Annmarie & Brad

Brad and I met at church camp when I was in fourth grade. Although for many years we were just friends, my senior year of high school is when we started falling for each other. When I started dating Brad and things were getting serious, I pictured my life with him. We planned on getting married, waiting a few years for me to graduate college and get some work experience, and then we would have children. After our wedding, we moved out of state and enjoyed our time of “just us.” We got a puppy, traveled, moved, and went on plenty of dates. Although I got bit by baby fever before he did, we stuck to our plan of waiting for a bit until we would try to have children. After a few years, we decided that we were ready to become parents. I was prepared for it to take us a few months, but I was not prepared for what was actually in store for us.

Trying for a family

Instead of everything going in accordance to my precise planning, I did not get a period for over 100 days after getting off of hormonal birth control. My OB/GYN ran tests and couldn’t find anything wrong, so she gave me progesterone to start my period, and Clomid to take during my cycle. I was sad to think that we might need help to get pregnant, but I figured I take a few pills and end up pregnant in no time. After two rounds of Clomid with my OB/GYN, and still not being pregnant, I felt that there was something wrong with me that she wasn’t seeing.

Coming to SGF

I searched for fertility clinics and discovered that Shady Grove Fertility was holding a seminar in the Reading, PA, office. Brad and I attended, and once the seminar was over we scheduled a consult. After our consult and further testing, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

My heart broke when I learned that my dream of being a mother is not going to happen the way that I had always planned. Instead of designing our nursery and shopping for cribs, I started the journey of infertility treatment. I watched many loved ones announce their own pregnancies. Baby pictures and baby commercials seemed to be everywhere while I tried to implement another intervention to increase our odds of becoming biological parents.

The few things that have given me inklings of hope were my prayers and discovering other couples who are going through this as well. It is estimated that at least 1 in 8 couples face infertility, yet it seems that very few of them ever “come out of the infertility closet.” And for a while, I didn’t want to either. But I did, and discovered that we were not alone in this journey.

Once our tests were complete, Dr. Munabi decided that the best course of action was an intrauterine insemination (IUI) with Femara and a trigger shot. Brad and I were very hopeful. All of the staff that we interacted with were thorough, encouraging, and sensitive to us during this trying time. But IUI #1 failed. For IUI #2, injectable medications were added. I had to be at the office more frequently for monitoring, but still, the staff was incredible. Unfortunately, that cycle failed as well.

One last try

IUI #3 was the longest cycle yet. Dr. Munabi used a “slow and steady” approach for my medication, which meant even more frequent office visits. We knew that if this IUI didn’t work, we’d be moving on to growing our family through other ways. At this point, Brad and I had both resigned to the fact that we would not have biological children. I already had a big pile of paperwork that a caseworker had sent us to start the foster-to-adopt process. I had even started a foster care registry to prep for a foster baby, as I knew how fast that process could go once it started.

The morning that I decided to test, I was so sure that it would be negative. I didn’t tell Brad that I was testing. I took the test, set it on the bathroom counter, and went back to bed instead of waiting for the results. That’s how positive I was that it would be another negative. When I woke up about an hour later, I glanced at the test. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Rubbing my eyes, I look again and saw it: two miracle lines! We were pregnant!

We are now the happy parents of our miracle son: Elijah Joseph Jordan. He is ahead on all of growth charts and very healthy.

Advice for future patients

If I could tell anything to future patients, it would be to never give up hope, and to find others who have been or are going through fertility struggles. This is the most difficult journey that Brad and I have ever had to face, but I can say without a doubt that Elijah was worth the wait.

He was worth the tears, the money, the pain, and everything. And we will always have Shady Grove Fertility to thank for our most amazing gift: our son.