Pregnant "In No Time" (Narrator: She Was Not)

There's a big part of the fertility journey that doesn't get enough credit, and spoiler alert: it's everything that happens before IVF.

When I first got diagnosed with PCOS (now PMOS, although I still can't get used to saying it), my fertility specialist at the time told me I'd "just need some Clomid or Letrozole" — aka ovulation induction meds — to kickstart my cycle, and I'd be pregnant "in no time." Fast forward one year later, and I was starting IVF, wondering why the hell it took her so long to suggest the one thing that actually ended up working.

IVF isn't a guarantee, and I know that better than most now. But the steps that usually come before it — ovulation induction, timed intercourse, IUI — rarely get talked about with any real detail. My body, for one, over-responded to Clomid (think: multiple mature follicles, high risk of triplets and beyond), and under-responded to Letrozole. My IUI cycles were often grueling, with dozens of monitoring appointments before even getting to the trigger shot and IUI, all for odds that hover somewhere between 10 and 20% per medicated cycle.

After months and months of hope and disappointment, IVF is what ended up working for us, but that's just my story, and I know it doesn't look the same for everyone.

All of this is to say, we want to keep highlighting those experiences. If you have a Letrozole success story, or an IUI cycle you're proud of, I'd love to hear from you: kristyn@rescripted.com.

Somewhere, right now, someone's IUI is about to be the one that finally works, and I want her to have hope while she's still in it.