Midanaky Fertility Fund
Donation protected
We have struggled with how much of our story we should share since it is so intimate and personal. However, when an unexpected expense for our treatments came up, a friend suggested a fundraiser. We thought about it and decided to share our story in hopes that one day we can look back on all of it, and it will be a distant but prominent memory.
Shahab and I started dating in November 2004, almost 9 years ago! I ask myself everyday why we didn't just have like 10 kids while we were younger, in our early twenties. Well, we know why, because we wanted to finish school first. I know this was a good idea, but now looking back, there are always the what ifs! We got married in November 2010 and waited almost a year before trying to start a family.... which leads us to why we are here:
We are currently undergoing fertility treatments and have been for almost a year now - not to include the year prior to that where we were having issues trying to build our family. In September 2011, I got pregnant for the first time without us even trying - we were excited but scared - never thinking something could go wrong. We told people and bought things, we started talking about names and nursery ideas. We even went to a baby store and looked at cribs and rocking chairs. Little did we know that at our first ultrasound we would see a lagging pregnancy with a slow heartbeat and that we would later lose the heartbeat and the pregnancy all together. It was tough and unexpected, but we were strong and got through it with the help of our friends and family. Everyone, including our doctors, assured us it would be a one time thing and happens all the time unfortunately.
Shortly after the loss, I replied to a job posting for a position at a medical office - had no idea it was for a fertility clinic. I was hired in January 2012 - never thinking I actually had fertility issues. I started working there and we started trying again only to have a very early pregnancy loss that January called a "chemical pregnancy." Now we started to get a little worried, but we kept moving along and tried on our own only with the help of a fertility drug that is taken orally. Wow - I got pregnant again in June 2012, and of course, this had to be it, this had to be THE ONE. No, not this time - this time it was suspected to be an ectopic pregnancy, which is a pregnancy in the Fallopian tube and would also not be a viable pregnancy. We waited several months for everything to resolve, and I had a failed fertility treatment in November 2012. We scheduled surgery to evaluate me for endometriosis in January 2013. I had the surgery, the doctor told Shahab when he came out, "It was everywhere! - but I got it all." I was happy to be rid of that stuff and the yucky symptoms that go along with it. Although you are never really "rid" of endometriosis, sadly.
I had a few weeks to recover, and we jumped right back into treatment. We had a successful IUI -intrauterine insemination -and knew THIS had to be it. This had to be THE ONE. The blood work numbers looked good, and we started going to our ultrasounds, only to find out with each painful week that things were lagging yet again. We had a heartbeat, but it was yet again slow and not looking good. Once you have a heartbeat, you are supposed to be okay! That is what I hear anyway, not so much with us. It was another loss at 9weeks of pregnancy. This time we wanted answers, and we had testing done to find out what caused the miscarriage. It was a baby girl with a genetic duplication that resulted in the pregnancy not being viable. This was number 4, and we are getting tired! It took a while for my body to heal from the loss, and we needed a little time to heal too. We decided to try this IUI thing ONE LAST TIME, and to my surprise, it worked again! However, it would not last long, and we had another very early loss.
So now to why we are doing the fundraiser - we decided we would dive in and give IVF a go. Although regular IVF would not give us a better chance really because we were already getting pregnant - that clearly wasn't the issue! We are doing IVF with genetic testing to try to get our take home baby. It comes along with all the usual things that IVF comes along with, injections, ultrasounds, blood work, paperwork, egg retrievals and so on - it also isn't cheap. We have been very fortunate and blessed throughout this process by my wonderful co-workers and the doctors at my practice. They have been there with us through it all, and it has been amazing to have them on my team. We just need a little help getting through all these medical bills and expenses! Our friend, Jessica, suggested a fundraiser yard sale, which we are putting together - I just wanted to make this website to get our story out there and ask for the help of our friends and family to help us get our take home baby!
We appreciate everyone that has been along on this journey with us and those that will now follow us on our journey. We have the best friends and family anyone could ask for, and we are determined to build our family and make this miscarriage stuff a thing of the past.
