WorkingTowardsBabyNelling

Our journey through in vitro!

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Yessss 🤣👏🏻🙌🏻 love my hubby!

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The fertility meds!

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Now.....

Now that we have sperm, I get to start all the medicines to help me create more eggs!!! I have an egg retrieval coming up where the doctor wants to be able to get as many eggs from me as possible to create many embryos! I got all of my prescriptions today, 4/27!

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The day we found out we’d be able to have biological babies!

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The Second Stage........

After going through all the testing, and finding out all the problems we were facing we had to find out if Chris would ever really be able to get me pregnant. We were told we were going to have to do a step above IVF, we would have to do ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) since they have to receive both my eggs and Chris’ sperm. On February 13th, we had to meet with Dr. Shin, we were referred to him because he is one of Shady Grove Fertility’s urologists, he was going to help us get sperm from Chris. We knew there was a chance he wouldn’t be able to get any sperm. Dr Shin explained that men with Cystic Fibrosis are born without the vas deferens. The vas deferens is a duct that carries sperm from the testes to the urethra. Chris is missing that. The next step for Dr Shin was to perform a microsurgery to go into the testes and collect sperm (if there were any). If he wasn’t able to collect any through aspiration, Dr Shin was actually going to have to cut in to Chris and cut out a piece of the teste and biopsy it, then hoping to get sperm from that. We scheduled Chris’ procedure for April 12th and went in optimistic and hoping we would come out with something! They explained to us that Dr Shin would have to go into one side and try and aspirate, and if he didn’t get any on that side, he would try the other... Then if he got nothing from that side he would cut open and take a biopsy. Chris was put to sleep and I had to wait anywhere from 20 mins to an hour to find out! Seriously, it was the longest moment of my life! I sat down in the waiting area for about 18 minutes before the nurse came back to retrieve me and the first thing she told me was that they were successful! I almost cried! They only had to go to one side and aspirate, Chris gave 6 vials of semen (one vial per IVF cycle, meaning potentially 6 kids or enough that if I miscarry or if my body rejects the embryos they place we have more). The first thing Chris asked me when he woke up was “Did I get the job done for us?” and I honestly was so happy to be able to tell him yes!

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Shady Grove Fertility (First stages)

We began our fertility journey in November of 2016. We made an appointment at the Hagerstown office with Doctor Bromer (who we love!) We described our situation to him, and we began our journey. The first stage of in vitro is testing to figure out the best treatment plan for us as a couple. When I first started my period I had to do 2 things, diagnostic blood work and a baseline vaginal ultrasound to assess ovarian function, then a HSG (hysterosalpingogram). My blood work showed a high GLH so I was put on metformin and told to monitor my sugar intake to prevent chance of gestational diabetes. My ultrasound showed multiple cysts on my ovaries while on my period, proving my Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Then the HSG test, which is usually done with radiographic contrast medium (dye) injected into the uterine cavity through the vagina and cervix. Most people do not have any issues with the HSG, but I was one of the few to pass out afterward. It wasn’t exactly painful, but a very discomforting feeling that made me really lightheaded. The HSG showed good results though and no signs of serious complications to prevent me from becoming pregnant. I was then put on a prenatal vitamin with plenty of folic acid to prepare to carry a baby! Together Chris and I both had to have infectious disease blood work, all coming back clean. We both also had to have genetic blood work done to see if we carried the same diseases... This is not something many couples have to worry about or even think about! Genetics are crazy things, and if you and your partner are carriers of the same kind of genetic disease, your child has a huge chance of having that disease, and if they don’t have it then they are a carrier that they could pass on to their own kids! We were especially worried that I could be a Cystic Fibrosis carrier, if that was the case then our future children would all have very high chances of having cystic fibrosis. We already know all of our children will be cystic fibrosis carriers because Chris actually has the disease. This was a huge deal for us. Chris especially didn’t want to have a baby that could have the same disease he did. I got the test done first, and we had to wait 2 weeks for the results. I was a positive carrier for 2 diseases, CDG type Ia and Biotinidase deficiency. We then had to make sure Chris didn’t carry the same diseases I did, Chris was a positive carrier for cystic fibrosis (obviously). But we then knew our childs chances of having CF are now very slim! Then Chris himself had to obtain a semen analysis. The semen analysis showed that Chris created no sperm. So, I was given the go ahead that I would be okay to become pregnant, but getting me pregnant is what became our next obstacle. 

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The beginning

My husband Chris and I have been together 7 years. Married for 1. We knew from the very beginning a natural born baby was nearly impossible. Chris has Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestines. When Chris was born the average life expectancy for people with Cystic Fibrosis was around 18, now it is between 42 and 50 years old. The disease has made a lot of progress. Another side effect of Cystic Fibrosis is that 98% of men are infertile. Chris was told all his life that he would never have a biological baby. After knowing that about Chris, we obviously knew we needed help. Not only does Chris have reproductive issues, but I do as well. I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, aka PCOS. We are battling with 2 nasty things. So, we have reached out to Shady Grove Fertility. That’s where our journey begins……..

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Please let this be true. Please let this be true. Please let this be true…