Lauren & Nick

Lauren & Nick's Story:

It’s hard to summarize all of the feelings and emotions my husband and I went through over the years as we tried to have children. Our path to parenthood was one of the most challenging things we have ever done, but it also resulted in the most rewarding gift of our lives.

It tested us physically and mentally and challenged our faith at times, but we would do it over a thousand times for the family we have today.

In 2014 before my husband and I were even engaged, I was hospitalized with crippling abdomen pain, which led to the discovery of a large complex endometrioma. The doctor at the hospital wanted to do a hysterectomy on me, but thankfully, another doctor intervened and convinced the medical team to avoid that since I was only 25 at the time.

After a few years of many doctor appointments and monitoring, I finally had surgery in 2018, which resulted in a Stage 4 Endometriosis diagnosis. After surgery, I was put on 6 months of Lupron and did a few rounds of Clomid once I was able to start trying. We were eventually blessed with our son, Nico, in October 2019!

Becoming parents was the best thing that ever happened to us. We always knew we would want more children, so even with my diagnosis, we tried naturally for our second baby before eventually conceiving on our own in January of 2022.

We were shocked that we were able to get pregnant without any intervention. At our 8-week checkup, everything “looked great,” and we even saw the little heartbeat flickering on the screen!

About a week later, I started bleeding and the doctors blew it off and told me that it was normal in early pregnancy. After begging to be seen for days, they confirmed that there was no longer a heartbeat, and I had a D&C a few days later.

It was heartbreaking to lose our little one. I was devastated, angry, and felt defeated. At first, it felt wrong to try to move on after our miscarriage, but I promised to never forget that little soul.

My doctor suggested we try a few rounds of Clomid again, and after no luck, they finally suggested we go to a fertility clinic. There, we did all kinds of testing and bloodwork, including HSG, SIS, and SA tests. After discussions with our doctor, she thought our best option was IVF.

We were in no way able to pay for their IVF plans, so she agreed to let us try IUI. We had completely taken IVF off the table because of the price alone and proceeded to do four rounds of IUI, which sadly resulted in no success.

We sat down once again to form a new plan and were told IVF was our last option. Like many clinics, one round of IVF was $30,000, so we were devastated and felt like our journey was at a dead end.

They gave us a 3% chance of conceiving on our own, and at the time, going through with IVF was financially impossible. To us, spending so much money to only “increase our chances” a small amount was hard to justify, but we wanted another baby so badly.

We were both feeling hopeless but refused to give up. A friend of ours had recommended CNY Syracuse to us, as she just had a successful pregnancy through them.

When we first started looking into CNY Fertility, it was a game-changer. Not only did they make IVF affordable, but their experienced doctors and high-end facilities gave us a spark of hope for the whole process.

Luckily, we were only about 3 hours away from the Syracuse office and learned that we would only have to go there for the retrieval and transfers. All of the other appointments were able to be done through a local monitoring location.

It was so nice to have that flexibility. We had our consultation in May 2023, where they reviewed my medical history and tests and concluded that I possibly had PCOS as well. From that, they were able to customize a plan and medication protocol for us.

After having some more testing done, we had our egg retrieval in July 2023. From that, we got 16 eggs; 5 were mature and 4 ended up fertilizing.

Since we only had four embryos, they suggested freezing them on Day 3 to give them the best chance of survival. In August 2023, we were able to do our first FET with Dr. Kiltz. This transfer, unfortunately, didn’t stick, but everyone at CNY was still optimistic that they could help us. We were feeling increasingly distraught and started to think that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.

For our next round, they adjusted our protocol and added blood thinners before our second FET in September 2023 with Dr. Corley. He was the sweetest man and made us feel unbelievably calm. After the transfer, he asked if he could pray with us and he took our hands and said a little prayer for our baby. We felt such a sense of calm and peace afterward and just had a feeling that it was going to work this time.

That is a moment that we will never forget. I was able to hold off on taking a home pregnancy test until the day before my Beta and it was POSITIVE!

That moment felt like a dream, as in our heads, we had just planned on things not working out. The next day, they called to confirm that I was pregnant. We cried the happiest tears and held our breath through every milestone.

We did have a scare around week 7 when I started bleeding heavily. I was devastated and convinced that I was miscarrying again. CNY was able to send an emergency ultrasound order to my monitoring location, and I got in right away.

Instead of getting the devastating news I was expecting, I heard the baby's heartbeat! They discovered that I had an SCH, which was causing the bleeding. I will never forget running out of the office while sobbing to tell my husband, who was waiting in the car with our son. 

Soon after, I “graduated” from CNY at 9 weeks and was monitored by MFM throughout my pregnancy. I was induced at 38 weeks because of fetal tachycardia, but the delivery went smoothly, and our healthy baby girl, Daniella, made her arrival on May 22, 2024!

She is the biggest blessing and has filled our hearts with so much joy. This was one of the hardest things we have ever done, but with love, guidance, and support from our families and CNY, we were able to come out of the darkness with our beautiful baby. Along with her big brother, Nico, we have built the family we thought was only meant for our dreams!

(Photos by Beestone Creative Co.)

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

All of the nurses at Syracuse were so friendly and knowledgeable. Dr. Kiltz was great and had the best energy. We will always remember Dr. Corley for his amazing care and warm presence. The prayer he said for us after our transfer was such an emotional moment that we will never forget.

Helpful resources Lauren & Nick found:

Joining IVF Facebook groups like the CNY Fertility Support Group, definitely helped me stay sane. It was a nice reference to go to when looking for advice, additional information and to connect with others who were going through the same thing. I also did acupuncture before my first transfer as recommended and it really helped me relax.

The Moment:

Seeing and holding our little Daniella for the first time was such a mix of emotions. It felt like we finished a never-ending marathon and all of the feelings of anxiety, fear, and sadness instantly melted away.

After everything that we had been through, she was finally here! Through all of the highs and lows of the past few years, the journey finally felt like it came to an end and it was just a sense of peace and overwhelming happiness.

We did not think that this day would ever come again. Introducing our 4-year-old son to his little sister was the best moment of our lives. Seeing him immediately step into the big brother role was what really made everything so worth it. Our Nico and Daniella are two true miracles. This truly would not have been possible without our faith in God, the support of our family and friends, and CNY Fertility.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

-It is no surprise that IVF is an incredibly stressful process and it’s so easy to let that stress and anxiety take over your life, but you have to stay focused on what you are fighting for. It is all worth it!
-Surround yourself with a good support system and try to stay positive. Once I was pregnant, we were terrified for the longest time to be happy but you have to just take things day by day and lean on the people you love.
-Don’t let all of the needles, procedures, and medications scare you. The mental part of overthinking and being afraid of the unknown was by far the hardest part to overcome.
-I was not the best at this, but give yourself some grace. It’s okay to rest your body and mind. You will have days where your body hurts or your head feels clouded, so it is okay to take a break and do something that will make you happy.
-Lastly, know that you are not alone. The journey of infertility is not an easy one. There were many days when I felt like we would never get out of the darkness. We became bitter at times when we would see it “happen so easily” for everyone else. Everyone is on their own path and you have to do your best to focus on yours. The power of prayer and having faith in your journey will always get you through. Never give up hope!