Our fertility journey began in March 2020, filled with hope and determination.
We tried eight medicated cycles, each ending in heartbreak. In 2023, we did our first egg retrieval, resulting in two 5-day embryos. We transferred one in May and another in August, but neither stuck. We were devastated and ready to give up. We were financially and emotionally drained.
Then, a door opened: my insurance out-of-pocket max had been met, and we decided to try one last egg retrieval. Only a few people knew because the journey had become too heavy to share. We got two more embryos, but my body wasn’t ready, so we froze them for a year.
In October 2024, we were gifted the funds to transfer our embabies. The transfer happened on my husband’s birthday, and on December 18, while sitting in the parking lot of our vet’s office, we found out we were pregnant. My HCG was over 300, and two days later, it had doubled. We had transferred two embryos, and those numbers whispered, “twins.”
On Christmas Day, we surprised our families with the news and on January 2, our ultrasound confirmed it: two heartbeats. I held my breath at every scan to come. At 5 weeks, I had a subchorionic hematoma that thankfully resolved by 9 weeks. At 12 weeks, our genetic testing came back normal, but we were told Twin A had a heart anomaly. We were referred to MFM for follow-up. She was diagnosed with IUGR at 17 weeks due to a few contributing factors, and at 28 weeks, it was confirmed: she had a congenital heart defect – a right aortic arch with a vascular ring. At 35 weeks, I was induced due to pre-eclampsia and 3 days later, July 27, we welcomed our sweet, little babies. Our baby boy was born at 4 lbs 10 oz and came home with us right away. Our baby girl, born at 4 lbs 1 oz, spent three weeks in the NICU with feeding challenges and on an NG tube. But she came home strong and no surgery was needed. Her cardiologist recently shared that she may never need intervention, and we are so hopeful.
This journey has been long, painful, and miraculous. We share it to honor the struggle, the faith, and the love that carried us through – and to remind anyone walking this road: miracles happen.
Editor’s Note: Since sharing their story, the Watson Family has opened a GoFundMe to help them navigate the financial challenges brought about by having to take leaves of absences from their careers in order to support and travel with Carleigh through her treatments. They did not ask us to share their fundraiser, but once you join the Carolina Conceptions family, you are always part of it and we will always want to provide care and support. We share this resource for anyone in our community who has the means to help support the Watsons during this demanding next step of their journey.