Crystal & Jason

I have been wanting a child for 12 years but about 8 years ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis. The many trips to the doctors or the hospitals from so much pain almost made me want to get my tubes tied, but I decided not to stop trying for the one thing I always wanted.   

 I met Jason 4 years ago who also wanted a family and we tried for 2 years either on our own or with medication but nothing worked.  

Finding fertility care with SGF’s Dr. Ochalski

Last spring, we met Dr. Melanie Ochalski Ochalski from SGF’s Lancaster location and had a virtual consultation. I knew my stakes were going to be high due to my age and condition, but we decided to do it!   

 Dr. Ochalski was caring, so informative, and very honest about how our journey would play out. Once my medications were all ordered and videos were watched, we were ready. The very first night I was so nervous and actually worked myself up that I passed out from an adrenaline rush. After that day, it only seemed to get easier and easier to do.  

Every few days I had to drive an hour to Lancaster to get my vitals checked to see how everything was going. After a few weeks, I was an emotional rollercoaster, and my follicles were growing. On Easter, we had 22 eggs retrieved and during that week I felt overwhelmed that they weren’t going to make it.  

At the end of the week there was only 1 embryo left to be frozen and I was heartbroken, but Dr. Ochalski called me on her own time and made me feel important and assured me that we were going to still do the transfer.  

It’s Transfer Day!

A month on more medications and June 1st was Transfer Day!! We were so nervous. Words cannot express how anxious we were in the waiting area. During the transfer, we got a picture of the embryo which made us feel hopeful and watched the transfer happen on a screen.  

Meeting our miracle

Five days later, I had a gut feeling we were pregnant, and I took 5 tests which all said positive. On Father’s Day, I told Jason it worked, and we couldn’t believe it.  

Pregnancy was very smooth for us and on January 16th we welcomed our miracle baby via emergency c section because she was five weeks early and breech. She ended up in the NICU for 2 weeks with a hole in her lungs but she kept fighting to be here.  

Pure love and happiness

Every day we look at her and are so blessed and thankful that Shady Grove Fertility made this miracle happen for us and gave us the best gift in life that I thought would never happen. The staff at SGF’s Lancaster location is hands down amazing at what they do, and I could never put a price tag on pure love and happiness that they gave us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Photos by Victoria Allen Photography and The Ruby Company