Yes we used IVF.
Yes we only had ONE embryo implanted.
Yes we had twins.
HOWEVER....
No they are not identical they are in fact fraternal.
No the doctors did not accidentally put 2 embryos in.
No it was not an imacculat conception...LOL
It turns out we conceived naturally at the same time that we conceived through IVF and it all just happened to be the perfect storm....but an amazingly wonderful story that resulted in my amazing baby boys!
So the story might be TMI for some people, I am warning you now :-)
Tony and I tried to get pregnant for YEARS almost our entire married life. I have Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) meaning I do not ovulate. Any eggs I have simply turn into cysts on my ovaries and fade away. We have tried so many different ways of getting pregnant before being referred to Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM) for IVF. Through the IVF process 4 years ago I got pregnant on our first try with Evan (ahhhh we were so in love) we had what we had been trying for for so long (could be why he is a spoiled brat LOL...Just kidding). We had frozen embryos left over and I tried once to no avail and the second time on Evan's 2nd birthday I miscarried. We were heartbroken and didn't know if we wanted to ever try again, but we thought since Evan was a "fresh" cycle we would try another fresh cycle (a last ditch effort because we had exhausted all of our resources) and it in fact was a success!
Now backing up just a little bit. The way IVF works is I am pumped full of hormones and stimulation meds to help my ovaries mature as many eggs as possible (but not too many) and then they retrieve those eggs, fertilize them with Tony's sperm and wait to see which ones actually mature into embryos. In 3-5 days 1 or 2 embryos are implanted in my uterus depending on how strong they look and our personal choice of whether we want to risk multiples. We did not want to risk multiples so we opted for 1 embryo.
Now to back up a few days. We are to abstain for sex for 5 days before they retrieve my eggs so that they get the max potency of sperm from Tony. Well the doctors have since told Tony that he has "super sperm" and boy is he running with that term...LOL anyway just meaning they are strong, they live long and swim fast. The point of me telling you this is that Tony and I shared a romantic evening 6 days before egg retrieval knowing full well it would be awhile before we could be in that position again. When they retrieved my eggs they retrieved 21 eggs from my right ovary and only 3 from my left. My left ovary was hard to reach, but had just as many mature eggs, however they could not get them all and just left them to expire. In this process 1, 2, 3 who knows how many eggs ovulated on their own from this ovary and there in my uterus just waiting for an egg to fertilize was Tony's sperm! OMG It really couldn't be more meant to be!
I say it is like the perfect storm because:
1. It is rare for a woman to ovulate during an IVF treatment
2. It is unthinkable for me to ovulate AT ALL!
3. It is rare, but has been recorded in textbooks, for sperm to live 6 days waiting for an egg to fertilize.
4. It is rare for an embryo making its home in a uterus to not be jolted, scared, traumatized by another embryo being implanted next to it by a long tube!
These boys really wanted to be here and they were both strong from the start. We love them SO much and even though life is really though right now, we are really blessed to have them. I am amazed when I see their smiley faces everyday. I can't wait for the day when they will understand this story and then argue over who was who :-)
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| Morgan Michael |
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| Riley Michael |
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