The journey to pregnancy isn’t always easy. While not all families experience difficulty getting pregnant, others do. And during these moments, growing a family takes the support of loved ones and a dedicated care team.
Help starting a family
Christie Conover and her husband struggled to get pregnant, and eventually decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF). They had success with IVF first with their oldest daughter, and then again when they had their twins.
“We had a really fantastic experience with IVF at Sanford Health,” says Christie. “IVF can be very stressful emotionally as well as physically. We ended up doing the process three times to get all of our girls. The first time was unsuccessful, which was a little disappointing, but we had faith that we could try it again.”
Christie continues, “My husband helped me with all of the shots because I wasn’t really prepared to do it myself. And once we found out we were expecting, we couldn’t have been happier to see that positive test.”
A pregnancy with two care teams
From the moment their pregnancy was confirmed until after delivery. Sanford Health partnered with Christie’s primary doctor near her home in Orange City, Iowa, to manage her obstetrics care. She saw her doctor close to home for prenatal and primary care, and her Sanford Health care team for specialty care and additional monitoring.
“Being high risk, they really wanted to make sure everything was great, and it was really a comforting experience knowing that they were watching everything closely,” Christie says. “With our first pregnancy, we did have some complications. We worried about growth, so having a team, the equipment and knowledge to know everything is going to turn out positive was very reassuring, especially after you’ve experienced disappointments in growing your family.”
Delivering via C-section
Christie was induced and had planned for a vaginal delivery, but her labor did not progress normally. After monitoring her twins and exhausting all other options, her doctor determined caesarean section was the safest option.
“When the plan changed, I was a little disappointment for two seconds, and then I had to switch my brain. I knew this was best for our babies and I was ready to meet them,” says Christie. “I was not expecting it, but it really turned out perfect.
“This teams knows how to make you feel safe, looked after and confident in their knowledge,” she says. “They really seemed to care about us, and we weren’t just another patient or a number that came into their office every day. You can just tell everyone really cared about me as a pregnant mom and the well-being of the kids.”
Learn more
- How infertility led one woman to empower others
- 7 questions to ask before pregnancy
- It’s twins! Prenatal care for multiples
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Posted In Health Information, Pregnancy, Women's
