It's funny how you spend so much time trying not to get pregnant... however, after getting married we knew we wanted to start a family straight away. After three years of trying to conceive and one miscarriage we were at a loss as to why it just 'wasn't happening' after all my husband and I are both fit and well with no known problems. A visit to our GP along with initial blood tests resulted in a referral to The Hewitt Fertility Centre at LWH just a few weeks later.
The team at the centre were amazing, so thorough & quick in their initial investigations. The consultant explained I had a low AMH & after an unsuccessful course of Clomid, IVF would be the best option to help us achieve our dream of having a family of our own. I have to admit, I was a little shocked - I never thought I would need IVF. However, I was excited yet a little nervous about the road ahead, we signed the consent forms and waited eagerly for our appointment.
Our IVF journey began in Spring 2019, the whole process seemed really quick with regular appointments including numerous scans at the centre. The drugs appointment was invaluable, the nurse was just so kind and let me practice the injections making sure I knew exactly what I was doing before sending me on my way, ensuring I was confident with administering the drugs at home. I actually quite enjoyed doing the injections, I felt like I was doing something positive to conceive, along with a healthy relaxed & happy lifestyle I was definitely in the right mind set for my egg collection on Friday 26th April 2019. The egg collection was carried out under sedation, I honestly couldn't remember or feel a thing during the procedure and the coffee & biscuit afterwards was a welcome treat! Other than some mild cramping and bruising afterwards I felt great, we were home within a couple of hours and eagerly awaited the call to see how many eggs were fertilised.
The call came and we were advised that we had 7 embryos and the transfer would take place just 3 days later. The transfer itself was a painless procedure, the doctor & embryologist talked us through the whole process and even put spa music on to relax us. We opted to take part in a trial where the embryo was implanted using 4D imagery, the whole process seemed very detailed, we just wanted to do anything and everything to give us the best chance in conceiving.
I can honestly say the next few weeks were the worst, there was nothing else we could do except wait for the pregnancy test results. I was so nervous but excited, trying to stay relaxed and kept my mind busy knowing we could do no more. The night before I took the test I didn't sleep, the anticipation was unbelievable! I did the test at 6am and it was positive - such an amazing feeling, we did it! However, it was our 8 week scan when everything felt real, to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time was magical and it was the best feeling telling our family & friends our much awaited news. I never thought that just 12 months after leaving LWH with a carrier bag of drugs in my car that I would have a gorgeous 3 month old son. After a 'text book' pregnancy our perfect baby boy 'Edward' was born on the 21st January 2020 weighing 9lb 3 1/2 oz & we couldn't be happier, we love him to the moon and back.
The team who looked after us from the nurses & doctors to the admin staff were just brilliant from the moment we arrived at LWH, always super helpful, kind and flexible - I even managed to go through the whole process without taking any time off work! They have given us our perfect baby boy and for that we will always be grateful. The best way I can describe the centre is like a 'hug', the whole team looked after my husband, son & I so well in what is initially a daunting process, one that I never thought would happen to me, yet it turned into such a positive one & I would honestly do it all again in a heartbeat.
Alexa & Mark