Couple who struggled with infertility: ‘Keep trying, don’t give up’
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IDAHO FALLS – It wasn’t always in the cards for Alyssa and Chris Brayton to have a baby, but seeing the microscopic miracle finally happening was more than a dream come true.
“It was one of the neatest experiences for the doctor to walk in the room with our embryo— it was him (baby Oliver) walking in that room,” Alyssa says. “We got to watch it on an ultrasound screen the moment we got pregnant.”
Alyssa and Chris had struggled for so long to conceive they stopped counting the years. When we talked to Alyssa in June 2016, she wanted desperately to become a mom.
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“I always thought, ‘Why do they get to have a baby and I don’t, because I want it so bad,'” she said. “Sometimes people get pregnant on accident or they don’t want to have a baby.”
She admitted to feeling jealous of other couples. She and her husband were ready for a baby and said they had a strong marriage foundation.
They Braytons tried other forms of treatment before thinking about in vitro fertilization. During in vitro, an egg is fertilized outside of the womb, and the embryo is placed back into the woman’s uterus, allowing pregnancy to take place.
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“I honestly thought it was going to take forever, and sometimes I thought it was never going to happen just because of the cost of IVF,” Alyssa says. “And insurance doesn’t cover anything.”
If the Braytons were going to go through with IVF, they wanted to be sure, especially since the cost for them was $14,000 cash.
“I prayed about what we should do. I felt we could do it once … that’s all we needed,” Chris says.
The Braytons took a leap of faith and saved up enough hoping for their miracle. When starting IVF, Alyssa had to prepare her body by taking hormones to produce more eggs.
“It really was overwhelming. All of the medications that you have to do, all of the testing, all of the blood work all of the shots you have to do — it was just kind of crazy at the time and surreal at the time, but also fun and exciting and new,” Alyssa says.
When she finally got pregnant, she relished every moment, regularly documenting on social media about her journey. In October 2018, Oliver Brayton was born.
“I can’t describe the feelings that I felt. It was finally over, that hurt and that pain was finally over, and it was just the happiest that I feel like I have ever been,” Alyssa says.
Chris says through all of this, if your pain is sharable, it’s bearable. Alyssa shared hers through Instagram and social media, while Chris spoke with family and friends.
“One thing I think is important for couples to know is to share your pain because, it is painful, but if you don’t share it with other people, then it’s all your pain,” Chris says.
To parents struggling with infertility, the Braytons say there is hope.
“Keep trying, don’t give up. There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel,” Alyssa says. “You just keep going.”
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