Baci Abroad Blog
Dar a luz, a birth story
Sometimes we say, “I wear my heart on my sleeve.” Now, my heart lives outside me and this can be…terrifying. All I can think about is keeping her safe. She is mighty and strong. Yet, she also feels so vulnerable. So many things take your breath away as a mama.
I wrote the reflection above as Dae-Han drove us home from Houm, our birth center in Seocho, Korea. Sofia was four days old. We had spent her first days of life surrounded by an amazing care team of doulas, midwives, nurses, and Dr. Chung. While the day was bright as we drove, and I felt some excitement at being together with Sofia in our home, the underlying emotion I was managing was fear. We had left the cocoon, but I was uncertain about the strength of my wings.
Houm away from Home
If you have followed our fertility journey, you have read about how raw and hard some of the moments have been — unsuccessful IVF, two miscarriages. Grief that knocked the wind out of me some days. In the midst of this journey, I found Houm, a birth center that many mamas from campus recommended.
The origin story of Houm is beautiful. Dr. Peter Chung, the founder, was once a doctor at a large hospital in Seoul — Samsung? … I do not remember for sure. He performed many, many C-sections in this role. One day, a woman from Europe asked if he would assist her home birth, as there were no natural birthing options in Korea at that time. Dr. Chung agreed. In the process of being present at her birthing, he learned what labor really was for a woman.
Dr. Chung and me in my birthing suite on our first visit back to Houm after Sofia’s birth. Dr. Chung also goes by “George Clooney.”
As time passed, more women approached Dr. Chung, suggesting that he open a birth center that offered women the option of births without intervention, unless the safety of mom or baby dictated that intervention was necessary (or the mama requested it). Dr. Chung listened, and what was first named Mediflower, now Houm, was born.
Houm’s approach is holistic. When I returned from summer, at the end of my first trimester, Houm set us up with a care team. A midwife set up a chat for us, available at all times, that included herself, another midwife, and a doula.
As the weeks passed, we got to know our midwife Julia and our doula Karen. Another midwife Dayana assisted us by running a birthing class. As Sofia’s due date, February 9th, neared, I felt connected to these women. At Houm, you feel embraced by warmth walking into each appointment. The care is personal and intimate.
Interrupted sleep
At 4 am on Wednesday, February 5th, I got up to go to the bathroom. “When was the last time I slept through the night?” I wondered. “Many moons ago”, I responded to myself.
I crawled back into bed when my water broke … or started breaking? Rather than one moment, the process lasted hours. Uncertain if indeed this was the start of Sofia’s journey into the world, I texted Linds and Jenn. Dae-Han slept soundly next to me.
Contrary to the world of movies and TV shows, only 5% of women’s water breaks before going into labor. After receiving responses from Linds and Jenn, I texted our Houm care team chat to let Midwife Julia know. She told me I could rest more if I liked, and take our time getting into the clinic when we were ready.
Now on the couch, instead of sleep, I found myself texting the women in my family. My baby daddy kept snoozing, unawares that he was going to enter fatherhood in less than 24 hours. I didn’t want to wake Dae-Han just yet because I knew it would be a long day for all of us. By 6 am, though, I crawled into bed. “Babe,” I whispered. “What! Huh! What?” he startled. “My water broke a couple of hours ago. I messaged Julia and she said we could slowly get ready and come in.” “Okay … okay,” said my sweet husband as his brain grasped what was happening.
Our go-bags had been packed for many weeks, mine already in our car. By 7 am we were en route to Houm, feeling calm as I was not experiencing regular contractions yet.
Around 6:30 am before leaving for Houm. It all looks so easy before the contractions begin.
As Dae-Han drove, I watched the Han river out the passenger window. I thought about the conversation I had had with Tracy leading up to this day. “Connected, but not attached,” I thought. “I would like to bring this baby into the world without any interventions, but whatever has to happen, that’s okay”, I noted to myself.
Why try a natural birth when science can offer women options with much less pain? My thoughts on this pertain only to myself. I am not here to say what is right for any other birthing person.
Earlier in my pregnancy, I had read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. The “mother of authentic midwifery” does have a clear opinion on what is best for birthing, and her thoughts rang true for the experience I wanted. If I was able to labor without an epidural, I would be able to move my body freely, helping Sofia move into different stations, likely speeding up labor. If I could stand the pain, epidural-free labors are less likely to end up with a c-section. If I labored without intervention, maybe I could have something of a spiritual experience like my friend Celeste had had. (I knew that I would never be free of my inhibitions to have the orgasmic births Ina May wrote about. Power to those women.) Additionally, I wanted to see how deep I could go inside of myself. Perhaps to show myself in a new way how strong I am.
