Brianna Lynn Photography
Meet Teresa
"After about 9 months of trying to conceive on our own, my husband and I started seeing a fertility specialist at RMA in April 2017. During treatments, I found out I wasn't ovulating on my own every month. I went through a few procedures such as hysteroscopy and hysterosalpingogram (HSG). My tubes were clear, but it was confirmed that I had a polyp and endometriosis. I took Clomid, Ovidrel (trigger shot) and had intrauterine insemination (IUI) during the first two months of treatment. I got my first positive pregnancy test a few days before my expected period after only 2 cycles of fertility treatments. We were so happy and felt on top of the world! Since I was being closely monitored with all the fertility treatments, blood work was scheduled the next day, and my hcg levels were only 20. I got my hcg levels checked 48 hours later, and my hcg increased, but did not double. The nurse said it may have been a chemical pregnancy so I began to lose hope. About 5 days later, my hcg levels more than doubled and were at 511. We were really happy to see those numbers and they said they'd be able to schedule ultrasound to look at gestational sac next appointment since they'd expect hcg levels to be over 1000." (cont. below)
"On July 10, 2017, I got the news that they couldn't see sac in uterus, but it looked like something was on my right ovary or maybe in my tube. It was unclear and the ultrasound was painful as the doctor moved the wand all around, looking on both sides trying to find the baby. Doctor told me that it might be ectopic pregnancy, but that it was extremely rare for it to be on ovary. I was devastated. The nurse called me later that day and let me know hcg levels more than doubled and were in 7000s. I knew something wasn't right. On July 11th, 2017, I woke up in a lot of pain, cramping, nausea, etc. I thought my symptoms were all in my head as they got worse overnight. By 5 am, I was in pain in more places, and felt so uncomfortable. I went to fertility doctor for an emergency visit, and all they saw on the scan was a lot of internal bleeding. I was sent to the hospital to get surgery. My fertility doctor literally saved my life and my right ovary. It was confirmed that I had an ectopic pregnancy on my right ovary and I lost about 1 liter of blood. My doctor cleaned my endometriosis off my ovaries during that surgery. The next cycle that I was clear to start fertility treatments again, I conceived my rainbow baby after I took Clomid and had an IUI. I surprisingly ovulated on my own from the left ovary so I didn't need the trigger shot. My rainbow baby was born almost 11 months after the surgery I had for my ectopic pregnancy. After this experience, I am happy to share that my husband and I were able to conceive naturally, without any fertility treatments, and are due at the end of November 2021."
- Teresa
Teresa was one of the Moms from the originally scheduled Moms of Miracles shoot in July 2021 that was cancelled due to a storm. However, Teresa and I did show up the day of the original shoot as we were hoping that the storm would blow past. Her daughter and her were such troopers! We even got in her mini session that day, although it was literally in between the dark clouds, lightening, and massive rain drops. Although her and her daughter looked beautiful in the photos, once the group session was cancelled that day, we decided she could have another mini session...one without rain stains on their clothes! Unfortunately, Teresa could not make the rescheduled date for the Moms of Miracles group session, but she was still extremely interested in having a photo shoot with her daughter and telling her story to give hope to other moms-to-be. I am so glad we were able to make this happen.
Teresa and her daughter were so sweet together. Her daughter was playful and smiled the whole time, even if it was while she hid behind her hands to play peek-a-boo with me! Teresa's journey to her daughter and, now Baby #2 (Yay!!), were filled with many ups and downs. This is common during an infertility journey: We gets our hopes up and then they so quickly come back down due to an unfair reality. However, the purpose of this entire series is to remind us that although it is a roller coaster of emotions, [for us] the journeys did have the best outcomes possible: Beautiful Rainbow Babies. It is okay to feel sad. It is okay to cry. It is okay to complain. It is okay to be hopeful, even when you are unsure. After all, that is the point of "hope": It is a feeling of trust, of expectation, of desire for something to happen. Through it all, however you are feeling, try to not lose hope. Sometimes something...someone...incredible comes from it.
