Adam and Danielle's Infertility Journey

## First Infertility/Pregnancy Journey (Blayke)

Adam and Danielle started trying for a baby in 2009. They tried naturally for 6 months but couldn't conceive a baby. Danielle went to her gynecologist, who gave them some advice and told them to keep trying for 3 months.

Three months later, they still couldn't conceive a baby. Adam was sent to a urologist and they found out that his testosterone, sperm count, and sperm motility were low. Danielle also found out that she didn't ovulate regularly. Adam was put on a drug called Clomid for 3 months to increase his sperm count.

The Clomid worked but Adam's sperm motility was still low and Danielle still didn't ovulate regularly. Their doctor suggested intrauterine insemination (IUI). Danielle was put on Clomid to help her produce eggs and to regulate ovulation. She was highly monitored and had appointments almost every other day.

Danielle took a shot to release the eggs and then the IUI procedure was done two days later. Adam provided a sperm sample and it was injected into her cervix.

They went through 5 months and 5 cycles of IUI procedures but there was no success. IUI typically takes only 3 cycles to work.

They decided to take a break from trying for a baby because it was becoming too stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. They prayed for a miracle.

A few weeks later, they decided to try again with a different drug, Femara. Danielle had one IUI procedure around July 2010 and became pregnant with Blayke.

## Second Infertility/Pregnancy Journey (Ava, Olivia, Hazel, Riley, and Parker)

Between Blayke's birth and trying for the next baby, Adam and Danielle prayed that this journey would be easier than the first time around. They got their wishes when they found out Adam's numbers were all good. Danielle started on Femara and they had one IUI procedure that was unsuccessful.

The next month, Danielle went through another IUI procedure during the ovulation of 2-4 eggs.

Two weeks later, Danielle found out she was pregnant. She got a blood test done and found that her HCG (pregnancy hormone in the blood) was 580, which is higher than normal. A few days later, she got another blood test and her HCG level was 1,600, so she thought she might be having twins.

In the first ultrasound, the doctor didn't see anything, which was concerning. Luckily, in the second ultrasound a few weeks later, he was able to see a sac with a baby. He also saw other potential sacs that he assumed were fluid but could not rule out that they were other babies.

A week and a half later, Danielle had another ultrasound. She and Adam immediately saw that there were multiple babies. The doctor recalibrated his machine for multiple babies and counted three. He checked one more time and realized that there were actually four babies.

Adam and Danielle went into the fourth ultrasound very nervous. There was a possibility that one or more of the babies would stop growing or experience difficulties. But, they instead found out that one of the eggs split and they were now expecting five babies.

Baby A (Ava) and Baby B (Olivia) are monozygotic (identical) twins because they split from one egg. Baby C (Hazel), Baby D (Riley), and Baby E (Parker) are polyzygotic (fraternal) twins because they all grew from separate eggs. They are all quintuplets because all five of them grew in Danielle's uterus at the same time.