“He’s pretty funny and cheeky, and he’s not shy at all,” Jess Pearton says about her seven-month-old.
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She and her husband, Adam, waited a long time for little Oscar, and the journey wasn’t an easy one.
After trying naturally for 12 months, the Launceston couple realised they might need help to conceive.
“The whole lot was really difficult, more emotionally than anything,” Ms Pearton said. “Everyone else was having babies and we weren’t.
“I was trying all these different drugs and stuff and none of it worked. I felt terrible. I felt like a failure and I felt bad for Adam because there was nothing wrong with him. It was more my fault than his.”
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After seeing a gynecologist, who tried different treatments, the couple was referred to TasIVF. They tried IVF for about 12 months and had a number of cancelled cycles and lots of disappointments along the way.
“We had cancelled cycles because I don’t make many eggs, but we had four transfers.”
Mr Pearton said it was difficult to see his wife struggling with the constant disappointments.
“And I was disappointed too,” he said.
Ms Pearton found herself becoming withdrawn during those couple of years.
“Your whole life revolves around it,” she said.
“It’s all you want in the entire world. There’s nothing that can cure it except a baby. You think about it 24/7.
“I still lived my life but I wasn’t me. I was a bit withdrawn from life I suppose.”
After so many disappointments, when she finally did get pregnant, Ms Pearton almost didn’t believe it.
“I thought I wasn’t pregnant at first. I did a test at home, too early, which was positive, and I rang up the girls and said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here’. They sent me off for a blood test and rang me back a couple of hours later with the wonderful news. I was 100 per cent convinced it hadn’t worked. It was just the same old disappointment. Just really upset about it again - the same thing I felt every other month.”
During the first few weeks of her pregnancy, she kept second guessing it. However, her constant sickness reassured her everything was okay.
“And then we had that first scan at seven weeks, and there was the heartbeat.
“It was wonderful. I felt on top of the world every single day even though I was horribly sick.”
Nine months later, Oscar arrived, and seven months on from that, he’s a smiley, active baby.
“He’s healthy and happy,” Mr Pearton said. “He’s everyone’s friend.”
“We’re enjoying being parents,” Ms Pearton said. “It’s the best.
