Sometimes the Lord brings us to a path we never thought we would ever walk down …

Some of you may know my cancer journey, and some of you may not. But what many of you may NOT know is that my fertility journey began long before I found the breast cancer. It was 2019 and I was ready to have a baby. The discussions with my OBGYN were had, the perfect fertility doctor was found, and the steps were taken (and when I say “perfect”, I really mean it - huge shout out to Dr. Montville!).

Then 2020 hit and I was reading horror stories about women having babies on their own during covid. So I hit pause. Then in the summer of 2022 I felt the Lord telling me to go for it. So in January of 2023 I officially started IUI (think turkey baster - let’s just let the body do what it naturally does) … January - negative pregnancy text. February - negative pregnancy test. March - another negative pregnancy test and I was down to one more vial from my sperm donor. Dr. Montville and I decided that we’d try IUI one more time and if it didn’t work I’d move on to IVF.

April 2023. I was in Dr. Montville’s office for routine prep of the IUI and I had noticed a small lump on my left breast and asked if the fertility drugs might have anything to do with it. They immediately said no and that I should get it checked out … enter panic. It was checked. It was tested and on May 4, 2023 I found out it was breast cancer.

So 2023 turned in to my cancer fight rather than a baby journey. The fight was fought. The recovery was intense. But I finally got to a state where my body “came back online”, as I call it. All my doctor’s signed off and I was ready to get back on the baby train. Before I started chemo in June 2023, I retrieved eggs and made embryos with the last vial of sperm donor I had. So I’ve had embryos on ice since June of 2023 and in February of this year, Dr. Montville and I went for it. And on the first try it took.

The embryo transfer took place on February 4th, and on February 14th I got the message from Dr. Montville’s office … I was pregnant - happy Valentine’s Day to me! Enter praise, joy, and overwhelming gratitude!

So here we are! Baby Girl is coming along beautifully and I can’t wait to meet her in October. Her official due date is October 23rd … and if you’re wondering her name or her initials, you’ll just have to wait and see until she’s here.