Doug and Whitney's IVF Journey
Donation protected
We struggled with this idea for a long time thinking that it would appear selfish and embarrassing to ask for help, but it has become a lot and we need to reach out.
I met Doug 6 years ago. I knew early on that he was the one for me and that we were meant for each other. We balanced each other out and just clicked,
I knew he had Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when we initially met. He was brave enough to tell me what he had and what it meant, hoping that I wouldn't flee. He told me all about the disease and informed me that if we ever wanted a family, IVF would be our only option. I loved him enough that I didn't care about either of these things. I just knew I wanted to be his wife and that he was worth it no matter how hard our life might become with his illness or anything else that may try and stand in our way.
Fast forward to last summer when baby fever finally hit us. We started noticing families at the beach and imagining building Sandcastles and riding boogies boards with our own little ones. We desperately wanted to start a family of our own. I was tested for CF and was not a carrier, so I knew we would be able to have our own biological children. This meant a lot to me because I always wanted to see Doug in our child. If CF does eventually take Doug away from me, I know that I'll be able to look at my child and see a piece of him. For the record, CF sucks. I hate it.
We started our journey last August and began a fresh cycle of IVF by February. On paper we looked like a great couple to have the procedure. I'm young with no pre-existing issues for fertility and with the help of a medical procedure, Doug held up his end of the baby making journey just fine. Naturally we got very excited and had very high hopes that this would be our time. We started thinking of names (that be both agreed on) and envisioned a nursery for our little peanut.
IVF itself is very painful and stressful. It takes a toll financially, physically, and emotionally. Our first cycle ended in absolute heartbreak. After two months of hormone injections, procedures, blood draws, stress, two hours trips to Pittsburgh for each appointment, waiting and praying, my first pregnancy test came back negative. With that one round we lost two potential babies.
But we picked ourselves up, dished out another massive amount of cash and tried again. This time we had 1 of 2 successfully turn into a pregnancy. I carried our baby 8 weeks when we found that his/her heart had stopped beating and miscarriage was to follow.
We have cried about a lot of things in our relationship. Cystic fibrosis is enough of a test of strength for a person/couple. But we've never cried this hard or felt so empty. We are still devastated but we refuse to lose hope and give up.
I bought a onesie from a consignment shop for something to hang onto throughout the endless injections and procedures to make our baby. It has little animals all over it and is washed and ready. I needed to see and hold that one item to believe it would happen and become real.
We need that onsie to make it to our baby.
This next cycle will cost around 18,000$, and the last one cost even more. My husband is a teacher and I am not yet done with school. When I am finally out, I will have a jaw dropping amount of money due in student loans. We plan on beginning the process in the middle of summer.
My family has been a blessing in helping with costs but it's just so much.
We intend to test all of our embryos to try and avoid miscarriage (an added expense) and are switching up our medical routine and giving this round everything we have with the help of Reproductive health specialists in Penn hills. They are incredible.
Anything donated would mean everything to us. We are so ready for our family. We promise to post endless baby pictures for everyone to see when our day finally comes.
We fully understand that many people have problems of their own and may not be able to give anything. That is completely okay. Even some words of encouragement would be great. We debated this process and are still feeling a bit of unease at the idea, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to ask.
Please note that although this is written from my POV (Whitney), Doug is clearly going to be involved in monitoring the GoFundMe. In fact, he edited this post to make sure it was okay.
I met Doug 6 years ago. I knew early on that he was the one for me and that we were meant for each other. We balanced each other out and just clicked,
I knew he had Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when we initially met. He was brave enough to tell me what he had and what it meant, hoping that I wouldn't flee. He told me all about the disease and informed me that if we ever wanted a family, IVF would be our only option. I loved him enough that I didn't care about either of these things. I just knew I wanted to be his wife and that he was worth it no matter how hard our life might become with his illness or anything else that may try and stand in our way.
Fast forward to last summer when baby fever finally hit us. We started noticing families at the beach and imagining building Sandcastles and riding boogies boards with our own little ones. We desperately wanted to start a family of our own. I was tested for CF and was not a carrier, so I knew we would be able to have our own biological children. This meant a lot to me because I always wanted to see Doug in our child. If CF does eventually take Doug away from me, I know that I'll be able to look at my child and see a piece of him. For the record, CF sucks. I hate it.
We started our journey last August and began a fresh cycle of IVF by February. On paper we looked like a great couple to have the procedure. I'm young with no pre-existing issues for fertility and with the help of a medical procedure, Doug held up his end of the baby making journey just fine. Naturally we got very excited and had very high hopes that this would be our time. We started thinking of names (that be both agreed on) and envisioned a nursery for our little peanut.
IVF itself is very painful and stressful. It takes a toll financially, physically, and emotionally. Our first cycle ended in absolute heartbreak. After two months of hormone injections, procedures, blood draws, stress, two hours trips to Pittsburgh for each appointment, waiting and praying, my first pregnancy test came back negative. With that one round we lost two potential babies.
But we picked ourselves up, dished out another massive amount of cash and tried again. This time we had 1 of 2 successfully turn into a pregnancy. I carried our baby 8 weeks when we found that his/her heart had stopped beating and miscarriage was to follow.
We have cried about a lot of things in our relationship. Cystic fibrosis is enough of a test of strength for a person/couple. But we've never cried this hard or felt so empty. We are still devastated but we refuse to lose hope and give up.
I bought a onesie from a consignment shop for something to hang onto throughout the endless injections and procedures to make our baby. It has little animals all over it and is washed and ready. I needed to see and hold that one item to believe it would happen and become real.
We need that onsie to make it to our baby.
This next cycle will cost around 18,000$, and the last one cost even more. My husband is a teacher and I am not yet done with school. When I am finally out, I will have a jaw dropping amount of money due in student loans. We plan on beginning the process in the middle of summer.
My family has been a blessing in helping with costs but it's just so much.
We intend to test all of our embryos to try and avoid miscarriage (an added expense) and are switching up our medical routine and giving this round everything we have with the help of Reproductive health specialists in Penn hills. They are incredible.
Anything donated would mean everything to us. We are so ready for our family. We promise to post endless baby pictures for everyone to see when our day finally comes.
We fully understand that many people have problems of their own and may not be able to give anything. That is completely okay. Even some words of encouragement would be great. We debated this process and are still feeling a bit of unease at the idea, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to ask.
Please note that although this is written from my POV (Whitney), Doug is clearly going to be involved in monitoring the GoFundMe. In fact, he edited this post to make sure it was okay.
Organizer
Whitney Lynne Simmons
Organizer
Altoona, PA
