Imagine healing from miscarriages only to be faced with your IVF treatment being postponed due to COVID-19. Today’s guest shares her painful journey of experiencing two miscarriages and deciding to undergo fertility treatment.
Joanna Pendergrass shares in this episode how she grieved her unborn children. Her failed IVF treatment, her second round of treatment and not being able to undergo embryo transfer due to COVID-19, and how she is not giving up hope on this journey to parenthood.
This episode is for you to listen to if you have experienced miscarriages, have gone through a failed IVF experienced, and have felt like giving up hope on your journey to parenthood.
Joanna Pendergrass Bio
I am a veterinarian and freelance medical writer in Atlanta, GA. My writing focuses on pet owner education and human health journalism; I am passionate about providing patients and pet owners with the information they need to make informed decisions about their health and their pet’s health.
I have been married for seven years to my wonderful hubby. In my free time, I enjoy reading, baking, and exercising. I also play the viola in a local community orchestra.
Tell me about your journey to motherhood? What obstacles have you overcome?
My journey to motherhood started in the fall of 2018. In early December 2018, I found out that I was pregnant for the first time, then found out the very next day that there was no heartbeat. Within a week and a half, I went from finding out I was pregnant to having a D&C. I got pregnant for a second time in the summer of 2019, then found out in August of 2019 that I had miscarried again. Both of my miscarriages were in the first trimester.
These two miscarriages turned my life upside down, but I made a choice to grow and become better while working through my losses. I leaned on my support system and started working with a maternal mental therapist. My therapist helped me understand the grieving process and find healthy ways to grieve and honor my two unborn children.
After the second miscarriage, my husband and I decided to do fertility treatment. Our doctor recommended IVF with pre-implantation genetic testing because my miscarriages were caused by chromosomal abnormalities. My first round of IVF in December 2019 failed because my eggs were immature and therefore could not be successfully fertilized. My second round of IVF, which we started in January 2020, went much better than the first one. We have one healthy embryo. My embryo transfer was planned for April 2020 but was indefinitely postponed because of COVID-19. It took me several weeks to process the disappointment of the postponement.
Throughout my journey, I’ve had to overcome frustration with my body, inability to even see myself as pregnant, insurance obstacles, body image issues, intimacy struggles, you name it. These obstacles come and go, so it’s a continual process to work through them as they pop up.
Any books, tools, resources that have helped you on this journey that you want to share with the audience?
Maternal mental health therapy, support groups, “Coping With Infertility, Miscarriage, and Neonatal Loss: Finding Perspective and Creating Meaning” by Amy Wenzel, various self-care strategies.
Become a Sisters in Loss Birth and Bereavement Doula Here
Living Water Doula Services
Book Recommendations and Links Below
You can shop my Amazon Store for the Book Recommendations
You can follow Sisters in Loss on Social
Join the Sisters in Loss Online Community
Sisters in Loss Instagram
Sisters in Loss Facebook
Sisters in Loss Twitter