So, I had these intentions … these thoughts previous to labor. The real deal was … as you can imagine, well, beyond my imagining.
Labor: it takes a village
When we had settled into our birthing suite at home, thereafter named “The Four Seasons” by Cass, I was still not in active labor. I spent time calling family and chit-chatting. On a call with Jenn, my college bestie who had had an OBGYN practice for many years, I asked her, “So you had to give birth without epidurals, but if you had had a choice, would you have had the epidural?” I expected Jenn to speak to how empowering it was to give birth naturally. She did not. “Yes, I would have had the epidural.” “Hmmm, curious, not the answer I expected,” I thought to myself. Then she added, “You have to focus on just taking each contraction as it comes. You cannot get ahead of the contraction you are experiencing.”
By 11 am I was beginning to have regular contractions. I found that I could bare them quite well by breathing deeply into them. By 1 pm our doula Karen had arrived. By 3 pm, it was getting real.
The day before we had been at Houm for my 39 week check up. There was no sign of labor, and the ultrasound showed that Sofia, while head down, was not yet engaged. Her face was still turned facing forward rather than facing my tailbone. Karen and Midwife Dayana had assuaged any worries noting that a baby can turn during labor.
I don’t know what time it was, but many hours had passed since labor began, my dilation was only very slowly coming along, and our baby girl was still high in my abdomen. At this time, Karen asked if I would be willing to get into a position that was going to be uncomfortable but would help Sofia descend.
When Karen and I spoke the next day, she noted that this position, called Walcher’s (click that link and send me a note about how impressed you are with me) is something that doulas and midwives hope to avoid asking laboring mothers to do. With my back rounded over a peanut ball and my feet dangling over the edge of the bed, Julia dug her fingers into my abdomen in the middle of a strong contraction.
Folks, I feel like I can say I am made of something damn sturdy to have endured this move. It took something so fierce in me, but it worked. Soon after, Sofia was on her way down the birth canal, which is no straightforward path as previously assumed.
My birthing playlist on Spotify is called Sofia Surfs Out. It conjures a very cute image. Reality: There was no smooth surfing or sailing or shooting down that canal. It was all grit and a deeply primal instinct that Sofia and I had to tap into for her to be born into this world.
As I was enduring hours of intensifying contractions, shifting into new positions, sometimes in a large birthing tub, sometimes on the bed or a birthing stool, Dae-Han was supporting each part of my labor. Julia and Karen instructed him where to be in proximity to me. I love this about my labor, that my husband was actively engaged.
In between contractions, Dae-Han whispers words of support.
Yet, the labor was harrowing, so much pain, not knowing when it would end, feeling it never would. I remember wondering why I had ever made this choice, to go about the labor without an epidural. I remember thinking, “I would never recommend this to another woman.” I remember doubting that I would last long enough to push Sofia out into the world. I remember calling my parents to tell them Sofia had been born at 9:24 pm and when my mom answered, I simply cried: “It was so hard, Mom.”
For me, labor was not the spiritual experience I thought I could tap into. Many moms will talk about the moment that the baby is first laid on your chest, how they cry or feel all the feels. In truth, I remember the physicality of that moment. I love to think back on it. But in that moment, my body was still in fight mode. While (white) women giving birth in the West, or in Korea (in my case), are unlikely to die during childbirth in 2025, labor still seems a life or death experience. It took hours to switch from a fight for survival to feel my heart connection again.
Tender first moments with Sofia:
In photo 2 you will see that Sofia is still attached to her placenta. Houm practices delayed cord clamping as the placenta can continue to offer nutrients to baby even outside of a woman’s body.
In photo 4 you will meet Julia (with glasses) and Karen.
Teach me how to Mama
Dae-Han, Sofia, and I are fortunate to have had access to Houm. I am privileged that my insurance paid for this Four Seasons of birth centers as well. Because of our care team at Houm, I spent the first days of motherhood in bliss — I was not anxious, as I can sometimes be. I felt centered, calm, and, well, zenified. In addition to having an entire suite at Houm, and three delicious meals a day, here are the lessons they taught us about taking care of Baby Sofia:
How to change a diaper when working around an umbilical cord
How to sponge bath a baby
What to do if baby is choking
How to breastfeed
This deserves an additional note. While breastfeeding is “natural” I would argue it is not intuitive. So many challenges can pop up: latching, bruised nipples, positioning the baby, keeping up your milk supply. Every single time it was time to feed Sofia at Houm, a nurse or midwife was there to assist me.
