IVF Patient Journey- Karen
“I took time to educate myself about the IVF process. I started following some fertility accounts on Instagram and realized how big this community is. It’s the worst club to be a part of, but it has the best members!”
Today we are excited to introduce a new type of patient story to you. We will be sharing Karen’s journey and her efforts to become a mother. Karen had no reason to suspect she would have trouble conceiving until she tried for almost a year with no success. Now she is preparing to go through IVF and is ready to share the good, bad and the emotional with you. It is important to remember that each patient case is unique and Dr. Miller personalizes each treatment plan based on the patient’s age, medical history and test results. Here is Karen’s story:
My name is Karen and I am 38 years old, I have been married to my husband for four years and we live in Lombard with our sweet 5-year-old boxer mix, Cali. When my husband and I started trying for a family in 2021 and it wasn’t happening as quickly as I thought, I got worried. We both live a very healthy lifestyle, have clean bills of health and never thought we would have any issues trying to conceive. I had a ton of girlfriends that got pregnant very quickly, but then I also had several that went through IVF or were currently going through it. I didn’t know much about IVF because I tried not to let my mind think that would ever be an option for us. But then reality started to hit me. After eight months of no success, we decided that we needed to look into the IVF process and find a doctor.
I found Dr. Miller by doing some research on local doctors online through RE doctor websites. My friends who went through IVF all had different stories and different outcomes, with doctors all over the suburbs. My main concern was finding a clinic that didn’t make me feel like just a number. I wanted a doctor that had years of experience, would take the time to understand what we were going through and not push us through the consultation process. I also wanted to make sure there was a supportive nursing team that would be there for us during our journey. After our first meeting with Dr. Miller, I said to my husband, “Wow, this man is going to help get us our baby, I like him!”
After all the bloodwork, baseline ultrasound, HSN and semen analysis, we found out that my husband and I are both factors. Obviously my age was a huge factor and my husband had abnormal morphology, which made Dr. Miller suggest that we should go straight to IVF with ICSI (a method that involves injecting sperm directly into an egg to induce fertilization and pregnancy).
Actually hearing those words brought me to tears after we got off the call. I couldn’t believe we were going to have to go through this. A ton of questions went through my mind of why can’t I just be like everyone else, why can’t this be easy for us? I took time to educate myself about the IVF process. I started following some fertility accounts on Instagram and realized how big this community is. It’s the worst club to be a part of, but it has the best members! Finding girls that are currently going through the exact same process is a blessing. They totally know what you are going through and they feel your pains, the struggles and the wins.
Fast forward to October of 2022, and we were ready for our first round for egg retrieval. I started stims and was on a very basic protocol- menopur, follistim, ganirelix and double trigger shot. Once I got that big box of meds delivered, I was a little overwhelmed. Organizing, setting up my area where I was going to do the shots and going through the consultation with Nurse Patty, gave me the confidence that I was ready to take on the shots. I watched a ton of videos online of girls that were going through stims on Instagram to hype me up.
I had talked about the shots with my husband and showed him videos to get him ready for what I was going to be doing. I asked him (even though I knew I was going to be giving myself the shots) if he wanted to give me the shots and he said he would do them if I didn’t think I could. I let him know that he was off the hook with the stim shots, but that he would have to step up to give me the PIO shots once we got to that point in our journey.
To be honest, the shots were not that bad. Mixing and getting the shots prepped is the most hassle. I usually put on some music to sing along to as I am doing the shots to take my mind off what is going on!
I did ten days of shots and had my egg retrieval on November 3. I got six eggs! It was one more than I thought I was going to get. Results came the next day, that four matured and two fertilized with ICSI. Then we waited six more days to hear how those two did. On day 6, we received a message that only one made it to blast and a biopsy was being sent off for PGT-A testing.
We went through another long two week wait. I received the result that our only embryo was low mosaic- trisomy 1. It was heartbreaking to hear that our only embryo from our first egg retrieval had these results. We didn’t really understand what this meant, so we scheduled a follow up call with Igenomix with a genetic counselor to review the results. I am so glad we did, because after finding out what low mosaic really meant, we decided that we indeed were going to keep this embryo frozen. There might be some hope with this little embaby. After processing all this news, we knew that we had to get right back into another egg retrieval. When we first started this process, we were prepared with the possibility that we were going to have to do multiple egg retrievals based off of my test results.
