IVF journey is a road to happiness for Ashley and her family
Ashley Nost, of Solon, Iowa, and her husband began their journey to become parents in January 2016. About a year and a half into their journey, Ashley decided she was done with the road they were on—one of seemingly endless tests, medications, and even surgery—and asked to be referred to our hospital.
“We first touched base with UI Hospitals & Clinics in the fall of 2017. Our consultation was daunting—so many doctors, appointments, questions, the process, the financial aspect—but it also gave us hope, knowing we were at a world-class facility, with a program that focused on growing families. One of my good girlfriends had been through her own infertility journey and I was able to lean on her for more information on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and UI Hospitals & Clinics, and I’ll forever be thankful for her.
From there, we went through the IVF process. We did our egg retrieval in spring 2018 and got pregnant with our daughter on our second embryo transfer, which took place on June 22, 2018. Once we hit the 10-week mark, we were released from the IVF program and told we could go wherever we’d like for OB care, so we scheduled a 12-week prenatal visit with my original OBGYN. Before we got to 12 weeks, we had a bit of a scare, and UI Hospitals & Clinics was able to schedule us to be seen within 2 hours. At that point, I knew UI Hospitals & Clinics was where we belonged. It was so comforting to go back to the familiar halls of the hospital, and the friendly faces that had gotten us to this point.
Our daughter was born on Feb. 15, 2019. She’s happy, healthy, and as cliché as it sounds, a dream come true. She has rocked our world in the most amazing way. This journey has been hard. It has stretched us as individuals, it has challenged our marriage, we’ve questioned our decisions, and we’ve trudged through some dark days. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was worth the struggle, and we are eternally grateful to our team at UI Hospitals & Clinics.
I cannot speak highly enough of all the providers that we saw. They helped us get pregnant, they cared for us during our pregnancy, they brought our child into the world, and are now caring for her as well. I have also since transferred my routine OBGYN care to UI Hospitals & Clinics.
A major university health system can seem overwhelming, and when we began, it was. But having a world-class facility right down the road is a blessing and something we’re so grateful for. The level of sophistication, technology, and expertise has been second to none. And the people have all been extraordinary.”