Ashley & Alex

Ashley & Alex's Story:

We got married August 6, 2016. Two young kids in love who wanted a family right away. I went off of the pill in May of that year, as I knew it would take my body a little bit of time to adjust being off of it, since I was on it for MANY years.

Our first anniversary hit and that day is when I called CNY Fertility - it marked exactly a year of trying to have a baby with no luck. We tried EVERYTHING that you can think of, google, etc. I told my OB after 6 months that we weren’t having luck. His solution was to go back on birth control. I refused and demanded an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries. “Everything looks perfect, no issues,” he said.

We had a consult in September. We went in with a lot of hope, and left overwhelmed, but feeling very hopeful still. At the consult, they did an ultrasound right then and there which showed I clearly have PCOS. They also took my husband’s sample for a semen analysis and we were able to learn all was good in that realm. They gave us hope that since we were young and healthy, we should be able to have a baby via IUI (intrauterine insemination).

We tried right away. Had a few IUI’s, months went by with no luck. After a failed cycle in November of 2016, I had a follow up with Dr. Corley via phone. Frustrated, I explained our situation. He asked about my period history. Every sign pointed to me having endometriosis on top of PCOS. He set up surgery for the next month.

Dr. Luthringer did my laparoscopy and he was amazing. He removed all of my endo (which there was quite a bit in there), along with a cyst that was floating around. The next month we had another IUI - and it worked!

We had never been happier to be pregnant. Unfortunately, Oliver was born still at 26 weeks gestation, for reasons nothing to do with infertility.

In August 2018, we went back and talked to Dr. Kiltz about what happened and how we were heartbroken, and please do not judge us but we desperately want another baby. He did not judge us at all and had a perfect plan written out for us, being precautious in every measure. After taking the meds he gave us, we had planned to do another IUI (since insurance covers it), but to our surprise, my body responded a little too well to the meds. I had MANY large follicles - perfect for IVF, very dangerous for IUI. We had to decide within hours if we were going to go through with IVF.

We chose to do it - October 8, 2018 I had egg retrieval. They retrieved 24 eggs. Of that, sperm was inserted into 10 of them. 6 made it to 5-day blastocysts. Because I had so many eggs removed, we had to wait until the next cycle to do a transfer.

My next cycle came, we transferred one perfect embryo, which ended in a chemical pregnancy. Confused, heartbroken, yet still hopeful, we did another transfer the next month - this time we transferred 2 into my uterus. And one stuck around! We had our beautiful, perfect rainbow baby named Mariella in August of 2019.

Fast forward to December of 2019. We wanted yet another baby. Mariella was supposed to have Oliver earthside to play with - but that didn’t happen. We had to give her a sibling as soon as we could.

Another few IUIs later, no luck. February 3, 2020 I had two more embryos put into my uterus. An emotional journey with low hCG numbers at first, but we have a healthy baby boy on the way joining us in October! Absolutely NONE of these babies would be here without CNY Fertility. We are eternally grateful.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

So many of the nurses in Syracuse were amazing - Bridget was my favorite! You’re the best Bridget!

Helpful resources Ashley & Alex found:

My blog - www.mrsinfertilemyrtle.com ... sharing my story with as many people as possible and helping others is beyond therapeutic!

Unique Moments:

I did not have any miscarriages, but had a stillbirth that was unexplained. My baby in my belly now had a first BETA at 14, then it went to 35, and then 248! A very emotional week of BETAs and not expecting a 14 hCG level to turn into a healthy baby, but here we are!!

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Birth control - switch it up, don’t take the same pill for 9 years in a row. Take a break for a month every so often, it can really impact you!

Being open about your journey is healing - talk to people! A therapist, family, friends, anyone.

There IS a light at the end of the tunnel. It can happen. Don’t stop working for it!!