Maria doesn’t really need an introduction, her adorable little boy says it all! She’s a friend of mine here in Houston (who I still have not yet met!!) but her story brought a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat.  There is hope – no matter how hard you are struggling, you can draw strength from Maria’s story…

Mateo

Well, my history began a year after my wedding, my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby.  I was very excited to know that we were going to change from couple to a family, but time passed and nothing, so, during a medical check-up, the doctor found out that I had a thyroid problem, take the medicine and in 3 months you should get pregnant… and nothing.

Time passed, we move from Caracas to Las Morochas, Venezuela (we are Venezuelan so it was cool), it had been three years since we decided to have a baby, I was worried but at that time I had other problems, my periods becoming more and more painful, horribly painful, I couldn’t walk or even get out of the bed, a friend recommend a Doctor to me, in Maracaibo, ‘he is a fertility doctor, go see him’, and we did.

We meet Dr. Abdala Karame in a Hospital La Coromoto, in Maracaibo and there I learned a new word. Oh! That word I will never forget it ENDOMETRIOSIS, never again would I see my periods as something all women have, I then saw them as a big problem.  The doctor immediately ordered a laparoscopy, “No worries, it is at the most, a 45 minute procedure!” Yeah, right!!!! 5 hours! FIVE!! God! I was such a mess; my uterus was displaced to the right, kissing ovaries to the left, two HUGE endometriosis cysts inside each ovary and so much scar tissue!

Well, he fixed me, or that’s what I thought!

Because my ovaries were really beat up, he put me on a treatment to induce a medicated menopause! My God! The hot flashes! That was just, yikes!!! But at that time, we moved to Anchorage, which was great! Each time I had a hot flash; I pulled the window down and stuck my head out! Ahhh! Refreshing!

That lasted eight months, the Dr said, after you get your first period, you will get pregnant… nope, I didn’t! So, I saw myself in another new Dr’s office. This time he told me that I should do a HSG, so I did, and it wasn’t that bad, except for the fact that I didn’t know much English and my husband had to go with me to translate everything for me. Oh God, that was the first time he saw what I had been going through this all time. He felt very proud of me, which made me love him even more, if that is possible!

The result was that everything was fine, so I started with clomid and ovulation prediction kits.  Those kits, I just hated them, it was madness check the time, the day, call the husband and tell him you need to be here now! Oh my! That wasn’t right! And still nothing happened!

Well, it was time to move again, this time Mexico City! I was happy and excited, they speak Spanish there, and I had a good feeling about going. As soon as we arrived, I looked for the best doctor, and I found him.  Doctor Alfonso Gutierrez-Najar, a pioneer in IVF treatment, we went to see him immediately. He did another HSG, but this one was better, no X-rays, no contrast liquid, just a sonogram, water and air, no pain at all.  He did a physical exam and told us, your uterus is fine, your tubes are ok, but the tubes don’t move.  So, if the tubes can’t move (because all the scar tissue) they can’t “fish” for the egg.  I looked to my husband and said: “what should I do?” and he replied, “you must do the IVF; you don’t have any other choice”.

At this time, we went through “IVF 101”, he explained and explained and we decided to go for it! I was soooooo excited!  I was convinced that this is it! No, it wasn’t. The treatment didn’t just fail, I felt so much pain after the procedure, because of which the doctor suggested I have another laparoscopy, to take a look inside. Surgery again, this time it was 1 hour, he removed more scar tissue, because with endometriosis each time I get my period, I get more scar tissue and he had to tide my tubes, as they were so damaged that it created hydro-salpinx. Well, after that, I did another cycle of IVF, I responded better, I did 8 eggs (yay meee) my doctor transfer 3 and froze the other 5! I was sure that it would work!!

But, no, it didn’t so a lite disappointment, it but it was ok, I had 5 more eggs! So, I prepared for an embryo transfer. And guess what? It worked! I got pregnant! I just couldn’t believe it! That happiness didn’t long, the day I went to hear the heart beat, we found out that it was a ectopic pregnancy! Oh boy! That was the worst day of my live! I don’t even remember.  So, the good news was that the treatment worked on me.  But I was so beat up physically, mentally, emotionally, that I had to rest for almost a year.

After that, I did 5 more cycles, I was like a robot doing treatment after treatment, I just wanted to be a mom! But, I got selfish and forgot my husband, he was suffering a lot, each time it failed, he got more and more frustrated and depressed, he support me each time, until I said enough, I told him “let’s move!” When we got to Houston a very good friend recommend me to see Dr Williams in the Houston Fertility Institute, just to see if we wanted to do one more cycle of IVF and we went to see how we felt with him, it was awesome! So, we decided “ok, let’s do one last IVF”.  It was November 2011 and… it worked! December 1^st, I got the call! I was pregnant! And this time was perfect!

In August 2012 my son Mateo was born!

A perfect beeeeeeautiful 8lb 7oz boy and so far, everything has been just crazy! Remember! Getting pregnant is just the beginning!  I hope my history helps you to understand that no matter how strong, wealthy, persistent, you are, only God decides when the best time is!

Keep the faith, keep the praying and keep trying!

Talk to your husband, friends, family when you need to, and remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!