How to do a breast massage
It turns out a 90-minute breast massage from a lactation specialist can feel as good as a deep tissue massage after a big run. Massage helps stimulate milk production as well as keep ducts from getting clogged.
How to put the baby in a carseat
How to hold the bottle. This one surprised me. I’ve fed many a baby before, but perhaps maybe never a tiny newborn? There is an angle and a whole positioning with the bottle that I did not know before.
One of many lactation consultations.
I suppose these lessons are not really about how to be a mama — that’s the heart part — but they were invaluable in helping Dae-Han and I gain confidence in our first days as parents.
Most of Sofia’s care team. Our Houm family.
Homecoming: Back at the Baci Song abode
After four nights at Houm, we departed. Dae-Han was ready to settle into our home as a family of three. Me? I was terrified to leave the our newfound family of carers.
I have not felt the baby blues, but upon leaving Houm, postpartum anxiety took up residence in my bones. By the time the sun set on our first day back at DMC Ville, my nerves were frayed. Dae-Han found me sobbing on our bed after dinner. I was raw with fear and vulnerability.
When Dae-Han came to curl up around me on the bed and ask what was wrong, I choked out, “I can’t keep her safe anymore. When she was in my womb, she was safe.” At the moment, this was a devastating realization for me.
Nearly three weeks have passed since we have arrived home. I feel less raw now. A little less anxious. But Gram, Mom, Linds and Cass are still on speed dial when I am up in the middle of each night for feedings. I call with many questions.
“Can I put her on the boob when she has hiccups?”
“Is it normal that her eyes roll back when she gets really tired?”
“Is this how the baby wrap works?”
Much of the time, I find it comforting to just have one of these women on the other end alongside me from across the world.
Postpartum: The 4th trimester
The vulnerability that exists when a life is in your hands steals my breath and, sometimes even clenches my stomach. The gravity of the responsibility is so very big. Sometimes, Sofia sleeps with one fist raised. So small, but oh so mighty and strong, already ready to be a warrior for justice with this stance. And to my mind, she is also so fragile.
I gaze at her as she starts to come to, at the end of an afternoon nap. Is it called a nap when she has no concept of day or night yet? Her eyes flutter beneath her lids. She takes a few rapid breaths. “Take a breath,” I say to her in moments of wakefulness when she has gotten worked up. She listens. She knows. She calms almost every time.
God, the raw perfection in her features. In moments, straightforward and soft and uncertain and novel with an unnerving piercing cry. How do you process this much love?
Sofia is next to me on the bed, stretching her arms above her head as Bach trills out of my phone. After every two words I type, I gaze and breathe her in.
Mary, who I watched become a mother when we were teaching in Ecuador, recently reminded me how to say “give birth” in Spanish: Dar a luz. To give light.
*italics in this post are hyperlinks
Fertility at forty-one: A new day has come
It was Saturday, July 6th, and Dae-Han had driven me to the Urgent Care in Glendale, near my mother-in-law’s home where we were staying for the week. For two whole days now, I had not felt hungover, and this was of great concern to me.
“I think this is a good thing,” the doctor tried to comfort me. “It means your body is adjusting.”
I shook my head with uncertainty. “But I am only 8.5 weeks pregnant. Symptoms shouldn’t be alleviating right now, should they?” I countered. And 41-years-old, I thought. Shouldn’t I feel terrible all of the time while pregnant at this age?
“Every woman and every pregnancy is different,” the doctor pressed on, working to offer me peace of mind.
“Okay,” I said, working my mouth into a smile while still harboring all of the anxiety inside of myself. Dae-Han and I thanked the doctor and walked out into the hot California sunshine to get into the car.
I turned to my husband. “I want to find a place for an ultrasound,” I said, Anxiety having already convinced me that I was losing this (third) pregnancy. If there was still hope to be had, I needed to see it beating back to us from a monitor. Or I needed to start facing the reality of another miscarriage.
Dae-Han swiftly located a place for us to get an ultrasound and we walked into the Prenatal Ultrasound of Glendale office. To be clear, this is not a place you go for diagnostic ultrasounds. The form we signed stated that these ultrasounds were for “entertainment” purposes. I hastily scribbled my signature on the form and climbed onto the ultrasound bed decked out in cheetah print sheets.
