Colleen & Steve

Steve and I met in October 2004 and have been together ever since. After three years of being together, Steve proposed. We ended up having a long engagement because we both had goals of finishing college and starting our careers. In June of 2012, we got married.

Right after we got married, I went to my OB/GYN to talk to her about planning for a child within the next year. I knew my pregnancy would have to be planned since I work with special needs students. I do not have a typical job and my students thrive on routine so I knew I had to have a plan.

Little did I know that it would not be easy to get pregnant. Everyone around me made it look so easy. They were able to get pregnant without even trying. The plan was to get off of my birth control and start taking prenatal vitamins until the time was right. I asked my doctor if my weight was a concern and she told me that I was at a higher risk for things like preeclampsia but no indication that I would have trouble getting pregnant.

After trying for 8 months, I went to go see my doctor to talk about infertility. My husband came with me but was told he wasn’t allowed in the room. The first thing my doctor said was, “I was not ovulating because I was overweight.”

She told me that she would not run any tests until I lost 25 lbs. She told me that if I lost the 25lbs she would consider IVF. How could she tell me this without doing any tests? She also decided to try and comfort me by saying “It must be hard seeing all of your friends pregnant and you are not.” Did she honestly think that was going to help the situation? I was devastated and left my appointment in tears barely able to breathe.

Seeking answers

After all of the horrible OB/GYN appointments and the months of being depressed about the situation, I finally took the initiative to look for more information regarding infertility. I was not going to allow for my OB/GYN to stop me. I knew I had more options and not just IVF. I had heard wonderful things about Shady Grove Fertility, so I looked for more information. I went on their website and made an appointment to go to an informational open house.

At the open house, I met with the wonderful staff of Shady Grove Fertility. I learned so much information and met Dr. Bromer. After listening to him speak, I knew he was the doctor to help us. Every word he had to say, spoke to me. We left that day making an appointment to sit down with Dr. Bromer in the Frederick office to see what our options were.

I was so anxious to sit down with Dr. Bromer and finally get some answers. I knew he was going to go over our medical information and hopefully, he would be able to come up with a plan for us. After reading through all of my medical history, Dr. Bromer informed me that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.) Dr. Bromer decided that we were going to do 3 cycles of timed intercourse, followed by IUI, and then if we do not have any success we would do IVF.

Beginning treatment

We ended up doing only one cycle of timed intercourse. My insurance was changing so I wanted to use my benefits before we lost them. We decided that IUI was the best route for our second cycle.

After an ultrasound, it showed that I had two huge follicles this cycle and ended up scheduling for our IUI. I was so nervous because I did not know what to expect. We dropped off my husband’s specimen and had to wait another hour for the procedure. I felt sick to my stomach just having to wait. It felt like forever until it was my turn. I had to lay on the table with a huge bright light shining into my lady parts. D

r. Bromer inserted the tubing and it was done within minutes. He then threw my legs up in the air and told me I had to wait like that for 10 minutes. The hardest part of the procedure was the dreaded two week wait to see if it worked.

The two week wait

We were not able to go into the office for a blood test because we were on vacation. After just celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary, I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE!! It took about 30 seconds for the test to show that I was pregnant!

Once we got back from vacation I had to get my blood test done for confirmation. We scheduled our ultrasound when we found out that I was pregnant with twins and that my due date is February 22, 2016. Our babies came a few weeks early on February 6, 2016. I can’t thank the Frederick office of Shady Grove Fertility enough. Every time we interacted with Dr. Bromer and his staff, we were met with warmth, professionalism, and true kindness. They made us feel so comfortable and had our best interest at heart.

My advice to other patients

My advice to other patients is to never feel like you are alone. There are so many people around us who also struggle with infertility. My way of helping cope with everything I was going through was to blog about it. It was a great avenue for getting everything out and helped my family understand without having to ask all of the time. I would highly recommend consultation with Shady Grove Fertility as early as possible in your journey. You need to be an advocate for yourself and fight for what you want.