The radiant Arielle Barbie Reggio (they/she) with her daughter Lucie (3) and son Asher (10 months). Arielle was diagnosed with Growth Hormone Deficiency when she was 6 years old. She underwent testing and treatment that was difficult and had to have painful injections of growth hormone daily which greatly affected her. When Arielle got older she struggled with Endometriosis, had to undergo several surgeries and didn't think she would ever have children. She and her husband planned to try conceiving naturally until she was 30, if that didn't work, attempt fertility treatments until she was 35 and if all else failed by then, turn to adoption. Much to her surprise she conceived Lucie on her wedding night. Arielle endured severe hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) while pregnant with her daughter, ended up losing her job due to illness and dealt with perinatal depression. Her husband also lost his job while she was 8 months pregnant and she was in a very dark place. She developed preeclampsia and after a 3 day induction that only progressed to 1cm she developed HELLP syndrome and had to deliver via cesarean.
Asher's pregnancy wasn't any easier on Arielle and while her depression wasn't as problematic this time she struggled with HG and preeclampsia once more. She was given an ultimatum at work due to missing so many days due to illness that she had to go on an early extended maternity leave or face termination. Asher was delivered via Cesarean again at 37 weeks and ended up being taken to NICU for pulmonary hypertension. She had thought he was born crying but he was actually struggling to breathe. For 8 hours he was away from her and she didn't understand what was happening. She was sent home from hospital 4 days later and told not to expect Asher to come home. She says she called on everything she could think of to send out prayers and thoughts for her son and the next day she came to see him and learned that he had taken an amazing turn for good, this also coincided with getting her breastmilk which she feels is no coincidence. Asher was able to come home at 11 days old and is doing well today.
Arielle says that she was misinformed after Lucie's birth and told that she couldn't breastfeed due to her antidepressants and had to stop nursing Asher due to resuming her hormone medications. While this has been difficult she's looking forward to returning to work in just a few days. Arielle had her tubes tied after Asher's birth and has struggled with feeling her family is complete even though pregnancy and birth were so difficult for her. She very much wants to be able to see herself with the same beauty that her husband sees her and pass along the same message of self love and acceptance to her daughter.