“A Mother’s Day Transfer”
The Boyle family and their little miracles, Anna and Oliver; Osprey, FL

I believe in intuition. As I get older and slow down a little, I am beginning to notice the messages relayed to me from a higher place. They may appear in the form of a cardinal nesting in a palm tree in front of our dining room window, giving life to three chicks, or a Chinese fortune cookie prophesizing a “smooth long journey and great expectations.” Get It? Expectations…

I tend to give more credence to these signs in times of desperate need or anxious anticipation such as during the spring of 2006. My husband and I decided to try for our second child. We had already been blessed with a healthy, sweet girl, a result of in vitro fertilization. Prior to that, we had tried for four years to become pregnant and endured a miscarriage and several failed attempts. I was at the point that I wouldn’t go to social events just in case there might be a woman of childbearing age present, let alone pregnant. Then in August, 2004, thanks to Dr. Yeko and his team, our wish was granted and Sofia was born. So to want a second child, would that be asking for too much?

In April, 2006, we embarked on our second IVF cycle. Everything went smoothly until stimulation day 7, when we were informed that my ovaries were not responding to the drugs, BRAVELLE and MENOPUR, as well as expected. The follicles were not growing at the proper rate and my estradiol levels were not increasing as they should have. The nurse mentioned we might want to consider turning this into an IUI (intrauterine insemination) cycle. That was out of the question as the very problem I have is with my fallopian tubes.

I also believe in science. At this time, science was all we had. Ultimately, Dr. Yeko decided to extend my stimulation by a day and prescribe additional BRAVELLE and MENOPUR to see if maybe, just maybe, that would do the trick. The drugs would either perform a miracle, or this attempt would fail. The following day, when I answered the nurse’s phone call, I could hear in her voice a renewed hope and excitement. My body responded to the additional medication! My estradiol number was climbing at an encouraging rate! We went for another day and more drugs, and finally, we got eleven promising follicles and an equally assuring estradiol level. We were ready for the egg harvest.

In response to BRAVELLE and MENOPUR, Dr. Yeko was able to harvest eleven eggs, of which ten fertilized. They were all grade 1 and grade 2 pre-embryos (grade 1 being the best). We were ecstatic! On May 13, 2006, we underwent a day-five transfer because we had so many great quality embryos to choose from.

Then came the dreaded two-week wait. Did I just feel a little dizzy? Is dizziness a sign? I have a nosebleed. What could that mean? I am a bit queasy. Or was I just imagining it? I must have because I haven’t had a symptom in two days. But to what do I attribute the heat waves or the heaviness I feel in my pelvis? Could we be pregnant? No, they are just side effects of the progesterone my husband injects in me dutifully every night. Two weeks of this until on May 25, 2006, we went in for the blood test. I asked the nurse to call my husband, who would then call me. That’s how we did it when we found out we were pregnant with Sofia. It worked then. A few more hours and we’ll know.

Not only were we pregnant, we had conceived twins! And despite the high risk that twin pregnancies are known for, I had a full-term, easy, wonderful nine months with Baby A and Baby B in my belly. As my tummy grew, two year old Sofia became more involved with her little sister and brother on the way. Now they had names: Anna and Oliver, and they became part of our family’s bedtime prayer. On January 19, 2007, we finally met them for the first time. They were pink and healthy and loud!

Science in the form of BRAVELLE and MENOPUR came to our aid and helped make our family whole. A sense of gratitude and tranquility has since been part of our everyday life. Sofia, Anna and Oliver have reunited our families, who came to spend time with us from my native country of Hungary. They have helped bridge the gap between mother and daughter, and have given a new purpose to their great-grandmother. Our babies have given my cousin, suffering from cancer, courage to fight and have filled her spirit at this time in her life. They have generated more love than we ever thought was possible. And we thank science for that. Did I mention we had our embryo transfer on Mother’s Day? Another quiet sign whispered to us from up above.