Mina Starsiak is keeping a positive attitude after learning her first round of in vitro fertilization failed.
In a collection of clips posted to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, the Good Bones star revealed that the one embryo she had unfortunately “did not get bigger” following its fertilization process and initial cell division.
“It’s no good, so we’re not putting it in,” said Starsiak, 35, in a video taken from the car. “And I just have to go meet with [the doctor] to see what next steps are. So first round did not work.”
In a follow-up clip, the hopeful second-time mom-to-be said she was “trying to look at the bright side” in the sense that she can return to her workouts at Orangetheory Fitness in downtown Indianapolis.
“I can go back to OTF, which I have been missing a lot because if I don’t work out I am a crazy person and I’m also jam-packed with hormones, so that makes it super fun,” she said.
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In a post on her Instagram feed, Starsiak shared a photo of her 16-month-old son Jack Richard and admitted that despite her realistic expectations and the love she has for her son, the news “hit me a bit harder [than] anticipated.”
“My husband sent me this picture while I was working, doing demo on a property right after I got the call this morning that my one and only embryo was no good; that there would be no transfer. I honestly [hadn’t] had much hope in our one embryo jumping perfectly through all the hurdles that exist btwn it fertilizing and an actual baby being born,” she wrote, going on to note that she feels like she “[has] it easy” because she has Jack.
“And no, that doesn’t negate my current struggle and the emotions that come along with it. But I think it’s important to recognize that; that I’m at the beginning of a struggle that so many go through for YEARS,” Starsiak continued.
The HGTV personality apologized “for the spam” of fertility-related posts on her account as of late, but added, “I do [it] bc of the literal hundreds, likely thousands of women that have thanked me bc allowing my struggle to be public has helped them in one way or another; mostly just not feeling alone bc so many people just don’t talk about these things. It’s a silent struggle [that] no one gets until they’re there.”
“And second I just want to THANK everyone for the incredibly vulnerable, supportive amazing messages they’ve sent! Literally only one negative Nancy in a universe of positivity. So thank you!” Starsiak said.
Starsiak revealed on Monday that, from her most recent egg retrieval, only one potentially viable egg was collected and “the cells are dividing but not as quickly as they would like.” With that development, the next step was the appointment on Wednesday, when she’d find out whether she could move forward or go back to square one.
On Tuesday morning, Starsiak told her followers she wouldn’t know whether her “egg sucks” until her appointment — and if it was bad news she received, she had a backup plan, as well: “[We’ll start] round 2 of all the IVF prep stuff, and we’re gonna try one more month, so we’ll see.”
Last month, Starsiak revealed to her followers that she and her husband, Stephen Hawk, were set to begin an IVF cycle after several months of trying to conceive baby No. 2. She previously opened up about undergoing a hysterosalpingogram, or HSG — a test doctors often use to examine a woman’s uterus and Fallopian tubes — as well as using acupuncture to potentially help with fertility.
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