How it all started/Timeline of events

December 2008

It all started when dear husband and I attended a year-end banquet. We met Peggy there with her 1-year old son. She told us how it was difficult for her to get pregnant. She had undergone couple of failed IUI and was mentally preparing to undergo IVF when luckily she got pregnant naturally with her son. She also said that she was going to try again for a 2nd child very soon as it was not easy to conceive for her. At that time I was thinking, "IUI, IVF - what are those treatments?". I didn't really think much over it. I was 29 years old at the time and thought I still have a lot of time to try for a baby.

December 2009

Landed a new job. Very happy. The thought of starting a family did not even cross our minds.

October 2010

Peggy had given birth to her 2nd child. We started thinking about starting a family but wasn't really serious about it. Work had just started to get demanding.

2011

Work got extremely demanding. Long hours, worked till past midnight for the next 6 months, only to show up at the office at 9 a.m. the next day. Felt like I was a zombie. Might sound stupid but I had no idea about ovulation, follicular phase, luteal phase, bbt etc at the time. We ttc on and off during the year hoping I will get pregnant.

2012

I took a 3 months break from work beginning April as I was on the verge of a burnout. I resumed work in July, same intense and stressful environment although I never had to work past 9 p.m. We asked family doctor around mid year for a referral to specialist. He advised hubby to get a sperm analysis done. The report came back normal. He sent us back to try for another 6 months. Finally around year-end he referred us to an Ob/Gyn Dr. George Woo.

2013

Consulted Dr. George Woo Ob/Gyn in January. He sent me back to chart my BBT for 3-4 months.

In May, I missed my period and went for the HCG blood test, came back at 28 HCG level and it turned out to be a chemical pregnancy.

I went back to consult Dr. Woo in June with my BBT charts. He told me I was ovulating however as I tend to spot a few days before my actual period arrived, he prescribed me clomid 50 mg for the next 3 months in hopes of achieving a better quality egg. He mentioned to contact him in case I decide to try IUI. The cost will be around $700. In the meantime, I should get SHG (Sonohysterogram) done.

I tried clomid for the next 2 months and after that wasn't successful, I contacted him to have IUI done in September with clomid 50 mg. He holds his clinic at IVF Canada in Toronto. The SHG report showed I had a polyp in my uterus, Dr Woo and my family doctor did not think this was an issue and need not be surgically removed.

My IUI experience wasn't exactly very memorable. For the first consultation, they couldn't find my file. When the doctor inserted the ultrasound probe and I appeared to be in discomfort, he asked me what was wrong. I told him it wasn't very comfortable and he didn't sound very kind or understanding when he said that was nothing, why should it be uncomfortable. He was also showing a technician (who should technically know how to perform the ultrasound right?) how to find the egg and measure it. During the first ultrasound he said there was an egg in my right ovary but after 2 days, he said it was the left ovary that had an egg. When questioned, he was quiet and ignored my query. The longest I waited to see him was 6 hours, from 10 a.m. in the morning to 4 p.m. in the afternoon. I found his staff very unprofessional although he claimed to be the pioneer of IVF in Canada and a lot of IVF specialists were his students.

After the IUI, I was on progesterone suppositories for 14 days. He instructed me to return for BHCG testing after 12 days however no one gave us further instructions on how to follow up for the results so we assumed the office was going to call us with the results after the blood test. No one called us and we were left in limbo until my period arrive 3 days later.

The IUI with clomid 50 mg had failed. I was disappointed not so much with the failed IUI but with the level of service provided. My husband was disgusted and vowed never to engage Dr Woo's services again. The only thing I appreciated was the BBT charts he asked me to keep else I would never have looked up so much information and learned so much. I also like his BBT chart which has 3 months on a page. Please email me should you need a copy.

A disadvantage of the Canadian Healthcare system is that you cannot directly see a specialist without a referral by your family doctor. At the infertility clinics in Toronto, if you don't have a referral from a family physician, they charge you $200 for the initial consult.

After the failed IUI, we decided that I should resign from work and focus more on starting a family. We planned to go to Taipei in November and consult Dr. Robert Lee from Mackay Memorial Hospital as he is one of the top IVF doctors in Taiwan based on hubby's research.

I saw Dr. Lee in November and he ordered some blood tests and HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) to be done. As we had a trip planned in December which collided with the HSG test period, my HSG was done in January.

2014

In January, Dr. Lee advised to surgically remove the polyp and that was scheduled for February 2014. It turned out that there were more than 1 polyp in my uterus with the biggest one measuring 3 cm. After that it was time for us to return to Toronto and Dr Lee advised to try IUI with injectibles in Toronto at least twice as it has a better outcome than clomid. If that doesn't work, we can return to his clinic for IVF when we are ready.

We tried naturally for the next 5 months. I was also taking chinese herbal medications all the while. In July, we realized that it wasn't working and as my biological clock was ticking, I contacted Mackay Memorial Hospital International Medical Services Center and Annie replied to my emails.

I am currently on Gynera birth control pills for 21 days however I started spotting on day 9. I was alarmed and emailed Annie. She wrote back immediately with instructions from Dr. Lee. If anyone will like to know how it was resolved, please write to me at xiaonionio@gmail.com. The spotting has stopped and I am just waiting to fly to Taipei on August 17th to start my first IVF treatment. Fingers crossed!