‘We are very lucky.’ Heather and Luke’s journey through IVF was ‘text book’

Heather tells their story:

Luke and I grew up together. We were 19 and 21 when we bought our first house and then we got married three years later. 

We got busy, moving house, doing up our new home and having fun. Trying for a baby was always there but it didn’t happen. We thought, there’s nothing wrong, we’re fine and we’ve got a lovely life. But I was starting to go into a bit of a darker place with trying to conceive. All my friends were having babies and I was more than ready. It just wasn’t going the way we thought it would.

We had some investigations and our fertility issues were unexplained. In a way, having no reason was frustrating but also reassuring.

So, we bit the bullet and went through with the referrals and chose to have our treatment at Oxford Fertility.

We were really lucky – the whole IVF process was text book. I had all the medication delivered to my house, then we got going. I had a very boring health history and had never been in hospital, thankfully, so the prospect of being sedated for the egg retrieval felt a bit daunting. But going into the clinic on the day was actually a lovely experience.

Everyone was very positive and the ladies were so comforting and supportive. Before I knew it, I was waking up and having a cup of tea in an Oxford Fertility mug. There’s a photo of me holding the mug, half asleep.

We got twelve eggs. Nine were fertilised and six made it to day five.

The transfer was like a smear test but, actually, it was a really emotional experience. The clinicians got the embryo from the lab and they said they couldn’t choose which one to transfer as they were all so good. I thought, wow, you are choosing who we are going to have. We were in and out quickly then we stood in the car park, looked at each other and both burst into tears. On the drive home, I said, we’ve got extra luggage - there is someone else in the car!

I took some time off work, as I had a stressful job and wanted to give myself the best chance. We only had one cycle being funded by the NHS, so I wanted to pull out all the stops.

We took the test on day nine, sat in our bathroom. We got the faint positive and it got darker and darker. It felt surreal. I never pictured it actually happening for us but everything worked so well and we felt so lucky.

The birth ended in an emergency C-section, as I wasn’t dilating and Beau was becoming distressed. Afterwards, the consultant told me that my placenta stopped working sufficiently in the run up to the birth, and Beau hadn’t been getting quite enough oxygen and fluid while I was in labour. We could have been in trouble but it all worked out well.

When I had Finn, also through IVF, I was booked in for an elective C-section. I couldn’t have a natural birth due to some extra incisions that were made during my first C-section.

As with the first round, our treatment to have Finn was very straightforward. So now I’ve got two boys, four years apart. Beau is five in June and Finn is one. There’s only ten days between their birthdays.

We have such a lovely life. We have two beautiful boys and my days revolve around school runs, baby classes and nap times. I love it.

Beau loves football and anything active. He is an outgoing, confident little boy. He’s loud, he’s fun and he’s a proper boy. Finn is the complete opposite. He’s quiet and gentle and calm. I can see they’re going to grow up different.

It’s clear to see how much they love each other, as they are so sweet together. Every single day I think to myself how lucky we are to have them.

I feel that our family is now complete, but my husband thinks there is still room for one more. There are four embryos waiting there. How do you ever part with them?