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Ft. Douglas and in 2010 we moved to sunny San Diego. Even though he grew up with his dad serving two different tours at the recruiting depot as a DI, we didn't know what this life would be like for us. We again decided to put off the idea of starting our family (although technically we did start it when we brought our German Shepherd Lucy home!). Well, to say life was hectic is an understatement. Each recruit training cycle was three months long, and for those three months, he maybe came home eight or nine times. I found a job as an Event Services Manager at a hotel not far from his base, and quickly started racking up the hours. Well, upon the beginning of his second cycle, we decided that Lucy wasn't quite enough. We both wanted a baby. And so it began. Every month, we'd think we had the timing right but nothing. Everyone just kept saying to relax and it would happen. Right! How are you supposed to relax when you want it so bad! But, on we went. After a year and a half of trying, I started to get worried and consulted with my doctor. I was able to schedule an appointment with the infertility clinic at the NTC Naval Base and got Charlie to see a urologist. After months of testing, it was determined that I was not ovulating regularly and not only was Charlie's sperm count low, of what swimmers he did have, the motility was only at 2%. The ideal decision would have been to go with IVF (in vetro fertilization...you know, "petri dish" baby!) but the waiting list was a year long. So, our endocrinologist explained that while we waited, we would try IUI (intrauterine insemination...doctor places sperm inside uterus).
February 12th was the date our first IUI was scheduled. About a week before we were to do the procedure, our doctor had Charlie give me daily injections of FSH. FSH is a hormone that is involved in the control of egg development and egg release. Since I wasn't ovulating regularly, this would help increase our chances. Every day I went into the clinic so that the doctor could measure my follicles. On the day that one or two reached an acceptable size (between 18-22mm), Charlie gave me the 'trigger shot' (helps in the final maturation of the follicles). So, when that day arrived, I had six follicles (it's recommended that you have a minimum of 3) and Charlie's sperm count was at 72 million. WOW! That was SIGNIFICANTLY higher than any of the counts tests had shown. The doctor sat us down and explained that although follicles don't always contain eggs, it is possible that all six DO have one and that if one fertilized, they could all fertilize. He stepped out and Charlie and I talked about it, said a little prayer, and decided to go ahead with the procedure. I was told to wait two weeks then take a pregnancy test. After the longest two weeks EVER, I took the test, only to be completely devastated that it was negative. I called the clinic to tell them the news and was told to start my birth control again (they were regulating my monthly) and that they would call me when it was our turn to try again.
Around the second week of April I received the call. Here we go for round two. In the mean time, Charlie and I decided to get our scuba diving certification. We were pretty discouraged about the first one not working so we decided to pick up a hobby to take our minds off it. April 20th rolls around and this time I had four follicles. One was a perfect size and the doctor was stoked. "This is the one!" he said. The sperm count was much lower than last time...16 million. Here we go again! Well sure enough, two weeks later (on the day of our final dive) I took the dreaded test. POSITIVE (I didn't want to risk anything at this point, so I ended up skipping out on the dive)!!!! We later learned that not only did all four follicles contain eggs, all four fertilized! And so our journey to quadruplets had begun.
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