And moments later we were looking at a tiny being with a strong and sure heartbeat. This was so much more than entertaining. This was joy. This was hope. This was life building upon itself cell by cell.
I laughed gleefully as Dae-Han filmed the monitor to send a video back to his fam, who had been far less worried about the baby — they knew to lean into the wisdom that symptoms ebb and flow — and more worried about me.
As we walked out of the office with new images of our Bella Bean (an in-utero name that Gram had come up with), Dae-Han turned to me and measuredly said, “Okay, no more anxiety for at least eight weeks now, right?”
Uff, I wish that was how worry worked with me. At that moment, I did feel exuberant and happy (and my pregnancy symptoms showed up to the party again that evening), but was I at a place of deep peace? I was not. It would still be some time before I arrived to where I am today.
During the six weeks I was (Minnesota) home this summer, I had beautiful dinners with family and friends, took long walks with Hannah and Linds, chilled with the nieces, enjoyed Lake Life, shopped for clothes to fit my new body, saw a wonderful doctor referred to me by Jenn, just got to be with Mom, Dad, Gram, Linds, and Cass. And worried a lot. Amidst the aformentioned beauty, I was also cashing out for 2.5 hour naps, falling into strange and vivid dreams, or waking up at dawn to the intrusive thought “Will our baby stay?” cycloning through my mind.
Indeed stay she has. That is right, to no one’s surprise, I am building a baby girl. 💗
It was at my 10.5 week appointment with Dr. Halverson, who I adored from the moment I met her, that I was able to really take anxiety’s hands off of the wheel. After normalizing the fears I had, she leveled with me, with firm kindness. “Your baby looks great. You aren’t going to get lower odds of miscarriage than you have right now. You are having a normal pregnancy.”
I nodded and smiled, actually feeling peace settle into my bones.
Right now, more often than not, I wake up with excitement rather than anxiety. I think it is ultra-cool that Bella Bean is always with me, doing her waves and turns and flips as we got to see on yesterday’s ultrasound here in Seoul. It is bananas that our plum sized baby is so active, though I will not be able to feel these movements for at least another four weeks.
What I do often feel is hungry. I have lived a life with hyperglycemia that has oft inspired hanger, but right now I am talking about this kind of hunger:
Dear sweet husband of mine,
While I am building your baby, let’s keep words like “easy peasy” locked in a drawer.
사랑해, Your wife with humble requests
In front of me I do now have: an iced Earl Grey latte, fried cauliflower, french fries, soba noodle salad, and a piece of gluten-free hazelnut chocolate cake. What do we know about Bella Bean right now? She sure is a Baci Babe. Girlfriend loves to eat. Google says a pregnant women needs about 300 extra calories a day. There is no way an extra half a sandy and a glass of skim milk is doing it for me and our girl, though. You know nothing, Google. Nothing.
While I contemplate what I might save for dinner, I leave you with a cute little family photo and Celine Dion.
I was waiting for so long
For a miracle to come
Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don’t shed a tear
Through the darkness and good times
I knew I’d make it through
And the world thought I had it all
But I was waiting for you
Hush, now
I see a light in the sky
Oh, it’s almost blinding me
I can’t believe I’ve been touched
By an angel with love
Let the rain come down and wash
away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my
fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun
A new day has come
The Cost of (in)Fertility
Hello from Minnesota!. Dae-Han and I have touched down in my hometown for a brief but wonderful 4 days at the OG BaciAbode.
Before I get into all things Operation Build-a-Baby, a moment to acknowledge the floury fun we had yesterday making homemade pasta sauce and ravioli:
Dae-Han has now been officially initiated into his newly acquired Italian(ish) family. ♡
In two days, we fly to California. I am looking forward to a Christmas with kimchi and Vitamin-D and my new Korean American family.
We have traveled 14,000 miles (roundtrip) and spent $2,949.28 (two tickets) to spend Christmas with family. It was worth every sleepless hour on the plane and every moment gripping Dae-Han’s arm through rough turbulence.
Right about now, Cake’s “The Distance” is starting to play in my head. Why?
Simply for one line:
“He’s going the distance.”
Dae-Han and I are not just going the distance for family, we’re also going the distance for Baby BaciSong. Unlike Cake, I don’t think we’re going for speed anymore.
When we started the IFV process this fall, I knew it was unlikely that we were running a sprint, but my ever-present optimist was hopeful. After a second egg retrieval that yielded three eggs, two that became three-day old embryos that decided this world was not for them, I am trying to figure out how to pace myself when I am not privy to the distance of this race. And for that reason, perhaps this is the perfect training for parenthood, when you have to dig down and find the stamina for days after sleepless nights, projectile vomiting (props to my mom for dealing with mine), and many dirty diapers.
