00:00I've been struggling with infertility for two years. I turned 30 this year and I always thought
00:05at 30 I would have at least one child. I've always wanted to be a mom and so going through
00:10the infertility journey has been really tough. When I found out that we could do IVF with
00:16Kind Body, I was so excited. I started crying. I couldn't believe it and it just felt like a dream.
00:31Hi, I'm Sophia Jennison. I'm 29 years old. I'm a registered nurse and I'm going through IVF for
00:36the very first time. Will it be worth the time, pain, and would I recommend it to a friend?
00:41What happens when the nurses need care too? I was running, trying to get myself in shape.
00:47All of a sudden, I just stepped incorrectly and fell to the ground. At 29 years old, I didn't think
00:54that I would be getting surgery as well as going through IVF after multiple medicated cycles, IUIs,
01:01and timed intercourse. After a year, it was really daunting and really upsetting. It just amazes me
01:09when I look back at pictures when I see how much time really has gone by and how there have
01:15been
01:15certain holidays or birthdays that I have thought that I would have my own baby to hold during those
01:22times and that just hasn't happened for us. Every time you get your period, it just becomes so emotional
01:28because you're just starting back over again. The very first time that I went and talked to a
01:36professional about my concerns about getting pregnant, they basically told me, you know,
01:40you're young. I'm 29 now. I was 27 at the time. I just didn't take no for an answer. I
01:46wanted help
01:47and I wanted to figure out what was going on. I'm so interested to speak with Dr. Ekpo about
01:54what her findings are and what my labs look like and just to get a little bit more information.
02:00Dr. Ekpo Hi, I am Dr. Ekpo and I am a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist at
02:06Kinebody San Francisco and Walnut Creek. The term IVF means in vitro fertilization and it's a way to
02:12help families conceive by fertilizing the egg outside of the body. The cost of IVF can range from about
02:20$10,000 to $20,000 to $30,000. IVF sometimes involves using a surrogate or a third party, which can
02:28range
02:28sometimes up to $100,000. One thing to know is that infertility is a disease. It does affect
02:35one out of six individuals. There is a stigma sometimes with that diagnosis. People sort of
02:43question things that they may have done in the past to cause this and I often have to remind patients
02:48that there is probably nothing you did. This is just something that unfortunately has happened and we
02:54take the best steps to try to overcome that diagnosis. There is a sense that when pregnancy
03:01doesn't happen it's because of something wrong with the woman but up to 40 percent of the time
03:05it's actually a male factor or a combination and so with IVF we can actually overcome male factor
03:10infertility as well. The woman ends up taking all the shots and growing the eggs but ultimately sometimes
03:17the reason for IVF to begin with is due to a male factor. My husband Alex and I have been
03:24together
03:24since we were in high school and we grew up together but now we have really learned how to lean
03:30on each
03:31other. It's not only an emotional process for me but also for him too. He has been my biggest partner,
03:37my biggest supporter. He's picked me up off the ground when I've been upset and didn't want to keep going
03:44on. He has always wanted to be a dad and he loves to play with our niece and nephew so
03:49it has been such
03:50an incredible experience to watch him work so hard on this with me. When I found out that we could
03:58do IVF
03:58with Kind Body I was so excited. I started crying. I couldn't believe it and it just felt like a
04:05dream.
04:06And then when I went there the very first time they were so incredibly nice and just made you feel
04:11so
04:11comfortable and it didn't feel like you were going to the doctors because something was wrong with you.
04:16Being a nurse I constantly take care of other people and it's one of my favorite things to do.
04:22Being in the patient role I really see what it's like to have good people to take care of you
04:27and what it really means to have that extra smile and that extra patience with the person that you're
04:33taking care of. Hi my name is Dr. Jasmine Pedroso. I am an OB-GYN for Kind Body in San
04:39Francisco,
04:39Dr. Jasmine Pedroso. Taking cases like Sophia's in mind I just want everyone to know that it is never
04:44too early to investigate what you're working with and what I mean by that is does your uterus look
04:51normal? Are there cysts on the ovaries? Do you have polycystic ovarian syndrome? Knowledge is power.
04:58Just a simple assessment, a little bit of blood work, a little bit of ultrasound, we can get you to
05:03a point
05:04where you have some information, some objective information that you can work with. Most of the
05:09time we're giving good news, some of the time we don't but because we are able to have that information
05:15early we can proactively manage and hopefully mitigate any potential future fertility issues.
