When I first met Dr. Brower I was dejected and hopeless. At 40, I'd already been through 2 rounds of IVF with no euploid embryos. I'd seen several other "top" LA fertility specialists and been told many things about my body that weren't accurate. One doctor told me I had "1/2 a uterus," and even after an MRI proved her wrong, she refused to change her opinion out of sheer stubbornness. I went through mourning having a child of my own with my own eggs. At one point the only option seemed to be using a donor egg with a surrogate. I would have gone that route if I had to, but I really wasn't ready to give up on feeling pregnancy in my own body with a baby that shared my DNA.
My Pilates instructor told me about Dr. Brower, and I immediately sensed that she would be the right fit for me. From the first virtual meeting with her I just felt at ease. I felt a connection with the way she moved in the world and was comforted by her calm, kind, straightforward demeanor. She doesn't sugarcoat information, but she has a way of delivering it to you that immediately makes you feel calm and not alarmed. She informs you like you are a team member; she doesn't talk down to you or act like she knows everything. If she doesn't know the answer, she will ask her colleagues and use the hive mind to get the best result. She reads her patients and knows exactly how to maneuver challenges with them.
I went on to do 4 rounds of IVF with Dr. Brower. By this time I was 41 and I knew that it was my last chance to retrieve my own eggs. Even though statistically the odds were stacked against me, she never discouraged me from trusting my instinct and following my gut. I completely overhauled my lifestyle and cut out wheat, dairy, alcohol, and caffeine. I started taking every supplement recommended in the book It Starts with the Egg, and so did my husband. I did everything possible to prepare myself for the best chance of a successful outcome, and it worked! From that 3rd round we got 1 euploid (genetically normal and viable) embryo. I wasn't comfortable with the odds of a live birth from one egg though, so I kept going. The next round we got another euploid. I kept going for 4 cycles in a row until we had 3 euploid embryos, 1 untested (and possibly euploid), and 1 mosaic. At that point I figured statistically my chances of having 1 live birth were very good.
We still had to deal with the fact that I did have a uterine abnormality. It turned out to be a very easy fix, and I had septum surgery, which Dr. Brower brilliantly performed herself. There were other issues I was facing, including recurring polyps, abnormal cells in the uterus, a damaged fallopian tube, and the discovery that I had widespread endometriosis throughout my pelvis. Dr. Brower and I worked meticulously together to knock each problem off as it surfaced. I had the polyps removed twice, my fallopian tube removed, and the endometriosis excised by the highly skilled Dr. Seidhoff. After recovery from that surgery, I really felt ready to implant our first embryo.
I decided I wanted to do a natural cycle implantation. I wanted to work with my own body and my own hormones; I'd been through enough injections. Dr. Brower was totally supportive of that (some doctors are not, because it can be harder to time and control). We tracked my cycle and caught that I ovulated slightly early, but my lining was still perfectly thick and trilaminar, so we went ahead with transfer.
I'm sitting here 9 weeks pregnant right now with our baby girl. We've sadly had our last appointment with Dr. Brower as we are moving on to my OBGYN with a normal pregnancy!
I'm 44 years old and pregnant with my own egg. Miracles do happen. If you are reading this and looking for hope, you have found it with Dr. Brower. You will feel seen, heard, and understood under her loving care. She is the reason I'm pregnant right now, and if I could give her a million stars, I would. read more