Christina & Kaisch

Christina & Kaisch's Story:

My husband and I met in college back in 2012. After we graduated we were so excited to start our journey of life together. 6 months later, our son Braiden arrived. 

My little boy was born in September via emergency c-section. During the surgery, my doctor found a huge tumor on my right ovary. After being discharged, I developed preclampsia, and then I was admitted to the hospital again.

Fast forward two weeks later when I was called to come into the office to find out that the tumor was a form of ovarian cancer called a Serous Borderline Tumor.

I heard this news while staring into my newborn's eyes, and my world came crashing down.

Fast forward to a meeting with an oncologist to make a plan of action. The best case was to remove my fallopian tube and ovary where the cancer was. After that, I would have to be checked every six months via blood work and ultrasound.

This would leave me with just my left ovary, as previously, I had an ectopic pregnancy that required the removal of my left tube. Six weeks later, I had my surgery to remove my tube and ovary.

My OB told me that we would have to do IVF to have another child. That was six years ago, and we decided we just wanted to focus on our son Braiden.

As the years passed, I realized that I wanted my son to have a sibling. My husband's company offered IVF coverage which was a $75k lifetime max. Due to the high cost of IVF, we thought that would cover around 4 rounds of IVF. Later, we'd discover that IVF at CNY was a fraction of that cost.

We started our IVF journey in May 2021. We first went to another fertility clinic in Rochester, NY. 

There I met with the doctor, and we came up with a plan. We were going to do the high-dose Lupron protocol since I have only one ovary. After I stimmed for 8 days, my blood work was really positive. We thought I had at least 15 follicles growing. But heads turned when we saw only 3 follicles.

This was day five, and my doctor wanted to cancel my cycle. There's a rule where they want at least 5 follicles in order to go through the retrieval process. But I argued for doing the cycle anyway, and we did it. I had my egg retrieval, and yes, we only got three follicles. Sadly, none were mature, which means they hadn't been fertilized.

The next week I spoke with my doctor about our next steps. he wanted me to go straight to donor eggs as he felt my body would not produce follicles. My husband and I were in shock. Seeking a second opinion, so we reached out to my OB/GYN, who referred us to CNY.

Our story at CNY began in September 2021. I had my consultation call then went to the Rochester office, where I began a low-dose protocol.

We had a hiccup midway through the stims. A follicle measured 22cm when everything else was 10cm or less. We decided to stop meds and cancel, then start again the following month. We did the same protocol but left out letrozole this time.

I stimmed for 7 days and saw 6 follicles!!! This was the most I have ever seen for me. Everything was finally working out. We went ahead and scheduled my retrieval at the Syracuse office the day before Halloween. We had 5 out of the 6 retrieved, and 5 follicles out of 4 were mature and fertilized into day 3 embryos. Grades were 3M, 3/6, 1/4, and 1/3.

We decided to do a fresh transfer three days after my retrieval. Unfortunately, it failed. I was so sad. 

Then in December, we did a Frozen Embryo Transfer of my last three embryos. On day 6, I started to test, and I saw something! As the days passed, the second line got darker and darker! I had my betas, and my number just kept rising from there. I prayed that this would be my Christmas miracle.

Then during this process, my father tragically passed away during heart surgery at 52 years old. I was so sad and heartbroken. A small grace was that I got to tell him I saw positive tests before his surgery. So him knowing it worked made me happy. The nurses were so helpful and let me do over 5 betas, so I had something to look forward to that helped soothe my broken heart.

I ended up doing the blood test to find out the gender, and I was blessed with another little boy.

There were a few more obstacles... I had two subchorionic hematomas from 6w to 19w with two big bleeds. That’s was scary!!! From 25 weeks on, I developed high blood pressure and diabetes, which required me to be on 900mg of blood pressure pills and undergo routine blood tests.

We were planning for a 38w scheduled c-section because of my blood pressure and preeclampsia. At 34w 6d, I found out that my liver test came back 178. The normal range is 0-34. My world shook again! I told the doctor I just ate Taco Bell. He laughed and asked why I'd eat that before being induced? Well, I was at work on my lunch break, oops. 

I called my husband and told him we’re having a baby, and we needed to go to the hospital ASAP!  After waiting 6 hours for my Taco Bell to digest, my little boy came into the world! He had to be rushed to the nicu because his lungs weren't fully developed.

Our little boy spent two weeks in the nicu down the hall from me. It was so hard to see him hooked to so many wires. I am forever grateful for the nicu team!!! They are true superheroes!!! I was discharged that Monday but then readmitted Tuesday due to my blood pressure being dangerously high. So I stayed in the hospital for another week, but at least I was close to my little baby.

When we all were ready to go home I was so excited for our son Braiden to meet his baby brother Noah.

Overall I am beyond thankful to CNY for giving us this little boy. Yes, I have endured so much along the way, but I never stopped fighting! CNY stood by my side through my worst, and I can’t thank you all enough.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Everyone in the Rochester office was fabulous! They were there for me when I was in a horrible place.

When undergoing testing at CNY, I learned that my father didn't make it through heart surgery. When the nurses found out they gave me over 5 betas just to help me have something to look forward to and so I wouldn't be overwhelmed by grief.

Helpful resources Christina & Kaisch found:

I did a lot of research on how IVF worked since I was new to it.

The Moment:

The moment I saw the the faintest pink line on day 7. I was in shock!!! My oldest son was there there during the process. Seeing him so excited for the line to get darker made my heart happy. Of course, my husband was thrilled as well.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Always ask for a second opinion! Having a professional tell me I won’t ever have my own children hurt! Having that 2nd opinion at CNY and the doctors there working with me really helped!