Journey to Pregnancy and Motherhood: My Story with CCRM

My Story with CCRM:

Motherhood is one of those experiences that is the most rewarding yet can also be the most challenging.  And the majority of the time, you never even know if you’re doing it right!  I’ve come to learn that “right” is very subjective when it comes to raising kids and every day is a learning experience when it comes to figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

I also quickly realized that even the motherhood journey with each of my little ones is different.  The ways that I can relate to, understand, discipline, and even love my little ones looks different for each one.  What I didn’t realize in the beginning was that these differences can oftentimes start from the very beginning, not just in utero but even the process leading up to getting pregnant!

I still remember the moment when Adrian and I decided to start trying to have kids.  We had known friends who had tried for over a year before finally having success and so we figured, we would at least just start with not preventing any potential pregnancy.  You can imagine how we were surprised to find out that just after a single try, we’d be successful!  It was the most exciting, albeit unexpected, surprise and it was the start of our journey to becoming parents.

My first pregnancy ended up being a rough one.  While I did have the typical first-trimester nausea and morning sickness, I ended up having severe bleeding starting at week 13 as a result of a subchorionic hemorrhage that developed at that time (I posted about it here).  I was immediately told to stop all unnecessary activity and while it wasn’t complete bedrest, the recommendation was to keep my activity levels at a minimum.  My pregnancy instantly turned from being a normal one to one that was high risk.  I was instantly transferred to an advanced fertility facility and had standing 2-week ultrasound appointments so that doctors could make sure everything was ok.

That pregnancy ended up being a very emotional one for me and I still remember the feeling of relief and elation just making it to full-term.  Delivery then ended up being a completely different story as it took 50 hours of laboring following by 4 hours of pushing (huge props to Adrian and my sweet doula, Delilah, for those long hours!), but finally, our sweet Dylan finally made his entrance into the world.

When it came time for us to consider getting pregnant the second time around, part of me thought it would be as easy as it was the first time around.  Fast forward 8 months later and we were still trying.  By that time, I was tracking my fertility cycles religiously, using ovulation kits, taking prenatal vitamins, and even cut back on any sort of strenuous workout in an effort to try and get pregnant.  And while 8 months is certainly not a long time in the grand scheme of things, I do remember getting to a point where I started questioning if there was something wrong with my body.  I went in to get my hormone levels tested only to be told that everything looked good.

Around this same time, I went through a chemical miscarriage and it was a whole new set of emotions to go through.  I remember making another appointment with my OB and getting her advice on how we should proceed with getting pregnant.  It was a long meeting where we ended up discussing various fertility options and it was also at this time that I decided to start my first round of a hormone pill called Clomid, to just kind of “give things a little kick.”  Thankfully it was all that was needed and a few weeks later, we were successfully pregnant!

And while getting pregnant was such an ordeal the second time around, the pregnancy itself could not have been any easier.  I kept on with my usual schedule and even continued with my Crossfit workouts up until the day before I delivered (although I did modify quite a bit!).  Delivery was a “quick” 27 hours (instead of the previous 54), and the actual pushing only took 13 minutes (the nurses even had to tell me to pause on my pushing as they weren’t all scrubbed in yet!).

All of this to say, I quickly realized just how different every journey to motherhood is —  even from pregnancy to pregnancy for the same woman!  Every pregnancy is a miracle and while sometimes it can be as easy as can be, other times it can be hard when you least expect it.  I am so glad to know that there are resources out there when it comes to fertility and recently I learned about CCRM, Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, a leading center for fertility care and research.  There are 10 locations nationwide with one of them actually being right here in the greater Dallas area!

There are constant advancements when it comes to fertility and CCRM is a pioneer in the field when it comes to its science and research.  It’s no doubt that for this reason, CCRM has some of the highest IVF success rates in the industry with most patients only needing 1.2 IVF cycles to get pregnant (versus the national average at 1.6).  Every journey to pregnancy is different and in turn, CCRM takes a personalized approach in every case.  Unlike many other fertility clinics that outsource their specialists and testing needs, CCRM leverages its own data, as well as a dedicated team of in-house reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, and geneticists in order to deliver consistent, successful results!

Dr. Dorette Noorhasan is part of CCRM’s team of award-winning physicians, dedicated to delivering leading patient outcomes, and practices out of CCRM’s Frisco location. CCRM offers a full suite of fertility services, innovative technology, and cutting-edge labs. It specializes in the most advanced fertility treatments, with deep expertise with in vitro fertilization (IVF), fertility assessment, fertility preservation, genetic testing, third-party reproduction, and egg donation.

Pregnancy can be hard and even from my own experience, it’s hard to know just at what point you’ll need a specialist to step in for some extra help and guidance.  For all the doctors, researchers and scientists who work tirelessly in this field, it’s comforting to know that CCRM is making these advances accessible to us so that we can have the best success on each of our paths to becoming a mother.  Be sure to see if CCRM is located in your city and if you’re in the North Texas area, check out CCRM Dallas-Fort Worth, located at 8380 Warren Parkway, Suite 201. For more information about CCRM, or to schedule an appointment, or visit www.ccrmivf.com

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Thank you so much to CCRM, Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, for sponsoring this post.  All opinions are honest and my own.