FOX43 FOCAL POINT: INFERTILITY -- FOX43’s Lynda Weed is pregnant. Lynda and her husband are expecting a baby boy in October. However, that pregnancy did not come easy for Lynda.
In our FOX43 Focal Point: Infertility, Lynda shares her personal story that includes two sister’s struggling with infertility at the same time. Her story includes miscarriages and regretful secrets.
Lynda and Tom are already raising two young boys. They knew they wanted to add to their family right away, but that didn’t exactly happen as quickly as anticipated
The couple started counting days and used a lot of ovulation tests that claim to predict your most fertile days.
Lynda used the ovulation and pregnancy sticks for about a year and there was still no baby. This is when Lynda and her husband reached out to an infertility specialist.
The specialist checked to make sure her tubes were open, and ran multiple tests. The doctor even checked her husbands sperm. All the tests came back normal. Lynda fell into the unexplained infertility category.
Sandy Hoops is a certified nurse midwife with Woodward and Associates in Hummelstown, Dauphin County.
“Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes they’re stressed. Sometimes it’s low thyroid and they might be normal and just need more medication to help them ovulate.”
She is one of Lynda's current health care specialists and helped her better understand why infertility answers are so open ended.
Medication and an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) is what Lynda needed to get pregnant.
The IUI process involves sperm being placed directly into the uterus while ovulating.
Two week later Lynda and Tom were given amazing news. They were pregnant. But the pregnancy didn't last for long. Five weeks into the pregnancy the doctor said she needed to force a miscarriage.
Losing that pregnancy was devastating for Lynda and Tom. Even worse, she hadn’t told anyone in her family that she was having problems getting pregnant.
Lynda's sister Heather was dealing with similar trials. Heather and her husband Justin spent 1,329 days trying to get pregnant. IUI did not work for heather.
It seemed like IVF wasn’t going to work either. She found out she was pregnant, but it didn't stick.
“It was our first pregnancy and we were so excited. We told our family. It didn’t last and it was really hard.”
Heather leaned on family and her husband to help her through this heartbreaking time, but it wasn’t enough.
“I would be out at the store and I would have to go home because I would start having a panic attack.”
Heather found a support group of other women dealing with the same struggles.
Two failed IVF attempts later and Heather knew she needed something new. She changed fertility doctors and started seeing the team at Shady Grove Fertility in Chesterbrook, Chester County.
The Shady Grove Physicians were able to retrieve Heather’s eggs and create 6 embryos. Five out of six came back normal. At the age of 37 Heather now had 5 more chances to get pregnant.
“We put one in, and we are pregnant. We are finally pregnant!" Heather has a baby girl coming this January.
It did take some time for Lynda to heal emotionally and physically after her miscarriage. Once ready, Lynda and Tom attempted a second IUI treatment. She is pregnant with a baby boy coming in October.
Lynda says her one regret through the entire pregnancy process is suffering in silence
TUESDAY (9/24/2019) ON FOX43 News at 10:00PM
Lynda will break down the difference between IUI and IVF treatments and also tell you about a more natural form of family planning.