Samantha & Andre

My husband and I married in 2018 after only dating for 6 months! (When ya know, ya know).

I told my husband very early in the relationship I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in my early twenties, and it may be hard for us to conceive.

I had irregular periods throughout my teens and was put on birth control to regulate my cycles. After stopping birth control, I’d go months, even years without periods. I also struggle with acne and facial hair, so I requested blood work and that’s when I was diagnosed with PCOS.

Getting started at SGF

After being married a little over year and trying on our own with no luck we decided to reach out to Shady Grove Fertility. We started in SGF’s Fredericksburg, Virginia, location. After all the testing and having to get consent from fetal maternal medicine due to my chronic kidney disease, we were ready for treatment. And then Covid happened . . . the Fredericksburg location temporarily closed, and they told us we had to go to the Fairfax location, which was two hours away from our home.

The doctor’s plan of action was Clomid with intrauterine insemination (IUI). The Clomid made me hyper ovulate, and we had to cancel the cycle.

We decided to try again this time with Femara. My body responded much better to this medicine but unfortunately the IUI failed.

So, we tried again. Using Femara again everything looked good on my end, but my husband’s count was low this time. The nurse called us into the consult room and told us we had a 13% chance of it working and asked if we wanted to proceed. We decided to go forward, and it failed.

After too many heartbreaks, traveling for treatment, and in the height of Covid, we decided to take a break.

Moving forward with a new plan

While at work, a client told me Dr. Anish Shah at SGF’s Richmond, Virginia, location was amazing and highly recommended him. The next day I called and requested a consult with him. I immediately felt safe putting our care in his hands. In 2022, we decided to move forward with in vitro fertilization (IVF).

At our egg retrieval, they retrieved 40 eggs! And out of the 40, 20 were fertilized! Our transfer went smoothly, and we decided to go on vacation during the two-week wait.

I knew I was pregnant! I could smell EVERYTHING!!!

The day after we returned home I had my blood test and I was right, we were pregnant! We were so happy. But unfortunately, that pregnancy ended at 5.5 weeks in a miscarriage.

Dr. Shah and his nurses were so compassionate and reassured me a million times it was nothing I did wrong.

Our life is complete

After a few months, my human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) finally went back to normal, and we tried again. We were cautiously optimistic. And it worked . . . I couldn’t believe it — I took a million pregnancy tests!

Pregnancy after loss was hard. My anxiety was at an all-time high. I joined support groups through Shady Grove Fertility, and they were so helpful! Week after week my anxiety eased and being high risk, I was getting ultrasounds every month and that gave me some comfort.

On May 3, 2023, we welcomed our baby girl, Francesca Faith, into the world! She’s perfect. And we couldn’t be happier. With her and our three fur babies, our life is complete! We will forever be grateful to Dr. Shah, his nurse Jenn, and Shady Grove Fertility!

Advice for anyone going through this journey

Know that you’re not alone. I felt embarrassed and less of a woman because I couldn’t conceive on my own, but the more I talked about it, the more I found there are so many others going through the same difficult journey.

Know your partner is going through this with you. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help, and know it’s okay to take breaks.