Testimony

We started testing in February/March 2019. We started right away with ovulation testing and yet every month my period came. I had regular 27 day cycles. We had given ourselves a year before consulting. So we arrive in March 2020, COVID too, so we make our 1st appointment with a PMA gynecologist in June 2020. What I learned later was that she was also the director of the PMA center in our region, so she was quite familiar with the subject. We did the first exams (blood tests, spermogram, hysterosalpingography, follicle count) and it immediately came out that I had an AMH of 0.18, which is already very low, and an FSH of 13. The specialist tells me that this is very bad because I am in early ovarian failure, but that with 0.18 we can maybe try IVF to see what happens.

She wants to do another blood test in August to confirm or deny the results of the first test. She can't explain to me where these numbers come from: I have never had chemotherapy or radiotherapy, I have never smoked in my life, etc. August 2020, the results are even worse: AMH at 0.05 and FSH at 18. She refused IVF and redirected us directly to IVFDO. She told me there was nothing she could do for me. In the meantime, in July, I discovered the Fertil-In programs while doing research for improving the quality of the oocytes. I started the program in July with my husband. Since the PMA center would refuse my application, I turned to alternative medicine. I made an appointment with an osteopath specialized in fertility to try to improve my ovulation on a natural cycle. During the session, she suggested that I get a second opinion from her own gynecologist who was apparently great. 

So I make an appointment with this second doctor. He looked at my results and seemed equally divided. He explained to me that I was a poor responder to treatment based on the numbers and that we could try one simple stimulation (my husband's results were good) to see if my body responded. If it doesn't, we'll really have to go through IVF-OD. (I had also started the process via Art Fertility). My period arrived on November 6, and I started the stimulation cycle. We started with a combination of Gonal-f at 100 ui and Ovitrelle. The first echoes show 4 follicles. A small victory for an IOP (early ovarian failure) like me! 
At the last ultrasound before the Ovitrelle injection that will start ovulation, the follicles were at 19-16-14-14 mm, which is really good! 
I made an appointment on the day of ovulation with my osteopath so she could prepare my body. She helped me have a less painful ovulation and prepare my uterus. Following ovulation, I had to take progesterone, so I had symptoms such as bloating, stomach aches, acne, swollen breasts, but these symptoms can just as easily be side effects of progesterone as symptoms of pregnancy. So I don't get my hopes up. This cycle, my husband and I enjoy ourselves: sushi, aperitif, sausage (but no alcohol during the treatment). We said to ourselves that we could hope that this would be the last time I would have the right to do so.
13 days after ovulation, I had a very bad night: stomach pains, insomnia. I say to myself "well I'm going to do a test, either it's positive and it would be great or it's negative but at least I know it and I'll know that these pains come from the period which is going to come soon". I do my test as soon as I wake up and see a slight second bar... I told myself that it was a little too dark to be a false positive bar but my husband was not sure and told me to go and take a blood test. The results arrived in the afternoon: 154 IU/I! I am pregnant! So it's just the beginning but after almost two years of trying and a diagnosis of ovarian failure, it's a victory! To succeed in getting pregnant with my own oocytes was unhoped for!  

Our journey is short compared to others but not less difficult, the results, the diagnosis, the mourning of the genes, all these steps have made us savor this small victory even more! 

And to reassure couples who find the program "difficult" because there are many changes to be made in terms of diet and lifestyle (sports, endocrine disruptors), we did not follow the program 100% from the beginning, we adapted it according to what we thought was most important. For us, for example, it was the diet. My husband used to put sugar in his coffee, the snack was very sweet too, the breakfasts with rolls and croissants were fatty... By changing all this, we gained energy (salty breakfast) and lost weight quickly, 10 kilos for my husband and 6 kilos for me. We were therefore in better shape and were able to follow the program better and better!

I discovered Fertil-In on social networks when Virginie and Adva were about to launch their first program. Looking at the advice they were giving, I immediately thought that this was what I needed. 

Indeed, for the last 3 and a half years we had been trying to have our second child without succeeding. After 40 attempts, I never had that long awaited positive test except for the last attempt which was in fact an ectopic pregnancy. I had tried all the soft methods like osteopathy, acupuncture, hypnosis,... After having done fertility tests that did not find a cause for our secondary infertility, we started PMA, stimulations with inseminations. After about a year, I had my positive test which ended up in the operating room because the embryo was in a tube. 
We had been considering IVF for a few months. That's when I heard about Fertil-In. I had been interested in nutrition for a few months and I had found a lot of information on the internet, on nutritionists' blogs, but I was lacking the support of a professional who was really specialized in fertility. 
So I started this program as soon as it came out at the end of May, I saw that the questionnaire targeted several things that I found coherent. I carefully applied all their advice, even if some of it was not easy to follow. I also took their advice to start their fertility yoga program, which I really enjoyed, even outside of the baby project, yoga tailored to her cycle felt good.
I resumed my treatment for stimulation at the beginning of July and 10 days after the insemination, I had my first symptoms of pregnancy. A pregnancy test confirmed the good news, and I learned a few days later while being followed by my gynecologist that I was probably expecting twins.

In the meantime, I contacted Virginie to continue the micro-nutrition work with her since the special pregnancy program was not yet available.

After all this work to try to have baby 2, it's baby 2 and baby 3 who are celebrating in my uterus. I have already recommended this program to others, because I feel it is not only useful for fertility, but also for the health of parents and future children, and because it was designed by two women who are passionate about their work, their clients and their future babies. You can feel it in every post and every contact with them!