Nicole's World: A 12 year wait for an IVF miracle.

We started trying for a family back in 2006 & had no idea of what was ahead of us. By 2008 with no luck we saw a Dr & had some tests, they came back that both of us had fertility issues & our only chance of having a child was to do IVF/ICSI. Over the course of 10 years we did 14 rounds & suffered 5 miscarriages. Wow had to believe I can sum it all up in one sentenace. We lost the first pregnancy due to my getting whooping cough. Then after losing more I was tested for natural killer cells which came back positive & I was put on medication. You can't help but get your hope up each cycle then there is the disappointment of a negative test. Then when you get a positive pregnancy test you can't help but be overjoyed only then to have it snatched away from you. It was heartbreaking & utterly soul destroying. I gained a huge amount of weight & suffered several relapses of depression, even needing to be hospitalised. Not to mention the various surgeries I had to help with the IVF. The 5th miscarriage in late 2012 hit us the hardest, it was the pregnancy that had progressed the most & after my d & c the results came back that the embryo was perfect & it was a girl. Depression hit me very hard & I ended up in hospital. I just couldn't face this type of pain again & decided to take a break.

In 2013 I got fit & lost weight, accepting that my future may be without a family I went back to work & tried to focus on my career. Slowly we healed, we travelled & had many good times but something was always missing & I still had the overwhelming desire to be a mama. By 2016 we were both brave enough to face IVF again but it didn't take. We moved on from the disappointment & made the decision that once we used the three frozen embryos we had left we would look into other ways to have a family. Leigh was still very hopeful but I had no hope left & was already moving on to those other options in my mind, maybe getting myself ready.

In 2017 I had many gyno problems & knowing that we were not going to do anymore full cycles of IVF had my ovaries removed. We planned a frozen round of IVF but I had complications after a operation & the transfer got pushed back. We started 2018 knowing we were using one of the 3 embryos we had left. The transfer was scheduled for 10 January & everything was going well with the thawing process. On the early hours of that morning we were at the Gold Coast Hospital with my father in law who passed away, we drove back to Brisbane feeling very lucky we got to say goodbye. We had about 3 hours sleep & went to the hospital to do our transfer. Normally transfers were difficult & would usually take up to an hour. This morning everything went so smoothly, even our IVF Dr who was with us this entire time couldn't believe how easy it was.

10 days later on the day of the funeral I took a home test & it was positive. My bloods came back positive & the following one had my levels rising but I was extremely nervous as I'd been here before. During week 6 I was at the hospital having a intralipid infusion (part of my IVF dr's treatment) & I had a bleed - my heart sank & I thought not again. I went for a scan & couldn't believe it when they told me everything was ok. I had a hematoma & that was what was causing the bleed & it could happen again. At the 8 week mark I had another bleed & even knowing what I did was still expecting the worst. Again we were scanned & cried when we saw & heard the heartbeat. I was counting the weeks until we made it to the supposedly safe 12 week mark & boy was it the longest 12 weeks. At 10 weeks we had our first appointment with the obgyn & had our NIPT testing done. At 12 weeks we got the results that all was perfect with the baby & that we were having a boy.

Morning or should I say all day sickness hit me hard from 6 - 14 weeks. I still threw up a couple of times a week though (as you can imagine I didn't care!) AT 19 weeks Leigh had a conference in Anaheim for 3 days which we turned into a 3 week babymoon in LA & Vegas. I was waiting in anticipation to feel the baby kick & he did for the first time at the Jennifer Lopez concert - it was amazing.

In LA in May at 20 weeks pregnant

Grand Canyon at 21 weeks

All was going well till one Saturday when he didn't move all day, feeling stressed we went straight to hospital & as the nurse was strapping the monitor on me she asked me if I was prepared for the worst (rather comforting words at that time). I held my breath till I saw & heard the heartbeat & the little monster started kicking me after I had been on the machine for about 5 minutes. We bought clothes & furniture, Leigh painted the nursery & put the crib together. When he was finished we put the winnie the pooh mobile on & both sat & cried. My tapestries that I had made years ago in the hope of putting in a babies room now had a place to hang.

At 28 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes & had to test 3 times a day & monitor my diet, eventually I had to go on metformin. We had a baby shower on the 22nd July & had the most amazing afternoon celebrating with our family & friends who now all knew what we had been through to get here.

Celebrating at our baby shower

Ultrasound 25th July

On August 12 we had maternity photos taken so we could remember this extremely happy time. Only problem was the baby didn't move again that day so it was back round the hospital & a huge sigh of relief when all was fine.

It was decided with my medical history a C Section would be the way to go & we were counting down the weeks till the 18th September. I don't think I had ever been this happy. At week 35 I experienced some bad cramping & woke up to a bleed of old blood. Straight to the hospital where my dr admitted me so she could keep an eye on me. They gave me steroids which last for 10 days in case we had to deliver early. By Friday everything had settled so I was discharged, I had 24 hours at home & then the pain started again, my dr was so concerned by the tightness that she said we may have to deliver in the next hour. I was 36 weeks & was very scared for our son. They gave me more steroids & the dr thought it was safe not to deliver but keep me in hospital. The pain continued as did small bleeds, my obgyn talked to us & said she though we shouldn't wait till the original date of the 18th to have the baby. If nothing went wrong the new plan was to get me to 37 weeks & have the baby on the 7th with me staying in hospital till then.

Thursday night we had 2 of our friends & my mother in law come to the hospital, we ordered pizzas & had a little party in anticipation of the following day. I was quite nervous about the C section but couldn't wait to meet my son. The 7th arrived & bright & early we were up getting ready. Leigh held my hand & played the music from our wedding, I looked at him as they put the curtain up & laid me down & said I don't want to do this! It was going ok then there was a huge pressure & I could barely breathe, then he was here. The Dr held up our son Ethan & we both cried ( and smiled at the same time). I was in awe, I couldn't believe he was hours. I can't describe how I felt the first time I held him, I think it was the happiest day of my life. I'm so glad we kept trying. We have our son & we're so in love. Its even more amazing then I ever imagined.