Cory & Sydney’s Journey to Baby B
Donation protected
With the encouragement of others, Cory and I have decided to open our fertility journey up to those around us and ask for help as we navigate through this season of IVF. Thank you for taking the time to read our story!
Cory and I have been together since 2009 when we met in high school. Since then we’ve always had the dream of becoming parents. In 2016 we married and on the day of our wedding my doctorate program began. I wanted to focus on my schooling while still trying to work full time, so the idea of children was put on hold. A few years went by and Cory and I decided we didn’t want to wait any longer as my schooling was a 4 year program. So beginning of 2019 we started trying to conceive!
Several months went by with no success. We stayed hopeful as we knew sometimes it takes a little while for couples. In October of 2019 we had our first faint pink line! I remember texting a photo to one of my closest friends asking if she saw the line too or if I was just crazy. The excitement set in and I immediately tried to think of a sweet way to tell Cory and wondering how I would hide it from my family as we were leaving for a 2 week trip to Israel that same month. Unfortunately we ended up having an early miscarriage a few days before the trip. I told myself I was lucky that it happened so early and that we would just keep trying.
After a little over a year of trying to conceive on our own we sought help but this was delayed due to COVID. In May of 2020 I went to my OBGYN who started with some testing. Everything checked out and his best guess was that we were struggling because I have endometriosis and wasn’t ovulating very well. We then decided to start fertility treatments with medications to boost my ovulation. With 4 rounds of medications, we still had no success. My doctor felt it was best I see a specialist as we would need more in depth fertility treatments. Our reproductive endocrinologist was very optimistic at first, suggesting we start with medicated rounds of IUI (artificial insemination). Just before we were set to start the first round they completed some more in-depth lab work, one of which can give insight to a woman’s egg reserve (the amount of eggs she has left). My level came back extremely low for someone my age (typically the amount you would see in someone 15 years older) which means I have very little eggs left and our clock is ticking. We tried three rounds of IUI again with no success. During the process we also found out my uterine lining is too thin to hold a viable pregnancy and was placed on even more medications to try and help. Due to my egg reserve we decided to get a second opinion.
The beginning of this year we met with our second RE who we absolutely fell in love with. After a long discussion with him, it was revealed IVF is really our best and possibly only option of having biological children. Once the decision was made things have moved very quickly which we are so very excited about! However, IVF is extremely expensive and not covered by insurance. We have set our goal for fundraising at the cost of our treatment but appreciate any assistance others are able to provide even if it’s just sharing our story or leaving a message of support. It’s been hard for us to ask for help but we have been blown away by the support we have received just by opening up to those around us.
So much love to you all,
Cory and Sydney
Cory and I have been together since 2009 when we met in high school. Since then we’ve always had the dream of becoming parents. In 2016 we married and on the day of our wedding my doctorate program began. I wanted to focus on my schooling while still trying to work full time, so the idea of children was put on hold. A few years went by and Cory and I decided we didn’t want to wait any longer as my schooling was a 4 year program. So beginning of 2019 we started trying to conceive!
Several months went by with no success. We stayed hopeful as we knew sometimes it takes a little while for couples. In October of 2019 we had our first faint pink line! I remember texting a photo to one of my closest friends asking if she saw the line too or if I was just crazy. The excitement set in and I immediately tried to think of a sweet way to tell Cory and wondering how I would hide it from my family as we were leaving for a 2 week trip to Israel that same month. Unfortunately we ended up having an early miscarriage a few days before the trip. I told myself I was lucky that it happened so early and that we would just keep trying.
After a little over a year of trying to conceive on our own we sought help but this was delayed due to COVID. In May of 2020 I went to my OBGYN who started with some testing. Everything checked out and his best guess was that we were struggling because I have endometriosis and wasn’t ovulating very well. We then decided to start fertility treatments with medications to boost my ovulation. With 4 rounds of medications, we still had no success. My doctor felt it was best I see a specialist as we would need more in depth fertility treatments. Our reproductive endocrinologist was very optimistic at first, suggesting we start with medicated rounds of IUI (artificial insemination). Just before we were set to start the first round they completed some more in-depth lab work, one of which can give insight to a woman’s egg reserve (the amount of eggs she has left). My level came back extremely low for someone my age (typically the amount you would see in someone 15 years older) which means I have very little eggs left and our clock is ticking. We tried three rounds of IUI again with no success. During the process we also found out my uterine lining is too thin to hold a viable pregnancy and was placed on even more medications to try and help. Due to my egg reserve we decided to get a second opinion.
The beginning of this year we met with our second RE who we absolutely fell in love with. After a long discussion with him, it was revealed IVF is really our best and possibly only option of having biological children. Once the decision was made things have moved very quickly which we are so very excited about! However, IVF is extremely expensive and not covered by insurance. We have set our goal for fundraising at the cost of our treatment but appreciate any assistance others are able to provide even if it’s just sharing our story or leaving a message of support. It’s been hard for us to ask for help but we have been blown away by the support we have received just by opening up to those around us.
So much love to you all,
Cory and Sydney
Co-organizers (2)
Sydney Brandenburg
Organizer
Tecumseh, KS
Lindsey Kirsop
Co-organizer