Opportunity knocked- twice! A dream job offer began just as she found out that she was … pregnant!  Two dreams but only one could be her focus.

Stacie didn’t hesitate as she was pregnant and over the moon happy. She gracefully backed out of the job opportunity and set her sights on becoming a Mom! I was told that, ‘I was making my first decision, as a mother!”, said Stacie.

Milo was born healthy and to the delight of his parents – without any difficulty. The trickiest part of the pregnancy was coming up with his name, as little “Baby Tom” went “nameless” for the first five days of his life!

During this interview I asked Stacie a few questions about her experience with infertility, the staff at HRC Fertility of Pasadena and her advice for others.

LS: What would be the adjectives that would describe your first visit to HRC Fertility of Pasadena and how would you rate them from 1-10?

SK:  Nervous, Shameful and Doomed.  And I would rate them all a seven out of ten before I met Dr. Kolb. Afterwards, I realized from the factual meeting we had that things were even scarier then I thought.  He wrote a graph of the unlikelihood it was for us to get pregnant without help.  I was even more nervous when I left!  But  he really gave us a gift – he was direct and honest. He gave us realistic numbers and suggested IVF.

LS: What had you wished you had known before you started to try to conceive? What was your experience like with HRC?

SK:  Nobody told me to freeze my eggs or even talked to me about fertility before my forties. I had a reality check the first meeting. Then came to realize how smart Dr. Kolb was and that Natalie was phenomenal and really knew her stuff.  Everyone at HRC was so educated. We also realized that HRC Pasadena had a lot of flexibility with us.  They made it possible to have my blood work closer to my home .

One of the issues we wanted to know was how much it was going to cost.  HRC made it so manageable for us and helped walk us through the process.  They worked with our financial situation and accepted terms we needed to do. 

LS: Did you peruse the HRC Fertility of Pasadena website at all? And, if you did what was the most helpful?

SK:  I really read the website! I really liked the testimonials. I read a lot of the website and often! Financial support information was great. Also, the video portion was great as I then could hear the doctors talk.

(Stacie also provided some of her “wish list” for videos, too!)

LS: What surprised you most about the process?

SK: That they <HRC> weren’t going to deliver the baby! I didn’t want to leave HRC and was surprised to find out that I had to get an OB-GYN !

I was appalled I had to leave HRC! They were my people! <Laughing>

LK: What pearls of wisdom would you like to share with others?

SK:

1- In your late 20’s or early 30’s know your body! Know your cycle! Learn about fertility! The things I learned about cervical mucus!

2- Research your fertility doctors – very important.

3- Trust your gut and instincts.  Know that you are in the best care at HRC.  The HRC staff called to check in on us.

4. Be a super advocate of educating yourself!

5. Understand that there is a man’s perspective to infertility, too.

LS: Anything else you wish to share?

SK:

Dr. Kolb told us to not GOOGLE! 

Run don’t walk to a fertility specialist!

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When asked to send a photo or two of Milo for this article, Stacie warned me- “We’ve got a cute kid!”

She indeed does which is why one picture wouldn’t suffice! Enjoy!

Read more about Stacie Krajchir – Tom via her Huffington Post blog.

Follow her on TWITTER

This interview was conducted by Louise Sattler.