Nicole and Doug

My husband Doug and I got married in 2015. We had discussed when we wanted to start trying for a family and decided to wait a year or two, thinking once we started trying it would just happen…not thinking fertility treatments would be introduced into our lives in the summer of 2018.

In May of 2018, we were referred to a fertility clinic, where we began many tests to determine the cause of not getting pregnant naturally. We were advised that we had unexplained fertility. We were confused, as not knowing what this meant for us, and were not prepared for what came next. I did 2 months of Clomid medication cycles, followed by 6 IUI cycles. Which all cycles failed.

By November 2019, I had my first round of IVF Egg Retrieval. Keep in mind I am someone who was always been TERRIFIED of needles, but I knew I was determined to do anything in my control to make our family dreams come true and for us to become parents. I will never forget my husband giving me my first needle in the stomach, I had my eyes closed and would give out a little scream as the needle went in. I then realized this was our new normal routine and I needed to get stronger, and tougher for both of us. I wanted to not only do this for me but for him and our future baby. Unfortunately, after several embryo transfers, none of them implanted. I was devasted, I thought this was it. It reassured me that IVF is not guaranteed, but at this point, we were not willing to give up.

In February 2020 we decided to look for another opinion and changed clinics. We felt we made the right decision by changing clinics and starting fresh with a new doctor. We are thankful for our friends who guided us to meet with this doctor, based on their own personal experiences.

By September 2020, I was getting prepared for my second egg retrieval. This time around I knew what to expect and was more relaxed, and I became an expert on injecting myself!! The injections became a part of my daily routine, the medication became a part of my belongings in my bag daily and we were in full force in the fertility world. We did another several rounds of embryo transfers and none of them took.

I ended up taking some months off to try naturally, to regroup my thoughts and be able to think about our next steps. I will never forget one evening Doug brought up adoption, he had paperwork printed out for us to look at and start completing the forms. The reason was because he couldn’t see me go through the pain anymore mentally and physically. He was worried for my well-being and health. I remember crying and telling him not to give up on the process, not to give up on me because I wasn’t done fighting.

By April 2021, I had a total of 5 failed embryo transfers. The doctor decided to do some more testing and therefore I had a Hysteroscopy surgery scheduled. The surgery was successful, and the doctor confirmed he had to reshape my uterus to hopefully help with the next round of embryo transfer to implant.

We had one more frozen embryo that we decided to transfer in July 2021. After the 2-week wait, to our surprise, we found out that I was pregnant! We were beyond excited and couldn’t wait to share the news with our family and friends. We shared the news after my first ultrasound when a heartbeat was detected.

Unfortunately, at an ultrasound appointment, there was no longer a heartbeat, and I was told I had miscarried. Doug and I were both in shock as our dreams of becoming parents were being shattered with another disappointment. My ultrasound was scheduled at 830am, by 11 am I was being prepped for a D&C.

In October 2021, we decided to do one final round of IVF to create new Embryos. Early January I was being prepped for my 7th embryo transfer. Lucky number 7 implanted!! (in our 7th year of marriage) And I am happy to share as I write this, that I am currently 33 weeks pregnant with our baby girl, due in September.

I feel incredibly grateful to be where we are today and what we had to do to get here together. Even though we had our bumps, and our dreams were getting pushed further away, we did it together. I never knew how strong I was until I began the fertility process. Never knew our journey to start a family would take us down the road of Fertility, but I would do it all over again knowing the outcome of being pregnant now with our miracle baby. I wouldn’t have gone through all of it without Doug being by my side and the support from our families and friends. This is fertility. This is our story.