Nathalie's IVF Journey: Azoospermia, DOR, Hypothyroidism & IVF
The story to meeting our biggest love after so many struggles, tears and lots of fertility treatments. Infertility came to a surprise to both my husband and I after dating for many years. We chose to start our intimacy after marriage and for us it was another journey for us to learn from one another.
On our journey, we were having problems with intimacy and it was not so much about how often our intimacy was occurring but the frustration of not knowing my husband’s diagnosis of having erectile dysfunction. This was cleared up after an initial consultation with a well known urologist I had known for many years as a good friend of my father as he is a physician.
He placed my husband on medication and sent a phethora of labs for him to check sperm counts and motility. Something that being a normal person outside of knowing the infertility lingo I soon became accustomed to hearing. Little did we know first, my husband was diagnosed with azoospermia. It wasn’t short after our urologist referred my husband to a male infertility specialist. At that visit my heart stopped and it was a very sad and grieving day for us. When we were informed my husband had to undergo a TESE procedure and possible no sperm could be retrieved for us to have to do IVF. So after we discussed our options we sat down and analyzed the situation of either using donor sperm or having to adopt. As my husband felt very guilty at first, we took the whole year to accept this reality but agreed we wanted our family and experience the joy of trying to achieve a pregnancy.
On February 2020, I started in the middle of covid fertility testing at a fertility center in Miami. At the time our REI neglected to inform me of my condition of having a low ovarian reserve and that I had Diminished Ovarian Reserve. We began the paper work for an IUI and after several months the IUI was performed in April of that same year. I was severely impacted after my first failed pregnancy test. That it was then we decided to move on to IVFMD in South Miami, Florida.
In July of that following year we started our first IVF cycle with Dr. Palmerola and after months of testing and preparation we underwent a Frozen Embryo Transfer with one embryo. Little did we not know about IVF, the more embryos you have the higher the likelihood of success. We didn’t more forward with another retrieval as not knowing we believed our one embryo would work.
In February of the following year our first transfer was performed and we lost our baby 10 days later it failed to implant as we were unaware of other health conditions I was developing. After Dr. P’s maternity leave we decided to follow her advice and move to Dr. Kimberly Thompson and she initiated my second IVF cycle with higher level of hormone medications and the simulation protocol was even more then the first time.
We did our retrieval and had the same outcome after high doses of Gonal F, menopur, cetrotide, and ominitrope. Three days later after retrieval I received the most horrible phone call ever. It was our doctor informing us that our one precious embryo had died in the lab. I was distraught and can remember crying for hours questioning “why a woman like me and a couple like us that loves children was walking this lonely road of infertility”. It was then I realized I couldn’t quit but had to keep going and hold my head up high.
Our doctor immediately put me under the hands of the fertility nutritionist of the group and together I was closely monitored and tested for various underling conditions that could impact my fertility. Besides my DOR diagnosis at 31 years old I was found to have hypothyroidism and a gluten intolerance. So I was automatically placed on a gluten-free diet and a strict supplemental plan to support my egg quality.
After months of testing and preparation, we underwent our third IVF cycle, we held our breath and prayed hard to the lord he would take the wheel and decided to let go of trying so hard for a family. On September of 2022, we embarked on the crazy adventure again started our stimulation cycle and did our third egg retrieval. From this egg retrieval I had the highest results, 8 eggs and 3 fertilized. As per my previous I would have 10 extracted and only 1 would survive. Five days after our retrieval our doctor chose for us to undergo a fresh transfer. I was skeptical of the idea at first, but our doctor reassured us she would do everything possible to guide us to achieve a successful pregnancy.
The embryo transfer was performed on October 12 of 2022, and ten days later we were frantic and nervous to know our results. I received a call from the doctor’s nurse at 3:32 P.M. and she gave us the happy news our first Beta was very high and we were pregnant. I was the closely monitored for about 8 weeks in the IVF lab until thanksgiving week we had received the news we were graduating from the infertility clinic.
Today, we are 26 weeks and so grateful to God, our family, and IVF team that worked so diligently and hard for us to become parents. IVF taught me to become a stronger woman and to be a resilient mother to our son. We are overjoyed and blessed to receive the blessing of our son this coming year. To my fellow warriors, please hold on and I know the struggle is hard but you are brave, wonderful, and beautifully made from above. Always believe in your worth and every journey is unique and your story. Own it and be brave to share it with others that need that miracles are all around us.
-Nathalie
My name is Nathalie and I am happily married with my husband of three years going on four. We are awaiting the arrival of our son. Who was conceived via IVF after three full rounds. I am diagnosed with DOR, hypothyroidism and also have a non gluten intolerance. My husband was diagnosed with aszoopermia and this was very hard to take in very early in our marriage as we had been dating for more than 10 years.
Medical Disclaimer:
The information provided in this blog is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your healthcare provider or qualified medical professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this blog.