05:22Kind Body has developed sort of a proactive approach where we are meeting patients where they
05:27are as early as your 20s just to do an initial assessment and hopefully identify any issues
05:32earlier on in life. Kind Body is very inclusive. We welcome people of all ages, gender, orientation
05:39and we really believe that starting a family should be accessible to everyone. So what we're going to be
05:44going over is some of your blood test results and what next steps I recommend to help you guys get
05:50pregnant. Okay. Consultation. This is the first part where I meet the patient and we talk about their
05:56diagnosis. So one of the things I noted from the blood work is that your follicle count is quite high.
06:02Sometimes when we see that we worry about something called PCOS. When we're looking at fertility we're
06:08looking at things from the female stand and also the male standpoint as well. One of the things that we
06:13noted was the how fast the sperm is swimming was a bit on the lower side for him and so
06:18it would make sense
06:19given those findings plus potential PCOS in response to the fact that you may not be ovulating every
06:26month to consider IVF as our next step. Okay. What are your thoughts on that? I think that's something
06:32that I've been waiting here for a while. For a long time. Yeah. Once the decision is made to proceed
06:37with
06:38IVF we start that process. The first part of IVF involves stimulating the ovaries to grow the eggs.
06:44I think it hurts. I've been on the medication for about four days now. I had a little bit of
06:51spotting
06:51but that's all normal so it's something a side effect to look out for. She said everything looks
06:57good. My uterus looks good. My follicles look good. It's on track for what they're expecting so that's
07:04such a great relief. She said I'll be back in a couple days to do another ultrasound in some labs
07:09just
07:10because there's constant monitoring with IVF which you don't always get with other cycles.
07:17Okay tonight we're doing trigger shots so it's 11 45 we're going to do the first one and then we're
07:24going to do the trigger shots and then the folleston. I've never seen somebody get that many shots at one
07:30time. I do them because I'm a nurse so it's easier for me and Alex doesn't have to. My knees
07:38are getting wobbly.
07:40The second part is the retrieval to collect the eggs once they get to a certain size.
07:45Okay so today is the day. It's egg retrieval day. I'm not allowed to wear any makeup or any perfumes.
07:52Very excited. This is always like the scary part because you're just sitting waiting. Before I got
07:59the trigger instructions and I read everything through and there's a section that says for your
08:04partner. My husband and I read it together and it says that the day of the trigger he also has
08:10to
08:11make a sample. It's a partnership. It has to be done together. How you doing? Good. How are you?
08:18You look good. You look cute. The retrieval typically lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. Usually it's done on the
08:24anesthesia. An IV is placed. The egg retrieval is a process by which we go into the ovaries through the
08:31vagina using an ultrasound guide to collect the eggs from the follicles. We drain the ovary of
08:38all the follicles that have grown and whatever fluid is collected is sent off to the lab and under
08:43the microscope we can identify the eggs. The eggs are then put together with the sperm which the male
08:49partner provides and we often assist the sperm in getting to the egg or we allow the sperm to swim
08:56to
08:56the egg. And whatever embryos are created from that process we have the option to transfer that back
09:02into the uterus or do genetic testing. At Kind Body we have our own retrieval room. We have our lab.
09:09Everything is done here. The embryos stay here and eventually the embryo transfer also happens here.
09:14We got our embryo results back so they send us like a cycle plan updated and then I also have
09:20a message from
09:21Kind Body. I hope you're doing well and wanted to check in. I also wanted to give you an update
09:29on
09:30the embryos. The lab notified me that you have two additional embryos that made it to the plastic this
09:36day. I'm at the total of 10 embryos. I wanted to confirm if you wanted them to buy up to
09:41the additional
09:42two more embryos. Oh my god that's amazing! Yay! Okay so we have our little board here so we
09:51retrieved 38. Mature 30. Fertilized 28. And now blasts will be 10. Gotta update this. That's so exciting.
10:04Today is August 1st we found out that we have five embryos. I found out the genders and I'm going
10:11to
10:12go and get some things from the store to surprise Alex so that he can open up a bag and
10:17find out what
10:18the genders are too. So we have three boys and two girls. Sorry. It was just like the best news
10:29ever
10:30and it just feels more real. I am still crying. I feel so lucky. I'm so grateful for this opportunity
10:39and I just can't wait to surprise him because I know he's going to be so excited just like me.
10:45I love you. Wow that's amazing. Three and two. Three boys, two girls.
10:51I love you. I love you too. Let's have them all. Yep. Okay we're doing our first
10:57pile injection and Alex is going to do the first one. I've already washed my hands and everything.
