Kirstin & Dan

Kirstin & Dan's Story:

We got married in 2012 and shortly after we knew we wanted to start trying for a family. First few years we weren't doing treatments but we were not doing anything to prevent it. After years went by we felt like something wasn't right since I hadn't gotten pregnant. We started with my OB with Clomid treatments and after 3 months nothing took so we were referred over to doctors specializing in fertility.

Problem we ran into insurance was picking up nothing since Wisconsin doesn't require fertility coverage at all. Got 3 rounds of IUI done in 2016 and none of those took either. We knew our next step was IVF but we knew this was going to be hard to afford. We stumbled across CNY and realized it was a lot more attainable then we thought. We started our first retrieval cycle in November 2019. Got 2 embryos and we had our first transfer in December 2019 with one.

This didn't take and we were devastated to say the least. Transferred our last in February 2020 and this didn't take either. We took a step back after this and got another opinion from a reproductive immunologist in September 2020 and we found out some additional issues we addressed and tackled. February 2021 we had another retrieval still same result with 2 embryos but they were a little higher quality then last retrieval.

We decided to 2 transfer both of these in March 2021. A week later I had a faint positive and we finally felt success! Unfortunately at our anatomy scan we found out we were having a girl but she had congenital heart disease. We got a game plan and transferred our care to our local Children's Hospital. Our daughter Hope entered the world early at 35 weeks at 4 pounds 7 ounces. Despite her heart issues we were over the moon when we saw her. 9 years of waiting and heartache was worth it when we saw her and she looked at us. We are thankful to CNY that made 2 rounds of IVF possible for us and giving us our little girl. Hope had a 3-week stay at the NICU but is at home thriving. She will have a full heart repair in the late spring. Thank you to CNY for everything you did for us!

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Dr Grossman did 2 out of my 3 transfers and he made the process smooth and comfortable for us!

Helpful resources Kirstin & Dan found:

Support groups on Facebook helped. But I think always being open about my journey helped too, this created a big group of support for me and my husband. Also taking breaks is so crucial during this process if things aren't working. Everyone needs a mental break during IVF and it being unsuccessful.

Unique Moments:

I would say our lowest moment in 2018 between treatments I fell pregnant naturally but we miscarried at 7 weeks while on vacation. It was very tough. Our highest moment is when Hope was born and seeing her look at me and my husband. How all that pain in 9 years just vanished after seeing her look at us.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

I wish I knew more about my health prior to starting TTC. There were signs I had PCOS when I was younger but it wasn't a thing at the time that was looked into a lot. If something isn't working when your doing fertility treatment definitely don't be scared to keep looking for an answer before keeping on doing treatment. 2 failed transfers of 3/8 embryos that were both perfect and I knew something wasn't right. Our reproductive immunologist provided those solutions for us which I believe gave us success and our daughter.