Being a mother was a concept I had never questioned. I was waiting and patiently planning for it; getting married, pursuing my master’s degree, starting my career, all safe in the knowledge that we would bring a baby into our lives when everything else was relatively settled. When I went off birth control in the spring of 2013 I had no reason to believe I would have any issue getting pregnant. I had been on the pill for most of my adult life, and therefore didn’t anticipate anything other than the steady, regular cycle I’d always known. By the fall, I knew something was wrong. That November, my family practitioner introduced me to the diagnosis of Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. My shock and grief consumed me. I was overwhelmed by the unpredictability of PCOS, and how varied the outcomes were depending on the woman. My husband and I decided to get through the holidays, and pursue treatment through a reproductive endocrinologist in the new year.
My sadness and loss of hope only increased in the intervening days. And then we had our first appointment with Dr. Mersol-Barg. We never could have anticipated the kind of care we would receive from everyone in that office: the thoroughness, the empathy, the investment of time, the desire to help, and the enduring certainty that all would be well and we could get to our goal as a team. These were things we cherished about working with Michigan Reproductive Medicine. We felt like our desire to have a child was shared by every person in the office. Meeting with Dr. Mersol-Barg we received a thorough and understandable education on my diagnosis, and a clear plan for how we could move forward. Rather than feeling hopeless, I felt tentative excitement. In the months that followed I was in and out of the office following a comprehensive, personalized, manageable treatment plan, all preparing my body for our first medicated cycle in the summer of 2014. What an indescribable and truly unexpected joy to celebrate a positive pregnancy test just two weeks later! I was guided through the early weeks of pregnancy with the same tender care and genuine shared happiness that had been a marker of all our experiences in the office, and then we moved on to our OB-GYN with bittersweet emotions.
Over a year later we brought our precious daughter, Penelope, in to meet the doctor and his wonderful staff. We snuggled and kissed her in the same waiting room where we had prayed and hoped so many months before. We watched her smile and babble to the very people who had tenderly ensured her existence in this world. We shared our greatest joy with some of the people who could understand it best, because they had guided us there. If you are looking for a team to treat you like their number one priority, if you want to work towards parenthood with a group of individuals who truly share your goals, in the peaceful, relaxing environment of a beautiful facility, then this is the place for you. If you are aching to be a mother, I know your pain. I know the confusing fluctuations of hope and fear and loss. Looking back, I cannot imagine having gone through this experience without the emotional and physical support we received at Michigan Reproductive Medicine.
Christina, Michael, and baby Penelope
