At the time of writing, I’m a 29-year-old who is 26 weeks pregnant with my first (miracle) baby.
I rarely get my period and have never been sure whether having kids would be in my future. I’ve tried many lifestyle and herbal options to get my period and been to many medical appointments with no concrete answers. When I was younger GPs told me to wait until I was married and wanted kids. Later I was told I should have done something sooner because of the negative effects for my bone health and according to one specialist I look like I’ve never been through puberty – great bedside manner!
I think the hardest part has been the uncertainty about what our options are and what we should try. By mid-2018, my husband and I decided to shift gears from trying to find answers about my period to getting help falling pregnant.
We had some unsuccessful fertility treatment in the second half of 2018 and in January 2019 we had an unsuccessful round of IVF where I ended up in emergency, probably with overstimulation.
After that, we decided to see if more affordable options existed. This is when I came across Westmead Fertility Centre and I’m so glad I did! We made an appointment with Dr Rachel Bradbury and straight away we felt assured that she had experience with similar situations and would be able to help. After a few months preparing, we started a round of IVF. I’m excited and amazed to say that after that one round of IVF we fell pregnant!
Our experience with Westmead Fertility Centre during that round of IVF was great. The nurses were caring and informative and I really appreciated the online portal where I could leave a message for the nurses – much easier and more confidential when a question came up during my workday. I found going to the clinic for blood tests easy and convenient and my workplace never suspected a thing (that was important to me). When there was concern about some of my levels, the clinic was able to do blood tests on weekends and because it was the preferred number of days after collection, I even had my embryo transfer on a Sunday.
We are very grateful to Dr Bradbury and the team at Westmead Fertility Centre.
Liz
