Her HSG, blood tests, and endometrial biopsy all came back as “very good” or “excellent.” Her husband’s sperm were healthy, robust, and plentiful. Seeing as there were no other explanations for their secondary fertility, the doctor suggested that an IUI with Clomid might help them conceive a third child.
The first IUI was done too early – Jody got anxious and insisted that the procedure be done a full day before she ovulated. This didn’t work. The second IUI was well-timed, but failed to yield a pregnancy.
A few days later, she was at the pediatrician’s office with her son when she picked up a brochure for a mind/body clinic that specializes in fertility. The clinic was currently having a promo – one free session for every five. Jody thought she might as well give it a shot; she had read about how such treatments can help women get pregnant.
After receiving those treatments, the third IUI was finally successful – Jody found out she was pregnant! In nine months, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Trying to conceive triumph after miscarriage
Every single one of Karen’s three miscarriages were heartbreaking. Her first attempt at trying to conceive happened when she was 30; she got pregnant easily but miscarried a month later. The next pregnancy happened almost a year afterwards; while she had no trouble conceiving, she also lost the baby during the first trimester. Grieving for her two lost children, Karen and her husband put off trying to conceive until they felt ready, two years later. It took several months before Karen got pregnant, but she eventually conceived a pair of twins. Unfortunately, one twin died, and the other followed shortly.
Karen never got a definitive explanation for why the miscarriages happened. She ate lean meat and organic vegetables, exercised moderately, and never smoked in her life. To find some answers, she got tested and discovered that she had Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, a rare genetic condition that can lead to complications in pregnancy. However, the doctors did not feel that this contributed to the miscarriages. After other fertility tests came back negative, she tried and conceived for the fourth time.
Five weeks into the pregnancy, Karen started bleeding again. Her doctor put her on bed rest until 16 weeks and at the advice of a naturopath she began using a natural progesterone cream. After the 16 weeks were up, her pregnancy was stable enough for her to go back to work. The rest of her pregnancy was uneventful until Karen gave birth to a lovely baby girl at 36 weeks. Although she doesn’t know for sure if the bed rest and progesterone made a difference, she’s definitely overjoyed to finally be able to hold her healthy baby in her arms.
Create your own TTC success story
These stories are only a few reports of the countless couples who have successfully beat incredible odds and conceived. Please visit The Full Embrace Pregnancy Success Program to get tips about how to begin your journey towards pregnancy success today.
