Nikita & Scott

My husband and I were married in 2013 and knew before then that we wanted kids. We didn’t try right away but with my husband being 7 years older than me, we didn’t want to wait too long. In 2014 we built our very first home together and figured that the next step was to start a family. Once we realized 2 years had gone by without getting pregnant, we decided that we may need some extra help.

Getting help

My mother-in-law recommended Shady Grove Fertility as there was an office in Bel Air, which was close to our home. We did all the tests and everything came back completely fine, however, they did eventually realize that I was ovulating very early every other month. It was recommended that we start an intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycle. Dr. Yazigi and the staff were so helpful during our journey! Of course, our hopes were high that the first cycle would work. It did not, and I developed cysts, which then forced us to skip a cycle. The waiting was very difficult and I wasn’t ready for the emotions that started to surface. I think the waiting was one of the hardest parts of the whole process, especially when it came to something my body developed, like the cysts. Luckily, my husband and I had a great support system and that is what helped us get through a lot of the emotional ups and downs.

We then tried another IUI, which also failed. We decided to take a little break. It was very stressful and the extra hormones didn’t help. We tried two more IUIs and they unfortunately failed.

Transitioning treatment

After the failed IUIs, we went into the office to meet with Dr. Yazigi. He suggested we move to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and explained what would be happening throughout the IVF process. It was a lot of information, but I was glad we met with Dr. Yazigi to ask all our questions. Making the decision to start IVF was very easy for us because the success rate was much higher than an IUI. What I didn’t realize was how much more rigorous IVF would be.

We both worked full time and I started to stress out about trying to make it into the office every other day and sometimes every day. Luckily the people I worked with were very understanding. Giving myself shots every day was fine and I was a pro by the end. The expense of treatment was stressful for us. How much would it be in total? Would it use all of our savings? We knew it was worth it, but it was still on our minds every day.

Then came the time to retrieve the eggs. I was a little nervous, as I had never been under any type of anesthesia before. It was very last minute so I had to take off work that Monday. The procedure went well and I was home resting before I knew it. I went to work the next day and ended up leaving early because I was still in a little pain. It took the rest of the week for me to feel better. Transfer day came on Saturday and we were so excited and very hopeful!

We ended up transferring 2 embryos because they were not full blastocysts. I found out I was pregnant the first week of August and two weeks later we found out it was twins! I was due in April 2017 but I had the boys on January 14th, about 12 weeks early. They were in the NICU for 2 months.

Staying #SGFstrong on our journey

Throughout our journey we experienced so many emotions; sadness, jealousy, frustration, impatience, and finally happiness. It was a difficult journey with a lot of ups and downs, but SGF was a big part in why we were so successful. Everyone that we were in contact with was very empathetic to what we were going through. I remember feeling so very happy that we finally got our positive, but feeling so sad that we were leaving such a great team. I always said that I wish I could have them as my doctors on a regular basis. They always answered any question I might have had. They even knew after my second day there that they needed to use a butterfly needle because my veins were so tiny. They were very easy to talk to and work with. The team is what kept us coming back to Shady Grove Fertility.

Advice to others

Try to have a support system outside of the clinic. My family and a few close friends helped us get through the emotional roller coaster. Trying to stay as positive as possible will help, even if it feels impossible. We didn’t know what to expect when we had our first meeting but to this day, it was the best decision we could have made to help grow our family. IVF must have jump-started my system because we are expecting another little one in July 2018 and that was all done medication and IVF free! We are so thankful to SGF and it was well worth the tears, money, and time it took to finally meet our little boys! Shady Grove Fertility helped us get our family! Good luck on your journey!