Alexandra & Dustin
Reason for Treatment
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Male factor
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
Treatment(s)
- In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
- Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
- Laparoscopy
- Hysteroscopy
Provider(s)
- Faez Faruqi, MD
- Katy Falcon, NP
Treatment Location(s)
- CNY Fertility Syracuse
Monitoring Location
- CNY Fertility Syracuse
Alexandra & Dustin's Story:
Dusty and I met in 2017 and started officially dating in February of 2018. We were engaged in July 2021 and married in July 2022. We both knew we were ready to start a family and started trying right away.
By March 2023, I knew something was wrong, and we went to CNY for diagnostic testing. The only thing they found was that my husband's motility was low, ~20% and I had high prolactin.
In April, we tried a medicated intercourse cycle, and it failed. We tried an IUI for the next three cycles. The third cycle ended in an ectopic pregnancy.
Dr. Kiltz took out my right tube at 5 ½ weeks. In September of 2023, we did our first IVF cycle. We retrieved 19 eggs, 10 fertilized, and 10 made it to blastocysts.
We transferred 1 fresh, and it failed. We were only able to freeze four because of bad quality. The very next month, we did a frozen transfer, and it ended in a chemical pregnancy.
We took some time off and tried back-to-back IUI cycles in February and March. Both of them failed. At this time, I spoke with NP Katie Falcon. She said I should have a hysteroscopy. She also told me to consider another laparoscopy and an ERA cycle with Emma/alive/receptiva.
She believed I could have PCOS, and we were having an egg quality issue due to insulin resistance. She started me on metformin. In July, I had a hysteroscopy and they did not find anything. In August, I underwent another IVF cycle with a fresh transfer. The fresh transfer failed.
This time, we did PGT testing and ended up with two euploid embryos. In September, I did a frozen transfer, and it failed. This was probably the most heartbreaking cycle. I felt like we had done everything right. In October, I did an ERA cycle, with Emma/Alice testing. On November 30th, I transferred my last PGT tested, 3BA, embryo, and it ended in my little boy!
(Photos by Sweetwater Photography)
Helpful resources Alexandra & Dustin found:
Taking care of yourself is so important. I watched what I ate and tried to make most of my meals at home. I set time aside for walking or going to the gym. I like to get my nails done so I did that regularly, usually on my way back from appointments. I think it’s important to have some kind of support. My support came from my coworkers, friends and family. It’s important to have people you can confide in.
The Moment:
The very first time we heard Callan’s heartbeat was December 20th. We were overwhelmed with happiness. It was also very scary because I still had to make it through the next 8 months and labor before we could hold our baby boy. My pregnancy was amazing and on August 16th, he arrived. My life was changed forever. I still wake up, look at him and can’t believe he’s mine.
Hope, Inspiration and Advice:
As for advice, I would say to never give up. There were many times I thought it was never going to happen. We were fortunate to have an office 1 1/2 hours away from our house but it was still daunting. I would leave my house at 4:30 am some mornings for appointments and be back to get to work. It felt incredibly lonely at times. There was only so much my husband could do and say. I would also say, join Facebook groups, follow others going through infertility on social media platforms. I learned a lot from other people this way. Something I found out is that people don’t always know what to say to you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care.
