Endo Success Stories (pg/parenting ment)

These success stories offer so much hope & inspiration to all of us on this board. There are times when we cannot imagine with all our problems, that we will ever conceive. Well, we do, and the following stories prove that. The days that so many of us have where our dreams seem so far away and the reality of success fading, these are the times we search for and need hope - so often unable to find any. This thread changes that and allows us to find that hope any and every time we need it

We are greatful for each pg woman or mother that shares her story with us here, it really does mean so much to us. There are many stories that have similar histories to us and perhaps even offer us some information that can help our individual battle to also become pg and become mothers

So, please can all pg women here and any mothers who are here share their histories and the story of how they got to where they are ? Whichever path it took for you all to become pg or become a mother, it is a succes story we would LOVE to read about.

Thankyou so much and as always we wish you the very best

[Melissa in ND]

Melissa~

I was dx with stage 3 endo back in 1990 and since then having laps after laps done and being told that I may never have children I finally found my DH and married in 2000 and ttc for 2 yrs prior to getting married and no luck. I had tried clomid 50 mg for awhile with no luck so I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and the RE there said that with my hx that the best route for me and Dh to go was IVF. So here is my story:

Back in Nov' 2000 DH and I went to Mayo and went through the meetings of what would take place for the IVF so Jan' 2001 came and we had our orientation and learnt how to give shots and Feb'2001 started Lupron and later that month started Follistim 150 units ( they started me low due to overstimming on Clomid 50 mg) and by CD 11 my e2 levels were only 714 and only had 2 dominant follies so instead of cancelling my IVF they decided to give IUI a try -- so on March 8th 2001 I went in for my procedure and 15 dpiui my beta came back at 156. We were so happy to finally be pg.

So, everything went wonderful, although I had spotting up until 9 weeks and from there on very good pg. No ms or nothing. But in early Oct' 2001 I started gaining alot of weight, and my blood pressure got real high, so I ended up going to hospital because my bh cx were strong and very painful so it was decided after my b/p went up to 191/91 that I should be induced so on Sunday the 11th of Nov they started inducing and by Monday morning at 11:58 am my little girl, Kaitlin Rose came into the world 3 weeks early and weighed 6# 4 oz and very very healthy.

So, please don't give up or loose hope if you have ever heard the words, "You may never have children" because if I had listened my little girl wouldn't be here. I am so truely blessed and thank god every day that she is here.

It will happen, sometimes it just takes some longer than others, but PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!! God is in control and he will see that you are happily blessed someday.

Hope this gives you hope.

Take care

[TwoQTs]

I always had terribly painful periods & heavy!! I suspected that I had endo when I started missing work every time I had AF. I saw my GP & she also suspected endo, but said some people were much better on BCPs. So I started BCPs & it DID help!! I was around 23 yrs old.

I got married in 1996 & we decided to wait one year before TTC. In 1997, I had an appendectomy. The surgeon told me he found Stage 1 endo on my bowel & some in the cul-de-sac. He advised me to start TTC immediately. I waited a month, then went off BCPs. I had a normal cycle, then nothing but continous spotting for 6-weeks. After 6-months of nothing but occasional spotting, & no sense to my charting, I asked to see an OB/GYN.

The OB/GYN said I wasn't ovulating, so he put me on 50 mg of clomid. I was on that dosage for 3-months, then he upped it to 100mg. I appeared to ovulate, but he sent me to an RE in Calgary. The RE suggested IUI with the Clomid. I had one IUI, which wasn't succesful, then never got a positive OPK after that. So I had two cancelled cycles. I gave up, went drug-free for several months, then back to the RE again. She told me there was new evidence that untreated endo could release scavenger cells which could kill the egg, sperm , or prevent implantation. She suggested another lap to see what the endo was doing. By this time, 2-years had passed since my previous lap.

My OB/GYN did the lap & found extensive Stage 2 endo. It was on the bowels, the uterus, the ligaments, cul-de-sac, obliterating one ovary which was starting to stick to the side of the uterus, starting on the other ovary, & the dr told me it was like someone had let loose with a spray can of endo in my abdomen. He couldn't remove it all; there was far too much. He removed what he could. After three months, I was given the green light to have another IUI. The RE said although my cycles were very regular, it didn't mean the egg was releasing. So I was given an HCG shot 36-hours before the IUI. I was devastated as they told me things looked perfect, & the cycle was negative.

I went for a second IUI the following month. To be honest, my dh insisted. I was ready to give up but dh convinced me to try one more time. We had enough HCG left for one more shot. So I agreed. I was starting to feel positive, then the nurse phoned & said I qualified as I had ONE mature follicle.. I was devastated. But I went through with it anyway.

Imagine my surprise when AF was late. Then when I took a urine test several days later!! I couldn't believe it was positive!!!

