Emily & Harry

Emily & Harry's Story:

In my youth, I was warned conceiving would be a struggle for me. So, before our wedding in October 2018, we decided that I’d stop the pill so we could begin trying right away. At first, we didn’t let the ominous “it may be difficult” get in the way and just tried to enjoy the newlywed trying-to-conceive journey.

However that summer I’d gone almost three months without a menstrual cycle. We went to the doctor seeking help, and I was told to lose weight and that things would normalize.

I tried dieting and exercising, but nothing worked.

Another full year of trying passed and we finally said it’s time to seek some help. We had our first appointment with CNY in July 2020.

Immediately I knew this would be our place, we felt listened to and respected, a whole new feeling for us.

We jumped right into IUI and our second one was successful, but sadly ended in a missed miscarriage.

After my D&C Dr. Corley sat with me and told me we would get our baby.

After five more rounds of IUI and no success, so we made the plunge to IVF.

In July of 2021, we did our first retrieval only ending up with two day 3 embryos. We fresh transferred one and froze the other, unfortunately, that transfer wasn’t successful.

We decided with me being a teacher with the summer off to jump straight into a second retrieval in August of 2021 and found more success freezing five blasts.

Things moved quickly, and we transferred on Labor Day, finding out on my birthday weekend we were pregnant. Unfortunately, that too ended in a chemical loss.

We put things aside for a few months waiting for Dr. Luthringer to do a laparoscopy in December of 2021.

We came out of this feeling incredibly and transferred in February of 2022 to another successful conception. Unfortunately, around six weeks we had another loss.

Feeling discouraged we plugged along but with less faith. My menstrual cycle didn’t come, and when it did my lining didn’t thin out, we did a Hysteroscopy D&C, and still, I was too thick.

Finally, in May of 2022, we were ready for transfer. I went into baselines, and I sat there and said to the nurse that I had this nagging feeling about that day 3 embryo and thought we should go back to it.

To my surprise the whole clinical staff that day was so supportive, and on board, so we moved forward with that plan.

The day before transfer I went in for intralipids and HCG wash, and I again said I had a nagging feeling about using HCG boosters, we’d always had these low betas, so maybe it was worth a try, and of course, the staff was again supportive of whatever I felt was needed.

The next day we came in and had our favorite transfer nurse Ashley, and she asked who we’d like to do the transfer.

Not wanting to be a bother we said we didn’t mind, and so she walked in with Dr. Corley.

I told my husband the moment I saw him, I knew this was the one. I knew that he had sat there with me after our first loss and told me we’d get our child, and today he was the one who was going to give that to us.

Sure enough one long wait later we got a call that our beta was positive.

Two days later, it’s raised appropriately, three days later the same!

Just days before our first ultrasound I called my husband in a panic I was bleeding heavily and off to the ER we were sent.

We expected another loss, but low and behold they bring us in for ultrasound and there little embryo was and was already chugging along with a heartbeat.

Week after week we continued monitoring and this little embryo grew and grew, and before we knew it, graduation day arrived.

We were finally leaving CNY pregnant with our miracle baby. It’s been an up and down journey with more bleeding leading to another ER visit and a car accident leading to another.

However, this little baby has proven time and time again, he was ready, we were ready and our family will finally be coming together in February.

I lay here at 23 weeks pregnant and am so thankful for this process and would do it all over again to be growing this little miracle.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

Kate, I can’t say enough about Kate (Syracuse). I truly don’t believe I could have done all of this without her. My first day she had to be called in to do bloodwork because I’m a tough stick and they thought I was going to pass out. Not only was she so sweet to me that day, but she stuck with me for two full years. I saw her at almost every appointment, she was there for me cheering me on, lifting me up and helping me keep the hope. The day I got to tell her we were almost ready to graduate she gave me a big hug and you could just feel the true care and pride she had in helping us get here. When I look back on this process, and tell our son about everything we did to bring him home, he will know about Kate and all she means to me!

The Moment:

The moment for us wasn’t hearing that positive beta. This was the fourth time for that, and while it was special, it was scary. Funny enough, for us it was that first ER visit and getting to experience the heartbeat for the first time in our whole trying to conceive journey. The shift you could feel in that ultrasound room as we just beamed with pride, joy and relief is not something I can put into words. The only way I can explain it is the moment I knew there was a heartbeat I said “hi mama’s little man” not knowing gender at all. Well some how I did know, and I’ve been connected to this little man ever since because at 12 weeks we confirmed he is our little miracle boy as mama has known he was all along.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

Don’t be afraid to be unconventional. I truly believe when you have that deep feeling inside you to try this procedure, medication or embryo there is a reason for it. The providers have been amazing to us, but the moment I allowed myself to voice my thoughts something changed and our true success came.