It all began when I was 25.
Not long after we were married, we decided I would stop taking the pill & would begin trying for a baby.
Immediately after I stopped, I noticed drastic changes in my body. I put on 10kgs almost immediately, my skin was horrible, hair started falling out, moods were all over the place & had absent periods.
After 3 months of absent periods, & countless negative pregnancy tests, I went to the doctor. They sent me for blood tests & an ultrasound where it was found that I had polycystic ovarian syndrome.
I did a lot of research & decided to go on a health kick to lose the weight to try & help the process. I was also referred to a specialist.
I lost 20 kgs within 3 months & felt fantastic. I even had my first natural period.
The specialist put me on clomid. The first cycle I fell pregnant. I was so excited I couldn’t believe that it happened so quickly.
We went for our 7 week check up to be told that everything is fine but we should come back in 2 weeks to check that everything is ok. I then had a feeling that something was not right.
2 weeks later we came back to find that I had a blighted ovum. I was absolutely devastated & have never cried so much in my life.
The specialist wanted me to wait until I miscarried myself. However even one month later my hcg levels were still increasing, so I demanded a D&C.
2 months after the procedure I visited the specialist again who then sent me for another ultrasound to check that everything was back to normal & ready for another cycle. We then found that I had internal damage from the D&C being performed. The specialist assured me that this wouldn’t be an issue.
We then started another cycle of clomid. Which worked!! We couldn’t believe it again. We were absolutely ecstatic!
At 6 weeks, I began to miscarry again. I called my specialist & left several messages, I never got a call back, so went through it not knowing if I could have done anything to save it.
I saw my specialist a month later & cried my eyes out in her room, I was told to stop being negative & I should be grateful that my body miscarried by itself this time.
I decided that I needed a specialist that was more understanding.
I was then referred to another specialist, whom I absolute loved & I felt understood me.
I then did another 6 clomid cycles, where I did not ovulate at all. I was then told the next step is IVF & was referred to Dr Ashley Fong at Westmead.
Ashley was absolutely amazing. She sent me for more tests & ultrasounds to check everything & put me on medication to help with my pcos.
We began our first IVF cycle in October & had egg collection in November, we had to freeze all eggs due to my hormone levels. I was a little devastated as we had waited so long, only to find out we had to wait another few months.
January came & we began our frozen cycle for the embryo to be transferred. Out of 13 eggs collected we had one ‘beautiful embryo’ according to the scientist, that was transferred on 13/2/16.
On 18/2/16, it was my 28th birthday, I woke up feeling different & thought I should take a test. I did & it was positive!! Best birthday present ever!
I had a few bouts of bleeding which put my anxiety levels at an all high as I could not go through another heart-breaking miscarriage, but Dr Fong assured me that all was okay.
Everything was okay..
On 1/11/2016 at 11:11pm we welcomed into the world our beautiful little girl named Mireya, meaning miracle in Spanish. She is our little ray of sunshine & has totally changed our world. Without Westmead our dream could not have come true.
I sit here, typing our story whilst our little miracle is lying beside me with endless smiles.
Miracles do happen.
Elise T
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