My long journey into parenthood (Bili... - Children's Liver ...

Children's Liver Disease Foundation

1,993 members701 posts

My long journey into parenthood (Biliary Atresia, multiple miscarriages, IVF)

Christine20200 profile image
4 Replies

Hi, my name is Christine and I want to share my long journey into parenthood.

I was born with Biliary Atresia as an infant and had a successful Kasai Procedure that prolonged my liver until I was 25. I eventually needed two separate liver transplants to recover as an adult (my husband first donated half his liver which saved my life, but the connection wasn’t good, and I eventually needed a cadaver liver).

Once my health recovered, we decided to start a family and got pregnant in 2015 with a baby girl, Caitlin but I was diagnosed with a short cervix and unfortunately, my water broke at 21 weeks and there was nothing we could do but say goodbye to Caitlin. We were heartbroken, devastated and depressed. We didn’t want to see anyone. We were surrounded by people who were pregnant or had kids. We were happy for them but sad for us. Eventually, the pain goes away but the memories remain.

On Dec 31, 2015, my husband and I went to Disney world to celebrate New Year’s Eve but more importantly try to move on from what happened. I remember being surrounded by all theses families and crying when the fireworks flew overhead.

In 2016, we got pregnant again, but at 8 weeks, there was no heartbeat. We were again devastated. We went for a checkup to run some tests and found out that I have a blocked fallopian tube. The doctor said that we can keep trying but it will probably take a long time to get pregnant again. Eventually, we accepted that perhaps we could never give birth to a healthy baby. A High-risk patient, double liver transplant, short cervix, blocked fallopian tube, so many challenges to overcome to start a family.

We started to look into adopting as my dad was adopted. The OB-GYN suggested we consider IVF. We decided to try it and began the long emotional journey of painful shots, doctor visits and high costs. My husband who is deathly afraid of needles and blood eventually became a pro at it. After several painful months, the IVF eventually gathered 10 eggs, to 5 fertilized eggs to eventually two egg with PGS (genetic testing), a boy and a girl.

Given the fact that I am a high-risk patient with cervical incompetency, they would have to put in a single embryo. We had a 40% chance of it taking. In Dec 2016, we were blessed and got pregnant. Due to my short cervix, a cerclage was placed, and we were finally blessed with Connor who is our rainbow baby, but we will always think about Caitlin and the daughter that we lost. In late 2018, we decided to put in the last embryo.

I hope sharing my journey can help others who are going through similar hardships. At our lowest, we broke down many times, we were depressed, asking god why us? I remember four years ago on Dec 31, 2015, while the new years eve fireworks rained above us in Disney World, my husband and I cried and wondered if we would ever be able to start a family?

That being said, this New Year’s Eve, I would like to share a short video that we just made

facebook.com/816880409/post...

Written by
Christine20200 profile image
Christine20200
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
4 Replies
Lois-Cldf profile image
Lois-CldfPartner

wow Christine thank you so much for sharing this I am sure it will give hope to not only families going through this but the hopes of parents with children with childhood liver disease and that there is hope for a very happy future. Thanks again for sharing... my eyes did leak a little! x

aiman6151 profile image
aiman6151

You are a very strong women christine. May god bless

Passion123456 profile image
Passion123456

Hi Christine thank you so much for sharing this and it has such positive outcomes. My daughter had a liver transplant at the age of 1 year and half. Currently, her health is good however, for that last year she has had series of tests because her blood tests results were abnormal. My daughter would love to have children one day and you guys have set such a great example. The truth is that one can achieve anything in life as long you think positive.

Dianamed profile image
Dianamed

Thank you for Sharing Christine, I pray my baby will have her own family one day. My Daughter Iris also has BA, but she had her transplant at 7 months three weeks old, and we are currently almost 11 months Post. Just living one day at a time, as this journey is always so full of emotions. The fear is always with me for her, but we are blessed she has her second chance of life. Beautiful Video

You may also like...

Biliary Atresia Boxing!!!

Biliary Atresia- Kasai

been in the hospital now 2+ weeks post op. Her liver labs do look better, more color in the poop too

Formula milk for Biliary Atresia Kids

Biliary Atresia 35 yr old :(

Just confirmed that my son has Biliary artesia

hospital in Orange. I still feel so surreal and devastated that this is actually happening and feel...