The Story of Lucien: How One Couple Defeated the Odds
Kim and Devlin walk us through their pregnancy journey via embryo adoption.
Without Devlin and I knowing, Lucien started his journey to us over 15 years ago. On June 22, 2021, his light brightened our life and everyone around us.
We talked about having children for years. Before we knew it, our careers had taken over and we were in our mid 40s. Right before the pandemic, we decided to explore our options. I was 45 when I found out I had a less than 1% chance of using my own eggs. Naturally, we were very disappointed—but our doctor offered us some options, one of which was embryo adoption. These were donated embryos that couples had created while having their own fertility issues. Once they were finished creating their families, they unselfishly donated the embryos they did not use to the embryo bank. Though I’d never heard of this process, I fell in love with the idea. I went through a series of diagnostics and learned from our fertility doctor that I had a healthy uterus and our odds went from <1 % to a 70-80% chance of a live birth. Devlin and I went to breakfast after that appointment and decided that we wanted to adopt an embryo. Fast forward through the darkness of Covid and, in June 2020, the fertility center was back open; we were ready to start our matching process.
We were told to give our donor coordinator a shortlist of traits and characteristics that we would like in a child. Some of ours were Italian, Irish, tall, athletic, and artistic. We had to write a short essay on who we were so they could best match us. Weeks went by, and finally the email we were waiting for arrived. On July 17th we learned “we have a match.”
The moment I read the description, I knew this was going to be our child. Depending on the circumstances, you may not receive a lot of medical information or characteristics of the donors. We were given 7 days to decide whether we were keeping or trying for another match. But we knew, and immediately wrote back: YES!!
“Lucien’s embryo was created in 2005—15 years prior to our transfer date. In some fateful twist, his embryo was created the year Devlin and I met.”
Kim and Devlin, 15 years ago when they first met.
The next few months were the most nerve-wracking. I had started preparing my body for a transfer. I wanted to do a more “natural” cycle but my lining had a hard time catching up to my hormone surges. Essentially, I needed to have help and moved forward with a medicated cycle. It worked perfectly; the timing was lining up for a transfer date of October 28, 2020.
But let’s go back to my opening line… As far as Lucien’s journey to us, we didn’t realize at first that Lucien’s embryo was created in 2005—15 years prior to our transfer date. In some fateful twist, his embryo was created the year Devlin and I met. We always knew there was a little soul out there waiting for us. We were waiting for him, too.
Transfer Day: October 28, 2020
At about 4:30pm, we watched our little embryo move through a catheter and land in a perfect place in my uterus. Now all we had to do was rest and wait for implantation.
The lid to the petri dish, after the embryo was thawed.
I knew in about 4 days I was pregnant. I felt different—run-down, like I was getting the flu. I felt cramping and saw some spotting. Even though the doctor said not to take a pregnancy test we did the next morning. It didn’t need 5 minutes, it was positive in seconds. Nine days later we had our official blood work drawn. Our numbers were very high, and we finally heard the words we’d been waiting for: “You are very pregnant!” We could not have been more thrilled. Next for us: Ten more weeks of progesterone injections!!!
Devlin giving Kim a progesterone injection.
We decided to wait until the baby was born to find out the gender. We wanted to be surprised. I had an easy pregnancy and LOVED being pregnant. Because I was high risk and at an advanced maternal age (geriatric pregnancy is a horrible term and it should not be used), we were part of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine group. My doctor was amazing and predicted almost everything that might happen to a woman having a baby in her mid-40s. I had a 50% greater chance of PreClampsia as I got closer to my due date. My blood pressure was great throughout the pregnancy and we monitored it every day. I had a feeling the baby was going to come early regardless. Devlin and I had gone away for the weekend to spend some quality time with our close friends Stevo and Carl. I saw my BP slowly creeping up, and by mid-morning on Monday, I was not feeling right.
My hands and feet were swelling more than usual. When I left for work my blood pressure was 160/100. I called my doctor and they told me to get to the hospital ASAP. Devlin just so happened to be working in the same building that day, so off we went. Thankfully, I had my bags packed and in the car. By the time I reached the hospital and was seen by the triage nurse my BP was 175/110. She left the room. I heard her call the doctor and when she came back, she said: “come with me.”
Kim and Devlin at the hospital.
A lovely woman met me on the other side of a door that led into a big room. She greeted me and said, “are you ready to meet your baby?” I burst into tears because I was only 36 and a half weeks and they would not let Devlin upstairs until I was totally admitted. Damn Covid.
Finally, after a 30-minute wait, they let Devlin into Labor and Delivery. We honestly thought they were going to advise an immediate C-Section, but to our surprise, we were going to be induced to try for a vaginal delivery.
After 38 hours, a new team of doctors came in and gave us the option to continue or do a cesarean. We were both exhausted and it could have continued for who knows how long. We both decided we would do the C-section. On June 22, 2021 at 11:33pm Lucien Miles Nicholais was born. He was the last and the loudest baby born that day. We were exhausted and thrilled and knew his name brought so much love and light.
