My husband and I knew we wanted to have kids right way,even before we got married. We spent the first year just thinking it was going to happen on its own, and then the next year and a half "trying". By trying I mean, tracking my ovulation and acting like wild rabbits whenever it was "that time".
After 2.5 years, we were fed up with the waiting and decided to try IVF. The doctors first said we had unexplained infertility and that our numbers were a actually higher than average. We were certain we would get pregnant the first try. He also told us it was going to cost approximately $15,000.00 with all the medication. We did our research and expected that. That was April 2014. Our first round was exciting and scary at the same time. We put all our hopes into it and weren't really prepared for it NOT to work. We implanted 2 embryos. No success. And no left over embryos to freeze so we had to do the process all over again. I of course took it alot harder than my husband.
I had felt as if God was telling me that I didn't and/or shouldn't be a parent, or deserved to be one. When I picked myself back up, I opted to go for another round of IVF as soon as the doctor said it was safe to. This time, I tried it at another facility because,hey, if the first one didnt work out, gotta change something right??
Round 2, occured in June 2014. We had to pay for another full round of IVF. Mind you, hardly any health insurance companies actually covered IVF. We knew if we conceived,it would be all worth it. We spent another $15,000.00. Second time around was a lot easier in the sense of going through the process since we had done it once before, but more difficult in the sense of trying to stay positive as it also failed once before. We were really aggressive this time and inserted 3 embroyos! YES, we could have had 3 or 6 babies resulting from that,but we were ready!July 2014 we found out that the embryos stuck, but were not growing as they should be. I had to get tested every 3 days to see if the numbers were growing,and they did,just not at a fast enough rate. 3 weeks later, the numbers started to go down which we knew meant the embroyo did not survive in my womb. I was even more devastated than the first try because for 3 weeks, I maintained my faith and believed our baby would survive. During those 3 weeks, I talked to what I believed was our baby, and asked her to stay in our lives and allow us to be her parents.:*( We kept calling it baby and one day, my husband decided to call her Baby Annie. And so from then on, we always talked about Baby Annie. Even though she didnt stay around that time,we knew she would come when the time was right. I decided I could not go through another round,at least not so soon. We decided to try again in 2015.
Sometime in early November 2014, I started feeling like we needed to try for round 3 before 2014 ended. I convinced my husband to try again. Now,some thought we were crazy and "messing" with Gods plan for us. But we knew, if there was something we could do to make our only wish come true,we would do it. We spent another $15,000.00. This time we went back to our original doctor who was delighted to see us back in his office. He said he felt our 2nd time around with him was almost certain to work. Why was he so confident? Turns out, after that first round of IVF with his office, he found that I had something called PCOS which is why it was difficult to conceive naturally. All this meant was a different combination of fertility medicine this 3rd round. On December 23, 2015 we found out that it looked like the embroyo stuck. But we didnt take that to mean anything as that happened in round 2. Doctors wanted to see the numbers double before they could say it was a positive test. We found out on the 26th,that the numbers doubked and that I was pregnant and that Baby Annie decided to stick around this time.
So the other day during my long run, I decided I was going to start a NoN Profit Org for those who need assistance with IVF. I am happy so excited to announce the birth of BabyAnnie.Org.
My name is Nikki Young I'm 32 years old. When I was 29 me and my fiancé decided we wanted to start trying to conceive! We were so excited!! We are going to be parents!!! After first month of trying and negative pregnancy tests I went to the store and bought ovulation kits! Was feeling great month 2. Then another negative pregnancy test then month 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 all negative.
I went to my doctor and he put me on clomid. My hopes were high again, but he wanted me to do a test called hysterosalpingogram before I started the clomid. This test was to checks if tubes are blocked. Dye is injected followed by an X-ray. This was so painful! Results showed there was no blockage. So I was put on clomid which was to help release more than one egg time of ovulation.
This has to be it! Any month now I'm going to get a "pregnant" or two solid lines on a test! I was on this medication for 4 months and I still had no positive test. I finally went and saw a fertility specialist and he did blood work to check the quality and quantity of my eggs. He said the only way for me to get pregnant was through IVF. My eggs are poor quality and quantity. I only had a 2-3% chance conceiving naturally.
I felt like someone punch me in the stomach and started bawling. It was the worst feeling ever. Everyone told me it was going to be alright but in my mind what if it wasn't going to be? I had all these what ifs.
I finally started the IVF process. After fertility shots, lots of blood work and ultrasounds, this emotional roller coaster came to an end. I got the phone call that changed our lives forever. We were pregnant!!!! I cried with joy that we finally have this precious miracle!!!
Now our daughter Harper is 17 months old healthy and happy and she is going to be a big sister. We are getting miracle baby number two but no IVF this time. Miracles really do happen! That is why I'm so excited to help other people on this emotional roller coaster and help make their dreams come true one family at a time. Go team baby Annie!
My journey began 7.5 years ago; my husband and I got married in July of 08. We bought our first house and started our life as a married couple. We knew we wanted to start having a family shortly after we got married. After 6 months we had no results of pregnancy. Therefore, we decided to get tested and were told it was him then it was me. In the end it didn’t really matter, we were in this together and we would fight together. This puts a huge strain in any relationship. It hurt inside and out, to see family and friends get pregnant and know we weren’t able to do so as well.
