Elizabeth & Dominic

Elizabeth & Dominic's Story:

It was January 2003, when my husband and I met. I was 13, he was 14. Who knew that was where our story would begin. We went from young school sweethearts, to married in August 2012. Everything in our lives lined up in my picture perfect timeline I had always imagined. Soon after we wedded, is when we started to try for a baby of our own. Well, little did we know the hurdles and heartache it was going to take getting there...

We were actively trying on our own for 1.5 years before we were referred by my gynecologist to go to CNY after not having any success thus far. We sat down for our initial consultation with Dr. Grossman, nervous and anxious on what our next step is and what’s to come. Our next step was getting tests of our own done. (What I had thought every known test under the sun you could imagine.. but boy was I wrong.) After 3.5 weeks of waiting for our results to come in, we sat down with the same doctor for our follow up and treatment plan, low and behold, “All looks great on paper, you have something called unexplained infertility”.

“Ok, that’s great to hear... but why aren’t we pregnant then?” Was our thoughts.
He suggested an IUI (intrauterine insemination) based on our diagnosis and was very confident that it would be successful given that there’s really no reason why we couldn’t get pregnant.

First IUI, failed.
Second, failed.
Third, failed.
Fourth, failed.
This was over the course of 4 consecutive months. I never stopped. I didn’t break. I had one goal.

After meeting with Dr. Grossman again after our now failed fourth IUI attempt, he agreed that the idea of IVF would be beneficial to us being that the success rates are higher than an IUI. We were eager to start our IVF round now, and excited that the chances are higher and we’ll finally have our happy ending.

First IVF transfer, failed.
Second transfer, failed.
Third transfer, failed,
Fourth transfer, failed.
Fifth transfer, failed.

We are broken. We are exhausted. We are defeated. My stomach now looks like one large bruise from the injections, and my butt cheeks from the progesterone shots are so sore I can barely sit down.

After our failed fifth FET (frozen embryo transfer) I demanded more testing. I need answers. Something other than “unexplained”. I spoke to Dr.Kiltz, who, after reviewing all of our initial lab tests, and our failed fertility treatment history, he set me up with an autoimmune center in Las Angelas, CA called the Alan Beer Center. They tested me for any and every autoimmune disorder you could possibly think of, 22 vials of blood to be exact (and I thought the initial blood work was a lot). After weeks of waiting for my results to come in, we think we have an answer. I have something called “heightened cytokines”. In other words, my body’s natural immune system responds to embryos or anything “foreign” and fights them away.

Ok, makes sense I guess. I didn’t quite understand, but I’m trusting this doctor that this is what it could be. Next step, new protocol. They recommended I add in an autoimmune medication called “humira”. Some may have heard of this for rheumatoid arthritis, or other AI diseases. In addition to Humira, I was advised to do IVIG therapy - which is an infusion of intravenous immunoglobulin. IVIG therapy is used by fertility patients who have recurrent implantation failures or recurrent pregnancy losses. IVIG therapy is thought to repress a woman's immune system, which may be attacking the embryo or fetus, mistaking it for a foreign body. So here goes nothing. I added in these two new concoctions (in with about 8 other injections I was currently taking for this round) in hopes that this will be our saving grace.

6th transfer, June 22 2016. It was a Wednesday.

My mom had to come with me because my husband had a mandatory training at work. At this point, I am friends with the nurses, doctors, and front desk staff. I introduce my mom to everyone, they were so friendly. My mom, the nurse that she is, loved the center and just really made my nerves at ease this time around. The nurse took us in the room to have the transfer done. The embryologist was getting my embryos ready to hand off to Dr. Kiltz to perform the transfer. My mom jokingly said “don’t you drop my grand babies”! Everyone giggled. It was a good day...

6th transfer was complete. Now onto the dreaded 9 day wait...

I tested on day 7. I know they say not to, but how could I not?

2 pretty pink lines.

IVF Six, success. Pregnant.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was I seeing things? I went back to the store and purchased 7 more tests (yes, seven). I called my favorite nurse, Greta and told her about the positive tests. She advised me to come in ASAP for blood work to be sure. I drove up to Latham, got my blood work done and waited for the hour-long test to come back.

It was confirmed. I was pregnant. I fell to my knees. I jumped. I cried. I called my best friend. My mom and my sister came over and squeezed me. I surprised my husband with the news when he got home from work that evening. He didn’t believe me at first, he was speechless that our dream had finally came true.

Four long, dreadful, anxious, defeating, years. There were days where I forgot how to breathe. How to talk to people and not be bombarded with “when are you going to have a baby”? When in reality, there wasn’t one night I didn't pray to God “when will it be my turn”?

It’s like that cliche saying goes “everything happens for a reason”. I truly believe there was a reason we walked through fire, it has never made us take parenthood for granted, ever. I would do those four years over again in a heartbeat if I knew what my ending would be.

My angel, Elliana Bucci, saved me and I am so proud of us that we fought so hard for her. The journey it took getting there, molded me into a person I never knew I could be today.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Greta Joost
Justine Taylor
Dr. Grossman
Dr. Kiltz

Helpful resources Elizabeth & Dominic found:

Acupuncture
Small trips away
Running
Exercising

Unique Moments:

I always had a hard time with not knowing why it wasn’t working for us. After all of our failed IUI/IVF attempts there was never a reason why it was continuously failing. I was 25 - this should have happened already. Now, looking back, I genuinely believe this was all supposed to happen the way it did. We will never know why it took so long, or “why us”. But we are so glad it did - this was our journey, our story, which lead us to our Elliana Bucci.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

I pray for anyone that’s fighting this battle, please know that you aren’t alone. Days when you feel you just want to throw in the towel, that’s fine. Thats ok. You can feel that way. You’re aloud to. Cry. Go ahead, break a plate on the floor. Scream. Don’t leave your bed for the day. But just wake up the next morning, start over, try again, and remember why you started in the first place. Because I promise you, your story does not end here.