Trying to Conceive (TTC)

We want to start off this blog about being blessed with triplets by sharing a little bit about how we got here…

As a happily married couple, it’s important to note we rarely agree on things, initially. And while it’s true that opposites attract, successfully living with your polar opposite takes a lot of clear planning. So, in January of 2012, while Jay was fresh out of ad school and Robin was in the throws of her doctoral studies, the supposed baby-making had begun. And while it was one amazing year (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), let's fast forward… In January 2013, when, after a slew of pregnancy tests resulted in no blue line (or whichever one equals baby), we began the roller coaster of a ride that is fertility treatment (dun-dun-duuuun!)

After seeing a specialist, or two, the doc’s all agreed that either IUI or IVF was our best option (more on those fancy science terms later). And though we were eager to start this journey (FYI, don’t call it a journey unless you yourself have been on said journey), we had to put it on pause until we moved from Atlanta to Greenville (an actual journey).

Once we had setup camp in Greenville [October 2013], we quickly found some highly touted baby-docs at a little place called Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group, or PREG for short. (See what they did there?) As opposed to the rather sterile Atlanta offices we visited, PREG was decked out wall-to-wall with proof of their success. And by proof, we mean pictures, and by success, we mean babies, and by wall-to-wall, we mean a mess-ton of pictures of babies. Fortunately, our testing had been done ITP in the ATL, so when we got to PREG, we were able to start ASAP (at least, that’s what we thought).

Before we move on, we wanted to give everyone a quick snapshot about IVF, as we know that some people have a limited understanding of the process (including us at the beginning). Here’s a quick pro/con list to help quickly and simply sum up a process that is neither quick, nor simple.

      Cons: Super invasive. Super expensive. Super expensive. $$$$$.

      Pros: High success rate. Forces you to make a budget (see: "Super expensive").

IVF involves controlling, and typically raising, all of your hormones in order to trick your body into thinking things are happening naturally when they are not. There are several different “protocols,” or approaches a couple can take. Our first cycle was a short protocol. It starts with taking birth control for about a month, and then, as long as you don’t ovulate during this time, you start injections after about four weeks. Of course, in a big heaping mess of irony – Robin was too fertile for this stage of the process. This meant our protocol that was set to start on Thanksgiving, was pushed back to Christmas.

[Robin] "Maybe it's here that I should mention I am not a very patient person. I decide I want to achieve something. I work hard for it. I accomplish it. It's that simple (read: difficult). Which means every little setback up to this point and from here on out was not only heartbreaking, but also frustrating because it was completely out of my control. Or, as Jay says, "You can't 'Parks' this."

[Jay] "While my job in this whole process was a 1,000 times easier than hers, going through this with her, and seeing Birdy in that much pain, was the single hardest thing I've ever done. Seriously, the worst."