Real Stories: After 8 Years of Infertility, Jessica Finally Becomes a Mommy!

The path to parenthood is oftentimes one of the most difficult journeys a couple will endure. And for Jessica & Michael Corbin it definitely was. The two battled the heartbreak of infertility for eight long years, but thankfully their story has a happy ending!

Below is Jessica’s very raw and emotional account of her infertility battle and the pure joy that came when she finally welcomed her first baby into the world under the care of Dr. Lorissia Autrey at Walker Baptist Medical Center. Congratulations on your newest addition, Jessica!

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be two things: a nurse and a mommy. I accomplished the first goal at the age of 20 and started focusing on becoming a mommy two years later. But it would be another eight years before that dream finally came true.

Before I was married, at the age 17, a very large cyst developed and killed one of my ovaries. Not long after that, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). So I always knew that getting pregnant was going to be very hard and unfortunately, due to the extreme cost, I didn’t have the luxury of going to a fertility specialist.

So when we decided we wanted to start a family, I tried so many different things to help increase our chances. I tried tracking my periods. I lost a lot of weight. I took over-the-counter vitamins among other things, but was never successful.

After four years of unsuccessful attempts, at the age of 26, I finally found a doctor who I felt knew a little bit more about PCOS than my previous physician did. He was only doing GYN work at this time, but went ahead & agreed to let me try six rounds of the fertility medication Clomid. After six months of failure on the medication, I told my doctor about all the pain that I seemed to be in almost constantly. He suspected that I was suffering from endometriosis. I agreed to undergo an exploratory laparotomy and just as he had suspected, I was covered on the inside with endometriosis. He removed all of the lesions that he could and told me that was pretty much all he could do without sending me to a fertility specialist, which we couldn’t afford.

Fast forward to July 2017. I was at my yearly checkup with my GYN when I had an emotional breakdown after recounting everything I had been through. He hugged me, looked me in the eye and said, “I know what you have been through, but I truly believe you will be pregnant within the next 6 months.”

Near the end of August, my husband and I finally had a heart to heart. I was so tired of seeing negative test after negative test, tired of begging God for a child and crying myself to sleep night after night despite all my prayers. We finally decided that we were done. I still believed that I would be a mother one day, but just not the way I had originally planned. Once I had finally accepted this truth, I told God, “It’s okay. I understood now. Your will will be done, not mine.”

We agreed that we would start to fix up our house and apply to be foster parents in hopes to adopt a child or two that needed a loving family. But a few weeks later, on October 30th, our lives changed forever.

I was at work and just didn’t feel right. I felt off. I couldn’t shake the feeling. I was working at a doctor’s office at the time so I was able to take a urine sample to test for blood to see if maybe my period was close by (because when you have endometriosis and PCOS, you never know when it’s coming). But, no blood was noted.

As I was about to pour out my sample, I heard a small voice in my head say, “Jessica, you need to take a pregnancy test”. So I did & to my surprise, that second little red line came up almost immediately! I called one of the nurse practitioners in the office to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things, and she confirmed I wasn’t crazy — I WAS PREGNANT! I immediately broke down and praised God for the little miracle growing inside of me.

I had heard so many wonderful things about Dr. Lorissia Autrey at Walker, so I made an appointment with her right after we found out, and I’m so glad we went with her. She is absolutely wonderful.

Nine months later, on June 27, 2018, Kaitlyn Ruby Corbin made her big debut! She was born via C-section after non-progression of induction and I must say: each and every one of the labor and delivery nurses were amazing and supportive! I also want to point out that the nurse anesthetist who gave me my spinal block was my biggest support during the actual birth (after my husband, of course!). Michael went above and beyond to continue to make me comfortable and kept me calm (or as calm as he could) during the most exciting and terrifying time of my entire life.

Because of certain circumstances, Michael was unable to go to my daughter right after birth, so the nurse anesthetist took my phone from him and went to capture the moment of my daughter getting weighed for the very first time, and even snapped a few more pictures for me before returning to my side.

If I am ever blessed with another child, I will again choose Walker Baptist Medical Center.

Baby Kaitlyn is now 6 weeks old and living her BEST life! Congratulations Corbin family!