15. Infertility

Unfortunately, for many couples, conceiving can be extremely difficult and it can be heartbreaking for those who wish to start a family. Utah native Ashley Gardner and her husband, Tyson, tried conceiving for nearly eight years before they had any luck and it made them wonder if they’d ever be able to start the family they always dreamed of.

14. Endometriosis

Ashley got diagnosed with Endometriosis, which is a condition that causes the endometrial cells which are normally found in the uterus, to grow on surrounding organs and other areas of the body. Endometriosis can cause infertility due to the irregularity of the uterus and it can be quite painful at times, causing serious fatigue and bladder problems.

13. Eight Years

Many doctors believe that due to the constant shedding of endometrial cells, scar tissue can build up and prevent an egg from being ovulated down the fallopian tube. After eight years of non-stop doctors visits and trying every method, the couple had to come to grips with the idea they may never be parents. That type of news can be devastating…

12. IVF

Before they gave up they thought they’d give it one more try and saved up enough money to try in vitro fertilization (IVF) and it cost them more than $7,000. The worst part about IVF, is that there is no guarantee that you’ll become pregnant, so you could potentially waste a lot of money and receive a lot of heartache. The process itself isn’t easy by any means, as it requires discipline, and even some physical pain.

11. Injections

Ashley had to receive hormone injections every morning for 25 days to prepare her body for pregnancy, something I’m sure Tyson helped out with. Not only that but she basically lived at the doctor’s office to undergo numerous ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor basically everything about her reproductive system. One thing is for sure, Ashley was seriously committed to getting pregnant.

10. Side Effects

The treatment is physically demanding, but it also has some side effects such as headaches, fatigue, and low vitamin levels. That doesn’t even begin to cover all of the bruises that riddled her body from injection after injection. Aside from the physical pain, the mental anguish that goes with the process can leave women feeling depressed and even inadequate.

9. 25 Days

After the initial 25 days of what they call the “injection cycle” Ashley and Tyson realized that soon, they may get a shot at being parents. Although the couple had tried for eight years which may give the impression there was little hope for their infertility problems, after only one month of treatment Ashley had six eggs in her womb ready to harvest. To put that into perspective–most women only have one.

8. Implantation

With such good news came immense hope that the treatment would work, but the couple didn’t want to get ahead of themselves as it was far from over. The next step after harvesting Ashley’s eggs was to fertilize them with Tyson’s sperm and determine which were the healthiest to proceed. Most of the time, doctors will implant multiple embryos to increase the odds of a pregnancy sticking…

7. Only Two Chances

But unfortunately for this young couple, they only had two chances for success due to her ongoing struggle with endometriosis. This meant the stakes were high and everyone involved could feel the pressure building. After implantation, the nervous and anxious couple had to wait an entire week before they would know if it was successful.

6. Vlogging

During their entire ordeal, the couple recorded and shared their feelings via youtube and other vlogging channels. They even recorded the moment they were to receive the news about whether or not they were going to be parents! After eight long and emotionally taxing years, the couple found out that they were going to finally be parents and their pregnancy journey had officially begun.

5. The Wait

One more question still arose however, and that was how many of the embryos had actually attached? Were they going to be parents to one baby or two? Unfortunately, they had to wait an entire SEVEN weeks before they could find that out. As soon as the time was up they rushed into the doctor’s office to receive the results and got some shocking news…

4. Baby Jackpot

They were going to have not one baby, not two babies, but FOUR babies! It turned out that the two embryos that successfully implanted had actually divided into two sets of twins! The couple that had tried for so long to be parents essentially hit the baby jackpot as their odds for two sets of twins were one in a million.

3. High Risk

Their struggle wasn’t over though, as Ashley stated on her vlog posts that she was in fact a very high-risk pregnancy and that they were going to need all the love and support they could get. The crazy thing is, all the way through her pregnancy she looked absolutely stunning and everyone couldn’t believe she could fit four babies in her small bump!

2. The Lucky Couple

As if there wasn’t enough proof that Ashley and Tyson were one lucky couple, the entire pregnancy from that point on proceeded without complications and she gave birth to four healthy girls on December 29th, 2014. They named the sweet girls Scarlett, Indie, Esme, and Evangeline.

1. Quad Squad

The couple named their family the “Quad Squad” and we don’t think they could have picked a better name. The first few days at home were definitely not quite ones, but the couple reported that although they were tired, they couldn’t be happier. The interest in their story didn’t stop there however, as they were featured on TLC’s show “Raddled” documenting their first year with four lovely babies.