Our trying to conceive journey started in the summer of 2014 after we returned from France. We had booked a 3-week trip to celebrate a family wedding, our 5-year anniversary, and Darshan's fellowship graduation. We spent a week in London with family celebrating my uncle's wedding. After that, we traveled to Paris, Versailles, Bordeaux, Nice, and Monaco. I enjoyed plenty of wine at the chateau's in Bordeaux with the intention of not having some for a while. Who knew I had 2.5 years before actually getting pregnant.

I got off the pill and started trying for kids as soon as we returned. We tried naturally for over a year before seeking help. In the Fall of 2015, we found ourselves sitting in front of a Reproductive Endocrinologist discussing our options. After some detailed testing, it was found that I had PCOS and my husband had morphology issues. The doctor reassured us that we can still get pregnant and have children even with our underlying conditions.

We did our first intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycle in December of 2015. But after it failed, we moved directly to IVF instead of wasting any more time and money. Having PCOS, I was at risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Therefore, we started out with a low dose protocol. By the end of it all, we had two fully fertilized embryos. That number may sound low but for us that was a good number. When you go through IVF and have several embryos leftover, after completing your transfers, you are left with the decision to donate, discard, or continue to store your embryos. Luckily, we did not have to make that difficult decision since we only had two.

We also conducted genetic testing on our embryos and luckily both were genetically fine without having any chromosomal abnormalities. The entire process from egg retrieval to embryo transfer took longer than what we had expected. But that was fine with us because we needed those mental breaks in between all the drugs, the appointments, and lab work.

Besides our parents, only a few of our closest friends knew what we were going through. It also helped that I had a few friends going through infertility at the same time as we did so we could relate to one another and help motivate one another. Having that support was key for us getting through these tough times.

We implanted the embryos one at a time, one in November 2016 and another in February 2019. Today these two scientifically created embryos are our living and thriving children, Samaira and Samarth.

We are now trying to grow our family naturally. We have made several lifestyle changes that will assist us in achieving this goal. If we cannot naturally get pregnant then we will be returning to SHADY GROVE FERTILITY to start our journey again.

Contact me for a FREE consultation on what you can do to help get your body ready for conceiving naturally and/or through IVF.

***Please keep in mind that 50% of all profits generated by this blog, coaching services, and other services I offer will be donated to my non-profit organization, SAMAR OF HOPE FOUNDATION. This foundation will help families cover the costs associated with infertility treatments, surrogacy, and adoption.