Mother’s Day is one of the days that most women look forward to. They look forward to Mother’s Day as young girls and ladies because it allows them to honor and pamper their mothers.
And somewhere in the back of their minds, they’re planning to celebrate this momentous day as mothers. Ashley Gildin Spitzer is excited to celebrating Mother’s Day in 2022 because, after four years of dealing with infertility, she will finally be a mother.
Jon, Ashley’s husband, and she were on the same page. They desired to start a family. They couldn’t wait to have children who would refer to them as Mom and Dad. Ashley, on the other hand, was diagnosed with unexplained infertility, and they struggled to conceive naturally.
They made the decision to continue fertility therapy.
‘It was a rollercoaster of emotions.’ Ashley told TODAY, ‘It was psychologically, physically, and emotionally taxing.’ ‘I’ve had a lot of procedures and surgeries. I’ve shed a few more tears than I’d like to admit.’
Their infertility experience was a roller coaster of emotions. It put their marriage, money, and mental health to the test.
Ashley stated on her Facebook page, ‘This is Infertility.’ ‘When all you want to do is scream, it’s smiling through the physical and emotional suffering.’
It’s the hundreds of pills, shots, needles, and supplements–together with all the hormonal shifts that go along with them. It’s the weekly infusions, and the hope that immunological therapies would finally help you.
The bruising and allergic responses, the surgeries, scars, and war wounds are all part of it. It’s urinating on a stick constantly, scrutinizing lines over and over, finally getting a positive test, and then seeing the line fade away.
It’s the river of frantic tears, the days when you wonder ‘why me?!?’ and the nights when you scream yourself to sleep, wondering whether the nightmare will ever end.’
Ashley, on the other hand, put up with it all so that they could have their family. and had hit her limit. And it was at this moment that they decided to pursue surrogacy, which they were quite enthusiastic about. Unfortunately, their embryos were miscarried twice by their surrogate.
They never gave up, but it felt like they were starting over every time. Until their fortunes changed one day. ‘We found out Ashley was pregnant on her sixth IVF round after three very long years, after just one day,’ Jon remembered.
‘As well as the fact that our second surrogate was a genetic match and that we could proceed with her.’ And that was one of the most memorable days of our lives.’
However, physicians discovered their baby was in peril at 33 weeks, and Ashley had to birth their daughter through C-Section on July 15, 2021. She had to stay in the NICU for 47 days before being reunited with her family on August 31, 2021. Izabel Hart Spitzer is her name.
‘We both stared at her the first morning we woke up with her in the apartment,’ Ashley explained. ‘We couldn’t believe we were raising a child at home.’
But they only had a short time with Izabel before flying to Florida to meet Izabel’s brother, who was born on November 17, 2021. Zander Cole is his name.
The ‘twiblings’ are now complete.
Their family has now grown to include all of them. ‘This Mother’s Day, I couldn’t be prouder of myself for being an IVF, NICU, and surrogate mom.’ Ashley confidently proclaimed, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing.’
Video about journey…