My OB/GYN told me that I was young and that I just needed to give it time. But it was hard to be patient. My husband wasn’t all that worried, but I freaked out a little more and more every day. At the end of the second year, I went back to the gynecologist for testing and started my long dive into the world of infertility.
I was referred to another fertility group, where they told me that everything looked fine and that they wanted to try Clomid with IUI (intrauterine insemination). Six weeks later, I miscarried, and nothing seemed to go right from that point on. There was no testing, no blood work, and it wasn’t personable. Other than my first visit, I never saw a doctor.
Sheena and her husband with their daughters
I really wanted to talk to the doctor because I wanted to understand what was going on. Instead, I became part of a process, completing four more IUIs with nurse practitioners, who seemed so distant.
After so many failed IUIs, I finally did get to talk to a doctor, but all the doctor told me was that I needed in vitro fertilization (IVF). The doctor didn’t explain why and didn’t help me understand the missing pieces to the puzzle. At that point, I realized that I had to take time off. I needed a break.
I was emotionally shot, physically exhausted, and tired of the medicine and surgeries. It was hard to work; it was hard to talk to my family; and, if you really want to test a marriage, try infertility. It completely tries your patience. You feel like using each other as punching bags, and there were times when it felt like we were done.
I was thinking, “I’m 26 and I never will have children,” and I would go home and cry and cry and cry.
But my husband would not give up. He said, “If you want to experience pregnancy, we’ll do whatever it takes.” So after a year of waiting, we decided to try again.
I went to another doctor, who used laparoscopic surgery to remove a polyp and examined three minimal areas of endometriosis, hoping to identify anything that might hinder conception. We tried other doctors and, over time, learned that I could get pregnant. But I miscarried, over and over, and, after multiple D&Cs (dilation and curettage), my uterus was shot.
But then I found Tennessee Reproductive Medicine
I noticed a TRM billboard and decided to drive over without an appointment. I just walked in, and all of the details poured out. I talked about the miscarriages, I talked about the desperation, and 45 minutes had passed before I learned that I had been talking to Dr. Rink Murray.
That was the just the beginning. TRM took the necessary time to invest in the relationship, to really listen, and to figure out what was going on.
It took lots of testing. We learned that I had a relatively common clotting condition. And rebuilding my uterus required unusual, cutting-edge drug regiments.
It really was a lot of work, and there were times when I felt like the most difficult fertility patient in the world. But Dr. Murray and Dr. Scotchie continued to give me the pep talks I needed to keep from going crazy. They helped me understand that undergoing multiple IUI and IVF procedures is emotionally similar to multiple deaths in a family, and they provided the emotional support I needed to keep trying.
By the fall of 2010, we had been trying to get pregnant for nearly six years. My uterine lining was strong, and we were ready to try another IUI. In October, I met with an infertility prayer group, and we prayed for the best, hoping for my miracle.
Presley Nichole and Kensley Sophia, the Rowland twins
And that’s when it happened! Four embryos implanted and I just about had a heart attack. Who expected four embryos with IUI?
Once her uterus was stronger, Sheena found success with IUI, one of the simplest infertility treatments. Is it for you?
Four became three and three became two, naturally. However, 33 weeks later, my twin girls, Presley Nichole and Kensley Sophia, were born! Perfectly healthy, dark-haired, blue-eyed babies.
Of course, they are wonderful. Presley is my little chunky… docile, calm, she loves to eat and sleep. And Kensley is my wild child. She moans and groans and carries on. She doesn’t like to sleep, and somehow she lets Presley get on her nerves.
But that’s OK, because we’re happy. All I want to do is hold them, and the most exciting part is just knowing that they are here. There’s no more waiting.
TRM is already part of the family. They came to the baby shower. I run a hair salon and cut their hair. They really have changed our lives in many ways other than children!
TRM went way above and beyond anything else I experienced, and they changed the way I think about medical care. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I want other infertility patients to understand that this level of care is available in Chattanooga.
So it’s easy to sum up our fertility story. Tennessee Reproductive Medicine has been so good to us, I want my friends and everyone else to know, and I am really, really happy to share our success story!