When I came out of anaesthesia on the most recent egg retrieval venture, the first thing I did (again) was warn the nurses that I was not yet asleep so please do not yet start the procedure. With soft classical music playing around me, they warmly told me that the procedure was indeed done.
As I lied on the cot recovering, not yet knowing how many eggs the doctor had retrieved, I imagined looking over five (this was what I hod hoped would be ready to hatch) one by one, asking “Are you my baby?” “Are you my baby?” “Are you my baby?”
When 10 days later we found out that indeed none of those eggs were to become our baby, I imagined hearing a soothing voice say, “It’s not time yet. Take more time to enjoy just being with my dad for now.”
So, we’re doing that, little Baby BaciSong Bean. We’re staying up late, and sleeping in (or at least I am). We’re being here, ready for you, when you are ready for us.
Tit’s Up! has become the collective motto in our house. Listen, somedays, this shit is pretty hard. Amidst shooting my body up with hormones and receiving undesirable news from the doctor, I can project my angry sense of helplessness onto Dae-Han, just some of the emotional cost of infertility.
I see now firsthand in my marriage the way that our partners can be both recipients of our love and tenderness and our fire and fury. I am grateful that with Dae-Han and I moments of fertility disappointments do not outweigh the understanding that we are Team BaciSong, in this together. So, we’re working to keep our heads high and Tits Up!
The doctor has suggested that we take two months off of stim shots. This works out well as we were traveling this month for the holidays, and in January, I will be meeting my Soul Sister Ceci in Hong Kong to celebrate my birthday.
When we bought our tickets to celebrate Christmas in the States, originally we had planned to fertilize the six eggs that I had frozen before moving to Seoul. While there was more than one factor in our decision not to do so this year, one of those factors was financial. Both of our parents have told us that they would help us with this cost, and the support they have offered would allow us to move forward with Stateside IVF, but I am not yet in place where I want to (or feel I have to) work with the American healthcare system’s costs.
I have little idea how healthcare is figured out in different countries, or why things cost what they do in different places, but let me lay out the finances of IVF in both the United States and Korea:
Retrieving and freezing my six eggs 2.5 years ago cost $15,000. If we moved forward with fertilization, it would be an additional $6,747, for a total of $21,747.
I kept careful record of our bills this past retrieval. The total cost of retrieval and fertilization was $4,917.45.
So, the difference between one egg retrieval and fertilization in the US versus Korea: $16,829.55.
It is baffling to me. My hospital in Korea is state-of-the-art. I get personal care from doctors and nurses. So, how is it that Korea can keep costs so much lower than the States? Maybe it is a rabbit hole for another day. Maybe not. It just makes me angry that those living in the States could break their banks or be unable to use IVF because the cost is so exorbitant.
Because my sweet husband often gives enough f*cks for the both of us, I will abstain from getting on a higher soapbox and choose this moment to start my sign-off.
Regardless of where one lives, the cost of infertility can certainly be high when you consider the emotional and financial toll it can take. Dae-Han and I are blessed. We have access to great care, we have wonderful support systems both inside and outside of our partnership, and we continue to be hopeful realists in this journey.
This post has taken me from Mom and Dad’s kitchen to an airplane en route to California. Goodbye for now, from a mile high. ♡
It’s okay to be ordinary, so “tit’s up”
Note: Italicized words in this post are hyperlinks.
To begin, in my last post I emphasized how extraordinary I felt as my bod had just released 9 eggs after a round of IVF drugs. “You’re an incredible Hen House,” my friend Cristina had noted. What pride I felt. What luck, I thought as I reveled in my eggcelent success.
Maybe, a voice echoed back.
This week I was reminded of the story of The Chinese Farmer. The story begins like this:
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”
The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”
I have been reflecting on this Zen short story because this week has taken last post’s “what good luck” to this week’s “what poor luck” and I needed to reframe that thinking.
This past Thursday, Dae-Han and I entered the doctor’s office to learn how many embryos might have been created from those 9 eggs.
The doctor took her time to explain that
9 initial eggs
-3 bad eggs
= 6 eggs to fertilize
-1 egg that didn’t take to the process
= 5 embryos created
-4 embryos that did not develop robustly
=1 embryo sent to genetic testing
which came back as a mosaic embryo.
