Dina Capuano, mom of twin 6-year-old daughters and a 4-year-old son, shares the story of how she and her husband, Chris, overcame multiple fertility issues in a 2008 interview with Suite. This segment covers how they discovered they had fertility issues and the decisions they made to address those issues.
When Did You Know You Needed Help With Fertility?
After we tried on our own for nearly 2 years, my obstetrician suggested that my husband be tested first.
Did You Try Any Natural Infertility Treatments?
The only natural infertility treatments we used were some over-the-counter ovulation kits. We also tried to keep track of my body temperature each morning, but found this to be very inaccurate and unreliable.
What Was Your Fertility Diagnosis?
My husband had varicocele (abnormally dilated testicular veins). Along with endometriosis and a damaged fallopian tube, I was diagnosed with a 'chocolate' cyst in one of my ovaries.
What Were Your First Steps to Treat the Infertility Issues?
Based on my husband’s fertility issues, the first step was to see a gynecologist who specialized in infertility. He did several internal ultrasounds to track my cycle, which led us to my diagnosis. My first laparoscopy was performed, and he cleaned out all the endometriosis, tried to repair the tube and also removed the cyst.
For our next cycle, I took Clomid and we did an artificial insemination. That cycle ended up being unsuccessful. Our doctor then started monitoring us for our next cycle and found that my cyst had already grown back. At this point he referred us to Reproductive Endocrinologist.
What Did the Reproductive Endocrinologist Recommend?
After he looked at our history, he wanted to do the laparoscopy again. He did it again, removed the cyst again, and removed any endometriosis that had grown back. Then, we did one more cycle of Clomid and insemination with him. That cycle came out negative.
His next suggestion was that we do the injectable medicine, which is a higher potency of fertility drugs.
I did not want to step into taking injectables and then doing an insemination. By going that route there is a higher risk of conceiving 5, 6 or even more babies. I wanted the amount of embryos to be controlled.
What in Particular Frightened You About Conceiving Multiples With Fertility Treatments?
I could not have done selective reduction, and my fear was to put myself in harm’s way or to lose the whole pregnancy or to deliver babies that would need medical attention maybe their whole lives. It just didn’t seem fair. So that led us to the in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
What Was Your Experience on Fertility Drugs?
Thankfully my experience was great. With as many drugs as I ended up taking, I had no side effects from anything. We followed the protocol exactly and our doctor was very specific on how to administer all the meds at home.
What Was Your Experience With Surgery?
I ended up having laparoscopy twice. It was my first surgery ever and I always have said it will be my last elective surgery. I had a horrible experience coming out of anesthesia. Thankfully, the physical recovery for me wasn't bad at all. I was completely back to normal within two weeks.
Continue reading the Capuanos` story, including how they were finally able to get pregnant, and the emotional side of infertility treatment.
