IVF Journey to Baby Smith
Donation protected
We've never shared our personal story this publically before. Wow, this is hard, but here we go...
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katherine Smith and my amazing husband is Brandon. Once we met, we knew it was going to be something special; there was just something between us.
We got married September of 2013 and I instantly became a mother, but not in the traditional sense of the word. I became a step-mother, and we are now raising two beautiful little girls alongside their biological mother and step-father. 
I love those girls more than they will ever know, but Brandon and I knew we wanted one of our own, together, to add to our family. We decided to start trying right away, and come December, we were pregnant! Oh my, I cannot put into words how excited we were! We told our parents, and the girls, because we were pregnant with a little baby and nothing would ever go wrong. Our little peanut was due September 7th, 2014 but instead of remembering just one date, their birth date, we now remember January 26th, 2014. I went to work, like any other day. I took a restroom break, around lunch time, and there was blood. I started shaking and denying it, checking checking checking. But, it wasn't going away. Frantically, I called Brandon, then my ObGYN, rushed to her office where she confirmed I was in active miscarriage. Eight weeks, eight weeks our first child was with us. It's supposed to be a lifetime. But, man oh man, that little one was so loved, and losing them broke our hearts to the point where I can't put it into words. The miscarriage went "normally", "naturally", and there we were, not pregnant. We were advised to wait a cycle, so we did. We tried again and BAM! We're pregnant, again! We, once again, told our parents and the girls since we had an 80% chance of carrying our baby to full-term after the miscarriage. Brandon was crying, I was crying, we just couldn't contain our emotions at the two pink lines. Our little pumpkin was our rainbow baby, our miracle. I'm a cautious person and can be a worry-wart a times, so I tried to contain my excitement until we were out of our first trimester, but to tell you the truth, I was the happiest person alive at that moment. Once we hit the 9 week mark we let out a sigh of relief, it felt as if this were it, we were going to make it to their birthday (January 21)! Research on strollers, car seats, bottles, cribs, etc began. We even started a little collection of neutral onesies and baby blankets to add to the few that we had bought for Peanut. It was Sunday, June 29th, 2014, and the girl's mother and step-father wanted to take them to Six Flags, so we met up with them, dropped them off, and we had an afternoon to ourselves. All we talked about was our little miracle, our child...(Side-note: I'm actually surprised I'm not scared of public restrooms, since two of the worst moments of my life started in them)... During this afternoon to ourselves, I natrually, had to use the restoom, and there it was, the color red. My whole world collapsed around me as I fell to the floor. Barely being able to see through the tears I ran to find Brandon, he embraced me and assured me everything was going to be ok, that spotting can be normal in early pregnancy, and that we will go to the hospital just to be sure. After the ultrasound we were taken into a room to wait for the doctor on duty to come talk to us. He came in, and just by the look on his face we knew what was coming. I will never forget the words that came next, "I'm sorry, but there isn't a heartbeat."
Fast forward 3 years, countless blood tests, tears, fights, ObGYN appointments, urologist appointments, ultrasounds, praying, failed IUIs (intrauterine insemination), low steroidal fertility medication, and here we are, unexplained infertility. We have exhausted every other means of getting our child, and now, more doctors than I can count, have confirmed that our only option is IVF (in-vitro fertilization). We have been saving as much as we can, but the costs of trying to conceive again have added up, putting me back through school, and providing for the two little girls. One cycle of IVF will cost $14,700 and my medications will be between $2,000 and $5,000. It is extremely difficult to ask for help, but we want to be able to hold our child in our arms; I am a mother who has never been able to see her children, hug them, kiss them, or even tell them I love them. We are reaching out to you all, and want to say thank you. Thank you for allowing us to share our story, and for taking the time out of your day for us.
Love,
Brandon, Katherine, and, of course, the girls :)

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katherine Smith and my amazing husband is Brandon. Once we met, we knew it was going to be something special; there was just something between us.
We got married September of 2013 and I instantly became a mother, but not in the traditional sense of the word. I became a step-mother, and we are now raising two beautiful little girls alongside their biological mother and step-father. I love those girls more than they will ever know, but Brandon and I knew we wanted one of our own, together, to add to our family. We decided to start trying right away, and come December, we were pregnant! Oh my, I cannot put into words how excited we were! We told our parents, and the girls, because we were pregnant with a little baby and nothing would ever go wrong. Our little peanut was due September 7th, 2014 but instead of remembering just one date, their birth date, we now remember January 26th, 2014. I went to work, like any other day. I took a restroom break, around lunch time, and there was blood. I started shaking and denying it, checking checking checking. But, it wasn't going away. Frantically, I called Brandon, then my ObGYN, rushed to her office where she confirmed I was in active miscarriage. Eight weeks, eight weeks our first child was with us. It's supposed to be a lifetime. But, man oh man, that little one was so loved, and losing them broke our hearts to the point where I can't put it into words. The miscarriage went "normally", "naturally", and there we were, not pregnant. We were advised to wait a cycle, so we did. We tried again and BAM! We're pregnant, again! We, once again, told our parents and the girls since we had an 80% chance of carrying our baby to full-term after the miscarriage. Brandon was crying, I was crying, we just couldn't contain our emotions at the two pink lines. Our little pumpkin was our rainbow baby, our miracle. I'm a cautious person and can be a worry-wart a times, so I tried to contain my excitement until we were out of our first trimester, but to tell you the truth, I was the happiest person alive at that moment. Once we hit the 9 week mark we let out a sigh of relief, it felt as if this were it, we were going to make it to their birthday (January 21)! Research on strollers, car seats, bottles, cribs, etc began. We even started a little collection of neutral onesies and baby blankets to add to the few that we had bought for Peanut. It was Sunday, June 29th, 2014, and the girl's mother and step-father wanted to take them to Six Flags, so we met up with them, dropped them off, and we had an afternoon to ourselves. All we talked about was our little miracle, our child...(Side-note: I'm actually surprised I'm not scared of public restrooms, since two of the worst moments of my life started in them)... During this afternoon to ourselves, I natrually, had to use the restoom, and there it was, the color red. My whole world collapsed around me as I fell to the floor. Barely being able to see through the tears I ran to find Brandon, he embraced me and assured me everything was going to be ok, that spotting can be normal in early pregnancy, and that we will go to the hospital just to be sure. After the ultrasound we were taken into a room to wait for the doctor on duty to come talk to us. He came in, and just by the look on his face we knew what was coming. I will never forget the words that came next, "I'm sorry, but there isn't a heartbeat." Fast forward 3 years, countless blood tests, tears, fights, ObGYN appointments, urologist appointments, ultrasounds, praying, failed IUIs (intrauterine insemination), low steroidal fertility medication, and here we are, unexplained infertility. We have exhausted every other means of getting our child, and now, more doctors than I can count, have confirmed that our only option is IVF (in-vitro fertilization). We have been saving as much as we can, but the costs of trying to conceive again have added up, putting me back through school, and providing for the two little girls. One cycle of IVF will cost $14,700 and my medications will be between $2,000 and $5,000. It is extremely difficult to ask for help, but we want to be able to hold our child in our arms; I am a mother who has never been able to see her children, hug them, kiss them, or even tell them I love them. We are reaching out to you all, and want to say thank you. Thank you for allowing us to share our story, and for taking the time out of your day for us.
Love,
Brandon, Katherine, and, of course, the girls :)
Organizer
Katherine Foster Smith
Organizer
Missouri, MO