And imagine my surprise when I had my 20-week u/s & the tech said to me; "There's the head & spine of Baby #1, there's the head & spine of Baby #2." I was measuring exactly for one baby!! Believe me...if I hadn't been laying down, I would've fallen over!!

Due to suspected TTTS & then Alison's heart stopping, I had an emerg. c-section at 33 1/2 weeks. And due to the spinal failing, I had to undergo a general anesthetic. Then due to the morphine, I was sick, sick, sick!!! So I didn't get to see my babies till evening. But it was so worth it...just to know they were all right.

Emily Rose weighed 2 lbs, 9 oz. Alison Elizabeth weighed 4 lbs, 2 oz. They were in NICU 4 & 3 weeks respectively.

PLEASE, remember!!! NEVER give up!!!
Motherhood is within your grasp. I never thought it would happen to me; it did. And it can happen to you, too!!

EDITED to ADD: I got pregnant w/o any tx 2.5 years after the birth of my girls. I have had no return of any endo symptoms & have had painless AFs ever since.

[Jillian]

Here's my story (sorry it's long, but it's 3 years worth!);

I got married in 1999 at the age of 28. I had an older sister with stage IV endo who had trouble conceiving (she eventually did-3 times!), so I knew the odds for me having endo were good. DH and I decided to start ttc right away. I had been on BCP's for 10 years and had had no problems, but we knew there was a good chance there would be some. We were right!

Within 6 months I was in terrible pain when I ovulated and had my period. My wonderful OB-GYN, who knew my family history, suggested a lap right away. She found stage II endo and lasered it off. I was then on Lupron for 3 months. I followed that with clomid and ttc naturally. No luck. After 6 more months, she sent me to an RE.

He started me on IUI's with injectibles. I had two of these, each a month apart ,due to ovarian cysts in between. By the time the second one failed, I was in horrible pain. I would faint and vomit when I had my period. I was missing a week of work at a time and living on vicodin. My RE suggested another lap, this time done by the head of laporoscopic gynecological surgery at the medical center I was being treated at.

This lap revealed stage III endo, with my ovaries stuck together and my tubes adhered to my pelvic wall. I had endo on my bladder and rectum. I was pretty much a mess. My RE suggested Lupron (again!), a few more rounds of IUI's and then moving on to IVF. I was devastated to think it would take something that high tech to get me pregnant.

I did one more natural IUI-which failed. DH and I decided to go for one IVF and then call it quits. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. We prepared to live life childfree and geared up for IVF. I had some problems-my cervix was stenotic from a cone biopsy and I had to have it dialated to do the IVF. Not a good experience! But retrieval and transfer went well and on August 12, 2001, I had 3 grade 4 (the best possible) embies transferred. I went home and laid in bed for 4 days and prayed!

On August 27 I got the call I'd dreamed about. I was pregnant! And as the nurse said-really pregnant! She advised me to prepare for more than one at my ultrasound.

My u/s was scheduled for September 21. On the morning of September 11, I woke up at 3:00 am bleeding heavily. Dh was supposed to be flying out early for a day business trip. Instead, he took me to the doctor at daybreak. We were prepared for the worst-and instead got to see two heartbeats!! The doctor thinks the bleeding was the third embryo miscarrying. I was pregnant with twins!
As we left the office, completely in shock, we heard the terrible news happening around the country. Amazingly enough, dh's trip that day was to meet with clients at Morgan Stanley in the WTC in NYC. He was due in NYC at 8:00 that morning and would have been getting to the WTC at about 9:00.

September 11, 2001 was a day of miracles for our family. It still blows me away to think about it all.

I had a fairly uneventful pregnancy. I did develop a heart arrythmia that left me fairly incapacitated at about 25 weeks, but I would have been on bedrest anyway. I spent 4 months on modified bedrest.

At 37 weeks exactly, I had a c-section and had two perfect baby boys. They were great sizes (6.5 and 6.11) and perfectly healthy. They are growing like weeds and every day they remind me that miracles do happen!!

Everyone ttc please hangin there through the pain and heartache. It is so worth it once you finally have a success. I would do it again in a heartbeat!! I wish all of you the best of luck!


I've attached a pic of my miracles at 2 days old.

