Help the Pearsons start a family!

John and I have been trying to get pregnant for many years. Our first pregnancy loss was in 2017 – we were engaged to be married and more in love than ever. When I found out I was pregnant, we were ecstatic, and it’s something we knew we always wanted. The excitement was short-lived when I woke up with pain on July 11, 2017. I went to work – thinking, “this is normal” – but as the pain continued, I knew something wasn’t right. I went to the ER and found out my pregnancy had not appropriately implanted, and I was bleeding internally. They took me for emergency surgery. We were devastated. We cried. It was physically and emotionally painful. John felt helpless and I felt defeated, but we didn’t give up.

Then came 2018; we were riding on the high of a new marriage and our honeymoon, but months went by, and we weren’t getting pregnant. I went to see my OBGYN, and she recommended we see a fertility specialist. It felt like a punch to the gut. Never in my life did I think I would have difficulty getting pregnant. Heck, all my life, I was always trying to prevent it! Then now, as soon as I was ready, I was let down. We were scared and didn’t know what to expect but we decided to meet with a specialist. She diagnosed us with “unexplained infertility,” which confused us, but there was also relief to find out nothing was physically wrong. She recommended intrauterine insemination (IUI). We tried three times. All three failed. Then COVID hit the world and things came to a halt. We met with the specialist again in March 2020, and she recommended pursuing in-vitro fertilization (IVF). This came as a shock, it seemed extreme because for all we knew, nothing was “wrong” with us. Due to cost and other factors, we put treatments on hold and continued to try naturally.

2020 flew by and we still weren’t pregnant. Then in March 2021, unexpectedly, I found out I was pregnant. John and I were elated but scared. We weren’t sure if we should keep this pregnancy a secret, worried about disappointing family and friends if it didn’t work out. After 2 weeks, it was finally starting to feel real, and we decided to tell our immediate family. On March 9, 2021, I woke up with excruciating pain. It was causing my vision to go black, and I was terrified to say the least when I woke John up frantically. I was hysterical. He tried to calm me down, but there was no calming me down; I knew what this was. I knew this was the end, at least that’s what it felt like. I knew what was next. Not to mention, this came a day after telling family. When we got to the ER, I gave them all the details and that I was 100% certain this was another ectopic pregnancy. They immediately took me back and began hooking me up to monitors and checking my vitals. They told me I was stable, but I would need surgery. We were a mess emotionally. They broke the rules and let my mom come back to see me. Maternal instinct led her to say, “today would have been my Grandma Lottie’s birthday.” She hadn’t known that John and I planned to name our future daughter Lottie. Only we knew that. I was hysterical again. I knew Grandma Lottie was watching over us. My mom left and about 15 minutes went by. John was rubbing my feet as I wept in pain. He noticed that my face turned eerily pale and rushed out to look for a nurse. I looked up at the monitor and my blood pressure was 60/40. Within seconds, a group of staff and nurses rushed in and began attending to me. This was one of the more vivid and scariest moments. In that moment, I knew I was going to die. I had a strange sense of calm come over me, as they worked to try and save my life.

I remember an older nurse, I can’t picture her face anymore, but she came in beside and held my hand. She looked like she was going to cry. I think she knew how close to death I was. I remember lifting my head to find John, fearing this would be the last time I saw him. Through the chaos, he had been unintentionally pushed out of the small room. I found his face, full of fear, and again, helplessness. Along with a surgery, I had an emergency blood transfusion and later found out I lost 2 liters of blood. The recovery was hard and painful, but more than anything, I was grateful to be alive.

It wasn’t long after John and I felt ready to discuss IVF and find out what to do to start our family. We met with a different specialist in early 2022. He assured us we were the perfect candidates, and he was confident that IVF would be successful for us. Unfortunately, IVF is not covered by insurance and the cost is about $20,000. It’s not been easy, but we’ve managed to save about $10,000 and are laying ourselves bare in this story in hopes that others want to help contribute to our dream.

We hope to get several healthy embryos through this IVF procedure and hope to start our family in Spring of 2022. It’s been a long and trying 5 years, but John and I are closer than ever and excited for this new chapter! We have been shown so much love and support over the years and it does not go unnoticed. Any support we get will continue to be valued, whether you can support us financially, emotionally, or by spreading the word. We appreciate your support and we promise to keep you updated on our journey to mother and fatherhood.

Love,

The Pearson’s