I started my journey through infertility long before I met my husband. When I was 24 years old, I became pregnant which resulted in a miscarriage at 10 weeks. I was devastated. I was told by doctors, family, and friends it would happen again faster than you think. While my friends and family became pregnant around me, I didn't.
My husband and I got together in 2018, we decided to wait until after we got married to start trying to have a child. I knew it wouldn’t happen on our own, so our first appointment at another fertility clinic was two weeks after we got married. At this point, I was 37 and knew my chances were decreasing with each passing year. It was then I found out I had PCOS. We did one round of mini IVF which resulted in 5 eggs retrieved, 4 fertilized, and all made it to day 3. We decided to transfer our two best-looking embryos, and this failed. A friend of mine was also going through IVF and suggested Lovenox. The second transfer with my two last embryos using Lovenox was a success, but my HCG levels never went beyond 14. I spoke to the nurse about the possibilities and her response was, “we don’t know”. No, follow-up appointment was made, no additional testing. They just wanted to jump back in the saddle and start pumping me up with hormones again. This was unacceptable. I felt like just a number.
In late 2019, I decided we were switching clinics, and I’m so glad we did. One of the first steps is testing, all sorts of testing, and this is when I found out I had a blood clotting disorder called an antiphospholipid syndrome, and therefore why Lovenox made a difference with the second transfer. We decided to go full IVF this time, this resulted in 26 eggs retrieved, 23 matured, 21 fertilized with natural fertilization, 7 embryos made it to day 5, and 3 tested PGT-A normal. 4AA girl and boy, 4BB boy. We decided to transfer our girl first, 5 days later I found out I was pregnant and later confirmed by the clinic.
A few weeks into the pregnancy, I started to bleed heavily. I feared I lost her, I was then diagnosed with subchorionic hematoma and monitored for a bit. Every ultrasound I feared I wouldn’t see her little heart beating. I didn’t start to relax through the pregnancy until we made it halfway. At 30 weeks, Sam was breech and never flipped back, my c-section was scheduled for May 7th. Well, Sam had other plans, at 4:45 am on April 27th, I woke up feeling weird and felt a pop. My water broke. My little fighter was born later that morning at 9:24 am.
I remember thinking how I’ll never experience the surprise of becoming pregnant again, well Sam made sure her birth date was a surprise. Funny thing, my birthday also lands on the 27th and so does my sisters.
How did your boston ivf physician and nursing team help to make your journey a success?
I can’t thank everyone at Boston IVF Syracuse enough, especially Dr. Bove, Molly, Jill, Gretchen & Scout. You ladies are amazing!
What were some highs or lows of your treatment(s)? What is unique/different about your story?
One of the lows in my treatment was the age factor. Finding out my chances of a successful pregnancy was discouraging, but I pushed past it. The high of my treatment would be the number of eggs retrieved, I couldn't believe the amount. Another high would be graduation from the clinic to my OBGYN, it was bittersweet.
What advice do you have for other struggling with infertility?
Do your research and be your own advocate. It's a journey that's not kind to the mind or body, so give yourself some love. If you need a break, take one. Be positive and get lots of support.
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