Dress: HERE (similar, less expensive HERE) / Shoes: HERE / Vintage Pram: FB Marketplace / Flowers: faux lol HERE / Graham’s outfit: HERE
Adding yet another pregnancy announcement to your timeline. Baby #2 is arriving this Summer!
Our first baby conceived by…IVF!
Shocker, right? We didn’t undergo any fertility treatments to conceive our first child. So, this was a learning experience every step along the way.
If you’re following along, you read that right. I lost my job, lost Nanny, and had the embryo transfer all within 3 WEEKS.
For a long time, we maintained the “we only want one child” disposition because we had been trying for a while. I didn’t know if it was possible to get pregnant again. The truth is that we were happy, and we would continue to be happy with one child. I’m the kind of person who “works in silence” and I prefer to share only when my plans come to fruition. It blocks out opinions and advice. So, if I told you a white lie, pls forgive me!
Baby is due July 10th. I was soo sick until about 12 weeks. Part of the IVF protocol is taking intramuscular injections of progesterone every day for 16 weeks…in addition to oral progesterone and estrogen 3xs daily. Along with the other cocktail of IVF meds (prednisone, tacrolimus, low dose naltrexone, etc). So, I feel like the extra meds are what made me more sick this time?
How did we know IVF was the right route?
Graham was born in May 2023. We started trying as soon as we were cleared. In Spring 2024, I asked for fertility labs. Found out that my Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) was a fraction of what it should be at 32 years old. So low that it was 0.01 away from me not being considered a good candidate for ovarian stimulation (the process you go through in order to have egg retrieval).
Next, we were referred to EVMS. They are the OG, and made the first IVF baby ever. But they came with an “OG” price tag (think $20-30k+). I started researching more cost-effective alternatives and found CNY Fertility, a clinic based out of NY.
Next steps
After the initial phone consultation with CNY, we learned they just opened a monitoring site in Norfolk. Their team submitted a prior-authorization to my insurance, Aetna, and they covered a lot of it. After that, we decided not to pursue medicated cycles or IUI, but go straight for what would statistically give us the best chance at having a live child.
CNY has several locations, but we decided on Sarasota, Florida. We got to stay right on the beach! I had egg retrieval in August 2024 and embryo transfer in October 2024 (on Nanny’s birthday). 🥹
I wanted retrieval and transfer in back-to-back months to get all the shots over with, but my body needed time to rest. You have appts every few days to make sure your labs and uterine lining are perfect for a successful transfer. It’s a very small window of prime time. I think it was a “God-wink” that the perfect day fell on Nanny’s birthday. Just 2 weeks after unexpectedly and suddenly losing her, holding her hand as she passed into Heaven.
Embryos?
We had genetic testing done by Cooper Genomics, and ended up choosing the healthiest/best graded embryo. What are your guesses for gender?! We are going to announce next week!
I decided we are not sharing any information, with anyone, regarding if we have any remaining embryos.
Success!
No words describe how blessed I felt that our first transfer was successful. I got the call on Halloween from my amazing CNY Norfolk team. The test I had that morning was positive. There wasn’t a *crying in the bathroom moment*. It was all very clinical, but that’s ok!
Overall, I had a great experience. Because CNY is significantly cheaper than the national average, you have to expect that a mistake will be made along the way if you aren’t steadily advocating for yourself. Use the portal and overcommunicate!
Here is my AMAZING team at CNY Norfolk. They are all like family to me now. Especially my NP, Lanessa. You won’t find a better fertility NP than her. I have thanked God for her many times over!
Roadblocks
There was an “Are we sure we wanna do this?” moment at soo many stops. When I couldn’t find an OB who would count and measure follicles (a crucial part of the stim cycle). When I paid $150 to have a 30-minute call with the doctor, she forgot to order one of the important meds, which delayed the stim cycle a month. Also caused me to be on meds longer (expensive and what are the long term effects of these extra hormones on my body?).
When I ran out of stim meds before my body was fully ready for retrieval. The timing is SO tricky!! And sometimes you don’t know whether to buy an extra $1k of meds until it’s too late. Which made me think…are we going to fly to Florida, put my body under anesthesia, and not have optimal retrieval results?
OH or when Aetna changed their authorization and denied coverage for the embryo transfer because my policy was ending at the end of the month. It still enrages me because I was paying for coverage for that whole month, so one would think I would get that? No.
Cost
We are around the $10k mark (not including travel). It is a much better number than what we were originally quoted with, but still…expensive! I’m glad we didn’t have to go through this to have Graham. Honestly, if money were no object and I could hire all the help and afford all the transfers…I would have a whole bunch of babies. Maybe we will win the lottery? 🤞🏼
Thank you!
*air hugs*
I wrestled with sharing these intimate details. Ultimately, I hope this encourages one person out there.
I’m happy to answer any questions about the IVF process (why they want you to eat a stick of butter every day lol, acupuncture, transfer prep, logistics, details on cost, supplements, meds, protocols etc.). DM me on Instagram!
Stay up-to-date on gender reveal blog posts and my weekly newsletter here. Follow along on Tiktok here.
xo, Chelsea
PS: I’ve already started designing the nursery and can’t wait to show you! I’ll take a few elements from Graham’s Grandmillenial Nursery
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