[carolynD]

I found fertile thoughts about a year ago after we had been trying to get pg for a little over a year without success. In May of 2001 I had a very early miscarriage followed by pretty sever pelvic pain. After trying everthing I had a lap in September 2001. They found a small ammount of endo but they did not think it was the cause of our infertility. I was amazed to find myself pg just a few short weeks after my lap. We were thrilled to say put on progesterone supplements because of a low progesterone level. We went in for my 9 week sonongram and the baby was measuring a week behind and had only a very faint heartbeat. We were heartbroken. We had to wait through thte Thanksgiving holiday to have another sono that revealed that the baby had died. We were crushed beyond words. I chose to have a natural miscarriage and three weeks later finally miscarried. We were waiting one cycle to try aclomid IUI due to some make factor. One careless night of fun and we found ourselves pg again only weeks after my miscarriage. Again I had a very low initial progesterone level and miscarried at 7 weeks. We were soo heartbroken. We waited so long for a pg and hten to lose two!!! So in March 2002 we did a clomid bms cycle to see how i would react to the drug, with no pg. April we did 50 mg clomid days 2-6. I had 4 very nice follicles. We did the IUI and this time began progesterone 4 days after the IUI. We were thrilled when we found out we were pg but still had a low progetserone level. My RE upped the ammount of progesterone and at 7 weeks it dipped to a dangerously low level of 9. I went immediatley on to daily injections of progesterone. WE foudn out a few days later that we were having twins!! We were so thrilled and excited, but at our 9 weeks sono we foudn that one twin had not survived. It was a struggle trying to figure out how to greive for one baby and still stay strong and excited about the other. It has been a long tough year but I believe the lap made al of the difference! Today I am 15 weeks and still struggling with my progesterone levels but our baby has a god strong heartbeat and we are beginning to realize that our dream in finally going to happen. Don't give up hope no matter what obstacles you may face. It is worth every day of pain and sadness each time I hear that little heart beating. I hope this helps someone who find themselves wondering what do do next!!!!

Upon Mellisa's request...here is my story again...........

After being diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis (Oct 2001),
going through 2 laprascopies(Oct 2001,Mar 2001) ,
having 1 ovary and 1 tube removal(Mar 2001), and
7 months of Lupron (ended Apr 2001), I was told by all that ivf is my only option.

So we started with ivf (Apr 2002) (remember I had just 1 ovary- half of that too)......after taking 6 amps of stims, I was told I showed "poor response"....had 1 'Dominant Follicle', 2 smaller and 3 even smaller ones. IVF was calcelled. I was given the option of taking the hcg to release the eggs and then having intercourse or they do IUI. I opted for IUI. Somehow passed 2 weeks- breast soreness came and appeared to lessen and lessen. No pregnancy symptons. Major pms! My dr even had a 'next-ivf-plan' appt with me saying that most probably I would not be pregnant and that it would be a 'long' shot!!!

Then on 14 dpiui, in May, I went for my blood test- feeling really silly that I would even want the test done as I was having pms big time!! But LO and Behold- the nurse called and said,
"You' re pregnant!!!" God!!! I couldn't even believe it!!!! I was just trying to prepare myself for -ve ALL along!!! This is truly God's Work!!!

I am now 15 weeks pregnant expecting my 2nd baby. I originally had twins but lost 1 after 6 weeks. The other one is doing just great!

Thinking back, it now seems my 1st baby (dd, now 3 yrs) is a miracle too. I conceived her after 9 mts of ttc, 1st round of Clomid. I never even knew I had endo which was diagnosed after ttc #2 for 6 mts, 2 and 1/2 yrs later.

So yes, there is hope, girls! I truly think this was not possible without God giving me the miracles.

If any of you have any questions, please feel free to email me at cc_me_here@yahoo.com

[~Daisy~]

My treatment seems fairly straightforward compared to many of you, but I do have endo, was treated, and now have a family.

We'd been married for 6 yrs when we decided it was time for our baby. After 6 mths of ttc seriously I knew there was something wrong. I insisted my GP refer me to a specialist (who said it was early) but that's when I started charting, having blood tests and dh had his test. All looked fine, but still nothing. We decided to have a lap after 18 mths which is when they discovered endo (moderate). I went away feeling relieved they'd found something but scared I would never get pregnant.

We concieved our ds the very next month. The pregnancy was fine and my ds was born in January 1999. When he was 18 mths we decided to ttc again. I really thought it would happen straight away but I went through 7 long months (I know that is nothing compared to some of you) thinking I'd never have another. I got pregnant 3 weeks before another lap was scheduled. No lap, no drugs.

We really wanted 3 children but it took alot of time and discussion to decide how far to take the ttc 3rd time round. When nothing happened after 18 months and my endo symptoms were very evident I went back to my specialist. We decided on another lap followed by 6 months ttc. I found ttc #3 as emotionally difficult as ttc#1. The lap took over 2 hrs and I was told my endo was now severe, but he had surgically removed as much as he could. With my first lap he only cauterized the endo. Luckily my tubes seemed clear, altho there was some endo on one ovary. We gave ourselves the 6 months and I got my +hpt on the third month following the lap. Apart from early bleeding all was straightforward and we now have 3 healthy sons.

The only advice I can give anyone starting out is to seek professional help asap and have your lap straight away. Even sending the dye through the tubes can help in the first few months following the lap.

