Ashley & Daniel

Ashley & Daniel's Story:

Daniel and I got married September 14, 2019 and we went right into trying to have a baby. We have an 11-year-old daughter, and she loved being an only child, but we all felt we were missing something.

After a few months of negative tests, I went to a doctor's office to seek help. I got put on progesterone and was very hopeful that this would solve everything. That unfortunately did not work either, but it was there that we found out I have PCOS.

We ended up going to a fertility clinic and tried multiple medicated attempts with no luck. The next step was IUI. We did three rounds of IUI and again, no luck. We were told our only option would be IVF, but when we got the price for one round, we almost fell over and saw our dreams of having a baby quickly go out the window.

We expressed to many friends and family that we wouldn't be able to have a baby and tried to accept that it just wasn't in our future. A couple of our friends let us know about CNY Fertility in Syracuse and we quickly looked into it and realized that our chances were changing with their more affordable IVF options.

I did my egg retrieval on 02-15-2023 and retrieved 41, had 23 mature, made 21 embryos, and was able to freeze 13. I was so proud of my body, and we were the most hopeful we'd ever been in the past 4 years!

Our first transfer was on June 5, 2023. I did all of the things suggested and was sure we'd find out I was pregnant soon after. Unfortunately, that transfer did not take. I ended up taking a break because those losses devastated me, and my body felt like it had been through the wringer the past few months.

On October 3rd, 2023, we had our 3rd transfer, and it turned out, our final transfer because that one took! On October 9th, 2023, I got my very first positive pregnancy test. I unfortunately had the doubt in the back of my mind, though, that it was a fluke thing and we weren't actually pregnant.

It wasn't until the blood tests and first ultrasound on October 27th, 2023, that we finally were able to breathe and see it was true: we were pregnant! 

Fast forward to June 25th, 2024, at 1:00 AM, my water broke. We went to the hospital around 8:00 AM that morning, and on June 26th at 7:09 AM, we had our beautiful William "Liam" Robert Puzo! 9 pounds 3 ounces, 20" of perfectness.

His big sister is head over heels in love with him, as are we, and she has become a mother hen to him. We are truly blessed with our two kiddos and love watching them grow up. We couldn't have had our Liam without CNY Fertility, and we owe them so much for helping us make him our success story.

Thank you, CNY! Maybe one day, we will be back to add another to our family.

(Photos by Knova Designs)

Helpful resources Ashley & Daniel found:

I had 2 nurse friends, one went to CNY Fertility to get her miracle baby also. They both helped my husband and I do my shots in the beginning. I always had questions and if I couldn't reach CNY or just felt they could help me on a more personal level, I reached out to them for answers.

The Moment:

I was at a family get together and I was just feeling very off and sick, so I left early. I thought "there is no way I'm pregnant but for giggles I'm going to take a test. I took a digital test and got the PREGNANT on the screen. I just sat there looking at it. I couldn't cry because I had a very large guard up, but I also wanted to scream and jump up and down. Then when we had him, it was the most painful but rewarding thing I'd ever felt in my life. My husband and my mom were in the room with me and we all were so thankful he was here.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Don't let the negative tests get to you too much. Use all of the resources they give you, but also listen to your body. This process is not for the faint of heart, but it is so rewarding when you get to hold that miracle 9 months later.