Alyssa & Ryan

Alyssa & Ryan's Story:

We started our fertility journey in October of 2017. Our OBGYN had us try naturally for a year, and when nothing happened, we did some basic testing and bloodwork.

My husband was labeled a "B+ student" for his sperm (later finding out his sperm was great), and everything on my end looked normal besides my diagnosis of endometriosis in 2016 (done by laparoscopic surgery).

So after checking my LH levels for a couple of months and nothing happening still, they told us IUIs were our best option. We did the first 2 unmedicated. Then, we did 3 more with the OBGYN medicated.

When things still weren't working, and they didn't have answers for us (unexplained infertility), we were referred to a fertility office in Rochester. There, we did 2 medicated IUI's as well. This was during Covid, so I had to go to every appointment alone and to the IUIs without my husband in the room. It was so hard to face alone!

Along the way between the OBGYN and the fertility office, we did more blood tests, sperm tests, and I did an HSG test (once with an X-ray machine and once with an ultrasound).

After not feeling very comfortable at this fertility office, I switched to CNY Fertility in May of 2021. With 7 failed IUIs, Dr. Kiltz helped us decide that jumping into IVF was our best option.

I had really felt like we had lost so much time. It is hard to keep track of everything we went through the next 2.5 years with CNY, but along the way I did another laparoscopic surgery to clean out more endometriosis (which turned out to be very minimal), a Hysteroscopy that came along with the emma/alice and era test, a few PRP's, lots of bloodwork, medication switch ups, diet changes, lifestyle changes, started acupuncture, sperm tests, intralipids, HSG washes, went on Orlissa for 3 months, and started on metformin to control my bloodsugar levels, and more that I can't even remember.

In total, at CNY, we did 5 egg retrievals and 7 transfers (mostly FET, but a couple fresh). Each time, we made adjustments with medication, spoke with different doctors, evaluated options with nurses, etc. Our retrievals mostly resulted in under 4 embryos (sometimes only one).

Our insurance did not cover each cycle, so between paying out of pocket for most of this process and the physical and mental toll it was taking on us, we decided that the 5th retrieval in October of 2023 was going to be our last one.

We spoke with Dr. Corley, and he took his time to help us develop a plan of what we should do. This time, he did take an approach of a little less medication than I usually did.

With this last cycle, I wanted to try not to put too much pressure on it, but still do everything in my power to make it work. I started working with a nutritionist recommended through CNY in August of 2023. She helped me realize that I didn't need to make the drastic changes I had in the past to my diet, but she offered healthy alternatives and focused on adjusting my vitamins.

I continued to do acupuncture as I did with every cycle. We had done all retrievals and transfers at CNY Syracuse up until this point. Syracuse was booked, so we went to the Buffalo office.

Surprisingly enough, it was our best cycle. We had ended up with 8 frozen embryos! I did get warning signs of OHSS for the first time and was unable to do a fresh transfer as we planned, but I was put on medication, and after a week, I felt much better.

Since we knew we had 8 embryos, we knew we had at least a couple more shots to hopefully have one stick.

After consulting with the nurses and getting permission from Dr. Corley, we decided to transfer 3 embryos on November 21, 2023. After 2 weeks of waiting, with bloodwork and intralipids, we received the best voicemail of our lives on December 1, 2023! We were finally pregnant! And we are now expecting our precious baby boy in one week from writing this story :)

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

All of the doctors were great and so were the nurses I encountered at the Syracuse and Buffalo office. But it was the staff at the Rochester office that really carried me through the process. I could not have done this without their support. I would hate to forget anyone but huge shoutouts to Marlee, Chelsea, Amber, Ashleigh, Caroline, Leigh, and Lisa.

I was one of their more difficult clients to poke for bloodwork and IV's because of my tiny stubborn veins but they never made me feel like it was my fault and always stayed patient as we kept trying and trying. All of their support throughout the whole process is something that I will never forget. They all hold a special place in my heart now!

The Moment:

I knew I was getting the phone call that day and wanted to hear the news with my husband so we listened to the voicemail in the evening. We both immediately started crying. It was almost hard to believe. We had to listen to it a couple times. I honestly didn't think I was ever going to receive that news, so the feeling that I had in the moment and still to this day is one that I don't think I'll ever be able to describe. I was so excited to take an at home pregnancy test and have it come back as positive for the first time ever!

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

The best advice I can give is advocate for yourself. If something doesn't feel right or you feel that you're wasting time, speak up! Listen to your body, if you need a break, it's okay! But also, never give up. You are stronger than you think, give it your all and your little miracle will happen someday too.