LeeAnn & Matthew

I knew pretty quickly after meeting my husband that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and could see him as the amazing father he now is. We met a little later in life and after getting married in 2012 we were both very eager to start our family. After a couple of months of trying, and months of not getting my cycle, I definitely started to worry. I knew my body very well, or so I thought.

I starting doing the ovulation tests and every other trick I read online. Still, nothing worked. A year had come and gone and every single person around me was getting pregnant. It’s something that was constantly on my mind: Why am I not getting pregnant? What’s wrong with me? After a quick appointment with my OB/GYN, we were referred to Shady Grove Fertility. We did some research and we knew that SGF was who we needed/wanted to see, but were nervous about being just another number in such a huge place.

Our first appointment at Shady Grove Fertility

During our consult with Dr. Sagoskin we knew that this would not be the case. After some initial tests, it was discovered that my Fallopian tubes were obstructed and ultimately needed to be removed. Once I recovered from the surgery, we were soon after able to start the IVF process with SGF. It was all a bit intimidating at first, but I remember thinking how incredibly thankful we were that in vitro fertilization existed. We quickly went from being very sad, to being very optimistic (something that we have Dr. Sagoskin to thank for), and were soon filled with hope and ready to start our journey of becoming parents.

When the huge shipment of medications and injections arrived, I had so many mixed emotions. I had no idea if I would be able to give myself a shot. I was nervous about the hormones and what they would do to my already very emotional self, but I also could not wait to start the journey and be one-step closer to hopefully holding our baby in my arms. I also have the most supportive partner (in my opinion) that has ever existed. My husband is one of a kind and made the entire process so much more bearable due to his constant support.

The 2-week wait seemed liked a lifetime. I once read online (never a good idea) that if you eat pineapple core every day following the transfer it is supposed to help the baby “stick”… even writing it sounds silly but we went straight to Whole Foods and bought two pineapples on the way home from SGF. Eating that core every night gave me something to look forward to and in a weird way made me feel like I was doing something to help in a process where you feel so helpless. I have no idea if it helped or not but we absolutely did the exact same thing when we went back 2 years later to try for our second. The pineapple core did not disappoint again!

Receiving the news

We will never forget when we received the call that our transfer was successful and I was pregnant! We were driving to Ohio for Thanksgiving, which was perfect since we were able to find out together. We exited the highway and while on speakerphone found out I was pregnant and had great numbers! There was so much yelling and so many happy tears that the nurse asked who was in the car. It was only my husband and me. Later that evening I peed on a pregnancy test to see that I could actually make a positive one. That Thanksgiving I had never been more thankful.

Even without my Fallopian tubes, I consider myself so very lucky! With the support of my AMAZING husband, the wonderful help of Dr. Sagoskin and his amazing team at SGF in Rockville, we were able to get pregnant on our first IVF attempt/transfer.

Our miracle baby

Our “miracle baby” Henry, is now almost 3 years old, and is quickly growing into his role as big brother to our second son Arlo (also another “SGF miracle baby”) who was born 21 months later. Words cannot express how thankful we are every single day for IVF, Dr. Sagoskin and the miracle workers at SGF, for our family would literally not be here without your help and support!

I once read a quote that helped me a lot during my infertility journey. . . “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” I had a lot of hurts but it was the hope that got me through every day. You are not alone. Although it may be very difficult at times, never lose hope.