[Miss KC]

Here's my abriged story...

Dh and I ttc for 2 years under RE's care dx "unexplained" we were gearing up for IVF when they noticed I had cysts. Under closer sonograms and 3 month monitoring, it was determined that these where endometriomas. I had my 1st lap (dx with moderate endo) and conceived my dd au-naturalle. No iui's, no meds.....just bms.

We began ttc #2 6 weeks after my dd was born. I conceived and carried to 11 weeks and m/c'd. We even had a heartbeat. I had another lap in Feb of this year....hoping for another miracle. No luck yet and now we're looking at stims/iui later this fall.

Best wishes to all!
Missy
dd born 12-29-00

[sarahbell]

Okay, I have major tears of joy reading these tremendous stories. I have one also and hopfully another in a few weeks.

At the age of 16 (way back in the 80's) a very then progressive dr. informed me that I had endo (or so she though aince I never had a surgery before the dg.). That did me no good as a teen with bad cramps and a mom who really did not want me on the pill.

Fast forward 3 laperoscopies, 2 rounds of danazol, (3) rounds lupron and lazer surgeries later (and more surgeries to come), I was married in 1992. We were very busy in our careers. I still suffered greatly and found a dr. to help. He did a laporadomy (first of 2) in 1993. Laser, cyst removal the whole nine yards. He told me I had the proud distinction of being one of the worst cases he had ever seen!! Yippy! He also suggested getting pg. asap. Hey, I was 27 what did he know and way to busy to be a mom.

We did however listen to my dr. and began trying. I was misdiagnosed and had 4 IUI's. I later found out the IUS's never would have worked because I had hydro-tubes. They were never discovered because a student dr. did my HCG and never let my tubes attempt to fill. Major waste of time, money and emotions. Well, in 1995 another major laperodomy to remove the tubes. During surgery they had to call in a reproductive oncologist to help guide my dr. through all the adhesions. An hour surgery turned to 5 hours...not good.

With two new drs. on board we began our first IVF. I felt very positive from the beginning since I was one of the "lucky" who now knew what wrong with me.

Our positive waves were right. We got pg. w/ triplets. We lost one almost right away. Then we lost the second a bit later. Our son remained!

I think someone knew what he/she was doing when they gave us our son. He is wonderful, so in fact that we are trying again. Retrieval 9/12??!!!

Good luck to all, keep positive.

[BC-TessToo]

(living children mentioned, pregnancy mentioned, loss mentioned)

I know I've never posted on this board before. But I wanted to share my own success story, anyway.

I've had painful, heavy periods since I started my first cycle at age 13. I missed school, work, etc because of the pain every month and my doctors and mother always told me when I complained that I needed a higher pain tolerance. Grrr...

When I was 18, I ended up in the hospital because the pain was so bad I couldn't function. I had an emergency laproscopy with laser and was diagnosed as having endo. My problem stemmed from a "window" in my uterus that had to be closed. Basically, I had a hole in my uterus and my body had been dumping endo material all over my abdominal cavity every month.

After the lap I did six months on depo-lupron. I responded horribly and the side effects were awful. Then I did an oral drug. I cannot remember the name of it, but it started with a D. I was on that drug until I started to develop facial hair. EEK!

The doctor told me, after that first lap at age 18, that I wouldn't be likely to have children. It was devastating to hear.

I wondered what would really happen with me for several years until I finally married and was ready to have a child. My husband and I ttc for six months on our own with no success. Then we went to an RE and started fertility treatments. He did another lap and then started monitoring my cycles.

We attempted a few cycles on clomid, but they were all negative. We were contemplating IVF when we decided to take a break. The treatments were taking a toll on our marriage and our budget. It was October and we wanted to just stop the treatments and enjoy the holidays. We were planning to start IVF in the spring.

I found out I was pregnant, on my own with no treatments, by Christmas that same year. The pregnancy was uneventful and my son is now five years old.

About a year later, we were contemplating having a second child. We weren't sure what our fertility options were going to be. We weren't sure that we were ready to expand our family just yet. I was on birth control while we made up our mind.

Our decisions didn't matter, because our second son was already on his way! I was on the pill and we weren't trying. But I got pregnant anyway. My second son is three years old now.

I felt so very blessed to be an endo success story and to have children after being told I never would. I became a surrogate mother a year after my second son was born. I went through IVF and carried a baby boy for another couple. It was a blessed experience for me.

A few months after my surrogate son was born, I became pregnant again with our daughter. She passed away shortly after birth, due to non-endo related events. We hope to be ttc again as soon as I am medically cleared for pregnancy again.

So to anyone who has been told that they cannot have children due to endo...I say, keep hope. I was supposed to not be able to have children. But I've had three of my own and one for somoene else even. There is always a way.

Good luck to you all!