Mum, 32, who suffered tragic miscarriage after spending two years trying to get pregnant blessed with TWO babies after visiting fertility masseuse
Laura Lawrence was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome as a teen and offered three rounds of IVF on the NHS and managed to conceive on the third
A MUM who suffered a devastating miscarriage after spending two years trying for a baby claims a MASSAGE helped her fall pregnant with twins.
Laura Lawrence was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome as a teen and offered three rounds of IVF on the NHS.
She managed to conceive on the third try, after a fertility masseuse encouraged her to say goodbye to the child she’d lost and “call for her new babies”.
In January 2016 Laura, from Witham, Essex, gave birth at 37 weeks to twins Ivy and Ryan and told how her and husband Dan, 33, “cried with happiness” at their new family.
Laura and Dan began IVF treatment in 2014 after Laura suffered a tragic miscarriage at seven weeks in March 2013.
She recalled: “I’d never felt pain like it. I remember thinking, ‘Why us?’
“It had taken over two years to get pregnant, now this. Dan stayed strong for us both.”
As the couple started the IVF, Laura said the endless injections left her feeling “like a pin cushion”.
She explained: “The hormones and hope sent me on an emotional roller coaster. Then it failed.
“We’d been offered three NHS cycles, so I shook off my despair as we prepared to try again.
“My eggs were harvested and five embryos created. Only before they could be inserted into my womb, the embryologist called me at home to break the news that they were not viable.
“I collapsed into sobs. We only had one more IVF cycle left.”
Deciding to throw everything they had at their final chance, Laura met with a fertility nutritionist, started a special diet, upped her exercise regime, took supplements and even had acupuncture.
Having spotted an advert in a health magazine for a fitness fair in London, Laura went along and got chatting to a fertility masseuse who offered her a free session after hearing her story.
She recalled: “Soon I was lying down wrapped up and relaxed.
“As the masseuse massaged my abdomen, she told me to say goodbye to the baby I’d lost and that it was time to call for my new babies.
“She told me to mentally call my favourite names for a boy and a girl.
“Dan had his heart set on Ryan, and I liked Ivy, after my Nan.
“After, I felt invigorated, and on the way home I got my period meaning we could start again in the morning.”
What is a fertility massage?
A fertility massage is a non-surgical and non-invasive alternative therapy intended to strengthen muscles and increase blood flow to the reproductive organs.
It involves a deep yet gentle massage to the abdominal area, referred to as soft tissue therapy.
This technique focuses on promoting general wellbeing and relaxation, but also helps to flush out toxins, balance hormones, decrease scarring and boost the function of the reproductive organs.
It also aims to help women reconnect with their bodies, particularly their womb, on a deeper level, which some believe helps to enhance fertility.
Massage therapy for fertility is applied to treat Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, uterine fibroids, blocked fallopian tubes, ovarian cysts and many other medical conditions that cause low fertility in women.
This time the treatment produced two viable embryos – Laura and Dan’s last hope.
They were implanted and all the couple could do was wait.
Three days before their official testing date, Laura couldn’t hold on any longer and took a home test.
She said: “I was convinced it’d be negative, and I couldn’t look, so Dan did. A very faint pink line had appeared - I was pregnant!”
Laura took another test the following morning, which also showed up positive.
She admitted: “I felt elated, excited, but anxious too. Another miscarriage would break me.
“But at our seven week scan there it was - our little baby. Then the sonography stopped on a second blob. It was twins!
“I couldn’t believe it. Our families were thrilled - they’d watched us go through four years of hell.”
At 17 weeks the couple found out they were having a boy and a girl – Ryan and Ivy.
Laura said: “The massage had worked. We were over the moon.”
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In January last year Laura was induced at Broomfield Hospital.
Ryan was in breech so she had to give birth in theatre, just in case anything went wrong.
Ivy arrived first, weighing 6lb 9oz.
As Laura cuddled her newborn, doctors turned Ryan around in her womb.
Then, 40 minutes later, he arrived weighing 6lb 8oz.
Laura said: “Seeing Dan with our two babies was the most beautiful sight.”
After a week the couple took their healthy babies home.
Now one, Laura told how Ryan’s a mummy’s boy who loves cuddles, while Ivy is Miss Independent.
She said: “Watching them chat in baby bible, giggling and playing together is magic.
“After four years, endless IVF and fertility massage, we’ve got what we always dreamt of - a family.”
Last month we told how a woman who had three failed rounds of IVF and a miscarriage finally became a mum to miracle twins – after meeting a surrogate on FACEBOOK.
What happens when IVF fails? We spoke to women about their ‘agonising’ battles to accept they will never be mums.
Earlier this month a mum-to-be gave birth while she was UNCONSCIOUS after suffering a stroke at 37 weeks’ pregnant.