Kalissa & Andrew

Kalissa & Andrew's Story:

My husband and I met in college in 2018. We always talked about our future - getting married and having children. In January 2022, he proposed and we started trying to grow our family right away.

I knew that it could take some time for us to get a positive, but never in a million years did I think we would deal with infertility.

We were only 23 years old at the time. We tried for 2 years, even with tracking ovulation, and still had negative tests after negative tests.

I decided to go to my OBGYN at the time with my concerns. They told me that I was young and to just keep trying. I knew something was not right and decided to advocate for myself and set up a consultation with CNY in April of 2024.

I was nervous, scared, and excited. After my consultation, things felt like they were moving quickly. Turns out, I had low AMH. This was devastating to hear at such a young age.

We decided to try IUI as it was partially covered by insurance and less invasive. We told ourselves we would only attempt IUI 3 times and then move forward with IVF.

We ended up going through 2 rounds of IUI, with a few cancelled cycles in between. We made the decision to stop trying IUI after our 2nd failed cycle and move on to IVF.

On March 4, 2025, we had our egg retrieval. We were able to retrieve 12 eggs: 8 mature and 7 fertilized. We ended up with 4 beautiful frozen embryos.

We decided to take April off to just relax and take a family vacation. We had our frozen embryo transfer on May 5, 2025. The 2-week wait period felt like forever.

I tested at home and got a very faint positive, but did not want to get my hopes up. Blood work confirmed I was pregnant, and my hCG levels rose appropriately!

Being able to see the ultrasounds so early on was amazing. I will never forget hearing my baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

On August 10, 2025, we found out we were having a baby boy! He decided to make a surprise appearance a month early and was born on December 23, 2025, weighing 6lb 2oz and 19 1/2 inches long. We are SO thankful to Albany CNY for giving us our miracle baby.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

NP Rebecca Eskin preformed our Frozen Embryo Transfer and was absolutely AMAZING!!!! She talked us through every step. She was so personable and super knowledgeable. She gave us our miracle baby!

All of the nurses at CNY Albany were absolutely amazing and I can’t thank them all enough for helping us get to where we are today.

The Moment:

The moment I found out I was pregnant I didn’t know what to think. I truly couldn’t believe it. I had tested at home and had a very very faint positive. I continued testing and watched the lines get darker.

Blood work confirmed I was pregnant and I was SO excited but so nervous as to what was coming. I had never, ever, had a positive pregnancy test prior to this.

Even after the blood work confirmed I was pregnant, I still didn’t believe it. It didn’t feel real until I heard my baby’s heart beat on the ultrasound. All of the same emotions flooded when I first held my baby after delivery. I had the most amazing team of nurses and doctors to help me through. I had a very scary delivery as I had pre eclampsia but the moment my baby was placed on my chest, everything changed. I was scared, excited and so in love with my baby boy. Nothing can compare to the way I felt.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Don’t give up! Advocate for yourself. You know your body best. Document EVERYTHING!! It goes by so fast.