If this sounds artistic, like transferring this embryo to my womb could bring the next Gaudí or Emma Karp Lundstrom to the world, the language is misleading you. A mosaic embryo is not an indication of artistry as much as it is an indication of chromosomal abnormalities.
Now, it is possible that a mosaic embryo self-corrects if it does implant in the womb, and in this week’s therapy session Tracy did remind me of the gifts of imperfection. Has my imagination painted a picture of this mosaic embryo resulting in a baby that chooses a brush instead of a pencil at their first birthday, for their doljanchi and then grows up to become a famous calligraphist? Of course it has. Bless my imagination.
Our doctor is less about my imagination and more about science and statistics. For this reason, she has advised us to freeze the embryo for back up and to give another round of egg retrieval a go in hopes of an embryo absent of chromosomal imperfections. When Dr. Kim suggested this, I was … frustrated and confused and angry. Because we had had such good luck initially.
Maybe.
And now it felt like we were having such bad luck.
Maybe.
After the first round of egg retrieval, I had started to fantasize about being this extraordinary couple who in their 40s becomes this “one and done” story. As Dae-Han and I rode the elevator down from the fertility clinic, he turned to me and said, “We’re not extraordinary. We’re ordinary. That’s okay. It’s okay to be ordinary.”
So this weekend I am meditating on this notion that there isn’t really “bad luck” and “good luck.” There is just what is.
And what is next for us now is another round of egg retrieval (which does mean another anesthetic slumber and I don’t hate that).
I know that our baby already exists in some realm somewhere. Perhaps this sounds … woo woo or weird, but I already feel connected to our baby in some spiritual sense. I don’t get to control when that little bean is ready to make their way to my womb, but I do get to sing my own version of Cardi B’s WAP. (Gram, I advice you against clicking the link to the original song. If you felt that the 2022 halftime show was NOT CLASSY you will have even more thoughts about WAP.)
I haven’t finished writing it, but my version starts like this:
Room in this womb
There’s some room in this womb
There’s some room in this womb
There’s some room in this womb (‘hol up)
(I’m now really stuck now how to to take “certified freak seven days a week” to something more maternal. Open to suggestions if you have them.)
When I recounted this week’s fertility disappointment to Ceci, she responded with empathy, and concluded with the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s favorite inspiring phrase:
When the best thing you can be is a happy hen
“9 eggs! You’re a regular chicken!!” wrote my friend Caroline in our WhatsApp chat. And by “regular” she did not mean average or normal. No, friends, she meant that I am earning an A+ at laying eggs — as good as any young, healthy hen. Except that I am no spring chicken but a woman working to conceive at an “advanced maternal age” (formerly “geriatric pregnancy” and what is that term except one that elicits images of a grey-haired granny pregnant in a nursing home so thank to whoever pushed for kinder language because #languagematters, yo).
At my Advanced Maternal Age (AMA) I was able to produce the same number of eggs as I produced at AMA minus 2 years when I froze my eggs in Minnesota. This earns me bragging rights. I am an overachiever who is writing today to tell you about the report card from my doctor which reads “Exceeding Expectations.” (There was no report card but I read this note on the doctor’s face through blurry, coming-out-of-anathesia eyes. She was impressed with me, I know it.)
Just like when I was a student and I didn’t find school exceedingly hard but I did have to work for my grades, I worked for those 9 eggs. This time I did not work with a tutor or go in for extra help with my teacher, but I did do the following:
Abstained from alcohol.
This has actually been the case not just for the past 10 days of IVF shots, but for the past 5 weeks, since Dae-Han and I started doctoring with Cha Fertility Center. Dae-Han has also abstained, even though he wasn’t told he had to, and I appreciate the solidarity from him. Also, if you remember from my last post, drunk sperm swim in circles, so our chances now seem better that our little bean will know how to swim straight to its destination.
Listened more closely to my body.
Workouts are generally my way of relieving stress and feeling good about my body, myself, and the world at large, so I often push myself to get in workouts and complete them vigorously. While I was able to keep working out during this process, I tuned in to my body and made sure when she said, “let’s spend more time on the couch today” I answered with, “you got it, girl.”
Took fertility supplements.
Aunt Christy, our favorite Cali-based acupuncturist recommended that we take CoQ10 to increase sperm and egg health. When I told this to a doctor back home in a tele-health appointment he smirked a bit and said “well, it won’t hurt.” I like this doctor, but I also want to call him up and say, “you know how you said I might get 4-5 eggs at this age, well, I got 9, man.” I like combining the wisdom of the East and the West, and we are grateful that Christy has offered her expertise in Chinese medicine.
