Amber & Dean
Infertility Diagnosis
- Unexplained infertility
Treatment(s)
- Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
- Hysteroscopy
- In vitro Fertilization (IVF)
- Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
- Laparoscopy
- Timed intercourse
Location(s)
- Albany
Physician(s)
- Robert Kiltz, MD
- Edward Ditkoff, MD
- Michael Grossman, MD
Amber & Dean's Story:
Our journey started in the summer of 2018, shortly after we got married. After many months of TTC naturally, we reached out to my gynecologist who suggested that we look into a fertility clinic. Growing up, I had signs of endometriosis, but had not been clinically diagnosed. At this point of trying to conceive, the gynecologist shared that it wouldn't hurt to get an opinion about our situation and discuss options. We began at CNY in the fall of 2019. After hysteroscopy and laparoscopy procedures, our diagnosis was unexplained infertility. We were grateful that the procedures did not show signs of endometriosis, but we were also confused and saddened that our journey continued without the success of a positive pregnancy test.
Each appointment at CNY, the staff were reassuring that we were moving in the direction to build the family that we had hoped for. We completed 4 IUIs before moving onto IVF. In addition to our protocol at CNY, we worked with a naturopath doctor, attended acupuncture sessions, practiced fertility yoga, and took various supplements to increase our chances of conceiving. June 2020 we had our IVF egg retrieval and July 2nd we had our frozen embryo transfer. When we received the call about our positive pregnancy test, we were so ecstatic and grateful! Our baby is due March 2021!
Favorite Team Member at CNY:
Nurses:
Alex, Shelia, Anna
Egg Retrieval nurse:
Brie
Doctors:
Ditkoff, Grossman, Kiltz
Helpful resources Amber & Dean found:
I listened to the Fertility Warriors Podcast often, which was helpful because there were guests who spoke about their experiences and I was able to relate to many of them. It was also helpful to listen to for emotional support and procedural support; I learned different questions to ask about medication and procedures. There are so many steps in IUI and IVF that hearing others' stories were helpful.
The yoga offered at CNY was a great bonding experience for my husband and I. We attended classes together; both as a relaxation time and also as an activity together.
Journaling was something that I did on a daily basis while going through our journey before CNY, during IUI and IVF, and also my pregnancy thus far. Journaling has been an outlet for me to express my feelings, worries, next steps to myself first and then share with my husband as well. Journaling has helped process various moments of our journey as well as healed the monthly sadness of negative pregnancy tests. In addition to journaling, I wrote and shared a blog (https://lovebabydustscience.wordpress.com/) where others were able to read about our story and connect with us. The sharing of this blog opened the conversation of infertility with many of our peers and kept us moving forward with positive thoughts.
Unique Moments:
The high of our treatment was the phone call from Alex to share our positive pregnancy result from the FET. Additionally, the support from each staff member at CNY; saying our goodbyes and thank yous on our "graduation day" felt like saying goodbye to family members. Not only are you close with the staff at CNY as a result of frequent appointments, but also because they take the time to get to know you as a person and couple.
Our story is unique because we are both healthy and young (began TTC at 27 and 32). We are active both physically and mentally as well as practice positive mindset about situations in life. This makes our situation unique because unexplained infertility can happen to anyone, infertility doesn't choose specific people to impact.
Hope, Inspiration and Advice:
When we started TTC, I wish I knew about the statistics that we soon learned in our journey of building a family. We did not know that 1 in 8 couples struggle to conceive. I think knowing these statistics would have eased some of the loss that we felt month after month because we would have known that we were not alone in the infertility journey.
The biggest piece of advice for couples going through this journey is to remember your why. In a book, Spiritual Fertility, the quote "partnership and marriage need to be prioritized above pregnancy, and love should always be emphasized as a powerful healing force" resonates with me for a number of reasons. The strongest force during our journey was the love that my husband and I have for each other and for our future children. The love served as our light and our why to the journey we were going through.
