Michelle & Jesse

Jesse and I have known each other all our lives. We grew up right down the street from each other and attended school together from first grade to senior year of high school. We did not start dating until right before leaving for separate colleges. We dated for 9 years before getting married and then waited two years before trying to have children.

I knew it was going to take some intervention to be successful because I have had irregular cycles all my life. In my early 20s, I had been diagnosed with PCOS. We tried for a year on our own while being prescribed with Metformin by my primary care doctor.

Coming to SGF

After no success, we scheduled our consultation with Dr. Kipersztok in the SGF Waldorf office in November of 2016. He was confident if we followed our protocol, we would be pregnant by February. We completed our first few steps in our protocol, which was a series of tests.

We learned that Jesse’s sperm sample brought about some concern with the shape. Dr. Kipersztok then recommended that we complete an IUI cycle to make sure we got the best sample possible.

We were nervous about starting the process because of my already known issues, but most of the doctors I had dealt with in the past assured me that with intervention, we would be successful. Naturally, there is still always fear and doubt. With each new test I encountered during the beginning stages, I became a little more anxious about the process and had a lot of self-guilt due to the lack of ability to conceive on my own. However, I did feel confident that regardless, we were taking the right steps to move forward with our dream of becoming parents.

IUI #1

Sure enough, after one attempt with IUI, we were successful in February of 2017, just as Dr. Kipersztok predicted! We initially learned that we were expecting twins and unfortunately at our last check-up at SGF before transitioning to my OBGYN, we learned that one did not progress.

It was very hard to grasp initially, but we were lucky to have the support of the team. I think the hardest part is losing the twin was how quickly the idea of multiples went from being scary for us to exciting, and it was hard for that to be taken away from us in such a short period of time. We had not shared the news with many that we were expecting twins, which in turn I was so thankful because I did not want the loss to overshadow the fact that we were still expecting. It was sad for a few days, but we were still so very thankful to have one fetus progressing so well.

Our little girl was due in November 2017 right around my brother and mother’s birthday, but she decided to make her appearance 8 weeks early in September, solidifying her own birthday week all to herself.

Since she was early, she had to stay in the NICU, but kept her visit brief for only 9 days. She has been a blessing since day one and continues to surprise us every day with just how much more love she has brought to our lives. Though she was a preemie, she is strong and has been our fighter dating all the way back to conception in February.

The journey

We did experience some ups and downs, however, the ups more than outweighed the downs. I spent many years in my 20s fearful I would never conceive, but the team at SGF really set my mind at ease and kept us informed of our progress every step of the way. We cannot thank Shady Grove Fertility enough. What I would tell other patients is do not be fearful to start the process, and on those days you feel like it will never work, fight through because your little miracle is depending on you.