In February 2009, at age 32, my fertility journey began. My husband and I had been trying to conceive for over a year with no results. So I went in to see my OBGYN. He did some tests which all came back normal and gave me a prescription for Clomid to see if it would help. Needless to say after three months of Clomid and still nothing, I was on my way to Shady Grove Fertility.

I never thought my weight would be an issue…

My beginning weight was 225 in May 2010. I never really thought my weight would be that much of an issue, since I had seen so many people much heavier than me get pregnant with no problems at all.

After meeting with Dr. Simon Kiperzstok, our plan was to try IUI first. Our first cycle in June 2010 was canceled due to a cyst and in July we had our first failed IUI. Dr. Kiperzstok decided our best bet for success would be IVF so we pushed forward.

In September we started our first IVF cycle, which ended with a pregnancy, but unfortunately I miscarried at seven weeks. As you can imagine I was devastated and like most people I am a stress eater and I put on some pounds. We tried IVF for the second time in February 2011 with negative results.

After more testing it was determined I had poor ovarian response/reserve. I wasn’t responding to the medication like most people would. I only had one more IVF attempt covered under my insurance, but four more IUI’s, so we decided to continue with stimulation cycles doing IUI instead of IVF, if my follicle count was low. Well all the IUI’s were failures. I was only producing one to three mature follicles with each cycle.

My hopes of becoming a mother was quickly slipping away. The emotional toll the failed attempts took contributed to the 25 pounds I packed on in a year. With only one IVF attempt left, Dr. Kiperzstok advised me I needed to lose the weight to increase my chances of a successful cycle. So I took a break from stimulation for a few months to try to get the weight off.

Tools for Success – Low Calorie Diet

I have always struggled with losing weight and a friend of mine was having a lot of success with a low calorie diet. I began the diet weighing 252 lbs and in the first week I had lost 5 lbs. I couldn’t believe it! I liked that I saw instant results and that kept me motivated to stick with it. I was also going to the gym one to two times each week doing 30-40 minutes of cardio and a little strength training here and there. After 45 days I was down 30 pounds and ready to start my cycles again.

In July 2012, I started stimulation medication again and to my surprise I produced five mature follicles – the most in over a year! I was excited but also incredibly scared. This would be our last attempt at IVF. The team retrieved five eggs, four of which fertilized. On day 3 we transferred three embryos.

Two weeks later, to my surprise I had a positive pregnancy test. I couldn’t believe it, my prayers had finally been answered. On March 27, 2013, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, Maybree!

I have already started back on my diet to get rid of the pregnancy weight and hopefully much more this time. Already down 9 lbs!

Dr. Simon Kipersztok sees patients at the Shady Grove Fertility office in Waldorf, MD. If you have been trying to conceive without success and would like to schedule a new patient consultation, please call 1.877.971.7755.