11:05And we're out. Let's get you a bandage. Third pile shot. Transfer tomorrow. The transfer day
11:13is a big day. It's the last part of the process. This is done while you're awake. This is often
11:20like
11:20a pap smear. A speculum is placed. The cervix which is the opening to the uterus is cleaned and we
11:26put a
11:26catheter in. The embryo is then thawed if it had been frozen put into the catheter and brought into the
11:33transfer room and transferred into the uterus. This often takes about five to ten minutes. There's typically
11:39no need for any pain medication for this part. With one IVF cycle, one can create multiple embryos to
11:45use for future transfers. So if our first transfer is not successful, we will go back to the drawing
11:49board and think about things to optimize using one of the existing embryos that she would have in store.
11:55But my fingers across them hoping for the best for her and that the first transfer is in fact
12:00successful. Next, the embryo is transferred into the woman's uterus under ultrasound guidance.
12:05Oh, just super emotional. She just did the ultrasound just to make sure my bladder was pretty full
12:13because that way it's easier for them to put the embryo in. I know it's like I'm not pregnant yet
12:19but it
12:20just feels that way and we were just saying it's been a lot since to get here so all the
12:27work feels
12:29worth it and we're just really hopeful. I'm not even thinking about the procedure itself, just thinking
12:36about all the great days to come. Okay, it's transfer day. Feeling good? Yeah, feeling really good. Good.
12:46It looks like your bladder is ready. Your lining up there looks great. We're going to confirm the embryo,
12:51make sure we're thawing what we said what we thought and that it's your embryo and then we'll get started.
12:57Okay.
12:57And then I'll start a picture with your embryo.
12:59Oh, thank you.
13:01Hopefully we're going to preserve this baby spray.
13:03Yeah.
13:06So cute.
13:10It's so crazy.
13:16IVF is not without complications. With IVF, you often have to take injections. There can be bruising
13:22from that process. Side effects, sometimes fatigue, nausea, and just general bloating is one of the
13:28things that patients can experience. The IVF process involves a procedure, a surgery to take the eggs out
13:34that's done under anesthesia. So there's a risk of the anesthesia side effects. There's risk of damage to
13:41anything around the ovaries during the retrieval process. These are not common. These are very rare,
13:45but can happen. Today is October 30th. We just had our ultrasound and
13:56the embryo stopped crowing, so they don't think it's a viable pregnancy anymore. And we found out it was a
14:02boy.
14:05This is literally the worst, dude. But so next steps are to take a medicine
14:17to expel the pregnancy. It really sucks.
14:26My eyes are super swollen from crying all the time, but I took the misoprostol last night.
14:33I felt nauseous and dizzy. Then this morning I was sitting on the toilet
14:38and I wiped, but I couldn't bear myself to look at the toilet.
14:46I knew what was going to happen because I took the medication, but it hurts so much.
15:02It's just so emotional. All right. Thursday, February 26th, and we're doing our second frozen embryo
15:14transfer. A little excited, a little nervous. We're ready. Ready.
15:30First thing that we always see is the yolk sac, which is the circle.
15:34And then the next is the fetal pole. You can see that flickering.
15:46Today is April 10th, and I can't believe I get to say this, but we have graduated from
15:53our kind body clinic. I just can't believe that this day has come. If you can see behind me,
16:00I put our two ultrasounds. This was the sixth week when we got to see the flutter.
16:06And then this was the eight week appointment where we got to see baby growing even more.
16:11I just can't believe the support that we got. I always felt heard. If ever I had a question,
16:16they always answered it. And then at the end, they all lined up as we were walking out and they
16:22handed me this adorable bag right here. And they gave us this little shirt that says kind baby on it.
16:30I was able to give Dr. Expo a hug and just thank her so much for everything that she did,
16:34as well as all the ultrasound techs and the medical people that helped draw my blood every
16:40single time. Lots of up and downs, lots of crying, lots of happy tears, but I
16:48wouldn't change it for the world. We do know the gender, but we're waiting to tell our family.
16:53We're just so excited and thank you for coming along.
16:58Well, I guess we can tell she's so much bigger.
17:02Mm-hmm. We do know it's a she.
17:04Yeah.
17:05Yeah.
17:06Oh my gosh.
17:08Everyone's fertility journey is,
17:09we call it a journey for a reason. It's different for everybody. But what's important
17:14to know is that you're not alone. When you feel overwhelmed, just know that hundreds of women
17:19have gone before you and they have been able to have the family of their dreams.
17:24Becoming a mom to me is something that I've wanted to do since
17:28I was a little girl. I used to walk around with baby dolls and I just knew that if I
17:35didn't want
17:35to be a nurse, I wanted to be a mom. To watch more videos like this, subscribe here.
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