Love, Loss, and Rainbows

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One Couple’s Journey Through Fertility Complications and Pregnancy Loss

Casey and Justin met through Casey’s brother. Casey was visiting her brother one night and Justin just happened to stop by. They began to text and their relationship grew from there.

Casey and Justin have been through quite the journey to grow their family, but oh, is it a journey worth venturing! Casey and Justin tried for seven long years to have a baby. She and Justin had endured rounds of testing, fertility medication, and a slew of doctors. During these seven long years Casey and Justin lost four pregnancies.

During the summer of 2015, Casey took her last dose of fertility meds before having to take a six month rest. She would presumably begin the next round of fertility medication after six months. She took the dose. Waited. And then took the pregnancy test. It read “Negative.” Casey and Justin were done. They decided to discuss getting a puppy.

On October 18, 2015 Casey went to the prayer team at their church and shared her story.

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November came; and with it, a stomach bug. Or so she thought. “I had one test left and thought just maybe! It showed ‘positive’ before the time was even up,” Casey recalled.

Casey was due in July of 2016. She was diagnosed with a condition called hypermesis gravidarum. This is a condition characterized by extreme nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and even sometimes extreme dehydration and feeling faint. On two separate occasions Casey experienced preterm labor. She was put on bed rest and fortunately made it to her due date. Emersyn was born via c-section after a very long and difficult labor.

Casey said, “I knew I wanted another baby at some point, but if it wasn’t meant to be, we were blessed to have our sweet boy.”

Two years with Emersyn quickly passed and Casey and Justin decided to try to give Emersyn a sibling. A short time passed and they learned that they were expecting. Unfortunately, the pregnancy was eventually lost. Justin and Casey recalled the devastation they felt after this loss because of the deep desire they had for Emersyn to be an older brother.

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A few months after their loss, Casey and Justin learned that they were pregnant yet again. It was decided that it would be best for Casey’s levels to be monitored during this pregnancy. After her third blood draw, they learned that her levels had dropped fundamentally and the pregnancy was lost. Again it was decided that it would be best to quit trying. Casey said, “It was just too much.”

The summer of 2019 found Casey feeling, “run down and tired,” and “randomly throwing up.” But Casey still had her cycle and her son was recovering from a stomach bug, so she was certain her body was just trying to fight it off. She shared her situation with a friend and her friend said jokingly, “Maybe you’re pregnant!” Two weeks passed and Casey still felt unwell. She took a test and it came back positive. Two more tests later and she was still reading, “positive.” She said, “I was in shock.”

Casey’s journey with this baby found her yet again experiencing hypermesis gravidarum. She also experienced a bleed in the placenta, difficulty balancing her blood sugar levels, and the development of extra fluids. She said, “I got huge this time around from that [the fluids] … and I had a few episodes of passing out.” In addition to all of the difficulties Casey was experiencing during this pregnancy, she was also pregnant during the coronavirus pandemic. She said, “The only good thing about being pregnant during this pandemic was my work had closed or else I would probably have been on bed rest again.” Casey and Justin also enjoyed seeing how excited their son, who was then three, was to become a big brother.

For this pregnancy Casey had a planned cesarean. Delivery went well and Casey, Justin, and Rainbow Baby Emersyn were blessed to add Rainbow Baby Jamisyn to their beautiful family.

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Casey and Justin have experienced more than their share of loss and heartache. But from it all they were gifted two beautiful boys, now almost four years old and one month old. Casey and Justin – Jeri Hoag Photography thanks you for sharing your journey through fertility struggles and pregnancy loss. Through sharing stories like yours, we hope that others struggling with similar situations can find hope, and that those who are not struggling, can become educated on matters such as fertility and pregnancy loss.

Jeri Hoag Photography now empowering and instilling confidence through intimate boudoir photography for the everyday modern woman in St. George, UT/ Hurricane, UT/Washington, UT/Leeds, UT/Ivins, UT/Santa Clara, UT/Dammeron Valley, UT/Veyo, UT/Shivwits, UT/Littlefield, AZ /Las Vegas, NV/Mesquite, NV.