MIA Co-Founder Welcomes Daughter!

MIA Co-Founder, Alyssa, and her husband welcomed their first daughter into the world on May 18. After a failed IVF in December 2010, the two decided to take some time off and work on things before transferring the three embryos they had frozen. By the time August 2011 rolled around, both were in a much better place physically, mentally and emotionally.

On August 26, 2011, three beautiful embryos were transferred. I was a hot mess during the 2ww, not feeling any different than during our 2ww after our fresh IVF. On September 7, I got my first positive beta! I went again the following week and my numbers were doubling like they were supposed to. I did a little Google search and quickly realized we probably had more than one baby in there. On September 22, we had our first ultrasound and it was confirmed that we had two babies. However, Baby B had what the tech called "double bubble trouble." Because of this I wasn't released to my OB yet so I came back at 8 weeks to have another u/s. Baby B no longer had a heartbeat but Baby A was looking awesome and I was released to my OB.

Overall, my pregnancy was pretty easy. No morning sickness, no major aches and pains, nothing to really complain about. At 36 weeks, I was diagnosed with borderline preeclampsia and I started to feel pretty worn down and tired. At 40 weeks and 5 days, I had my weekly check-up and was sent directly to the hospital to be induced. The next day, much to our surprise (we thought it was a boy the whole time!), we met our daughter, Autumn Rose:

My whole pregnancy, I was constantly worried. Each appointment was met with a little fear and relief each time when I left. I wasn't about to say I'd beat infertility until I was holding a baby in my arms. The end of my pregnancy was bittersweet, excited to meet our little one but at the same time knowing this would probably be the only time I was ever pregnant and would feel those sweet baby kicks inside me.

Today my little girl is three weeks old and each day gets better and better with her. I'm sharing this story to encourage you to never give up hope and to keep the faith. Prayers and baby dust to all of you throughout your journey.

~Alyssa~

2nd Annual KCIA & Family Buiding Conference Date Set

The 2nd Annual Kansas City Infertility Awareness & Family Building Conference is set for Saturday, April 28th. Go to this link for more information. This year's conference will be bigger and better!!!

Thanksgiving

The Ladies of MIA would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! May it be relaxing, delicious, family-filled and may the nosy relatives stay quiet. We feel so very grateful to have received all the support from our community in this endeavor to begin this organization and we look forward to continue growing it and helping more couples.

Tell us what you're grateful today and remember...the bird is the word!

Mile 25

Back on August 19 when I talked to Deb Grissett and we discussed our journeys. She said after 6 years of trying for a second child, her husband said he was done and she told him, "No! It's like we're at mile 25 of a marathon!" Do you feel like you're on mile 25 of your journey? So close yet so far away? Leave us a comment and let us know how you feel.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Whew! We did it, we survived our first conference! The Ladies of MIA couldn't be more pleased with how the conference went. We had a huge turnout, tons of prizes and fantastic vendors & speakers. We're already making notes what we can do to improve upon for next year and once we rest up, we'll start planning next year's event. Thank you to everyone for making yesterday as successful as it was. You're all amazing and hope that you walked away from the conference with knowledge, support and knowing you aren't alone.

Registration is now CLOSED!

Registration for the Inaugural MIA Conference to be held tomorrow is now closed. We still have 40 spots left and will take registration at the door. Registration starts at 1:30pm. See you then!

Registration will close at 8pm TONIGHT

Registration for the Inaugural MIA Conference will close at 8pm tonight. We currently have less than 50 spots available.Good morning! We wanted to highlight a few things to help make tomorrow run as smoothly as possible:

• Check-in starts at 1:30pm at the Lodge Des Peres. Please be patient as you check-in as we're expecting a big turn out.
• If you are participating in the sock exchange, you will drop them in a basket at check-in. Later during the conference, you will receive a pair for you to take home and wear during treatments.
• A few things to be sure to bring: a jacket, pen, notepad, snacks. We will be offering McAllister's tea, lemonade and cookies courtesy of the Apothecary Shop throughout the conference but feel free to bring any other snacks you would like.
• We will be announcing smaller giveaways throughout the conference with the free IVF and $400 medicine gift certificate (separate giveaways) at the very end. For ALL giveaways, you MUST be present to win and it must be the name called i.e. if husband wins, husband must claim it.
• We will be doing a Q&A session at some point during the conference. If you have any questions that you'd like to ask, please email them to. The more questions we have ahead of time, the more likely we can get through more and get them all answered.

We are very excited about tomorrow and hope you are too. We hope you leave with new information as well as a community of friends going through the same thing as you. Please be sure to try and say hello to Megan, Mistie and Alyssa because we'd love to meet all of you.

        

See you tomorrow!

        

The Ladies of MIA

        

Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: MidwestIF