Megan McKenna has revealed her secret IVF journey after announcing she is pregnant with her first baby.
The 31-year-old singer and former TOWIE star, who is engaged to Scottish footballer Oliver Burke, 27, shared her happy news last week. But taking to Instagram again today, she gave fans more details of how she finally got pregnant after thinking she might struggle to conceive naturally due to the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) she was diagnosed with when she was younger.
Posting a sweet video of Oliver helping her administer daily injections to increase the thickness of her womb so an egg could successfully implanted, to their joy at discovering they were expecting, Megan wrote: “We was trying naturally for a while and not falling pregnant. I wanted to make sure everything was ok in there so we decided to see a fertility clinic. When I was younger I was diagnosed with PCOS and knew I should freeze my eggs at some point. We went and had a scan and tests and it showed that my ovaries were ok but my womb lining was thin!"
Brave Megan continued: “It was at 5 when it should be at 8 and there was some other issues we needed help with. I’m so happy we went to see a fertility clinic or I would never of known as my lining wouldn’t have been thick enough for implantation. We spoke with our doctor and decided to freeze our embryos first and also have one implanted once my lining was at the right thickness and was nice and healthy.”
Sharing what she had to go through to become a mum, Megan explained: “I started on medication three times a day and injections twice a day and pessaries for extra progesterone. After months of getting my lining good I went in for an egg retrieval. Everything went amazing, we got so many eggs and Oli done his part.
Brit 'saw her insides' after being cut open by propeller on luxury diving trip“A few days later I started to get unwell and it turned out I had OHSS. Over hyper stimulation of my ovaries. Very painful and dangerous because my ovaries were HUGE! I had fluid leaking inside my stomach which was making my belly swell and I couldn’t walk it was so painful. Some people just get it.”
Megan revealed it was so bad she was in hospital for six days and has now been put on blood thinners to make sure nothing else bad happens. She went on: “Sadly we didn’t get many embryos in the end (they didn’t survive the thawing process... but we got enough to make this happen... A few months after getting myself better and fit!! We decided it was time to have our AAA embryo implanted! It was incredible.
“I was back on the meds and injections as my womb lining had dropped again. I was also taking baby aspirin to stop miscarriage. A month later when my lining was good we had our baby put in. It was the most magical experience seeing it go into me being placed safely with embryo glue to make sure it sticks! It did!”
Ending the post, Megan thanked her doctor, nurse and acupuncturist who she said were “amazing throughout the whole process” and added: “I feel so lucky to be where I am and couldn’t have done it without them. Thank you to Oli for being my rock and my at home doctor and my mu for always being there for me.” Husband to be Oli was quick to comment underneath and wrote: “Incredible. What a journey. I love you so much and I’m so proud.”
Fans were also quick to comment with messages of support. One wrote: “Oh my heart is sooo happy for you both.” A second spoke of their own experience going through the same thing and said: “I am due my IVF miracle baby in July... I am SO happy for you! Xxx.” A third added: “Oh this is so emotional, well done for sticking it out! And thank you for sharing this journey. I think it’s important for more women to see the tricky realities we sometimes may face.”