Forever and Always

A New Journey

They had been trying for almost 2 years with no success. Cecelia had trouble coping with the fact that she might never have a baby of her own. A few months ago, they had been told that they would probably never have a baby naturally. This news had broken them. Her depression had become much more severe following this news and he was worried that it may lead her to self harm or commit suicide. He loved her too much to lose her now. Their doctor referred them to a fertility clinic to try and find the cause of their difficulty in conceiving. They had been told that IVF was their best chance at having a baby.

Cecelia pulled on her pink knitted jumper and stepped into her jeans, pulling them up and fastening them. Oscar put on his shoes and watched her as she got ready, 'how are you feeling?' He asked, she blew a deep breath out of her mouth 'I don't really know. I'm just scared that it won't work' he stood up and went to her as she slipped on her ballet pumps, 'it will work' he told her confidently 'I promise'. He immediately regretted it as his gut told him otherwise, he prayed that it would work so he couldn't disappoint her again. They were silent in the car: she rubbed her hands together, round and round in circles and tapped her thumbs together. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, she was definitely nervous and she knew it was obvious, but if Oscar was nervous he was doing a good job of hiding it. They pulled up to the clinic and sat in the car, neither of them particularly wanted to get out. Although the clinic was quite welcoming and had an aura of calm and happiness, they felt uncomfortable walking into the huge white building. As they walked in, the lady behind the main desk stood up to greet them, 'hello!' She said brightly, Cecelia gave an empty smile and Oscar greeted her with a warm handshake. 'We're here to see Dr. Harper-Bellamy' He said 'ah yes, Mr and Mrs Black at 12:30? Take a seat, she'll be with you in a moment'. They were curious to see that they were the only ones in the waiting room, but took a seat on the soft, faded blue chairs. After a while, a door opened and out came a lady in a white lab coat and black heels with her blonde hair up in a high ponytail, fastened with a few black clips, her matte black glasses studded with diamonds sat on the end of her nose as she looked down at the clipboard in her hands. She walked towards them, the noise from her heels reverberating around the walls, and greeted them with a sunny smile that showed her gleaming white teeth. 'I'm Doctor Harper-Bellamy, but you can call me Amanda' she said and looked to them, studying them with interest, 'I'm Oscar' he said shaking Amanda's hand. 'And I'm Cecelia' she said 'What a beautiful name! Okay follow me' she said turning swiftly on her heels and heading back to the door she came from.

They watched her as she flicked through the papers on her clipboard. 'So, your regular GP has told me that they can't find a reason for your infertility. That's quite rare' she informed them 'and they've also said that you've been trying for just over 2 years, is that correct?' They nodded 'okay, so there are 6 stages in the IVF process. First, Cecelia I'll give you a drug that will suppress your natural cycle, which involves an injection once a day for a fortnight. Then, you'll start taking FSH which stands for follicle stimulating hormone, which increases the number of eggs. This is also an injection, and this one you still take daily but for 12 days instead of 14. We'll be monitoring your progress using a vaginal ultrasound to see if the eggs have implanted. Are you with me so far?' Cecelia nodded and Oscar looked a little confused but nodded slowly. 'Okay, so step 4 is when we collect the eggs. Cecelia will be sedated and we take an egg from each ovary in a tiny needle which is overseen by ultrasound. Next, we fertilise the eggs and put one or both of the embryos into your womb where they will then grow naturally. Did you get all that?' Cecelia nodded again, 'great. So I'll give you your prescription and I'll see you again in two weeks okay? Do you have any questions at all?' 'Nope, I think we got it all' Cecelia said. He held her as they waited at the main desk, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes 'this is it' she said 'we're on our way'.