Today’s success story is about a woman named Rachel. She is a 38-year-old actor and podcaster who loves entertaining people and making them laugh. After about a year of trying to conceive, she saw her regular OB/GYN, was prescribed Clomid to help with ovulation, and quickly became pregnant. Unfortunately, her story doesn’t end there. Sadly, that pregnancy was ultimately terminated due to a Trisomy 21 diagnosis, which understandably sent Rachel into a deep depression. Join us to hear how her journey would ultimately lead her to a reproductive endocrinologist, involve multiple IUI and FET attempts, and result in additional losses before she finally became pregnant the old-fashioned way — a fact that her dog Apollo knew before she did.
https://youtu.be/VOTKR0oLRw8
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- Rachel is a comedian who is pursuing a career in entertaining, although she previously had a corporate marketing career for 16 years
- Before infertility, she was a lot more worry-free, bubbly, and never thought becoming pregnant would be an issue
- How she met her husband at a nightclub in NYC when she was 17 and he was 23
- They remained friends for a long time, then began dating, and now have been married almost 7 years
- As a couple, they are very much in love and have stuck it out through good and bad; they love being parents together
- Rachel has always loved babies and children and knew she wanted to be a mom
- The decisions they have made around family-making: giving up their car and moving to the Upper East Side of Manhattan
- They tried for about a year, then saw an Ob-gyn, and later, an RE, which gave them much hope
- A PCOS diagnosis, but still much hope
- Tracking ovulation, then Clomid brought terrible headaches
- Three rounds of IUI with no success, then on to IVF
- A fresh transfer of 2 embryos with 6 more frozen, and then three more successive transfers of two embryos each—NO success!
- An endometrial disruption procedure and a new protocol at the suspicion of autoimmune problems
- The RE recommended adoption after this and they were devastated
- Rachel didn’t feel like herself but was “a crazy woman”—so they took a break
- In 2012, they conceived naturally but tests later revealed Down Syndrome and they terminated the pregnancy at 16 weeks
- Rachel felt broken and asked, “Why me?”
- All the emotions, turning to faith, prayer, fertility acupuncture, and a superfood diet
- They conceived again naturally, and their son was born in 2015
- The utter celebration and joy through the pregnancy and his C-section birth
- How Rachel’s dog, Apollo, knew she was pregnant before she did!
- Some of Rachel’s tough moments: the intralipid transfusion and the RE’s thoughtless words, “Your oven is broken.”
- Dealing with the depression after the loss and proving her strength
- A fond memory of how those who love her took care of her in little ways
- Balancing work and treatments with a fast-paced work environment
- Insurance coverage for 80% of treatments but not for drugs
- How Rachel’s relationship with her husband shows that support and love can persevere through any ups and downs
- The story of how Rachel’s husband dealt with the emotional toll of their infertility journey and their loss
- How Rachel’s relationships with friends and family became a little too close for comfort
- How Rachel advocated for herself
- How infertility has changed Rachel: “It has made me stronger and more educated. I want to preach and spread the word and let other women know that this subject should no longer be taboo.”
- Rachel’s advice to herself back then: “Listen–but know there may be other options to explore.”
