Nicole & Tom

Nicole & Tom's Story:

My husband and I met in 2017 and within a year we were engaged to be married. I was diagnosed with liver adenomas prior to our engagement and in September of 2018 I was told I should come off of birth control. We decided we would just let nature runs its course and see if we would conceive. After about 6 months of no contraceptives and no pregnancy I decided to go to my OB/GYN. I was then diagnosed with PCOS for the first time at the age of 34.

From this point we tried multiple months of timed intercourse using Clomid. After three rounds it was suggested I seek out a Reproductive Endocrinologist. This doctor had suggested we try using Femara and timed intercourse for one round. When this didn't work we started the IUI process. After 4 failed IUI's, I started to do my own research in regards to PCOS and infertility doctors in the Rochester area. It became very clear to me that the doctor I was seeing at the time didn't necessarily follow the same guidelines as others and I decided to seek another opinion from CNY.

My first consult was with Dr. Kiltz over the phone in January of 2019. During this time I officially started on Metformin for the first time and it was suggested I start acupuncture to help with my cycles. My husband and I also began a KETO lifestyle at this point. Dr. Kiltz left it up to my husband and me to decide if we wanted to do another round of IUI or start the IVF process. At this point we decided to move ahead with the IVF process. Unfortunately, Covid put a hold on our plans for quite some time, we were married in August 22nd of 2020 and we decided to do our first egg retrieval in October of 2020.
We were lucky enough to have 23 eggs retrieved, 13 were fertilized, 10 survived and we chose to do a fresh embryo transfer on October 13th 2020. When we arrived for out first transfer in Syracuse NY, I was told that I had OHSS and we may not be able to do the transfer after all. At this point we were told we could still go ahead and try the fresh transfer and see what happens as long as I stayed off of my feet for the remainder of the week. On October 22nd we found out that our beta was positive and we were over the moon excited!

We knew going into the process not everyone gets a positive the first time. Unfortunately, our dreams came to an end the week before Thanksgiving in 2020 when I miscarried just shy of 7 weeks. We opted to have a D&C and to have the fetus tested for any genetic abnormalities and it was determined to have had Trisomy 22. As crushed as we were my husband and I decided not to wait and would try a FET with my next cycle.

We were able to get through the holidays and on January 15th, 2021 I decided to have an HCG wash done prior to our transfer on January 18th 2021. On January 27th, 2021 we found out that again our beta was positive! This time our little embaby was able to stick around and we welcomed our beautiful rainbow baby girl on September 27th 2021.

The IVF process was such a hard and yet rewarding process for us. We know that not everyone is able to have such a positive outcome and it has left us so grateful for our little girl and for CNY's amazing team and talents. After all "The best view comes after the hardest climb." - Anonymous

Photo Credit: @photosbyalyssarose

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

The entire Rochester team was amazing, I mostly saw:
Kristen P
Marlee L
Amber C
Ashleigh
Katy
Leigh

Helpful resources Nicole & Tom found:

After the miscarriage I began to journal my thoughts. Once we started the second cycle I found it very helpful to write one positive thing or thought each day up until we found out that we were in fact pregnant. Positive affirmation for the win!!

Unique Moments:

Obviously our lowest of lows was losing our first embaby. We found it better for us to move on with the process after the miscarriage and to continue the process with the very next cycle. We not only managed to conceive twice during this pandemic but to also get married and buy our first home. We moved into our home on our one year anniversary of being married and welcomed our baby girl just 5 weeks later.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

The best advice I have is to take it one day at a time and never lose hope. The process is emotionally and physically exhausting for everyone involved in the process and talking helps. I was very open with the entire process in hopes that others would find hope in our story and feel less isolated during the process.