Andrea's Journey with COVID and an IVF Pregnancy
In the fourth episode of our patient series, Andrea Kohlmeyer describes her Boston IVF journey and how COVID affected her pregnancy.
Featuring:
Andrea Kohlmeyer
Andrea was an IVF patient and contracted COVID during her pregnancy. Transcription:
Deborah Howell (Host): So our normal protocol on this podcast is to speak with physicians and staff at Deaconess. But this month, we are grateful to hear stories and experiences from some of our Deaconess patients. Today, we'll go behind the scenes with one member of our Boston IVF family and hear about her journey as a patient.
This is the podcast series from Deaconess The women's Hospital, a place for all your life. I'm Deborah Howell. And our guest today is Andrea Kohlmeyer, a patient of Boston IVF at the Women's Hospital. Welcome, Andrea.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Hi.
Deborah Howell (Host): So I understand you have a wonderful story to tell us today. Let's start from the beginning. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you fit into the picture at Boston IVF?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes. My husband, Justin and I, we had been married and trying to conceive for about two and a half years. And we were having difficulty and we live about 30 minutes from Boston IVF. So Dr. Foster is my OB and she had referred us to Dr. Griffin's office to be able to start our journey. We started with Clomid. And after realizing my husband's semen analysis, we were not candidates for IUI, so we went to IVF.
Deborah Howell (Host): And Andrea, how many rounds did you go through of IVF?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: So to get our oldest son, we went through one round of IVF. We were able to conceive him. And then, when he was about eight months old, we decided to go ahead and do another transfer. And that one ended up in a miscarriage, unfortunately. Then, we had decided to go through another round of IVF where I got my oldest daughter, Dakota, who just turned three. And we had some frozen embryos still and we had transferred two more, and we actually ended up getting twins, which was this last pregnancy.
Deborah Howell (Host): Oh, my goodness. For a total of four beautiful children?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes. And thank God, we still have some frozen embryos left as well. So we are extremely blessed. So, thankful for Dr. Griffin and all his staff. Never would I have dreamed that we would've had four children.
Deborah Howell (Host): Unbelievable. And you still have some left all from the first round, correct, that you saved?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: That would be from two rounds. So we had my son and then we did have a miscarriage with our first round. And then of our second round, so far, we've been able to get three healthy kids.
Deborah Howell (Host): Just amazing. Are you done do you think? Or are you just kind of thinking about it?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: You know, we're thinking about it. In my mind, I didn't want to keep any of them frozen, but we'll see. We'll see what the time has. Right now, it's chaotic. So yeah, I would say we're probably going to continue until we use all of our embryos, I would say.
Deborah Howell (Host): Unbelievable. So you mentioned miscarriage a few times. It's such a sensitive subject. But since you brought it up, I will ask you, how was the support system following that?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: It was great through Boston IVF. It was about six weeks and two days. Very sweet and very compassionate. Everybody was very kind about it. The followup appointments and the labs and all of that, everybody was very kind whenever we went into that. And that was hard, of course, going into a fertility clinic when you're going there for labs for a miscarriage. And then support just from our community and just our loved ones, ones we told, they were very supportive as well.
Deborah Howell (Host): How long did it take you to get the courage up to try again?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: It was two months later, we went ahead and tried again.
Deborah Howell (Host): Okay. So get right back on the bicycle and start riding, right?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: We got right back into it. Yeah, we were ready to go ahead and we knew we wanted to start and we had to do another round of IVF after that. And we knew we wanted to be able to give our son, Grady, a sibling.
Deborah Howell (Host): I'm so glad it worked out so well. Would you recommend Boston IVF to anyone that you knew, or maybe even that you didn't know?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Oh, my goodness. Absolutely. They are incredible. They are very compassionate, especially, you know, going in on the weekends from those in the lab to the nurses, of course, to Dr. Griffin and to the front desk, to Marcy, all of them, they are just incredible. They're compassionate and sweet. They have nothing but good things to say about them.
Deborah Howell (Host): You know, I'm told that you can describe an experience in one word. If you had only one word to describe your experience, what would it be at the Women's Hospital?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: I would say compassionate, everybody.
Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: From the front desk staff, yes, to Dr. Griffin.
Deborah Howell (Host): Compassionate and, also, I would also say charitable in all the giving they do.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes, absolutely.
Deborah Howell (Host): Were there any parts of the journey that were a little bumpier than others?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes, this last pregnancy, so I had COVID at 27 weeks and I was hospitalized. And this is whenever I was pregnant with our twins and we were able to deliver at 28 weeks. Dr. Foster delivered with Dr. Staat, and several other doctors, I don't even want to name them because I know I'm going to miss some, but we have just had an incredible experience. And with them being 28 weeks, they had to be in the NICU several weeks. They have helped us in so many ways from conceiving to delivering, to helping from the NICU and getting our babies home safely.
Deborah Howell (Host): Just incredible. This is a wonderful story and a real victory. Congratulations to you and your family of six. Thanks so much for being with us today to talk about your BIVF journey to parenthood. We really appreciate your time.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Deborah Howell (Host): For more information about Boston IVF at the Women's Hospital, visit www.deaconess.com/bivf. And that wraps up this episode of the podcast series from Deaconess The Women's Hospital, a place for all your life. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other Deaconess Women's Hospital podcasts. For more health tips and updates, please follow us on your social channels. This is the Women's Hospital, a place for all your life. I'm Deborah Howell. Thanks for listening and have yourself a great day.