Love,
Shahab & Robyn
Shahab and I started dating in November 2004, almost 9 years ago! I ask myself everyday why we didn't just have like 10 kids while we were younger, in our early twenties. Well, we know why, because we wanted to finish school first. I know this was a good idea, but now looking back, there are always the what ifs! We got married in November 2010 and waited almost a year before trying to start a family.... which leads us to why we are here:
We are currently undergoing fertility treatments and have been for almost a year now - not to include the year prior to that where we were having issues trying to build our family. In September 2011, I got pregnant for the first time without us even trying - we were excited but scared - never thinking something could go wrong. We told people and bought things, we started talking about names and nursery ideas. We even went to a baby store and looked at cribs and rocking chairs. Little did we know that at our first ultrasound we would see a lagging pregnancy with a slow heartbeat and that we would later lose the heartbeat and the pregnancy all together. It was tough and unexpected, but we were strong and got through it with the help of our friends and family. Everyone, including our doctors, assured us it would be a one time thing and happens all the time unfortunately.
Shortly after the loss, I replied to a job posting for a position at a medical office - had no idea it was for a fertility clinic. I was hired in January 2012 - never thinking I actually had fertility issues. I started working there and we started trying again only to have a very early pregnancy loss that January called a "chemical pregnancy." Now we started to get a little worried, but we kept moving along and tried on our own only with the help of a fertility drug that is taken orally. Wow - I got pregnant again in June 2012, and of course, this had to be it, this had to be THE ONE. No, not this time - this time it was suspected to be an ectopic pregnancy, which is a pregnancy in the Fallopian tube and would also not be a viable pregnancy. We waited several months for everything to resolve, and I had a failed fertility treatment in November 2012. We scheduled surgery to evaluate me for endometriosis in January 2013. I had the surgery, the doctor told Shahab when he came out, "It was everywhere! - but I got it all." I was happy to be rid of that stuff and the yucky symptoms that go along with it. Although you are never really "rid" of endometriosis, sadly.
I had a few weeks to recover, and we jumped right back into treatment. We had a successful IUI -intrauterine insemination -and knew THIS had to be it. This had to be THE ONE. The blood work numbers looked good, and we started going to our ultrasounds, only to find out with each painful week that things were lagging yet again. We had a heartbeat, but it was yet again slow and not looking good. Once you have a heartbeat, you are supposed to be okay! That is what I hear anyway, not so much with us. It was another loss at 9weeks of pregnancy. This time we wanted answers, and we had testing done to find out what caused the miscarriage. It was a baby girl with a genetic duplication that resulted in the pregnancy not being viable. This was number 4, and we are getting tired! It took a while for my body to heal from the loss, and we needed a little time to heal too. We decided to try this IUI thing ONE LAST TIME, and to my surprise, it worked again! However, it would not last long, and we had another very early loss.
So now to why we are doing the fundraiser - we decided we would dive in and give IVF a go. Although regular IVF would not give us a better chance really because we were already getting pregnant - that clearly wasn't the issue! We are doing IVF with genetic testing to try to get our take home baby. It comes along with all the usual things that IVF comes along with, injections, ultrasounds, blood work, paperwork, egg retrievals and so on - it also isn't cheap. We have been very fortunate and blessed throughout this process by my wonderful co-workers and the doctors at my practice. They have been there with us through it all, and it has been amazing to have them on my team. We just need a little help getting through all these medical bills and expenses! Our friend, Jessica, suggested a fundraiser yard sale, which we are putting together - I just wanted to make this website to get our story out there and ask for the help of our friends and family to help us get our take home baby!
We appreciate everyone that has been along on this journey with us and those that will now follow us on our journey. We have the best friends and family anyone could ask for, and we are determined to build our family and make this miscarriage stuff a thing of the past.
Love,
Shahab & Robyn
Organizer
Robyn Midanaky
Organizer
Acworth, GA
