Tandem Effort

Hannah was 34 when she married Jared. A year later, they tried for 6 months to get pregnant, without success. For a younger woman, six months is not a very long time to be trying. For Hannah, though, she felt her biological clock was ticking.

"Ordinarily, my primary care doctor would not have been too concerned. However, since my mother had a history of miscarriages and still births, he sent me to MGH to make sure that hormonally, nothing genetic had been passed along to me. I had a complete work-up, and the good news was that there weren't any genetic problems with my conceiving. So, I was sent to the MGH Fertility Center."

Hannah and Jared thus had begun on a journey that would take over two years to complete.

"My doctor explained the various stages which, because of insurance mandates, we'd have to go through before we could try IVF. For the next 12 months, I had four intrauterine inseminations and four intracervical inseminations. All eight trials were unsuccessful. After a laparoscopy to rule out polyps or endometriosis, I began the in vitro fertilization procedure."

What followed next from February 5 - 21, was a series of medications, some given orally, some intra-muscular, some given subcutaneously. Hannah diligently kept a daily diary as timing of the drugs was crucial. Jared and she attended education classes together with other couples who were undergoing the same procedure. Jared played a critical ongoing role as he learned how to administer the shots, which he was responsible for giving her at home.

"We first had to make my body suppress the surge of the egg cycle so we could regulate my menstrual period. Then, I had to take medications that would stimulate my ovaries to produce eggs. During this time, I was going to the MGH Fertility Center every other day to be monitored very, very closely. I'd have blood work done and an external ultrasound. It was hard getting up at the crack of dawn to get to MGH for the quick appointment, but the staff was there at 8:30am so that the patients could get in and out early and then be able to go to work. At the right time, I then took medication to cause the release of my eggs and then we timed it to the exact half-hour when I had to go to MGH for the egg retrieval. Three days after the eggs were fertilized in the lab, they were transferred to my uterus. We waited then for two weeks. This first cycle did not take; I was not pregnant."

When and if a couple tries IVF again is an extremely personal decision. Hannah chose to be aggressive, waited a month and tried again. This time, however, my doctor determined that her body wasn't responding as well as it could to the medication, and advised her that it wouldn't be right to continue. Trusting in him, she and Jared decided not to go on with the complete cycle. Two months later, they decided to try again.

"This time, I responded well to the medications and my eggs were retrieved on my husband's birthday. What was different this time, was that after my eggs were retrieved, an extremely delicate procedure - assisted hatching - was performed which helps the embryo attach to the uterine wall. MGH is a teaching hospital and focuses on what is best for the patient and keeps doing things for to further the IVF process. For example, in my case, my doctor, who did the embryo transfer, used a new, extremely thin catheter which was more flexible and allowed for better flow. The staff also recommended, which I understand is not typical, that I have complete bed rest for three days. I followed their advice, getting up only to go to the bathroom. This time, success: I was pregnant with Elaine, who, today, is the most beautiful, healthy, happy baby.

"It took 10 tries to get Elaine, and, to be honest, I'm not sure Jared and I could have gone on without the support of the MGH Fertility Center IVF staff. They really got to know us. We did look at other places before coming to MGH but got the impression that we'd be treated as a number. But, at MGH we felt would be treated as people - and we were right. To give you an example, I have a habit of laughing uncontrollably when I'm nervous. Then, in an instant, that laughter turns to tears. Whenever I'd have an ultrasound, I'd start laughing. It got so that one of the nurses, would just automatically hand me a box of tissues when I walked in, she got to know me so well. We trusted all the doctors and the staff and counted on them for information. No one was ever too busy to answer our questions and they were thoughtful about their answers. Jared and I felt we were indeed educated consumers. Because we were so impressed by the care given by the IVF staff, we choose to deliver our baby at MGH and even Elaine's pediatrician is here.

"Support is so important because trying to get pregnant can rip marriages apart. Jared and I decided right up front that we would be open and honest with each other when something was bothering us. It wasn't just me going through these procedures, even though I was the one taking the medications. Jared was with me every step of the way and he was the one who gave me all my shots. It bothered him to see what I was going through. He was my best friend and we just trusted each other. We tried not to make getting pregnant the focus of our lives. We kept up with other things we'd liked - mountain biking, jogging with our dogs.

"Jared and I want more children. We have already met with the MGH Fertility Center staff again, and since I'm older, we need to do some tests first to see if my ovaries are still producing. We had sent him a card at Christmas with a picture of the three of us and our dogs. Instead of throwing the card away after reading it, he actually saved it and had clipped it to our file. He really does care."