After a history of 2 failed IVFs (ICSI), poor semen analysis, poor ovarian response, we heard about Siobhan form a friend of a friend who became pregnant with her help. Read our story below on how we became pregnant with Siobhan’s treatment.
My name is Deirdre . Myself and my husband started trying to conceive in September 2006. After almost a year we went to our GP who did some tests. My bloods came back normal and my husbands sperm count was extremely low and the motility was also reduced. Our GP referred us to a urologist as he suspected my husband had a varicocele which was causing the sperm problem. The specialist confirmed my husband had a varicocele and performed surgery to remove it and advised us to keep trying for another six months. A repeat semen analysis showed a slight increase in the sperm count but it was still in the extremely low range so we were referred to a fertility clinic in Dublin.
I had a laparoscopy which showed very mild endometriosis which was removed at the time. The specialist did not think it was the reason for not conceiving as it was so mild. We had ICSI in December 2008. We got to egg transfer despite a poor response to ovarian stimulation where we only ended up with two grade one blastocysts. We transferred one blastocyst and we froze the other one. I felt extremely unwell on the fertility medication. I had aches and pains all over, felt exhausted and very weak, dizziness, had low blood pressure, diarrhoea and nausea. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. We were devastated after the failure. I just felt physically and emotionally exhausted and I grieved for the baby that we didn’t have after struggling through the treatment and being so unwell. Life just felt so unfair. I just felt so empty and so depressed. I went for counselling which did help me and we decided to return to the fertility clinic in June 2009 to transfer the blastocyst we had froze.
I had always had very light periods and dark clotted blood. I decided to try acupuncture and did notice my periods became redder and a little heavier. I felt a bit better on the fertility medication while preparing for our frozen transfer The lining of my endometrium looked perfect on my scans and we were feeling positive. Unfortunately, the one frozen blastocyte we had didn’t survive the thawing process and we were back to square one.
Repeated failures can have a huge psychological impact. The dread of going through treatment again versus the body clock ticking away. The stress of coping together yet coping differently and the toll that takes on a relationship is a huge strain. I felt like I just couldn’t give up trying and my husband dreading watching me go through the treatment. My husband wanted his own child and didn’t want to foster or adopt where as I just desperately wanted to be a mother. In 2009 we tried ICSI again and acupuncture. Due to a really poor response the cycle was abandoned and I felt like such a failure. Again I was really unwell during the treatment.
We heard about Siobhan Kehoe from a friend of a friend who had gotten pregnant with her help. The fact that she is also a midwife gave me added confidence that she could help us too. My husband was extremely sceptical about Chinese medicine and acupuncture but just went along with it because he knew I would try anything. On our first visit I was amazed at how Siobhan could describe my periods, lack of egg white mucus, night sweats just by looking at my tongue. She could explain why I felt so unwell on the fertility drugs as my body type is already too warm. It gave me faith and determination to keep trying for our much longed for baby. I found Siobhan to be understanding and compassionate. She has been at the end of the phone for me any time I had any queries or concerns She did acupuncture and prescribed Chinese herbs and supplements and outlined a specific diet to suit each of our body types. We both noticed changes. My periods became redder and a little heavier, less clots and I noticed less aches and pains with my period. I also noticed reduced night sweats.
My husband noticed his semen increased in volume and became thinner. We had a repeat semenalysis which showed the count had increased My husbands sperm count in 2008 was 4 ( x 10/ml) and on the herbs the count increased to 15 ( x 10/ml) but motility remained low at 7% and the fertility clinic recommended ICSI again. We planned to proceed with ICSI in January 2012 and took the herbs, supplements and prescribed diet in preparation for treatment
To my surprise I became pregnant while taking the herbs and supplements in preparation for ICSI. We were completely shocked and relieved that we didn’t have to go through ICSI again. Our baby boy, was born in June 2012 and he is a healthy little man. I thank God for finding Siobhan Kehoe and so glad I kept my mind open to alternative therapies as having our baby boy here after our six year wait just highlights how many wonderful times and special moments we could have missed out on. He is now six months old , has just cut two teeth and rolled over for the first time yesterday. One little smile from him lights up my life and my heart just soars! All the tough times are finally all behind us!
Thank you Siobhan!
For the first time in years we have put our Christmas tree up and cannot wait to celebrate our little boy’s first Christmas. He has changed our world!
Update: After such amazing results with getting pregnant using the herbs Siobhan prescribed, I returned to Siobhan when we wanted to try for a second child. I started taking the herbs again and to my total shock, I was pregnant after two months. I had a healthy little girl whom we name Holly and we are beyond delighted with her. After years of heartbreak, I’m so glad we looked at alternative treatments because we now have a healthy boy and girl and our family is complete. We are so thankful to have found Siobhan Kehoe.
Deidre Harnedy, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
October - 2012