Campaign Story

We would like to start by thanking you for the wonderful opportunity for this platform offering the ability to receive such a special gift. The fact that this exists is truly a blessing and we hope that whether it be us or another couple struggling with fertility issues that they be blessed with the gift of a healthy family and bountiful journey.

We are born and raised from the Cincinnati, Ohio area and currently reside on the east side of town. My wife and I are both firefighter paramedics and although many think this is how we met, we were actually neighbors on the west side and have been in love since the moment we met. Although we knew each other for a long period, we married three years ago in 2018 and life started all coming together for us. As silly as it sounds we were hopeful for the whole “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage”. After getting married, we were both still working part time fire/ems jobs for Hamilton County area departments. In 2018, I (Patrick) were blessed with a full time job as a firefighter paramedic for the City of Blue Ash. In early 2019, my wife Maria was blessed with a full time opportunity at Miami Township Fire Department, mind you we are both blue collar workers, with blue collar wages. Boy oh boy was my Grandfather wrong when he said “Go and get yourself a nice government job. Your off nights, weekends, holidays and have great benefits and insurance.” Jokes on us; we work 24hr shifts, which includes nights obviously, working every weekend and we typically work 2/3rd of all the recognized holidays! Following this we began making our first house together a home (many renovations).

With a year of marriage under our belts, promising careers, and a welcoming home we were surprised by our journey to conceive was unproductive. The journey began in early 2018 as we both agreed how much we would love to have children and raise a family together, so we began trying. We initially started with many months of trying with no results. We then began to seek expert opinions later to learn Maria had a condition with hypothyroidism. As healthy people we never considered this an issue but the condition was found to be easily managed and we were told this should not affect our ability to conceive. Following this we reached out to The Center for Reproductive Health where we learned that my (Patrick’s) analysis was good and Marias was as well and began mapping our journey through specific timing for optimal chance at pregnancy. After multiple attempts, we still failed to conceive, it was then suggested we try the route of IUI, which with two attempts and many bills later still proved to be unsuccessful. Following that, we decided to do our own research for a while as things got very expensive with many tests and the two IUI procedures that proved not to be covered by our insurance. My wife tried many routes such as basil temperature monitoring, OPK tests and fertility tracking suggestions to increase our chances but no success prevailed. Our kitchen and bathroom are bursting with test strips, pee cups, health supplements, tinctures, royal bee pollen and teas all for the hope of increased fertility.

We began sharing our journey with friends and family seeking advice for our struggles when a family friend advised to try a new doctor they have had success with. This doctor was the best yet as he took extra time with results, ideas, and explained testing to a level at which we could better understand. He has ordered progesterone and estrogen testing nearly biweekly. POCS was a consideration and a non-OB ultrasound did not identify any ‘pearls’. He ordered a hysterosalpingogram which identified both fallopian tubs were unobstructed and flushed into the uterus. He ultimately expressed the possibility of endometriosis and its ability to interfere with fertility as we have run through many other tests and exam with no definitive explanation for infertility. We accepted two of his recommendations and made appointments. As with everything COVID appointments are pushed out by months. Again we remained very hopeful to keep moving forward which the ‘let’s just wait and see’. After a year under his care, we were able to conceive and were referred to an OBGYN. About 6 weeks into this journey my wife stated something just did not feel right and we went on to experience a miscarriage at 12 weeks, which was devastating. Several weeks later, we discussed since we came this far we would not give up and began exploring the option of IVF. As we have been scraping and trying to save the best we con we have continued with the protocol that resulted in the first pregnancy. We have continued to try naturally, and we continue to be blessed and cursed. We have conceived again only to experience another miscarriage at 7w5d.

Although IVF is not covered by our health insurance, we remain hopeful to be blessed with the opportunity. After many discussions with our doctors we are confident that this is the right route for us to conceive. We are extremely thankful for your time and consideration, this fund raising opportunity truly answers prayers and we can only hope that this blesses us with a healthy, safe, and successful journey with conception and growing our family.

Respectfully,
Patrick and Maria