Odelia & Fabian’s Story

    It was one year after getting married, I was having my normal period but then some spotting occurred two weeks later and continued for about a week or more. My first thought was that my body was either reacting to stress from work or to new family life. At the same time, there was some problem with intermittent bleeding from a hemorrhoid. My family doctor had scheduled a colonoscopy for me. I was worried about going for that test with this re-occurring spotting episode. A few days before the colonoscopy, my husband suggested that I go to my family doctor for a pregnancy test. He said he had a feeling that it might be what was happening. Surprisingly, the test was positive. The colonoscopy was immediately cancelled and instead, a vaginal ultrasound was ordered. I was told to have bed rest because of the spotting. An appointment was made with an obstetrician.

     When my husband and I heard of the pregnancy, we were both overjoyed, yet worried. Here I was, 35, and had tried for over a year to conceive. Now I was pregnant but lying on the bed for about 4 weeks before the obstetrician appointment. By the time I met the obstetrician, blood work for HCG was ordered. I was told to come back the following week for the results.  When I saw the obstetrician for the second time, a vaginal ultrasound and more blood work was requested. It took another two weeks before the vaginal ultrasound was done. Before I reached home from the ultrasound lab, my family received an urgent phone call from the obstetrician’s office. I returned the call and was told that a mass was found in my left fallopian tube and it was diagnosed as an ectopic pregnancy. They told me to go to the hospital for emergency surgery.
We were devastated about the loss of the baby and yet relieved that we finally found out what was going on. The day after the surgery, I asked the surgeon about the cause of the ectopic pregnancy.  The doctor said it was because of my age and something was wrong with my fallopian tube. I was told that the only way to get pregnant again was to keep trying. Would the same thing happen again? I wasn’t too satisfied with this explanation and thought there must be more to it than that. Because there was now one fallopian tube, the chances of getting pregnant was only close to a 50% probability at conception time. I was determined to check out the health of my only remaining fallopian tube and not try to conceive until I was absolutely sure that a baby could be carried to full term. So consultations with a couple of fertility specialists followed for explanations and treatment for infertility.

   During the process, it was explained that if the ectopic pregnancy had been diagnosed early enough, the fallopian tube could have been saved by an injection of methotrexate. I was furious that the fallopian tube could have been saved only if the diagnosis was made in a timely manner. The other piece of information that they imparted was the only sure way to prevent another ectopic pregnancy would be through in vitro fertilization. However, we rejected to this option due to our Catholic faith. There had to be another alternative to treat my infertility which would help carry the next pregnancy successfully.

    I recalled that there was a session on the Creighton model of natural family planning at the marriage preparation course we had attended. I eagerly looked for the phone number of the Marguerite Bourgeoys Fertility Centre and signed up for the introductory session. The method had 40 years of research behind it and was headed by Dr Hilgers, an obstetrician and gynecologist. Their approach was very scientific and innovative. The speaker at the introductory session told us that low progesterone was probably the reason for an ectopic pregnancy. From that, I was pretty sure the Creighton model would help me to conceive.  

     Upon joining the program, I was assigned to a practitioner and was guided through the proper charting of my menstrual cycle. From this chart, a trained medical doctor in the Creighton model would be able to tell whether the length of the menstrual cycle would be appropriate for a pregnancy to be carried full term. Also, the doctor could pinpoint the days that blood tests should be taken so that proper diagnosis and treatment can take place for any infertility problem.

    The first meeting was with Dr. Cataudella at Marguerite Bourgeoys Centre, she spent close to an hour going through my chart and discussed my medical background starting from the time of puberty till the ectopic pregnancy occurred . I was amazed that she took so much time and care to record every piece of information. I had never met a doctor who spent more than 10 minutes with me, at any one time, in my whole life.
From my charting and the results of the blood work, the doctor told me that although I didn’t feel the effects of the stress at the time, the indication was that my body was experiencing stress due to a busy family life and work. In addition to that, I was also diagnosed as having glucose intolerance. All the data pointed to hormonal imbalance and my difficulty in conceiving. As soon as the diagnosis was made, steps were taken to normalize my hormonal profile to treat sub-fertility.

    After two years of treatment, Dr. Cataudella referred me to Dr. Kraw at St. Michael’s Hospital for a follicular study. This study had recently become available. The procedure comprised a series of ultrasounds and blood work to be done every day until the rupture of the follicle cell.  Then a series of medications can be given on a specific day to support the menstrual cycle. Hence, a perfect cycle would increase the chances of fertilization and pregnancy results. After Dr. Kraw sent me for a trial test, she said that I was a good candidate for the study. With aid of the follicular test, I became pregnant at the first effective menstrual cycle on my right side. A positive pregnancy test was confirmed 17 days after the ovulation.

    There was some spotting the same day I received the news of the positive pregnancy test. I was terrified because of the non-stop bleeding from the previous ectopic pregnancy. I called Dr. Tham’s (who was substituting for Dr. Cataudella) office in Etobicoke, and she advised me to see her as soon as possible. My husband and I rushed to her office and she waited for me after office hours until I reached. She took me into her office for a careful examination and looked through the results of the blood work. Progesterone was prescribed to support the pregnancy and my husband was taught how administer the injection. Blood tests were ordered every 2 weeks to monitor my hormone closely. Every two week after Dr Tham reviewed the blood work, she would personally call me to confirm the dosage of the medication.  It was very comforting for me that there was always somebody to rely on when problems arose during pregnancy.     

   There was another episode of spotting by the 7th week. Luckily, I was able to contact Dr. Tham again and rushed to her office from work. Before reaching the office, she already called for and received the results of my blood work from week 6. Additional medication was prescribed to help support my hormones. An obstretical ultrasound was ordered to make sure that the baby was okay.

    During the ultrasound visit at about 8 weeks of pregnancy, I was able to see that my baby was swimming inside the uterus comfortably. When the technician turned up the volume to let me hear the heart beat, I was overjoyed. At that moment I knew that the little one was doing well and felt that I would be able to hold this baby in my arms in due time. Before leaving the office, I received an ultrasound copy of my baby. Until then, I hadn’t truly understood the meaning of love at first sight.

    As weeks went by, baby grew bigger and healthier. Sometimes I could feel a little finger or toe poking my abdominal wall. When that happened, I put my hand on my tummy to touch hers as well. When I showed my husband, the first time, as baby starting poking again, he was so amazed. He put his hand on my tummy and started talking to baby. We were both excited to communicate in this way even before the baby was born.

    With the dedication of the staff at Marguerite Bourgeoys Fertility Centre, we are now the proud parents of a 1 year old baby girl. We wouldn’t have been able to conceive without the help of Dr. Cataudella, Dr. Tham, Dr. Kraw , Vania and Valerie. They helped to make our dream come true. Thanks you for taking such a good care of me and baby Maria from the time she was only a tiny fetus. God bless you all! I hope there will be many more babies to come with the continuous good work of all the staff at Marguerite Bourgeoys Centre.