the carman family
Welcoming a newborn into your family is a beautiful thing. But for the Carmen family, it is a little more, I would consider their story a blessing, a bond that will forever hold them together like a tight stitched family they are. A blessing as to get where they are today took a lot of time, patients, tears, tests, prescription drugs, injections and believing in one another, and most of all never giving up on hope. Kyle and Tiana were happily married in June of 2015, they have always seen themselves as parent’s so like any other normal couple they thought achieving this dream would be easy.
No one ever expects to be told that you only have a 10% chance of conceiving naturally. When Kyle and Tiana were told this statement, after many failed attempts they knew giving up wasn’t an option. Putting trust into doctors was this beautiful family’s next step. Back in 2019, Tiana and Kyle’s medical team that they were working with felt so confident an IUI (intrauterine Insemination) would be the answer.
Until. The 6th failed attempt and almost a year later, they still didn’t see that double blue line they were hoping for. Discourage was an understatement at this point in their life. They wanted a family so bad but never thought that it might not ever happen. The next conversation that had to happen after countless times asking themselves why them, was what alternative measures on how they can start their family. IVF, adoption, and or fostering were in many of those long heartfelt conversations. They reached out to friends and family who had more information, support on these alternative ways for more guidance and answers. These RAW conversations that had to happen were conversations Kyle and Tiana never planned to have, I mean who does? Most women think and assume to archive such a thing the steps are just to come off birth control when you are ready to start a family.
Tiana told me these conversations were “long, and emotional and at times difficult to have”. They were open and honest about what they saw in their future, Tiana even started questioning if children were ever a part of the future.
Tiana and Kyle took some time to decide what they wanted to do, but then our world went into a global pandemic and changed everyone’s life with covid. No one knew what was going to happen next.
After a year, Kyle and Tiana didn’t want to wait any longer. At this time Tiana stated “maybe adoption was their purpose, possibly fostering for a while. But…. Their hope to experience pregnancy wasn’t over. They wanted to try again with the help of IVP (In Vitro Fertilization). Changing doctors, moving to CNY fertility was the best decision Tiana and Kyle made. Knowing your future is in the medical team’s hands it was important for them to find a medical team they trusted wholeheartedly. They enjoyed every step of the way with CNY.
Another huge change is thrown at Tiana that included an intense schedule of medication to control her ovulation and to overstimulate her ovaries to create as many healthy eggs were what had to be done. With this Tiana had to administer around 90 shots to herself. An appointment was then made to have Tiana’s egg retrieval done. At this time Tiana and Kyle’s hope was so strong, and they were blessed to find out that they were able to retrieve 28 eggs! Yay! Alight at the end of a long tunnel was finally being seen, and the medication was working.
The waiting game started all over again. Tiana got the call that out of her 28 eggs they were able to successfully create 11 embryos. The 11 embryos had to grow in order to be frozen successfully and then the start of the implantation would begin. When the phone rang, hearts I’m sure were racing in excitement, but also unsureness. On the other line they told Tiana that they successfully were able to grow 10 of the embryos, the next BIG step was….
Schedule transfer day! Whohoo!!! May 17th, 2021 will forever be implanted in the Carmen’s hearts. It wasn’t until physically seeing those double lines 9 days later on an at-home test that it felt real for Kyle and Tiana. Fast forward 9 months later Tiana and Kyle welcomed Pierce Angelo Carman on February 4th, 2021 at 5:18 pm.
I love when I have the opportunity to document something so special. Walking into the Carmen’s house awaited a very tired mommy sitting there snuggling Pierce sipping on her coffee, with a very tired daddy overlooking and taking it all in. Seeing that little profile looking at his mommy with a nice full belly was so nice to see. We began their lifestyle session with some great photos of bonding with a new bundle of joy.
I loved Pierce’s nursery that his mommy and some very special family members put together while dad was away, to have a little surprise for his return. The homey feeling of the bright sun shining through the window, the whinny the Pooh décor with a twist of the wood’s scene as a great backdrop for behind his crib pulled everything together. Part of why I love in-home sessions is that everyone can be relaxed and comfortable being able to capture a beautiful family routine pulls together so many memories that they will have to cherish forever.
Thank you so much Carmen family for sharing your journey of what it took to welcome your little miracle, and giving me the honor of spending some time with your family to capture memories that will last a lifetime.
Here are some of my favorites from this in-home lifestyle session.
