Approximately one in every five couples will, at some time in their lives, experience difficulties conceiving. For many, it’s an extremely difficult and stressful time – but, as others will testify, patience and determination may pay off.
Desiree and Ryan Fortin waited patiently for many years before, eventually, the couple turned to ɪɴ-ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. They prayed to God that it would help them get pregnant. Not long after the I.V.F treatment, they finally got the message that Desiree was pregnant. But the couple could never prepare for what was in her stomach…
Desiree and Ryan Fortin had been happily married since 2009, but there was one thing that didn’t work – they had struggled to conceive for a long time. Doctors diagnosed Desiree with ᴘᴏʟʏᴄʏsᴛɪᴄ ᴏᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ, hypothyroid, and low progesterone – so she and her husband tried for three long and painful years before finally turning to ɪɴ-ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. But instead of getting positive pregnancy tests, Desiree got her period over and over again. It was a mentally draining endeavor.
“It wasn’t just that I couldn’t get pregnant,” she wrote of those difficult years. “[Iɴꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ] brought me more tears than I ever thought I could shed…. I lay on my bathroom floor in complete emptiness after countless negative pregnancy tests time and time again. I had to endure shots, bruises, and all kinds of meds because when you are infertile and you seek fertility treatment for help, that is what you are in for. [It is] expensive and exhausting physically, emotionally, and mentally.”
So you can understand that Desiree and Ryan were ecstatic the moment they were finally told their first I.V.F treatment had worked.
And when they saw the ultrasound they couldn’t believe there was not one but three babies growing! It turned out that the couple were expecting triplets – talk about success! But the struggle wasn’t over for Desiree and her family.
Although she finally had finally fallen pregnant, doctors warned her that she wouldn’t be able to carry all the triplets to term. “I was too thin, too short, and it was my first pregnancy,” she recalls being told. “However, my hope is that wounds prove her wrong.”
The Fortin triplets were born in the summer of 2015. Desiree was delivered at 34 weeks and one day, via C-section. The couple was overjoyed to welcome babies Sawyer, Jack, and Charlize, all of whom weighed more than 5 pounds. “I’ll never forget my delivery day. Like all things involving parenthood, there were unexpected turns. After the triplets were delivered, Ryan went with them to the neonatal intensive care unit and I was sent to recovery‚” Desiree said.
After two weeks in the NICU unit, all three babies were able to come home and start their lives. Settling at home with three babies was a huge gift for Ryan and Desiree.
”We are blessed, but parenting is also a hard job filled with the greatest of responsibilities – caring for tiny humans. Our babies have severe reflux and colic – times three. Getting into a routine is difficult, as is maintaining your relationship amid crying babies, sleepless nights and a new routine,” Desiree said.
Today, the triplets are 7 years old and the whole family seems to do great. You can follow their life and adventures on Desiree’s Instagram page, where she’s got 150K followers. “I never imagined God would use our story to reach so many people. It has been an incredible experience,” she says.