Our love story began in high school and continued to grow through out the years. Strangely I've always known having our family wouldn't come easy for us. As a teenager I suffered from irregular cycles. I consulted with several doctors from the moment I turned 18 and was always pushed off saying I was still young my hormones just needed to regulate themselves. I hit my breaking point when the last Doctor I saw had the nerve to tell me "What's the hurry you are only 22 years old? My wife and I just had our first after we both finished our doctoral degrees." My jaw dropped at the absurd comment he made. I was there questioning why I hadn't fallen pregnant in the last couple years of not using protection. An ooops was bound to happen right? Obviously I became extremely concerned that something was seriously wrong and I didn't want to wait until I was in my 30's to find out having a child wouldn't come easy. A month after I turned 23 I finally sought out a reproductive endocrinologist's opinion. We discussed the ridiculously long cycles I was having or not having. The fact that I had been to the ER once before due to severe pelvic pain, turned out to be a ruptured cyst. At the whooping age of 23 I was diagnosed with PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Given my age he had extremely high hopes I would get pregnant right away with Clomid. After our first failed IUI he became very pessimistic. He sent me to get an HSG done to check my tubes. Unfortunately, my cervix was not cooperating and it was an epic fail. We went ahead with a second IUI plus an increase in clomid dosage. My body had a hard time with the higher dosage that my lining was thin and it surged before Follicles were matured. Again his pessimism began to show that he went as far as telling the nurse to give me a pamphlet for IVF. He argued that I was extremely young that the only possibility it wasn't working because my tubes were blocked. Now he was that far off with his presumptions as I do have one blocked tube. Although I always ovulated from the good side.

We ended up doing 2 IUIs with our first RE then moved on to a new specialist. It was important to me to feel like a person not a number or another statistic in their books. Our new fertility clinic was amazing. We ended up doing another IUI which failed at that point I had accepted it wasn't going to work. My age played a big factor in my protocol. My new RE didn't feel comfortable using IUI + injections. The risk of multiples sky rocketed with my age and therefor there was no way they were going to allow me to even try. In our preparation for IVF we discovered I suffered from uterine polyps, a blocked Fallopian tube, and a tilted uterus. After suffering from two miscarriages further testing confirmed I am a carrier of 2 mutations of MTHFR and tested positive for lupus anticoagulants. Finding this out was probably the hardest pill I had to swallow. When we discussed IVF our Doctor didn't believe we needed those gratings since I was "young". There's never a day I don't regret pushing them to do it anyway to cover our bases. I wish I just would have checked everything off the list as a precaution. It wasn't until my miscarriages that I dove in to be my own advocate on what could be causing them. I jotted all my concerns and set up a consult with my new RE, same clinic. Did I mention I saw 3 REs at this clinic? My first went on maternity leave at the start of my IVF cycle. The second left after my first miscarriage and didn't bother to say his goodbyes. Then came Dr Balthazar the angel God sent my way. We share the same Birthday and we managed to knock me up and keep me pregnant so I can have a Leo just like his mama.

Regardless of how much fear was in my heart I was grateful that this diagnosis allowed us to have a successful and healthy pregnancy. This journey wasn't easy that I found myself questioning if I would ever have the privilege to be called mommy, not just angel mommy. The fear started building up when I saw we had 3 remaining embryos left from 10! We had 1 fresh transfer of one beautiful embryo, 4 FETs that varied between 1 & 2 embryos. FET #4 was our successful cycle with one embryo. If Infertility wasn't enough I had to deal with sporadic heavy bleeding through my first trimester. We honestly thought it was going to end up in another miscarriage just like the previous two. With Gods grace our little miracle held on and I stopped bleeding at exactly 10 weeks.

Never would have thought we would be going down this road at the whooping age of 23 and finally ending at 26. Three long painful years but we never gave up. Keep on fighting and always be your own advocate during this struggle. Yes REs are knowledgeable but you aren't their only patient. If you pushed them in the right direction you will become a team in your success.

In light of National Infertility Awareness Week I want to give an update on how I am doing.

Everyone thinks once you cross to the other side, as some of us like to call it, your mentality changes in regards to infertility. Well that is not the case. Yes my heart feels like it can burst into a million pieces with just one look at my little miracle BUT I am constantly being reminded that my body doesn't function normally. My symptoms have been so severe that I break down from time to time feeling hopeless. Before my diagnosis of PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I had minimal symptoms. My cycles ranged anywhere from 30 - 60 days apart with excruciating pain on the start of my cycle. After having my son my cycles returned when he was 4 months. Little did I know it was the start of major PCOS symptoms. At first I chopped it up to my hormones trying to regulate themselves and my body just needed time to heal.

After two cycles I became an emotional wreck quickly realizing that what I was experiencing wasn't normal. I set up an appointment with my trusted acupuncturist. At my consult we went over all my symptoms which she immediately concluded my PCOS had came back with a vengeance.

I became very aware of when I ovulated due to the intense pain I got from whatever side the follicle was released. If that wasn't enough I would begin to feel extremely nauseous soon after. Followed by extreme migraines, as a matter of fact the migraines were a constant thing. I knew I was gearing up to ovulate once my migraines started up then they intensified once i did. It was a never ending battle of not being able to do daily task or concentrate at work. Hence the emotional breakdown and constant crying. The lack of sleep was more dreadful than ever, not because of my waking child. Fear of opening my eyes to endure my migraines. I felt incapable of taking care of my son at times. Feeling hopeless my husband had to step in to help during those difficult days.

After several sessions of acupuncture my migraines led off. They became sporadic instead of constant. Although other symptoms are still lingering around I am hopeful that with lifestyle changes, plus a little help from natural remedies, my body will start adjusting itself. I fear that I may always have to rely on these methods to have control of my body. So no I don't feel like I beat infertility since I am constantly being reminded that my body doesn't function normally. Yes, I am finally a momma but becoming one didn't instantly remove the title of infertile. Infertility will always be a great part of me. It made me aware which encouraged me to become knowledgeable in my diagnosis and be my own advocate on how to treat PCOS. I refuse to let modern medicine prescribe birth control pills to relief my symptoms.
I've fought through so many obstacles to have my miracle baby and I will continue to fight in order for my body to "fix" itself.

I am, will always be, an infertile woman who will never stop fighting PCOS.

Stats: Have no idea but he's getting heavier (:

Nicknames: The Hulk, Grumpy, Prince/ In Spanish: Gordo, Mayito, Chuyito, Mulo, loquito

Likes: Interaction with kids or anyone that will entertain him. He loves to pull hair, being on the trampoline, swing, outdoors in general, he loves his new puppy Miss Kitana, apparently phones which I'm not particularly fond of but I use it to get him to start moving from point A to B.

Dislikes: Still hates to be told it's mimi time. When you tell him no. If he can't get what he wants he will throw a fit and throws everything you give him because apparently we aren't understand he wants things he can't play with. The funniest one is he hates pooping. Lol but he's good about doing his business so there's no constipation.

Special Skills: Hes an eater and he isn't particularly picky either. Is semi crawling, he has the whole going backwards crawling down but needs to work on moving forward, he takes two steps forward and then gives up BUT if you have a cell phone insight he will find away to get to it lol. Walking while you hold his hand has to be one of his favorites.

Sleeping: I've concluded I will be on #teamnosleep for awhile. Don't get me wrong he wakes up at 12am then until 5:30 am before I officially have to get up but those wake ups really get to my eyes.