Buford Betty

The Skinny

I grew up (and still live) in Atlanta suburbia.
I'm a Georgia Bulldog! I met my husband at UGA in Geology 110 and the rest is history.
I'm a CPA, working as a tax professional at a local firm. But I'm also very creative and artistic. I use both sides of my brain.
I'm a Christian and I like to talk about God stuff.
My husband and I are smack dab in the middle of working our way out of debt. We drive old cars and brown bag it.
I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan, so if you don't like him, I'll probably annoy you.
I love to talk about money and I love helping people with money problems. I'm working towards becoming a personal financial counselor/mentor through our church.
We have two dogs, Belly - an 11yr old border collie mix, and Gertie - a 6yr old lab/pit mix. They're our little loves!
We are members of Buckhead Church and volunteer as 2-to-1 mentors (the church's premarital program).
My husband and I started TTC our first child in November 2005. After a long battle, we finally gave birth to our son, Samuel Nolen, in January 2012!
I want to write a book on my struggles with infertility. And I talk a lot about our journey on this blog, but in no way do I let my infertility define me. This is not an infertility blog; I just want to be an encouragement to others fighting the good fight!
I absolutely love life and wouldn't trade our journey for the world. The struggles we have faced have made me the person I am today.

Infertility ain't for wimps.

Jan 12 - Samuel Nolen arrived! Now the journey really begins!
May 11 - IVF Cycle #2 (FET) -- BFP!
Apr 11 - Starting Lupron for first FET cycle in May
Jan 11 - Surgery #3 - septum successfully removed! Residual deemed "clinically insignificant."
Dec 10 - Enjoying the holidays while gearing up for a 3rd surgery in January. Planning to do a frozen IVF cycle in May.
Nov 10 - IVF Cycle #1 (+ Moo Goo) - chemical pregnancy
Sep 10 - IUI Cycle #4, on Femara (+ Moo Goo) - BFN
May 10 - Trying acupuncture/herbs/diet for 3-6 months. I call it my Moo Goo plan.
Aug 09 - IUI Cycle #3, on Femara - BFN
Jul 09 - IUI Cycle #2, on Clomid - BFN
May 09 - IUI Cycle #1, on Clomid - chemical pregnancy
July 08 - Decided to cool our heels for a while on TTC. Not preventing anything, but not quite ready to move forward.
May 08 - My OB/GYN recommended acupuncture. Definitely going to try this in conjunction with IUI/IVF when we're ready.
Apr 08 - Still on doctor hiatus and TTC on our own. Trying to figure out which cycle we'll start our first IUI on... prob May or June.
Jan 08 - For many reasons, we decided to wait on IUI and try on our own for a few months. On Clomid for this cycle...
Dec 07 - The hub's boys are a bit low volume-wise, so RE wants to move forward with IUI.
Nov 07 - RE set out a plan for us: Try on our own for 3 mos, then move to Clomid and IUI for 3 mos. If no luck, we move to IVF.
Oct 07 - Had a follow-up HSG, which showed there is still a small, residual septum (so not quite all of it was removed).
Sep 07 - Surgery #2 - Septum is successfully removed. Minimal traces of endo. were found and removed.
Aug 07 - Depot shot #2. And the hot flashes insued...
Jul 07 - RE started me on Depot Lupron shots for the purpose of softening the uterine tissue for surgery #2 (although the shots are typically given to treat endo.)
Jun 07 - Surgery #1 - Stage III endometriosis discovered and removed, ovarian cyst removed; "weak area" discovered on my uterine wall - septum couldn't be safely removed
May 07 - more and more bloodwork, a renal ultrasound (to make sure I have two kidneys - and yay, I do); surgery is scheduled
Apr 07 - We meet with the fertility specialist (RE) for the first time
Mar 07 - MRI confirms that I have a septate uterus
Feb 07 - HSG shows uterine abnormality
Feb 07 - My progesterone levels are reportedly low, I start taking supplements; the hub has his boys tested and they look fine
Jan 07 - start initial infertility testing with my OB/GYN
Nov 05 - Dec 06 - TTC with no luck
Nov 05 - off BC
Nov 02 - The hub and I get married!