Deborah Howell (Host): So our normal protocol on this podcast is to speak with physicians and staff at Deaconess. But this month, we are grateful to hear stories and experiences from some of our Deaconess patients. Today, we'll go behind the scenes with one member of our Boston IVF family and hear about her journey as a patient.
This is the podcast series from Deaconess The women's Hospital, a place for all your life. I'm Deborah Howell. And our guest today is Andrea Kohlmeyer, a patient of Boston IVF at the Women's Hospital. Welcome, Andrea.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Hi.
Deborah Howell (Host): So I understand you have a wonderful story to tell us today. Let's start from the beginning. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you fit into the picture at Boston IVF?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes. My husband, Justin and I, we had been married and trying to conceive for about two and a half years. And we were having difficulty and we live about 30 minutes from Boston IVF. So Dr. Foster is my OB and she had referred us to Dr. Griffin's office to be able to start our journey. We started with Clomid. And after realizing my husband's semen analysis, we were not candidates for IUI, so we went to IVF.
Deborah Howell (Host): And Andrea, how many rounds did you go through of IVF?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: So to get our oldest son, we went through one round of IVF. We were able to conceive him. And then, when he was about eight months old, we decided to go ahead and do another transfer. And that one ended up in a miscarriage, unfortunately. Then, we had decided to go through another round of IVF where I got my oldest daughter, Dakota, who just turned three. And we had some frozen embryos still and we had transferred two more, and we actually ended up getting twins, which was this last pregnancy.
Deborah Howell (Host): Oh, my goodness. For a total of four beautiful children?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes. And thank God, we still have some frozen embryos left as well. So we are extremely blessed. So, thankful for Dr. Griffin and all his staff. Never would I have dreamed that we would've had four children.
Deborah Howell (Host): Unbelievable. And you still have some left all from the first round, correct, that you saved?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: That would be from two rounds. So we had my son and then we did have a miscarriage with our first round. And then of our second round, so far, we've been able to get three healthy kids.
Deborah Howell (Host): Just amazing. Are you done do you think? Or are you just kind of thinking about it?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: You know, we're thinking about it. In my mind, I didn't want to keep any of them frozen, but we'll see. We'll see what the time has. Right now, it's chaotic. So yeah, I would say we're probably going to continue until we use all of our embryos, I would say.
Deborah Howell (Host): Unbelievable. So you mentioned miscarriage a few times. It's such a sensitive subject. But since you brought it up, I will ask you, how was the support system following that?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: It was great through Boston IVF. It was about six weeks and two days. Very sweet and very compassionate. Everybody was very kind about it. The followup appointments and the labs and all of that, everybody was very kind whenever we went into that. And that was hard, of course, going into a fertility clinic when you're going there for labs for a miscarriage. And then support just from our community and just our loved ones, ones we told, they were very supportive as well.
Deborah Howell (Host): How long did it take you to get the courage up to try again?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: It was two months later, we went ahead and tried again.
Deborah Howell (Host): Okay. So get right back on the bicycle and start riding, right?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: We got right back into it. Yeah, we were ready to go ahead and we knew we wanted to start and we had to do another round of IVF after that. And we knew we wanted to be able to give our son, Grady, a sibling.
Deborah Howell (Host): I'm so glad it worked out so well. Would you recommend Boston IVF to anyone that you knew, or maybe even that you didn't know?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Oh, my goodness. Absolutely. They are incredible. They are very compassionate, especially, you know, going in on the weekends from those in the lab to the nurses, of course, to Dr. Griffin and to the front desk, to Marcy, all of them, they are just incredible. They're compassionate and sweet. They have nothing but good things to say about them.
Deborah Howell (Host): You know, I'm told that you can describe an experience in one word. If you had only one word to describe your experience, what would it be at the Women's Hospital?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: I would say compassionate, everybody.
Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: From the front desk staff, yes, to Dr. Griffin.
Deborah Howell (Host): Compassionate and, also, I would also say charitable in all the giving they do.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes, absolutely.
Deborah Howell (Host): Were there any parts of the journey that were a little bumpier than others?
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Yes, this last pregnancy, so I had COVID at 27 weeks and I was hospitalized. And this is whenever I was pregnant with our twins and we were able to deliver at 28 weeks. Dr. Foster delivered with Dr. Staat, and several other doctors, I don't even want to name them because I know I'm going to miss some, but we have just had an incredible experience. And with them being 28 weeks, they had to be in the NICU several weeks. They have helped us in so many ways from conceiving to delivering, to helping from the NICU and getting our babies home safely.
Deborah Howell (Host): Just incredible. This is a wonderful story and a real victory. Congratulations to you and your family of six. Thanks so much for being with us today to talk about your BIVF journey to parenthood. We really appreciate your time.
Andrea Kohlmeyer: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Deborah Howell (Host): For more information about Boston IVF at the Women's Hospital, visit www.deaconess.com/bivf. And that wraps up this episode of the podcast series from Deaconess The Women's Hospital, a place for all your life. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other Deaconess Women's Hospital podcasts. For more health tips and updates, please follow us on your social channels. This is the Women's Hospital, a place for all your life. I'm Deborah Howell. Thanks for listening and have yourself a great day.