At the end of November, we had our follow up consultation with Dr. Miller to review what happened and get his thoughts. He told us that this next round was going to be different and we are going to switch up the protocol now that we know what worked and what didn’t work. He gave us so much hope during that call, making sure to remind us that we are going to get our baby! Since I knew we would be starting the process again sometime in January, my husband and I just took the time to enjoy the holidays and not focus on IVF. It was a nice distraction.
Heading into round 2, I am excited and nervous. I am looking forward to seeing the end results with this retrieval since we are switching up my protocol. Even though I have been through this process once and I know what to expect, I have a feeling this path will be different and that’s ok. The main thing is that I have my support group to cheer me on, sending me positive vibes and prayers. Here we go round 2!
Stay tuned to follow Karen’s journey as she prepares for her second egg retrieval . She is excited to share her story with you and shed some light into the IVF process.
Patient Story- Sheri
“We have been very blessed with great kids who seem to appreciate life, maybe because somehow, subconsciously they know that it took that extra little miracle to be here.”
Up until now, our patient stories have featured women who have recently become mothers. However, today’s submission is from Sheri, who first became a patient 20 years ago! Technology has advanced over the years, but the overarching message from Dr. Miller remains the same: “trust the process.”
My story begins many years ago (my two miracle babies are now 19 and 16)!
After years of trying to conceive, being on countless fertility drugs, endless testing and 5 years of monthly disappointing moments we decided it was time to take the next infertility step and meet Dr. Miller. My husband and I immediately felt confident he was the answer to our unexplained infertility. We left with a sense of relief. He looked us right in the eye and said “trust the process.” It was Dr. Miller’s confidence and stellar reputation that made us say “When can we start!”
The process, although long and hard at times was, by far, made less grueling and easier to face because of Dr. Miller and his staff. Every single person we encountered was kind, sympathetic, positive, caring and made us feel like they were our “infertility family”. There was one person in particular who will always stand out and be a part of my heart and that was Lynne who was at the front desk. Her smile when I walked in put me at ease instantly.
Infertility is praying endlessly. It’s sad, depressing, hard, lonely and you shed many tears. There are many roadblocks and setbacks but this journey with Dr. Miller was worth every single minute.
We were very fortunate that our first round of IVF gave us our son and our second round gave us our daughter.
Both of those IVF cycles began as multiple pregnancies but by some miracle our son and our daughter held on when we experienced vanishing embryos. It was terrifying to think we were losing the babies. I remember the moment when we thought we were miscarrying. Dr. Miller was in Europe and he called personally to ease our fears and tell me what to do to give the other baby the best chance. Grief hit hard knowing our multiples were now single pregnancies. I still think of what would have been had that not happened but take a moment to remember them and even though we never met them we love them always for what little time they were ours.
A year after our daughter was born we kept trying for more children without success. Time was not on my side because of my age. Dr. Miller saw me struggling mentally and finally gave me the strength to walk away and enjoy the 2 miracles we were blessed with.
Our son, Nick, is now 19 and studying engineering at Purdue and our daughter, Emily, is 16 and thriving in high school. Every moment of their lives has been better than the next. We have been very blessed with great kids who seem to appreciate life, maybe because somehow, subconsciously they know that it took that extra little miracle to be here.
To all the patients present and future…I pray for you, I wish you peace always and I hope your dreams come true. You deserve to be parents!
Hope for Pregnancy After C-Section: New Procedure May Help Secondary Infertility
Today's blog post is written by Michelle, a patient who was unable to get pregnant after having two c-sections and was diagnosed with an isthmocele. She traveled all the way from Houston to undergo an isthmocele repair procedure.
I was married in March of 2012 when I was 36 and my husband was 35. It was the first marriage for both of us and we did not want to waste any time starting a family. We were so excited to start our journey together and were blessed to be pregnant four months after our wedding. I took my first pregnancy test August 10, 2012, my 37th birthday, and it was positive! We both were elated. My dream to be a mom was actually happening. At first, all was going very well but by month 4 I was having extreme swelling. My doctor kept a close watch on me, but it seemed if there was anything gestational I got it! The worst was the gestational diabetes.
