One Little Action Makes a Big Difference for a Patient at Ovation Austin
Embryologist, Kyle Bellamy Our purpose at Ovation® is to bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. Kyle Bellamy, an embryologist at Ovation Austin, shows the importance of bringing hopeful parents joy and peace of mind during every step of their journey.
The path to parenthood isn’t always easy. This is especially true when complications like ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) arise during an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.
Careful oversight and monitoring by our partner physicians goes a long way in decreasing the likelihood of this condition occurring. However, the world of reproductive medicine hasn’t yet developed a way to eliminate the risk entirely.
As a result, one patient in Austin experienced OHSS. To treat the condition, the patient had procedures to drain the fluid from her abdomen.
“Everyone in the lab was thinking about this patient, and Vonda Brabner [IVF/andrology lab manager for San Antonio] suggested that we do something to cheer the patient up. Her idea was to bring the patient and her husband a picture of their embryos,” Kyle recalls.
Kyle instantly loved this idea. As an embryologist, she spends her time witnessing embryos at their earliest stages of development. She understands how amazing it is, and how much it can mean to patients to see their future babies growing and developing in the lab.
The lab team printed pictures of the couple’s four embryos. Because Kyle was the team member who had been speaking with the patient, she was selected to drop off the photos as well as bring some good news.
“After the patient woke up from her procedure, I was there with photos of her four embryos. I was also able to tell the couple great news: All four embryos looked good morphologically,” Kyle recalls. “At that time, we were still waiting for the PGT results. I remember telling those little embryos that they better be normal. They must have listened because the results showed they were all genetically normal.”
The patient and her husband were thrilled to see pictures, and Kyle is glad that she was able to give them that bit of happiness. “Seeing how excited they were to see their beautiful and healthy embryos was wonderful,” Kyle says. “I’m just glad that my team and I could give them a bright spot in their day.”