Kara & Shalisa

Shalisa and I met in 2017 and instantly had a connection. We did all the “things” pretty fast; moved in together after two months, rescued a dog after five months, and were engaged a little after a year of knowing each other. Hey, when you know, you know! 

Making our first appointment at Shady Grove Fertility

Life was so amazing together! We enjoyed playing board games together, drinking wine, and hanging out with all our pets. We always knew we wanted to grow our family with a baby one day and knew we had to contact Shady Grove Fertility. It was an easy decision to use SGF as we had heard about them on social media and on tv. I researched on the website for some more information but knew we needed to go in for further discussion.  

In 2019, we decided that we would make an appointment in January of 2020 to just get more information on the process and cost. I opened my computer one day in January and texted Shalisa “I did it.” She said, “Did what?”  
 
I told her I made the appointment for us! At the time we were an engaged couple planning a wedding who were nervous and excited about what was to come.  
 
We received all the information we needed during that first appointment with Dr. Ricardo Yazigi and decided to hold off a few more months since we were planning a wedding for May 2020. We knew we wanted to wait until after our wedding to start the baby process, but little did we know, we ended up doing it sooner.  

Changing plans

The world shut down in March 2020 due to Covid-19. After a few weeks of being shut down, we quickly realized we might not get the wedding we had planned for. In the middle of April, we decided to cancel our original wedding plans. We had done some of the pre-testing with SGF prior to this and thought, why not try now since we aren’t having our big wedding. At that point there wasn’t a reason not to try.  

We started looking for an anonymous donor and found the perfect fit. We thought it would be a lengthy process, so we grabbed a bottle of wine, notepads, and the laptop. The first donor we looked at was the one!

A wedding and an IUI

One week before our wedding, I did an intrauterine insemination (IUI) at SGF.  
 
We were married on May 22, 2020, which was full of emotions! We didn’t have anyone at the wedding besides our officiant, photographer, and a friend.  
 
Our friends and family watched our wedding via Zoom, and we still had a blast. It wasn’t the wedding we originally planned, but we knew we wanted to be married and grow our family sooner rather than later. 
 
Another week went by, and I got the call that I was in fact pregnant. I was at work when I received the call and couldn’t wait to get home to tell Shalisa.  
 
I quickly wrote a little note “Mama, I can’t wait to meet you. Love, Baby Egg.”

Enjoying all the moments

I handed her the note and we were both so excited!  We were still in the very early stages, so continued to be a little skeptical still as we know with pregnancies anything can happen. We enjoyed the moment but tried to stay calm for the next few weeks.  

After continuing with tests, everything was coming back normal, and it looked like I was going to have a healthy pregnancy. Shalisa was amazing every step of the way. We took weekly photos of my growing belly, put new flooring in our house, decorated the nursery, and spent time with our fur-babies. The pregnancy was amazing overall. I was fortunate to have a very easy pregnancy. I continued to teach group fitness classes throughout and even taught a class the day before I delivered!  

Such a fun adventure

The day finally came when I started having contractions overnight, so we went to the hospital the next morning and were hopeful we were meeting our son that day.  
 
After about 12 hours of labor, our little guy was brought into this world. The amount of emotion was overwhelming. I couldn’t even see him because I was crying so much!  
 
After a few days in the hospital, we were cleared to go home in a snowstorm. Arriving home exhausted but overjoyed, we snuggled our baby, and our pets were so excited to meet their brother. 

Life has been such a fun adventure since we brought Carter into the world. He is thriving every day and watching him learn new things brings so much joy.  

Love makes a family

We want to let other people know that love truly makes a family. Carter might not share DNA with one of his moms but, the love we both have for him is pure.  
 
If you are thinking about using SGF, jump right in! You will never truly be ready, so why not make that first appointment and see what it’s all about?  
 
We are so thankful for Shady Grove Fertility for helping us grow our family and our love for each other. 
 
Our story is still in the very beginning. Our family may continue to grow, and we can’t wait to see what is next!