When my husband and I got married we each had two children from separate marriages. I had a son and daughter, and he had two daughters. Having a baby together was never even talked about. My husband had a vasectomy over 14 years ago. One day on my way to work I was listening to the Promise on the radio and I heard an advertisement for Brown Fertility and that Dr. Brown was going to be taking phone calls on the air. Someone called in with a story that resonated with me. After discussion with my husband and a lot of prayer, we scheduled to attend a fertility seminar that Dr. Brown facilitated. After speaking with him, we were convinced we would attempt IVF to have our first child together.
While the process initially seemed overwhelming, we were comforted by Dr. Brown and his positive, encouraging staff. We were cleared for IVF and began the egg retrieval process. I remember the first time having to give myself a shot I had to have my husband do it for me. After the fear passed from that first time, I was able to do it myself moving forward. When the egg retrieval took place, I was scared, but remained excited and optimistic due to Dr. Brown’s positivity. I experienced pain after the retrieval, and Dr. Brown’s staff was extremely caring and compassionate. We were extremely blessed to retrieve 24 eggs.
During an ultrasound, we found out my ovaries went into overdrive and had filled my abdominal cavity with fluid. I was put on bed rest for a week and we had to postpone our transfer. Switching from a fresh transfer, to a frozen transfer, our probability of successful pregnancy decreased from 80% to 65%. We were disappointed, but still remained positive. Two months passed and my body had recovered and we were ready to proceed with the transfer.
On our transfer day, my husband and I were extremely anxious, but excited. After my first blood draw, they called informing me that our numbers had gone up. We took this news as optimistic confirmation. Six weeks into the pregnancy, I started having severe cramps and spotting, so I called the office. They told me I needed to come in to be seen. We arrived and met with Dr. Rose. He performed an ultrasound and informed us that I was in the process of having a miscarriage and that my pregnancy was actually a chemical pregnancy. Devastated does not even describe how we felt. The physical and mental pain lingered for weeks until I decided to call the office to meet with Dr. Brown. I am so thankful that I did. Dr. Brown was so encouraging, compassionate, and informative of what we had just experienced. He stated that while it may take multiple transfers, he was confident he could get us pregnant.
Four months later, we went back for our second transfer. Thanks to Dr. Brown and Christina’s encouragement, we were not as anxious this time around. We transferred two embryos. When we went for our ultrasound six weeks later, Dr. Brown congratulated us that one embryo successfully implanted – we had a successful pregnancy. We are so thankful to God, for leading us to Brown Fertility, answering our prayers, and blessing us with our own miracle daughter, Charlotte (Charli) Rae.
Scott and Amanda Witwer