About 12 years ago, I went to full term and had a baby boy weighing 8lbs. 13 oz. That day will never be erased from my memory. The baby that I had carried and wanted more than life itself was born dead with the umbilical cord around his neck . Never a day goes by that I don't think about him and wonder what would have been. However, life went on. I had divorced and remarried. My husband and I were ready to start our family. We tried several months. After several years and numerous surgeries, I ended up with a beautiful baby girl as a result of IVF.
After 2 years, we wanted another baby and also a sibling for our daughter. Laura Fretwell found the most beautiful person, Paula, weI could ever had hoped for and we took out on our journey. The 2 embryos were growing and dividing well as was reported to us the day before the transfer. We were told to expect a call the next am to let us know the exact time of the transfer. However, the next a.m. at 11:45 we were told that the embyros had "arrested". All 3 of us were completely heartbroken. At 5:15 pm we received a phone call stating the doctor wanted us in the office immediately. We rushed to the office and was met by the embryologist who informed us that earlier that morning, when he had initially looked at the embryos, they had not divided into 8 cells.
Then in the afternoon, after they had finished for the day and were about to leave the office, he took one more look, and WOW!! They were ready to be transferred. We transferred 2 blasto and waited for 6 days. The first beta tests results were in but the assistant would not give us the results stating "Have them repeated in 2 days". Well, 2 days landed on a Saturday and the lab was not open. We therefore had to wait 4 days, until Monday to repeat the test.
When the assistance called on Monday she said," I think we need to repeat the test again as the first beta was 5.5, the second which should double every 24-48 hours (which would have been 22) was now 82." She was afraid there had been a lab error. We just about lost it . One minute the embryos are dead, the next they needed to be transferred, , the next we may be pregnant, the next too good----lab error. The 3rd beta was drawn and the result tripled. We were definitely pregnant. Last week, 5 weeks later, we heard the heartbeat. God is so AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Laura, for everything. You have been my side through this journey and continue to be. I couldn't have done it without you.
With Love, Barbara, Tim & Paula
