January 2012: married C…twice (once in a traditional Vietnamese ceremony, then again that afternoon in a Catholic wedding ceremony)
March 2012: ‘pulled the goalie’ on a ski trip in Utah, but didn’t tell anyone we were TTC
April 2012: read ‘Taking Charge of Your Fertility’ and began charting BBT and CM
May 2012: BFP in our first try at charting; sent a photo of HPT to my family the next day; my dad posted it on Facebook(!), then took it down after getting an earful from me about the risk of m/c…
late May-early June 2012: belated honeymoon in Ireland; I passed on the Irish whiskey and Guinness
June 2012: no heartbeat at 8 week ultrasound; miscarried naturally at 9 weeks (while staying with my in-laws in San Jose for a friend’s wedding…awkward!); sad, but comforted by the knowledge ‘at least we know we can get pregnant’
July 2012: didn’t ovulate
August 2012: ovulated 10 days late (and missed the window…)
September – December 2012: attempted timed intercourse in phases (Phase 1: charting BBT & CM; Phase 2: charting + OPKs; Phase 3: charting + OPKs + Clearblue Fertility Monitor)
January 2013: appointment with RE (Dr. Y); C is diagnosed as sperm superstar; I’m diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve – or as I prefer to call it ‘ovaries of a 45-year-old’
March 2013: C was in a nasty injury accident that interfered with our last chance at the old-fashioned way; I did my ‘homework‘ for medicated IUI (including injections class and HSG)
April 2013: IUI with Menopur (300-375 IU), BFN
May 2013: rest month, and IVF ‘homework‘ to (hopefully) start stims in June!
June 2013: low-stim IVF (Menopur, 150 IU + Clomid 100 mg), retrieved 3 eggs, 1 fertilized, arrested prior to transfer 😦
July – September 2013: taking supplements to improve egg quality
July 2013: natural cycle IUI, BFN
August 2013: natural cycle IUI foiled when I ovulated out of state
September 2013: spontaneous BFP (from the IUI-cycle-that-wasn’t). Say what?!
May 2014: gave birth to our rainbow baby, C. Samuel
March 2015: Stopped pumping, because it totally sucks and because we didn’t want to wait too long to try for #2
April 2015: AF returned after 20 months away (turns out I didn’t miss her one bit), repeated my CD3 bloodwork
May 2015: visited with Dr. Y to discuss trying for #2, resumed BBT charting and OPKs, BFN
June 2015: natural cycle IUI (missed trigger), BFN
July 2015: natural cycle IUI w/ hCG trigger, BFN
August 2015: missed window for IUI, BD instead on day of +OPK, BFN
October 2015: natural cycle IUI w/ hCG trigger, BFN
November 2015: natural cycle IUI w/ hCG trigger, BFP!
July 24, 2016: our daughter Jane Margaret was stillborn at 40 weeks 6 days
August 2016: follow up appointment with Dr. R
the infertile chemist 
Wendy
/ December 6, 2013Interesting and very informative website! Thank you for compiling all this information. I’m curious what happened – if your BFP was successful. I hope so.
Thanks again
Wendy Tracy.
knalani
/ January 9, 2014Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your interest in my little blog! So far so good on the BFP. I’m at 20 weeks now, and even feel some kicks!
Wendy
/ January 10, 2014Congrats on your baby!
I was intrigued by the supplements you were taking, specifically DHEA. Do you feel any of them helped you to get pregnant?
Thanks
Wendy.
knalani
/ January 20, 2014I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to this…
To tell you the truth, I have no idea whether any of them helped. The science behind them is quite thin (see: https://infertilechemist.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/supplements-part-i-dhea/ for my research on DHEA; there was even less evidence out there for the other supplements…) There’s also a lot to say for random chance (I wrote about that here: https://infertilechemist.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/infertility-math/). Since becoming pregnant, I’ve also come to believe that prayer may have played a role, as one of the most common responses I’ve heard from people who learn of our pregnancy is, “a lot of prayers went into that!”
Maybe a more revealing question is, ‘what do I plan to do when we’re ready to try for #2?’…And the answer is: All of the above. As soon as I’m done breastfeeding (assuming I can breastfeed), I intend to start taking the whole laundry list of supplements (wheatgrass juice and nanogreens and all); if I can find the time as a new mom, I’ll exercise and go to acupuncture; I’ll chart and use OPKs and my CBFM to time intercourse every month (to give us as many chances as possible); and C and I will ask our friends and family for their prayers and well-wishes…
And then we’ll try our best to strike a balance between being hopeful for another, and intensely grateful for the miracle we’ve already been blessed with…
Hope that helps!
Megan
/ January 6, 2014I hope you are doing well.
knalani
/ January 9, 2014Thank you for checking up on me, and I’m so sorry for the long silence! All is well. I just posted an update to fill everyone in on the last 7 weeks or so!
Wendy
/ January 21, 2014Thank you very much for sharing your story and helpful information!
I will be 45 in March and I guess I’m having a hard time letting go to “fertile years”. I have 2 sons (4 year old and 3 year old). I was 40/41 when I had them!! By the grace of God, we got pregnant naturally. I’m just sad that we didn’t have a girl as well and I feel like I’m moving on to a new phase of life of no longer being able to have another child.
I am taking a few supplements, maca root and melatonin when I remember. I read maca root is a super food, other than just fertility.
I agree with you, prayers are probably the best answer and what God’s plan is for us. I’m not overly religious, but it seems like I always find this same answer whenever I really think deeply about it.
Hopeful
/ October 6, 2014hi do you have an email address I could contact you ?
knalani
/ October 6, 2014Sure! You can write to me at infertilechemist@gmail.com