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Our IVF & infertility story so far..
Hey, we are Paige and Shaun.
We've been trying to start our family now for nearly 2.5 years. When I (Paige) was around 19, I had to have emergency surgery on my fallopian tubes for ruptured cysts. Thankfully, they didn't have to remove either of them, but since then, I have always struggled with ovarian cysts.
Around 12 months after trying to conceive, I spoke to my gynecologist, and she recommended we get an HSG to see if my tubes were blocked again. Thankfully, they weren't, but they did see some growths on my uterus, so I was referred to an infertility specialist. My gynecologist also did an MRI, which diagnosed me with adenomyosis, and my gynecologist thinks I have endometriosis too from an ultrasound.
I went to see the infertility specialist, who recommended a saline sonogram, which confirmed I had some growths in my uterus, so I was booked in for a hysteroscopy surgery with sedation. They removed what they thought were polyps (they weren't), and we had our consultation to start IVF.
In August 2024, we started our first IVF cycle. I honestly expected the first cycle to be successful, but unfortunately, my transfer failed. I was also admitted to the hospital with breast cellulitis and then readmitted for C. diff a few days later. We have to take a break from IVF to recover.
In Jan 2025, I did my second egg retrieval, which ended with 0 embryos . This was truly heartbreaking.
In Feb 2025, I did my third egg retrieval, where we got 1 PGT-tested embryo. I also have a low egg reserve, so my infertility doctor recommended we bank a few embryos before it's too late. They say 3 PGT-tested embryos give you a 95% chance at a live birth.
In March 2025, we did our 4th egg retrieval, where we got the most eggs we've ever gotten but still only ended with 1 PGT-tested embryo. I was also rushed to the hospital the same day, which turned out to be internal bleeding—truly the scariest few days of my life, and I'm very grateful to be recovering.
IVF is not only mentally & physically hard but it's very, very expensive. We've spent between $40-50K on IVF so far and still don't have our miracle. We unfortunately had to take out of our house fund to fund IVF so far, so we are trying to raise money to help take the stress away so we can hopefully have our miracle baby & home.
Any support is appreciated so, so much! You can also follow our journey on TikTok @paigelouisexx_
Thank you for being here with us and all of the support
Organizer
Paige Smith
Organizer
Middle River, MD