As some of you may know, me and Ashley’s journey to expecting our first born was not conventional. We had begun trying in beginning of 2016. After several months of no success, we made the decision to see a fertility specialist which ultimately lead us down the road of IVF or in vitro fertilization. Although we went through the journey to pregnancy together, it was Ashley who took the physical toll of the journey. From numerous out patient procedures, to countless shots and blood tests, to the egg retrieval and embryo transfer, Ashley has been through it all. Below are some photos of our journey, but before that, some words from Ashley....
”Our journey to parenthood has been almost 2 years of doctors visits, tests , meds, blood work, shots (so many shots!) and now here we are - Baby Tanjuakio is coming soon!
The IVF process wasn’t always easy. There were moments when the shots would get to me, and I would just cry from feeling so drained. But I found that keeping a level head, never getting too down or overly positive, and mostly, laughter (seriously me and Paolo had some pretty on point Game of Thrones re-enactments when doing the shots! #redwedding #thelannisterssendtheirregards) were the best ways to get through this experience together.
Now, all the meds, the shots, the tears, the re-enactments were all worth it. Our family is now growing and we can’t wait for our little one to enter our world filled with laughter and a whole lot of love!”
- Ashley
Daily Shots
To prepare for the various steps of the IVF process, Ashley had to take a wide array of different shots and medications. One thing I would do to make the process easier for Ashley was to whisper "The Lannister's send their regards" in her ear before sticking her with the needle. #RooseBolton #RIPRobbStark
Egg Retrieval
Below, Ashley sits in the procedure room recovering from the egg retrieval process. Luckily, we ended up with multiple embryos as a result in case we needed to try multiple times.
Embryo Transfer
Several weeks after the egg retrieval and fertilization, our IVF specialist, Dr. Russell transferred a single embryo into Ashley in hopes of a future pregnancy. Notice, a few photos down... Baby's first photo!!!
Coming soon!
