If you’ve read this post, then you know we’ve had quite the journey in our little family. And in the midst of this post, there’s a more current update about what’s been happening. That was from the fall. To be honest, we planned to be done after a failed IVF attempt. It was heartbreaking. And expensive. And so much to ask of my body. But we were contacted by my doctor and offered a very generous opportunity to try for a round two.
This round would be different. I was told we would use much less medication this time, which meant less disruption to my body and less of a financial investment. We decided to go for it, so on February 14th, we started our cycle. I’ll do a future post and detail my experience with IVF, because I think that, if you know someone who is walking through it or you’re considering it yourself, it’s helpful to hear of other’s experiences. A dear friend shared hers with me and it was so helpful to have some idea of what was coming. The short version is, that the first part of IVF is called stimulation. It’s getting things ready. Then came egg retrieval. Egg retrieval was scheduled for my 40th birthday. I brought cupcakes for the staff so we could celebrate together. It was a pretty special day.
We were told after egg retrieval that we had two healthy eggs that would be fertilized. I’m going to be honest, this was a disappointment. It’s not uncommon for there to be 10 or more eggs and often they don’t all make it through the whole process. Two did not sound very promising. Both were fertilized and did everything they should have been doing for the next few days which meant they were biopsied, frozen and the samples were sent for genetic testing. Because I have a history of recurrent miscarriage, genetic testing would tell us if we had an embryo without genetic issues, which set us up for the best chance of implantation and healthy pregnancy.
We waited nearly two weeks to hear that news that we had one healthy, perfect embryo. And then the world shut down.
The call came just as things were ramping up here and schools were closing because of Covid-19. We decided to wait. Just two days later, all non-essential medical procedures were put on hold, which meant we would have been told we had to wait.
I’m going to be honest with you and say that there was a part of me that was relieved to wait. I knew, for the moment, that our embryo was healthy and safe. Because we’d experienced so many unexplained losses, I was afraid of embryo transfer. Yes, I understood that embryo transfer had to happen if we wanted to actually have a baby. But it was scary. It felt like a risk.
After months of waiting, we were able to do embryo transfer in June. I’ll never forget that day. I had to go in alone because, as is still the case, most doctor’s offices will only allow the patient to come into the building. I got prepped for the procedure and then I sat in a curtained cubicle in my hospital gown on a tiny hospital bed and I waited. And I prayed. I prayed for the procedure. I prayed for all the hopeful hearts that sat in that same spot. I prayed for grieving families. I prayed for women in pain. There was something about that spot that felt sacred. So many other strong, resilient women had and would be in that same spot.
It was so surreal that day to know that I was conscious of the moment we “conceived.” I was a tiny little bit pregnant, though we still didn’t know if the pregnancy would be viable. A week and a half later, however, we got the news that I was, in fact, pregnant. IVF is so weird! We knew before I was even pregnant, what the gender of our baby would be.
Friends, we are so thrilled to share with you that, in February, Noah will be a big brother to a baby sister. I wish you could all hear the way he talks about baby sister. It makes my heart melt every time. He loves her so much, already.
If you would, keep us in your thoughts/prayers! I am 17 weeks along at this point and everything has gone well so far. But we’re continuing to pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby girl. In my line of work, I hear all types of stories of things that can and have gone wrong. When it comes to pregnancy, we are so out of control.
This year has been one for the books, am I right? In the midst of a hard year, I’m grateful that we also have beautiful things going on. Things to be celebrated. I’d love to celebrate with you, too! In the midst of the hard, what are you celebrating this year?
