New Philadelphia couple has double rainbow baby after miscarriages

NEW PHILADELPHIA — Alyssa and Brian Bostic received conflicting messages about the chances for a positive outcome from their most recent pregnancy.

At the outset, doctors gave the couple a 50% chance of success following repeated miscarriages.

But after an early doctor's appointment, Alyssa saw a double rainbow down the street from the couple's Southside home. She waited until the pregnancy was 37 weeks along before sharing her photo of the scene March 15 on Facebook.

More: Alyssa Bostic is a mother of seven; two children here and five in heaven

"We are SO ready for our double rainbow baby after waiting and praying for her for (three) years," she wrote in a post accompanying the picture.

"Rainbow baby" is a term that applies to a baby born subsequent to a miscarriage. The Bostics were expecting theirs when they lost a pregnancy in April 2020 after losing one previously in November 2019.

That made Emryn Grace Bostic a double rainbow baby when she was born April 1.

"Honestly, it's like a dream come true," Alyssa said. "But sometimes it feels, still, like we're dreaming. It's surreal. Right when she was born, I just kept saying, 'Is this real?'"

The happy outcome followed a year-long process of working with infertility specialists in Akron. They used in vitro fertilization.

"I've had seven pregnancies before, and never needed that sort of intervention," Alyssa said. "The doctors said that, pretty much, IVF was our only option if we wanted to have a biological child."

The process involved many more appointments than a typical pregnancy. Alyssa, a New Philadelphia High School Spanish teacher. made as many as three trips a week to the doctor's office in Akron.

"It's grueling," she said. "It is not for the weak of heart. It's pretty intense. There's lots of appointments, lots of procedures. To do the egg retrieval, you go under general anesthesia. And then I had to learn how to give myself shots in the tummy. And then Brian had to learn how to give me shots as well."

Alyssa kept track of the numbers in the process that resulted in Emryn's entry into the world: 877 days, 30 subcutaneous injections, 69 intramuscular injections, 14 medications, 67 appointments, 37 blood draws, two surgeries and four procedures.

COVID protocols meant Alyssa went to most appointments alone. Son Landon, 11, and daughter Regan, 3, had to stay with a babysitter. Brian was permitted to be present for the transfer.

Brian, a therapist at Chrysalis Counseling Center, described feelings of detachment during the procedures that led to Emryn's arrival.

“There came a point where I realized that I was stuck in grief so I had to intentionally seek out moments to bond with Emy," he said. "We know that she’ll never replace the babies we lost but we’re so thankful to be able to love another child.”

Emryn needed to spend about a day and a half after her birth under bright lights because she was jaundiced. That limited her parents' access to hold her.

Uncertainty lurked throughout the pregnancy, as Alyssa and Brian waited days for the results of every test. Then there would be another test, which was followed by more waiting for results.

"So it just felt like you were living in those increments, trying to figure out, 'Is this going to continue?'" Alyssa said. "My anxiety with this pregnancy was definitely higher. In pregnancy after loss, people struggle with anxiety a lot more. Just wondering if she was OK. My thought was, 'Is she still alive?' constantly.

"At the beginning, once we figured out that the IVF round was successful and that we were pregnant, it was very scary because I think, just with a history of loss, you are just on edge the entire time."

Throughout the process, Alyssa and Brian kept busy with their duties as teacher and therapist, mother and father. Brian built a bedroom, bathroom and closets in the basement. The family needed another bedroom because of the age difference in the children.

Alyssa said Landon and Regan were good distractions from concerns about the progressing pregnancy. They weren't told about their expected baby sister right away.

"We kind of sheltered them until we knew it was a little bit more of a guarantee, even though there are no guarantees," Alyssa said. "And then once we hit the second trimester, we felt a little bit more confident."

"All along, I was waiting for her," said big sister Regan.

Life with three children is definitely busy, Alyssa said.

"With the older two in activities, we're constantly on the go," she said. "Emy just has to tag along. She's been to soccer practice and dance class, all of that, already."

"Regan is a great big sister," Alyssa said. "She wants to know where the baby is all the time. For a while there, she would walk into a room and say, 'Where's my BAY-beh?' One time, we didn't know where Regan was, and Emryn's door was open, and she was in the crib with Emy, just talking to her while she was sleeping. She is very hands-on, very helpful."

Alyssa said that Landon, while a big kid, still wants to snuggle his baby sister.

"He asks 'Can I hold her?' and loves to just play with her," she said.

On Tuesday night, Alyssa entrusted Emy to Landon so she could make dinner.

The family got through Emryn's first month with the help of meals delivered by members of their church, Mosaic Community Church.

Alyssa describes Brian as a hands-on dad who makes dinner, cleans house, does yard work, takes care of the cars, bathes the girls and does an amazing imitation of "Sesame Street" character Grover.

Brian characterized Alyssa as an "amazing mom" to Emryn, "constantly taking care of her, waking her up, feeding her, keeping her happy."

Alyssa said Emryn was worth every year, every tear and every shot.

She encourages others who are facing infertility and pregnancy loss to step outside their comfort zones to consider fostering, adopting and fertility treatments.

"I think that there is always hope," Alyssa said. "That was the name we gave the baby that we lost two years ago. We gave him the name Hope because we decided to cling to that.

"Through loss and infertility we are always waiting. Waiting, hoping, and praying. Waiting nine months or in our case three years or for some, waiting even longer. Not everyone who is in the waiting period gets their rainbow baby and we are so grateful to have gotten ours."

Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.

On Twitter: @nmolnarTR

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Baby born after pregnancy losses is double rainbow for couple