Baby Snyder IVF Fund

Plain City, OH (US)
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Created 2 years ago
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Fertility Treatments

Baby Snyder IVF Fund

by Kimberly Smith

Rated 0 out of 5
  • $5,000.00

    Fundraiser Goal
  • $520.00

    Funds Raised
  • 0

    Days to go
$520.00 raised of $5,000.00 Goal
The campaign is successful.
Plain City, OH (US)

Kimberly Smith is organizing this fundraiser.

Campaign Story

We contemplated starting this and sharing our story with others– would we be judged, why were we sharing so openly? But so many of our friends and family have asked how they can help, have prayed over us, and have been there for us through all of the heartache and pain the last twelve months that we thought it was only right to share with others and give those who want to help a way to do so.

As many know, Andy and I have had a very difficult two and a half years.

In 2020 we were forced to make a difficult decision, for the protection of our friends and family- to cancel our wedding & reception with friends and family. Not knowing when we would be able to be in person together again, we decided to have a small intimate ceremony at our church and home in Ohio with parents & siblings. We postponed our celebration with friends and family to September of 2021.

In early spring of 2021 we experienced our first miscarriage after trying to start our family for nearly a year. We were fortunate to get pregnant again just a few months later in early July, but as timing would have it- we found out we were pregnant just a few short weeks after Kim had severely herniated a disc in her lower back.ย  The herniation in Kim’s back was so bad that she was bedridden for the first two months of pregnancy.ย  She was unable to have any steroids or pain medications.ย  On August 12th, Kim’s pain reached a new level and woke up with neuropathy in her entire left leg.ย  She was rushed to the emergency room at Riverside Methodist in Columbus, OH where she was admitted and ultimately ended up needing emergency back surgery 24hrs later.ย  Faced with what would be the first difficult decision on our journey to parenting – was to have surgery at 8 weeks pregnant.ย  This decision weighed heavy on us, but was necessary.ย  The surgery was successful, and later found out from the surgeon that her disc had been wrapped around her nerve.

We are so grateful for the entire medical care team, our obstetrician practice & fetal maternal who monitored the baby before and after surgery. A week later and home from surgery – we had our first formal OB appointment. The baby’s heartbeat was strong and told again they were doing great. This was important for us as not only were we high risk due to age, but Kim had been exposed to radiation levels out of our control from fluoroscopy during surgery, in addition to pain meds and anesthesia.

Three weeks later, (just two days before our rescheduled wedding reception/vow renewal) Kim keeled over from a sharp pain in her side. Within 15 minutes she couldn’t hear anyone, vision distorted, sweating profusely through her clothing, and her entire belly/abdomen distended. Kim’s blood pressure had dropped to 58/40 – very dangerous levels, passed out and was rushed by ambulance to the ER.

Within just a few short hours tests were ran, dozens of labs, x-ray, MRI and ultrasound. The pain had moved up into her upper right rib/shoulder region and made it difficult for her to breathe. The next words out of the doctor’s mouth will be forever imprinted in our memory — “we cannot find a heartbeat”. Devestated, we didn’t believe the doctor.

The ER doctor suspected a ruptured cyst and sub-chronic hematoma– that is until we were admitted.
By 6AM we had a team of doctor’s and nurses in Kim’s room rushing her into the ER because her hemoglobin levels had dropped so severely.

When Kim woke up we were told she had been given 2.5 blood transfusions and that she experienced a missed heterotopic pregnancy- something so rare that only 1 in 30,000 pregnancies, 1 in 60,000 in her case as it was a natural pregnancy.ย  A heterotopic pregnancy means that there is one baby in utero, and another (missed) second ectopic pregnancy in the fallopian tube– in our case, it had ruptured.

We lost both babies and Kim also lost her right fallopian tube.ย  In the weeks following as we looked for answers, we never got them.ย  We later learned that one of our babies was a boy, but due to a mix-up at the lab we will never know the gender of our second child which is very difficult.

On the road to healing, after a few months – Andy and I decided to try again. After trying for another several months, many tests and fertility meds later- we were still unable to get pregnant.

This ultimately led us to explore our options with IVF.

For anyone that has been through IVF, you know there is not only the emotional and physical toll, but the financial burden.

In March, Kim started traveling back and forth to Buffalo for fertility treatments.ย  The average cost of IVF is $25-30K for ONE ROUND and not one dollar is covered by insurance, which is sadly quite common.ย  Kim has been traveling the last few months to a clinic in Buffalo that specializes in making IVF more affordable.ย  Affordable meaning, instead of $25-30k per round locally in Ohio, it is $15-20.

The average cost of Kim’s meds/injections for 10 days of IVF is $8-9K
The cost of each egg retrieval procedure under anesthesia – $6K
Genetic testing each time to check for chromosomal abnormalities – $3-4K
This does not include any of the surgical procedures she has had to have done along the way in diagnosing infertility.

To-date we are approximately $60K all-in on IVF expenses (3 rounds), and a total of approx. $80-90K between IVF, travel & $20K lost from the wedding we had to cancel when Kim ended up in the hospital last year.ย  Most importantly, none of this guarantees us a child.

We aren’t people who typically feel comfortable asking for help, however we have been approached by a few close friends and family who have asked how they can help and also thought it was important to share our story and to bring awareness to infertility – something that is sadly more common than one might think and is not talked about.

Of all the times we could use your help – this would be the time – and every little bit counts.ย  As you can imagine, the financial burden is a weight we carry daily.

**With your contribution, we are committing to donate 10% of proceeds to organizations that help support infertility research and other fellow infertility warriors going through this journey.**

We thank each and every one of you for your prayers and support along the way, we wish we could let you all know just how much it means to us. We both have a very strong faith- one that has grown stronger over the last few years, and God led us down this path.ย  And although we know that nothing is ever guaranteed- even with IVF- we are hopeful that with prayers, a lot of love, and little bit of science – that God has big plans for our family and will have children of our own someday.

With Much Love,
Kim & Andy

Name Donation Date
Alyssa Lahham $50.00 August 06, 2022
Danielle Ditto $100.00 August 05, 2022
Jillian & Edward McGrath $200.00 August 05, 2022
Marcine Borden $100.00 August 05, 2022
Anonymous $50.00 August 05, 2022
Anonymous $20.00 August 05, 2022
Jillian & Edward McGrath commented with a $200 donation about 2 years ago
We love you both and are sending so much strength, love, peace, perseverance and faith ???
Marcine Borden commented with a $100 donation about 2 years ago
Wishing you the best of luck, Kim & Andy ?
Anonymous commented with a $50 donation about 2 years ago
I wish you guys all the best in this journey. My wife and I have been trough our own rounds of IVF so we know how stressful this is. All the best!