I decided to start fertility treatment. I'm one of the few who is lucky enough to have medical insurance to cover a huge portion of infertility. I was put on clomid, a medication that helps you to produce more eggs, after 2 rounds it seemed pointless so the following month we started IVF medication, the shots were 3 times daily; the vaginal medication, the additional pills and special food and drinks. The whole 9 yards of this painful and grueling procedure.
Our first try, we decided to use 3 embryos. Lucky us, one took! Unfortunately, we found out weeks later it became a tubal miscarriage which meant it was growing in one of my fallopian tubes and I had two choices, one to take meds to have a miscarriage within a week or two or to have a D&C. This was a very serious issue since I could lose one of my fallopian tubes, or worse, die if it wasn’t removed in time. This was the most painful, gut wrenching and sad time of my life. I was depressed and saddened with all my heart break. It felt like an emotional roller coaster and it seemed to never end. I made a promise that this time in life of infertility would never break me. I promised myself I would never give up no matter how many times I tried IVF. I would do whatever it took to have a family of my own.
After giving myself many months to recover I got back to reconditioning my body with organic foods, homeopathic pills, acupuncture and losing weight. I decided to try a different IVF clinic, this time driving 2 hrs away and seeking a Dr with a high percentage of live births, at this location we did 1 fresh cycle of IVF, 3 embryos at a 3 day- mid grade embryos and non to freeze. All 3 were used, all unsuccessful. So far I have done 2 fresh cycles and non to freeze at either fertility clinics in Ohio. By then we are at year 3.5 and moved back to CA from OH. I waisted no time finding a clinic with great references and again high live births. Starting with my new fertility clinic my Dr finally gave me hope, he was very aggressive with medication and knew my case very well from my previous Dr in Cleveland.
My first round at this Northern California location I was able to make 3 fresh blastocyst and 2 to freeze, we decided to go ahead and use 3 and try our luck, still feeling like an emotional wreck but hopeful for a different result. The 2 week wait pregnancy test came back positive but blood work came back showing a chemical pregnancy was happening, I was pregnant but the pregnancy wasn’t strong enough and would be failing on its own. The feeling of the emotions take over and you feel yet another let down and the sadness is all so over whelming. After meeting with my fertility Dr, their was no explicable reason for it not working but maybe it wasn't meant to be, my initial thought...when can I start again? With 2 frozen blastocyst to use I wanted to try the following month, we used the 2 frozen blast we had and I got word I was pregnant. Everything seemed to be turning around. I was beyond thrilled and finally reaching 4 months, excited to see the baby heartbeat and get the gender, during my 4 month appointment.
I remember sitting there thinking how excited to finally find out the sex, as I laid there expecting to hear its a boy or girl, the heavy tone from my OBGYN that the baby had no heartbeat, it had stopped somewhere within the week and was no longer viable, laying there sobbing the feeling of anger, sadness and disbelief that it had happened again, another failed and heartbreaking end. The next day we had a planned D&C. I knew I would need to start another fresh cycle in another month if this was ever going to happen for me, this time I tell myself again, you’re strong, you’re worth it and one day you will be one amazing mother, its hard to pretend to enjoy life, keep a marriage going and work when the sadness continues to hang over you, I just keep trying to be positive and say god loves me and everything will be ok. The following month I’m back on fertility shots, pills and still waiting for my miracle baby, I tell myself daily belly shots aren’t that bad, ha!. We start the process, our Dr saying positive thoughts and prayers from family and friends, I was able to produce great eggs, 4 made it to blast and on this cycle we put 3 fresh blast in and I was able to freeze 1 frozen blast. The 2 week wait begins again and this time its gotta work out, I feel positive and everything seems to be going well. The day I go in it was a beautiful August day, I remember thinking if I had one wish for my 31st birthday this would be it, to finally become pregnant with a healthy baby. I do my blood draw and by the end of the day I get a call back with the news I have been waiting for, I remember my nurse assigned to me saying the words “you're pregnant”!! my heart was pounding out of my chest, my baby is growing and my numbers from my blood draw were great, things were looking good, numbers continued to double and triple with each blood draw, finally my heart was filled with joy, the love and happiness I’ve been waiting to feel was coming in abundance and I finally felt so much gratitude and over coming so many hurdles.
I was finally at the moment of happiness and one step closer to being a mother, 5 years through this IVF process I am a Mother, today I am the proud parent of 2 amazing little girls, 2.5 yr old Basil and a 1 yr old Thyme, Thyme was from my last frozen embryo cycle, we were lucky to have this chance to bring in another miracle, although I did not expect this last frozen embryo to work, to my surprise 18m apart we were all of a sudden a family of four. I hope my story shines a light to those who struggle with infertility, I hope you see a light at the end of the tunnel, having a good partner, family & friends to talk to to help you cope with loss, tragedy, your up’s and downs was my only outlet that worked for me. The struggle is hard financially but through my story and others like myself you’re not alone, we hope this story can help provide some prospective, no matter your struggles financially, physically or emotional if there's a will there's a way, have faith and be strong.