Avoided cold fluids.
My mother-in-law was the first to say “do not drink cold water when you are trying to conceive.” I was a bit dismissive of this at first, but this again is Eastern wisdom, and Christy agreed I should heed this advice. So, no cold drinks and generally no cold food. Lots of tea and soup.
Gave myself 28 shots.
The first three days of shooting myself up with hormones I was fine. The days following … I was fiiiiiine. No really, just fiiiiine. Which Highly Sensitive Person would be bothered by inducing Super PMS? Certainly not me.
Collaborated with my favorite person, Dae-Han Song, husband extraordinaire.
I married this man for dozens of reasons. His smile, his kindness, his perfect skin, and most certainly for his ability to be the best caretaker. The past 10 days, Dae-Han became Hot Nurse Song as he prepared my shots each morning, working to take any fertility load that he could off my shoulders and onto his.
How is someone this handsome in their Christmas pjs right when they get out of bed in the morning? The man can’t take a poor picture at any angle or any time. May our progeny be good swimmers and just as photogenic.
7. Leaned into the Sisterhood.
The Sisterhood is awesome. It came in the form of many supportive messages from friends around the globe. The Sisterhood also showed up in action. Dae-Han had an incredible opportunity to go to South Africa this week for a conference, so our friend Alice stepped in to go with for my retrieval appointment. Our friendship reached new heights as she accompanied me into the procedure room — my gown flapping as I wiggled into the feet straps on the procedure table — to translate for me before I was in an anaesthesia slumber. She got me home after the procedure. She waited on me while I was laid out on the couch for several hours post procedure.
Alice is awesome.
So I’ve gathered some cool things this week. I’ve learned that I can be a statistical outlier in the best way possible. I’ve learned how much I like being in a deep anaethesia induced sleep. (When I told this to my friend Lychelle, she responded with an amused “Tell me your job is hard without telling me your job is hard.” Perhaps. I was forced to sleep and rest and this part was delicious.) I’ve learned — or perhaps I had this knowledge and it was reinforced this week — what an incredible community of women I have around me here in Seoul. I’ve been reminded that my husband is the shit. I’ve been reminded that I can do hard things — I can work a full time job in my classroom and work a full time job in my ovaries (I’d argue they have both been more than full time this week.) I have been reminded to honor and respect and love my body.
Right now I am bloated and my pants do not fit and I feel fat (and I know that this is a stupid thought) and my boobs hurt and they didn’t even grow at all with all of the hormones and I have complained about this to my sympathetic husband and I am going to stop now. Goshdarnit I am going to start worshipping this body for all that she does and all that she creates. John Mayer is handsome but also kind of a jerk but I will take his words and run with them. My body is a wonderland. A wonder of creation and beauty. I hope your remember this about your body too.
Our next step in The Hatchery (I think this metaphor might be cracking) is to wait until the end of the month when we will find out which embryos are genetically sound and ready for transfer.
There is plenty of uncertainty — how many eggs were viable for insemination, how many embryos went to blast, will the embryo implant in my womb — but today I am just one Happy Hen.
Note: words throughout the post in italics are hyperlinks
Drunk Sperm Swim in Circles
I believe that I became a mother on May 10th, 2021. If you’re reading this, you likely know me. If you know me, you know that 1. I was single in 2021, 2. that now I am married, and 3. that Dae-Han and I do not presently have any children.
Still, I will state May 10th was the day that I crossed some kind of threshold into motherhood.
There is a a voice message that still lives in WeChat that I sent to my friend Lauren on May 12th. When I play this message back now, I hear my breathy voice:
I’ve been having a rough day today, so you’re getting me in that space … I feel really good about my decision to go home and do this thing … and it is coming with a great deal of uncertainty and stress.
I continue my message to Lauren, detailing that I had reached out to Tracy, my therapist, in a state of distress, requesting a session before our weekly scheduled one.
It was on May 10th, 2021 date that I made the call to close the China-living chapter so that I could return to the States to freeze my eggs. At the time, in the midst of the pandemic, China still had not opened up, making an exit and return to the mainland very uncertain.
In subsequent voice messages to Lauren, I recounted an exchange that had taken place in that “emergency” session:
Tracy: What if there was somewhere else outside China that was going to be viable? What if there was a good school somewhere else that you could work at and you could go home and then go to that school?