At my 32-week checkup my blood pressure was through the roof and at one point reached 190/115. I was immediately put in the hospital and diagnosed with preeclampsia. On my fourth day in the hospital, it appeared things were under control, until I took an extreme turn for the worse. I developed HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening liver disorder and a type of severe preeclampsia. It is characterized by Hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells), Elevated Liver enzymes (which indicate liver damage), and Low Platelet count. My liver and kidneys immediately started to shut down, so I was prepped for an emergency c- section. At the time of delivery, it was discovered I had a mild case of placenta accreta. Thankfully, my son was born very healthy considering coming so early. He was perfect, and I finally felt complete. I had dreamed of being a mommy all of my life.
Despite my complications, I knew without a doubt that I wanted more children. So, when my son was 8 months old we tried again. I got pregnant the first time we tried! I delivered my second son at 39 years old and had a great pregnancy with no complications. However, I had another C-section at 37 weeks and the doctor noted that my uterus was paper thin. He mentioned for baby #3 he would most likely deliver me at 36 weeks due to a thin uterus. Needless to say, we had our hands full with two beautiful boys that were just 18 months apart, so we knew we needed to wait a bit before trying.
After my second son was born, I noticed a difference in my cycles. They were very light and some months I didn't even have a period. I know that may not be uncommon for some women, but for me it was. Previously, I started my cycle like clockwork and was very specific in pattern every month. In addition to my irregularity, I was having extreme bloating, pain, pressure, and very light spotting that was dark in color and would last 7 to 10 days. The doctor told me that it was not unusual for your cycle to be different after having children. I went back two or three times with the same complaint and symptoms and was told I was fine. However, at Well Women checkups I was told that I had an unusual amount of cervical mucus. Well, that meant nothing to me at the time, but was key in diagnosing me later.
Fast forward to March 2016. We decided we were quite ready to try for baby #3 and naively thought it would be easy like the times before, but it was not. After 6 months of trying I went back to my OB because I was now 40 and concerned. After running some blood work, he referred me to an infertility specialist. The infertility specialist immediately told me that I was more than likely in menopause and then he proceeded to tell me that he thought I had cancer because of the amount of mucus in my cervix and uterus. I was devastated. It was 4:30 in the afternoon in the Houston Medical Center and I was all alone thinking I had cancer. A million things were running through my mind. I was thinking this just can't be happening. I immediately ran back to my OB that delivered my babies. After all, he saved my life on my first delivery and I absolutely adored him. He quickly did a biopsy and concluded I did not have cancer. Thank you, Jesus! But then we were left to figure out what was going on with the fluid in my uterus and my other symptoms. I continued to see the infertility specialist. We tried test after test and biopsy after biopsy. I even had surgery to remove "scar tissue" from my uterus. I had my tubes flushed, but nothing was helping. In April 2017 the infertility specialist had an MRI done and consulted with some other doctors. That was the first time I had ever heard the word An isthmocele is a C-section defect that occurs when the uterus does not heal correctly from the C-section incision; a portion of the two edges do not adhere. These surfaces often times become inflamed, develop scar tissue and can lead to problems with abnormal uterine bleeding, pain and infertility. I went to six doctors here in Houston, after all, this is Houston with one the best medical centers in the world. Only one of the doctors had performed the surgery one time. I was not comfortable with being patient number 2 so I set out to do my own research and that is how I found Dr. Charles Miller. I called his office and spoke with his nurse, Kate. She immediately knew what an Ismothcele was and set up a phone consultation with Dr. Miller for May 22nd. Dr. Miller was very knowledge and immediately put my mind at ease. He set my surgery for the following week for June 1st. He performed a surgery to correct my Isthmocele and also a uterine uplift procedure to keep pressure off of the newly created incision on my uterus. He was also very encouraging that I could try for baby #3 after three months post-surgery.
He concluded that the lining of my uterus measured normal and that the fluid was not present! Dr. Miller was very caring and had an excellent bedside manner. He is an extremely busy doctor, but he makes time for his patients and never makes you feel rushed. He was so positive and encouraging for me to try for baby #3. At my age, most doctors make you feel like you need to be making arrangements for a nursing home, not a baby. Now, I understand at 42 it may be more challenging, but it means a lot that he is so positive. Also, he has an amazing staff of people in his office from Theresa who performs the ultrasounds, to Kate who initially set up my consultation, to Jennifer who scheduled my surgery. I hope to follow up soon that I am pregnant!
-Michelle
