When we entered the practice, everything was like in a modern doctor's surgery with well-organised procedures and our concerns somehow became ‘normal’ from one moment to the next. The excitement faded a little and the anonymous, clinical first impression was very quickly replaced by an incredibly personal patient-doctor relationship. We had never talked so much about cycles and ovulation before. Topics such as sperm banks, donor profiles and depots were now part of our everyday life and the question: When is a good time for insemination? Fortunately, we never had to make this decision alone. We were in regular dialogue with the doctor, felt listened to, understood and always well advised. It was also easy to make appointments.
We are glad that our desire to have children has never overwhelmed or dominated us in all this time, on the contrary: the doctor's appointments were always characterised by personal discussions and a lot of humour. We were always very grateful for the ease and at the same time professional aplomb with which Dr Grave carried out our fertility treatment and over time we really took her to our hearts. After four unsuccessful insemination attempts, we were a little desperate. During this time we were supported by Dr Grave's patience, encouragement and optimism. And then it finally worked, the fifth attempt was a hit! All three of us (together with Dr Grave) were absolutely delighted, but despite her compassionate, honest joy, she also prepared us for the fact that it would simply take until the 12th week before we could be sure that everything was fine. And then, in the eleventh week of pregnancy, we learnt that our baby no longer had a heartbeat. We turned to Dr Grave with this painful news and she was able to support us well at this point. She was absolutely empathetic in dealing with our sad present and at the same time had an optimistic view of the future, which took away many of our worries.
A few months later, the first insemination attempt after the miscarriage worked straight away. We were in complete disbelief about it - perhaps we still are a little - and are now in our 10th week of pregnancy on the Gili Islands, after all nobody could have guessed that it would work out so quickly this time, and are eagerly and hopefully waiting for our dream child... but whatever happens, we know that we are in the best hands with Dr Grave!