We feel very privileged to be able to participate in the rainbow skirt project. I came across it on social media earlier in our journey at a time when I wasn’t sure we would ever be where we are today.
My wife and I have been together almost 6 years. I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom, so we discussed whether we would have children early on. I assumed I would be fertile as I come from a large family in which no one ever struggled to get pregnant. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Starting out with 5 IUIs using donor sperm from a bank, we found zero success. We moved on to IVF when we discovered my egg reserve was low for my age. We didn’t want to waste any time.
Over the time span of the next 3 years, we did 4 egg retrievals and one laparoscopic surgery to remove suspected (then confirmed) endometriosis. In total to date, we have done 9 embryo transfers. I think we have done every test, tried almost every medication, and searched down every path to see where we would find success in a take home baby.
Over the past three years, we have lost 4 pregnancies, two of which were sets of twins. So we have 6 beautiful babies in our hearts, instead of in our arms. We have experienced a chemical pregnancy, 2 spontaneous miscarriages, and one missed miscarriage. The amount of pain we have walked through is more than any human should ever have to. Through the ups and downs, we weren’t sure if we would ever get to bring home a baby that we could keep. It has been so hard to gather our hope and be optimistic to keep trying, just one more time.
Earlier this year, we conceived from an IVF transfer, and are currently expecting our beautiful baby due the end of this year/ the start of next. Pregnancy after loss is no joke, and there has been more anxious moments and tears fearing that the worst had happened than I could count. As we progressed past the time when we lost our other babies, the anxiety improved, but I imagine it will stay with us until our precious baby is in our arms. We are happy to share our story, wishing that it would bring hope to others. I know that not every story has a happy ending, and we will never take this baby for granted.
Photos taken by Lace & Locket Photo.
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