To the Olive Team in Kelowna (formerly Kelowna Regional Fertility Centre, “KRFC”):
We want to express our sincere appreciation for everything you helped us with over the past six years to bring our little miracle into the world. There is honestly no way to adequately say thank you for such an incredible gift and all you’ve done for us.
Thinking way back to 2013, when we first came in “just to run some tests”, we were early in our journey and scared of what road we had in front of us. The team at KRFC helped us feel welcome and explained everything in depth. Every test and appointment was so full of uncertainty and fear. Emotions ran high but so did hope that a ‘problem’ would be found and fixed and we would be on our way with a positive test in no time. Jumping in to IUIs was a tough decision but the first time we saw two pink lines was worth every hurdle we overcame to get to that point. Our hearts were shattered and forever scarred when results came back that it would not be a viable pregnancy. The team at KRFC was so kind and supportive during the darkest time in our lives and shared in our heartbreak. Going on to do many more IUIs and suffering through more losses, we felt utterly defeated but also felt some hope that there was still IVF as a last case scenario. We did not make the decision lightly to venture down that road, as it is a terrifying one that no one ever expects to be on. We had a renewed sense of hope and felt that it was now our turn. We had cheerleaders among the nurses and an excellent plan in place from Dr. Wise and we felt that there was no way this could fail. After an amazing response from the IVF cycle and 14 good quality embryos, we imagined ourselves on a reality show with more babies than we could handle. After many failed transfers in Vancouver and another painful miscarriage, we were again defeated. We spent hours researching and soul searching to determine how motivated we were to expand our family and if a childfree life was in our future. We sought out (the former) SIRM in Las Vegas as a last effort to make this dream happen. Dr. Wise was incredibly supportive and agreed to do monitoring for our out of country cycles. We poured everything we had into these last two cycles in Vegas but all the while longing to be treated by KRFC. Comparing SIRM to KRFC left us desperately missing our home clinic and the team that we had grown so close to. There was no comparison and the phrase “I miss our clinic” was repeated like a broken record.
We got our two pink lines again from our very last cycle and as hard as it was to drag ourselves into the ultrasound room where so much past heartbreak had taken place, we did and we saw the most incredible thing- a teeny tiny heartbeat. That was a new beginning on a journey that brought a miracle into our arms.
Each member of the team at KRFC has been a huge part of our journey. You’ve laughed with us, cried with us, cheered us on, taken late night panicked phone calls, problem solved tough situations, delivered both exciting and terrible news, answered a million and one questions and did it all with compassion and kindness. You helped work through the most difficult journey of our lives and supported us through our biggest triumphs and failures along the way. We have suffered through the fear of what was ahead, medication side effects, financial strain, needle phobias, early morning appointments, hours upon hours of researching and obsessively Googling treatments and symptoms, both soul crushing disappointment and glimmering hope, hormonal mood swings, prying questions from friends and family, uncomfortable- sometimes painful- procedures, lifestyle changes, constant questioning of life and priorities, euphoric joy and utter heartbreak. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of the past 7 years. There is no proper way to adequately thank each one of you for the part you played in bringing our son into the world. I know your days are long and each one of you work extremely hard to help couples just like us achieve their dreams. Please take time to realize the impact you have on your patients and how appreciative we are to have such an amazing team to walk this journey with. It’s the most pain and the most joy we have ever felt and the diagnosis of infertility is one that never truly goes away. It becomes part of our deepest identity and changes us to our core, no matter what stage of the journey we are on. We have relied on you many years for guidance and support and you have each gone above and beyond what doctors and nurses should do for their patients. Our little man is our light of hope in a world that can seem so dark at times. He is the answer to a million prayers, the wishes on stars and eyelashes and birthday candles. We fought harder for him than anything we have ever fought for and used up every ounce of strength to bring him into our family and we could not have done it without each one of you. We will never let our son forget where he came from and the incredible team of people that helped bring him into our family. We will help support other couples going through this journey and send glowing recommendations about the team at KRFC. We will never be able to properly express how appreciative we are but from the absolute bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for every moment spent fighting for us, for every tear shed for us, for each time you sent good thoughts, for every answered question and for standing behind us until we achieved our dreams.
Sincerely,
Licinio, Kim & Austin
