Victoria & Chris

Victoria & Chris's Story:

Chris and I had struggled for about 7 years to have a baby of our own. Just before we actively started trying, we were surprised, and so happy, when we saw "pregnant" on a digital HPT. I did everything I was supposed to do, vitamins, lots of water, eating right, etc.. but, I, again, miscarried.. (I had multiple miscarriages in a prior relationship) We were, of course, heartbroken! And both at a loss as to why this kept happening to me.

It was then that we decided to see a fertility specialist. I explained that, at that point, I'd had 4 losses, it was always around the 8-week mark that the pregnancy would fail. We went through all of the testing. The blood tests, sonograms, 2 HSGs, all of the pokes and prods, and missing work for me and a semen analysis for Chris.. only to find out that there was no reason or explanation for the difficulty in getting pregnant or the recurring losses. We tried to stay hopeful and optimistic, as hard as it was.

We decided to try a timed intercourse cycle. It was a less expensive and less evasive route, which still offered the benefits of some medications and monitoring. We got pregnant! We were so excited and happy! Was this it? But after my second HCG test, the doctor said it wasn't rising appropriately, and this one was diagnosed as a tubal pregnancy. We, still tried to remain hopeful! I mean there was no reason for it to not work, so we hoped and prayed! We tried timed intercourse again, no pregnancy. It was kind of a bitter sweet feeling. We didn't have to go through a loss again, but we knew we wanted a baby so badly!!

We decided after much thought, we had to try IVF. We thought this was the thing that would work!! The doctors would be with us every step, and we would finally have the family we so longed for. We saved money, little by little, for a couple of years, hoping a miracle pregnancy would happen while waiting. It did not and so we decided to go for it. We still hadn't saved enough, so we decided we would just finance the rest, we were really getting antsy!! We were on our way to finally making our dream come true!! I started taking the shots, and everything was going so smoothly!! My eggs were maturing great! I had 5, which wasn't bad! By the time they retrieved my eggs, they were able to collect 4! 3 started to fertilize. 2 actually did, and those were both implanted. We anxiously waited those 2 weeks. Just hoping and praying. I got the phone call at work, I was pregnant!! I was in shock!! My HCG level was perfect!! That was the happiest moment of my life!! I just couldn't believe it!! I couldn't even speak!! I cried, I squealed! Now, This was it!!

We got through the whole IVF procedure, even got discharged, I was 12 weeks along!! I never made it past 8 before. We were in the clear! This was it, we were finally making a family!!!  But, 13 and a half weeks pregnant, on New Year's day, I woke up with the cramps. They got worse as the day went on, until that night when I miscarried, again.

We decided to see a bereavement counselor to help us through this, she was wonderful! It felt like a bad dream that I just needed to wake from!! After several months of healing, we had decided we still need to be hopeful! Our journey was not quite over yet!

We decided to go again, this time with a donor egg! Though the decision was very difficult, we decided it would be best to take my eggs out of the equation, as that seemed to be the problem. It was a hard process, picking the "best" donor, but once we did, everything happened pretty quickly for us! Within just a few months we had 5 embryos waiting, 2 months later, we were pregnant!!! It was the most emotional 9 months of my life, but after that, our son Cole Spencer Young was born!! I cried when the nurse put him on my chest "I'm a mommy!! I have a baby!!"

He is our perfect little miracle!! Thank you so much CNY Fertility for helping us every step of the way in making our dreams come true!!

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Brigit was the best! She was very attentive to my needs and really helped me feel calm and knowledgeable about what was happening. She was so nice and really cared about me and my boyfriend.

Helpful resources Victoria & Chris found:

I did some relaxation techniques like listening to calming sounds, massages were done regularly. Also, talking to someone! This is a stressful situation to be in, so I did seek therapy at one point.

Unique Moments:

We tried for so long with my eggs, it was the moment we decided to use a donor egg that changed our lives! It was the hardest decision to make, how do you pick someone that's not you.. that was probably the lowest and highest moment of our journey. The feeling of loss over not being able to use my one egg, but also more hopeful than ever now because we took the thing that wasn't working out of the equation. We now have a baby boy who we couldn't imagine were any different!!

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

I just would really encourage people to go forward with donor eggs, if that's where they are in their journey. I know its so scary, and so emotional, but it truly is amazing! I thought I would have feelings like "he's not mine" or "what if he doesn't connect with me" but I look into his eyes, and I see parts of me, and I wouldn't change him for the world! He is the perfect little boy!!