Me: That would be really compelling right now. I’m not ready to leave Shekou emotionally, but honestly I don’t think I ever will be ready because I have built such an incredible community. Whenever I am going to leave, it’s going to really hard.
Tracy’s question sat with me for the hours after my session with her. While I had little hope of landing a job in May in the international world of teaching, I knew that her question was meant to unearth clarity — she was trying to help me ascertain what my number one priority was at that time. The resounding message that came back from that wild woman place within me was motherhood. I would make the decision that would give me the greatest chance to bring a baby into this world someday. Motherhood would shape this decision to leave the family I had built in Shekou, China, in order to build the family that would begin in my womb someday.
One day later, I turned in my resignation to Shekou International School. On that day, I had a one way ticket to Minnesota, I did not have a job lined up for August, but I did have my clarity.
And then a Universe thing happened. At least the way I see it. As I told Lauren of my decision and my sadness to leave all that I had loved in and loved about China, she typed a message back:
Lauren was writing to me from Seoul, South Korea, where she had spent her first year as High School Librarian at Seoul Foreign School.
And this is how I now too write from Seoul Foreign School, from the 2nd floor High School English office where I have begun my third year as a Language and Literature teacher, and second year as Head of Grade 12.
When Tracy asked me to imagine a scenario in which I would go back to Minnesota to freeze my eggs and then start a job in August, I didn’t think this would actually happen, but I get goosebumps looking at how everything came together once I found my truth in that moment and built everything else around that.
It was not just a great job at a top-tier international school that I landed when I made that decision to put my eggs in cryogenic basket in Minnesota. It was the love of my life that I found in Seoul. My Seoulful Life, I now frequently hashtag on Instagram.
While I would love to live a dozen lifetimes with Dae-Han, and maybe one of those lives would include just the two of us, the way I believe it to be is that we get this one wild and precious life, and in this life we want to bring that dream of parenthood to full fruition. Thus, we have stepped onto a road traveled by some, but not by everyone.
When we returned from our honeymoon, I made an appointment at Houm OBGYN and Natural Birthing Clinic. It was at this appointment that I learned that I have 11,000 eggs left in my ovarian basket, 3,000 of which are healthy. It is bananas that science allows me to know this now. I also learned at this appointment that I have a 6% chance of conceiving a healthy baby at this point in my no-longer-in-my-twenties life.
Since it is not only my reproductive health that affects our chances of conceiving, Dae-Han too went to the doctor. Ultimately, the combination of both of our stats — if we were baseball players our batting average would unfavorable — led us to walk the road right into Cha Fertility Center. And that is where we stayed for three hours on Saturday morning. I went through a battery of tests, from blood to heart, and Dae-Han sat by to hold my hand and translate. (If ever I am at an appointment on my own, there is a number I can call for a translator, though no other translator compares to your partner.)
This week, the thoughts in my head have been swimming the way that I imagine drunk sperm do — in circles. So many questions, uncertainties, fears — will IVF work for us? Will I endure the heartbreak of a miscarriage? How many gosh darn baskets do I need to put my eggs into? (This mama cannot fly her Minnesota eggs across country lines, so there is not a chance of them hatching until at least June.)
It is now the end of my school day. The only moments I have been able to transfer, for short periods, swimming thoughts from their sea to a nesting pond are when I am in front of my students. The rest of the time, I am trying to stay afloat in that sea.
I am afraid of heights, but here I am typing out my words on a keyboard, leaping off the vulnerability high dive as I share them with you. Why did I walk up all of those steps to the top of this platform with wobbly legs? Because I think there is too much power in stories not to right now.
When Dae-Han and I were first wrapping our heads around the recommendation that we use IVF to form our family, I was processing with my soul-sister Ceci. She reminded me that her friends Liz and Mark had done IVF in Korea, and they now have the most gorgeous three-year boy Finley for it.
I was quick to message Liz and she was quick to pick up the phone and video call me to share her story with me. Liz’s story was not simple or straightforward; there is strength in knowing someone on the other end to understands these next steps.
So maybe someone else stumbles across the words and we continue to build our community of stories.
The next chapter will write itself at our appointment Thursday where the doctor will sweep out my fallopian tubes. I imagine a tiny little micro-brush lightly twirling around in my tubes like a sweet grandma dancing to Elvis while sweeping her front porch. In reality, I know the experience will be much less quaint.
In the coming days, Dae-Han and I will be working towards collective clarity on building our birds nest.
In the past, I’ve always been able to tune into my intuition to find my answer to many of my big questions. This time, I do that with Dae-Han.
