Jacklyn and Brent

My name is Jacklyn and my husband’s name is Brent, we met in 2016 and fell in love almost instantly. We got engaged 5 months after we started dating, got married in September 2018, and couldn’t wait to start our family.

We started trying as soon as we got married, we felt the time was right as we were 29 years old. Meeting one another later in life than perhaps we would have “planned” growing up we were eager to get our life together started. All through the remainder of 2018 and in 2019 we were trying. I tracked my period, tried ovulation strips, 2 rounds of using “Mosie baby” and still no success. I was prepared to do anything as I knew being a Mum would be worth it.

We decided to get checked out by our Doctors. Turns out my quantity of eggs was low and his sperm were slow and some were broken. My doctor recommended a fertility clinic and we began working with our Doctor there in early 2020. We were put on a list to potentially get approved for the government-funded IVF which we knew would take at least a year. Once the pandemic hit we just continued to try naturally as we waited to see if we would get approved for the partially funded IVF program. We bought our first home in August of 2020 and allowed ourselves to get preoccupied with that journey. About a week before my 32nd birthday in April of 2021, we got the email that said we were approved for the government to fund part of our IVF journey. We immediately emailed back and started signing paperwork and completing more tests to get things underway.

In June 2021 I was preparing for my egg retrieval by taking all sorts of different hormone shots. 13 eggs were retrieved and I knew in that moment that we were going to be successful as 13 is my lucky number! Once the eggs were fertilized the clinic would call on days 3, 5, and 7 to report how things were progressing. After day 7 they advised we had 5 embryos also known as “embabies” that were viable and able to go for genetic testing. After the testing was completed we were advised that 1 had all abnormal tested cells which could mean Down syndrome also less likely hood of a healthy full-term pregnancy, 2 were mosaic which means most of the cells tested were “abnormal” and 2 were euploid which means of the cells tested they all came back “normal”.

The next step was to do a mock cycle and have a biopsy completed on my uterus lining. The results of that came back inconclusive, however, our Dr. advised that we tested a day or so early and there’s nothing to be worried about. We were ready to move forward in August and begin monitoring to prepare for the transfer of the embryo. However, due to the overwhelming emotions and tests, I decided to take a break and start monitoring in September. During my September monitoring, it seemed to go on longer than usual, and eventually, we were told the cycle was being canceled. I was heartbroken and so upset with my body. But I picked myself back up and reported my next cycle day 1 for October. That cycle was perfect and we scheduled our embryo transfer for a few weeks later.

In November we went in and Brent got to watch the ultrasound screen as the embryo was implanted. It was such a wonderful experience. On November 20, 2021, I took an at-home test, but told myself “no matter what happens, they will draw my blood for HCG levels on November 22.” It was positive, I told Brent and he was in pure shock.

On November 22 and 24, my levels were taken, and everything was looking good. Our ultrasounds were scheduled, and our little squish was looking healthy at each appointment. In February we found squish is a girl and we are thrilled!

Baby Girl Watt is due July 2022.

All the anger, jealousy, body shaming, hormone shots, blood draws, and tears were so worth it!