Samantha & Kyle

Samantha & Kyle's Story:

My husband and I wed in October 2016, and immediately started trying for a family. After a year and a half of trying with no success, I knew something had to be wrong.

I made an appointment with CNY fertility for a consultation and it was wonderful. I felt completely at ease and filled with hope after my meeting with Meg. After that, we prepped for our first round of meds and an IUI. We had our first IUI in June of 2018, and it was unsuccessful. Trying again the next month, and once again, it was unsuccessful.

Feeling a bit defeated and knowing the percentages for success from the IUI versus IVF, we decided to jump ahead to the IVF. The meds were no joke for the IVF procedure and the egg retrieval was a little intimidating, but none the less, I was completely on board.

I had my retrieval in August 2018. When everything was said and done, we had 2 great embryos, and we were so excited and hopeful! We had our fresh transfer that cycle, and then the dreaded 2 week wait began! We had a trip to Seattle scheduled for the beginning of September, and I started experiencing a few symptoms of pregnancy and I couldn’t wait any longer. I tested while we were gone because I missed the date for testing due to our trip.

2 pink lines! I was ecstatic, and I went and jumped on my husband in the hotel bed and he gave me a high five when I told him (he’s not a morning person). I was pregnant, and I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough for it to happen on the first IVF transfer!

Week after week, everything looked great, until our 7 week appointment.

They didn’t see the fetal pole, but they said that could happen, and they would try again at the 8 week appointment.

Then that appointment came, and it was one of the worst moments of my life...bad news from the NP and then from the Doctor.

We had lost the baby, he stopped growing at 6 weeks.

Feeling so devastated and defeated, I went in for the D&C. I needed closure and I needed to know why. We had testing done after the D&C and it was confirmed that there was something wrong with the baby, but they also told me it was a boy. It was the closure I needed, because I had to understand why, but was so sad to put a gender to that baby we lost.

I knew I needed some time to heal (both psychically and mentally) and of course all my levels needed to drop before we could try again. After a few months my levels were back down to normal, and I was ready to try again.

I had the next transfer in January 2019 with the frozen embryo that we had, and it was unsuccessful. I was starting to get depressed, felt like there was something wrong with me and that I would never be a mom, but still I drove through it.

This time I wasn’t taking any chances, so we went 100% in with keto, metformin, thyroid medication, acupuncture, anything and everything that the doctor recommended to make sure we had a successful retrieval and good eggs.

I had my next retrieval in February 2019, and it seemed that everything we had been doing worked! We had 14 beautiful embryos, and I was so excited with how many chances we would have with that retrieval. We went in for the transfer full of hope again, and when we got to the point where we were waiting for the doctor to come in for the procedure, Dr. Kiltz came in and let us know the devastating news. All of our embryos had died, and he had no idea why.

This time, I just was so overwhelmed that when we got home I just cried uncontrollably. I had given up, lost all hope and was completely done. I was angry, and a horrible person. I couldn’t be happy for anyone else, even close friends and family with wonderful news themselves, I couldn’t share joy because I had nothing left inside me to give.

We took a much needed vacation to unwind and reset, I so needed that! We got back and I felt refreshed and after seeing a therapist for a few months, we decided to try one more time. I had my last retrieval in April 2019, and we had 3 embryos survive to day 6. Given our past experience, we decided to transfer 2 for increased odds. We had our transfer that same cycle and again, the 2 week wait. I of course tested early because I couldn’t stand it any longer.

2 pink lines!! I was pregnant again, and this time felt different. I prayed and prayed that this would be it, and that this baby would be healthy and make it to term. I was a nervous wreck those first 12 weeks, every week praying for good news at my ultrasounds. Week after week, everything was great, and I made it out of the first trimester. We did a gender kit, and we were having a little girl. Things felt real this time, and we were so excited!

Fast forward to today, I have a beautiful little girl who is 5 weeks old and the cutest thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on! I never knew I could experience this much love, and I have CNY to thank for that! You made my dreams come true of being a Mom!

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Natalie was amazing and is also a friend, answering my texts and calls whenever I was freaking out about something.

Dr. Corley was amazing as well, praying with us after a transfer.

Dr. Kiltz of course, being the one that gave us our successful transfer and our baby girl!

Helpful resources Samantha & Kyle found:

I joined a support group on Facebook for women going through infertility and there was a lot of comfort in that.

Unique Moments:

Too many to list!

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Don’t give up! Even when you feel like the world is against you and it will never work out, just keep on pressing through!