Lisa’s Birth Story

“Helping all types of families.” Sounds like the perfect beginning to a birth story, doesn’t it?

And expert help is just what Lisa and her wife, Heather, needed to start their family after the realization that fertility issues were holding them back.

Lisa describes the journey she and her spouse began in order to have a child. “We decided to start a family and went through the avenues that are available for a two-mom family by purchasing donor sperm.”

But from there, things were not exactly easy. “We were trying to conceive with some loose guidance from my primary care provider, and we were growing frustrated because we were unsuccessful. We actually decided to pause from trying to get pregnant, and in that pause, we focused our attention on getting married. So, we got married and had a wonderful reception.”

At their reception, while talking to another married couple who knew Lisa and Heather wanted a baby, Lisa recalls their friends’ suggestion, “You have got to go to Dr. Schad in Sauk Prairie! He knows what to do. He helped us with our fertility issues.”

With renewed optimism from their friends’ encouragement, Lisa and Heather thought, “Let’s try again. Let’s try a different doctor.” Upon meeting Dr. Todd Schad (one of the team of eight providers — a certified nurse midwife, family medicine physicians, and obstetrics and gynecologic surgeons — from Prairie Clinic who deliver babies), Lisa remembers, “We just clicked immediately. That was nice. We felt like we connected with him.”

​Compared to Lisa’s experience with her previous physician, “Dr. Schad took a completely different approach.” With a smile in her voice, Lisa tells us, “He checked under the hood to make sure all my cylinders were firing before we tried donor insemination again. By that I mean he ran bloodwork to make sure that all areas of my chemistry were primed for conception, and any area that was ‘out of alignment,’ we corrected. There’s just something to be said about your doctor taking that lead on guiding your health and getting us in that right direction.”

Dr. Schad’s precise and methodical approach paid off. According to Lisa, “We discovered that my thyroid levels were out of range to be in the prime conception space. So, we corrected it and waited a couple of months for the proper medication to level me out, to get me in the zone. Dr. Schad confirmed that my body was ovulating, set the date and then he performed the insemination in his office. Not that this is a romantic story, by any means, but it was the magic of science — and a doctor who had the skill that allowed us to start a family on the first try.”

Reflecting on the insemination procedure Lisa says, “I smile thinking back on it. It was really Dr. Schad’s abilities and skills of helping all types of families that are having fertility issues that allowed us to become pregnant and start our family.”

In fact, after their now five-year-old son came into their lives, Lisa then conceived their daughter (currently two), again thanks to the clinical expertise of Dr. Schad and the staff at Prairie Clinic. “We stayed with Dr. Schad through the whole process. He delivered both of our babies.”

And how does Lisa rate her delivery experiences at the Birth Center at Sauk Prairie Healthcare? “Easily in the top five most wonderful moments of my entire life. It’s kind of funny. You’re strangers with the staff when you walk in, and then, they’re just forever in your life. There’s some pretty special people working in that department.”

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Lisa sums up her labor and delivery experiences at Sauk Prairie Healthcare this way, “It was an overwhelmingly positive experience, coupled with the fact that I had two perfectly healthy children and I walked out of there perfectly fine. I really couldn’t imagine it having gone any better than it did.”

When asked how her kids are today, Lisa has this to say, “They are amazing and sassy and smart. They surprise us every day with how quickly they grow and change. In fact, I had a friend tell me — who had kids way before we did — that being a parent gave her higher highs and lower lows than she ever knew possible. And I think about that frequently. It’s quite a ride being a parent and celebrating the milestones.”

And we’re happy to have played just a small part in Lisa’s family story.

If you have questions for the Birth Center team at Sauk Prairie Healthcare, contact us any time. From tours, to information about our providers, just give us a call.