IVF at 26 Years Old

By Rebecka Shelberg
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I only put on a total of 15kg over my pregnancy – and that is including the baby and the massive amount of fluid I was carrying. By the time my gorgeous girl was three weeks old, I was actually 4kg lighter than when I fell pregnant.
So baby weight in the sense of pregnancy weight gain isn’t really my issue. It’s the emotional baby weight that I gained before my pregnancy that I am now struggling to lose.
I was ready to have a baby at such a young age, I wanted my first around the time I was 22. But hubby (then fiancé) was not ready and we agreed that it would be better for us and any children we had, to be financially stable and so did the house buying and the getting married thing first. At almost 25 we started trying for a bub, I was so ready to be a Mummy and felt like all my dreams were about to come true.
When months passed and there was no baby, I was admittedly a bit upset, but when more months passed and there was still nothing, upset turned into depression and I turned to my old companion, comfort eating. We began to do the rounds of doctors, endured embarrassing and painful tests, were put on a drug cycle without any success, and were eventually directed to IVF as our best option.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am so beyond grateful that we had this option, but good god it took its toll on me, in a way that nothing else ever has. Needles twice a day, drugs that made me nauseas, tired and gave me headaches all the time, invasive and painful procedures, and the emotional strain of feeling like I was a failure as a woman – this all on top of working fulltime and watching what felt like everyone I knew falling pregnant around me – I was a bloody mess.
Our first IVF cycle produced 18 eggs, only 13 fertilised and from those only five were viable. By the time it came to implanting, there was only 1 that stood a chance. It didn’t take and I cannot even express how devastated I was.
Second cycle only produced 10 eggs and from those only one fertilised. One little embryo. But they say it only takes one, and two weeks after that embryo was implanted my husband looked at the test (I couldn’t bring myself to do it) and then looking at me incredulously he announced “Honey, I think you’re pregnant!” It is a moment that I will never, ever forget and I’m tearing up now just thinking about it.
Now, I feel like I am the luckiest and most blessed person in the world. I’ve never been happier and I am in love with being a Mummy – even at 3:30am this morning when she just wouldn’t stop crying! I now want to do something about all those emotional pre-pregnancy kilo’s that I just can’t seem to shift and I am so excited to have started on my Lose Baby Weight and Healthy Mummy journey – watch this space for my results!
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