It’s a baby! Mrs. North Carolina 2018’s infertility journey comes with a happy ending

After 6 long years of unsuccessful fertility treatments and heartbreaking miscarriages, Harold and Nichelle Sublett got the news they longed for: She was pregnant.

Sublett, who won Mrs. North Carolina in 2017, shared her struggle during her reign and with CharlotteFive — and we have followed her journey ever since.

On Sept. 6, after 41 weeks and two and a half days of failed inductions, she gave birth to her son, Hudson, via C-section.

“It was very difficult waiting for him to be born,” Sublett told CharlotteFive. “I kept saying to Harold: ‘Haven’t we waited long enough, and now we have to wait even longer?’”

It was worth all the wait. Sublett said their family is now complete and they couldn’t be happier.

Pregnancy journey

Every day during her pregnancy, Sublett woke up feeling for the kicks of her unborn son. The trauma from the past left her worried. During the last month, she went in for weekly nuclear stress tests that helped to monitor the movements of the baby. Things looked great each time.

“He was a very active baby while in the womb,” Sublett said. “It was reassuring.”

Things didn’t become real for the couple until they walked into the hospital for the delivery. The induction process lasted over two days, with doctors using various methods that didn’t seem to work. Instead, it was decided that Hudson would come by Cesarean.

During the procedure when medical staff finally said he was coming, Sublett was so overwhelmed with emotion that she started bawling on the operating table.

“I almost can’t believe he is here. I am so proud of myself for carrying him and getting through. I feel super blessed to experience parenthood,” she said.

Both Nichelle and Harold took maternity and paternity leave to take time to enjoy the new baby. They spend their days helping each other through this new journey and admiring their beautiful son. Most recently, they took a family vacation to Florida, something the couple did often prior to Hudson’s arrival.

New tactics

While Sublett is unsure of what exactly worked for the couple during this attempt, she believes it was a combination of things.

Doctors performed an endometrial receptivity assay in 2016, a biopsy that checked to see if she had absorbed the correct amount of progesterone to make her uterus favorable for implantation. The test results showed that Sublett needed an extra dose of progesterone, something that wasn’t revealed in past tries.

“Maybe that is what made the difference, but with IVF and fertility you never know,” Sublett said.

Sublett’s said her mindset was different this time, too. There wasn’t as much pressure for the treatments to work since the couple had explored surrogacy.

Infertility advocate

After winning the crown for Mrs. North Carolina in 2017, Sublett made it her mission to use her platform to spread awareness about the painful realities of infertility.

Women near and far began reaching out to her through the hashtag she created — #startasking — to share their stories, as well. It became an outlet for women to open up and to build a sense of community. Sublett has used her platform to discuss how infertility issues continue to plague women, especially women of color.

While infertility plagues women of every race and ethnicity, studies have shown that it’s twice as likely to affect black women. Assumptions that black women are “more fertile” and don’t suffer from the same issues just aren’t true. And medical marketing heavily targets affluent white women, as if other women don’t face the same issues.

“In our community, we don’t talk about our issues,” Sublett told CharlotteFive previously. “The silence is hurting us.”

Sublett is still serving as an advocate to help others get pregnant, even though her reign as Mrs. North Carolina has come to an end. She wants to bring hope to other couples who may be experiencing what she has. Since her son’s birth, she’s received dozens of messages from others who are now inspired to try IVF. Others want advice on how to be successful.

Since there isn’t a concrete answer, Sublett refers many of them to resources and support groups that helped her through the process.

“Never lose hope. There were a lot of trying times, but our faith was strong and looking to other couples helped. Seek out support. Many people don’t share their experiences, but opening up to people you trust can help,” Sublett said.

“Support groups are a great resource to get perspective from others who have gone through what you may be going through,” she said. Before having her baby, Sublett experienced several miscarriages and unsuccessful IVF treatments. “It’s OK to grieve. Give yourself some grace and time to really feel the emotions of what happened,” she said.