My kids will know their story, and I will fight forever to make sure no one else has to go through what I did to get here. And I'm one of the lucky ones.

All of that culminated in a diagnosis that went from unexplained infertility to Immune Infertility of Unknown Origin. That diagnosis is also why we believe both babies were born prematurely due to preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM).

To complete my family & take this picture,it took:
- 1 ectopic
- 1 surgery ruled out endometriosis
- 2 miscarriages
- 2 egg retrievals
- 3 Reproductive Immunologists
- 4 outright failed transfers
- 4 Reproductive Endocrinologists
- 13 transferred embryos
- 33 day 5 frozen embryos
- 55 eggs retrieved

My story is a worst-case IVF story. It took us 4,380 days to hold our first living baby in our arms.

I wouldn't have had this second child without my current employer, who offered coverage. That was even with the more expensive portion already paid and frozen.

When people see me now, they see a tired, older Mom with two kids. A boy and a girl. The "ideal". What they don't see is everything it took to get to this point. The literal blood, sweat, tears, and bags of 💸💸💸.

Mom: did you know you’re smart?
Lizzie: yup!
M: did you know you’re beautiful?
L: yup!
M: did you know you’re brave?
L: yup! So brave, I take my shots.
M: did you know you’re kind?
L: *gets quiet and hides her face in her carseat* Mommy, sometimes, sometimes it’s hard to be kind.

🤣🤣💀