Patient Q&A with Ashley
Why do you want to share your story?
I have PCOS and was diagnosed with recurrent miscarriage while on my journey to be a mom. I had three back-to-back miscarriages before I was successful and just gave birth to my daughter. It was super challenging but completely worth it
What led you to Fertility Centers of Illinois?
My husband and I got married in 2016 and started right away trying for a family. We started my OB/GYN and tried Clomid and Letrozole with times intercourse. When it wasn't working my OB/GYN handed me a card with Dr. Sipe and Dr. Uhler's names on it for the Hinsdale clinic. I immediately called and got an appointment with Dr. Sipe summer of 2017. Instantly after seeing Dr. Sipe for the first time my husband and I knew we were in the right place. We always felt like our journey was personalized for us. Dr. Sipe always made adjustments for every road bump and he was proactive in his plan for us. The nurses and staff were always welcoming and made us feel like family when we were at the clinic.
What was the infertility diagnosis?
PCOS and recurrent miscarriages.
Which Fertility Centers of Illinois physician(s) treated you?
Dr. Christopher S. Sipe
How would you describe your experience with your physician(s)?
Excellent. Dr. Sipe is such a personable, compassionate and very knowledgable doctor. He officially diagnosed me with PCOS when we started at FCI after telling him I thought I had it. After having 2 miscarriages Dr. Sipe ran a recurring miscarriage bloodwork on me. After my 3rd miscarriage I was certain that he was going to say there wasn't much more he could do for me. Instead he added in something new to my protocol that worked for me.
Every time I had a failure, he always met me at the door with a hug and every time he canceled my cycle because of how my body was responding he personally called me on the phone to talk to me about it and what to do going forward. I was very sad to leave to go to my OB for pregnancy. I wish I could have stayed under his care for the entire pregnancy.
What infertility treatment(s) did you undergo?
I started with IUIs when I was first with the clinic. My 1st IUI I used Clomid with a trigger shot that was not successful. My 2nd IUI I used tamoxifen, Follistim and trigger shot. I got pregnant but miscarried. My 3rd IUI got canceled because my body overstimulated on the Follistim and I got too many follicles to respond. Then we moved onto IVF. We started with an egg retrieval. We were able to create 17 embryos from my egg retrieval. I did not test my embryos. All my transfers I did for IVF were frozen embryo transfers. My first transfer we used birth control, Lupron, baby aspirin, Estrace, and progesterone in oil. This transfer resulted in pregnancy but a miscarriage (my second one).
My second transfer we used birth control, Lupron, baby aspirin, Estrace, Endometrin and progesterone in oil. I also was on vitamin D3, prescription folic acid, folic acid vitamin, prenatal (I was on these throughout my whole journey. The folic acid was added in after my recurring loss blood panel). This transfer resulted in a pregnancy but my 3rd miscarriage. My third transfer we used birth control, Lupron, baby aspirin, Estrace, Endometrin, progesterone in oil, and Lovenox. I went off all the medicine by 13 weeks of pregnancy except for the Lovenox which I stayed on for the entirety of my pregnancy and I switched to heparin right before I gave birth.
What helped you through treatment physically and/or emotionally?
When I first started going through treatment it was hard handling failures. I started to learn that my emotional health really strived on positivity. I always tried to see the silver lining in every part of the journey and I really learned to lean on my tribe of family and friends to help lift me up when I did not feel like I could keep going.
Do you have any words of wisdom for others?
For anyone going through the journey keep your chin up and power through. You are going to have many days where you get the phone call with news that just drags you down and you don't know how you'll keep going. You'll find yourself crying to your partner or family wondering if being a mom or parent will ever happen for you. It will. It will take a lot of hard work and this journey is not for the faint of heart. I would say to always stay positive and always find the silver lining in the failures.
Don't compare your journey to anyone else because you'll have your own journey to parenthood. Lean on those around you. It may be hard for people who haven't gone through fertility treatments to fully understand what you feel but they will understand the ups and downs. The good days and bad days. Those people will be there when you're crying after failures and will be there to scream and cheer on your best days. Keep those people in your corner you'll need them every step of the way.
Tell us a little about your miracle!
My little rainbow miracle was born May 13th. Her name is Molly. She is 6 months old. She is a tiny little peanut. I can already tell she will have some of my sass. She is very cuddly and smiley girl. We are so blessed to have our little peanut in our lives.