By Jaime Ingle, Belleville News-Democrat, February 26, 2008

Ray and Jennifer Houk have had a whirlwind adventure since twins Natalie and Nathan arrived five years ago.

"I''m dizzy," said Nathan as he chased Natalie in the living room of their parents'' Highland home.

He was born seven minutes before his sister Sept. 27, 2002. He likes hockey.

"I''m faster and dizzier," yelled Natalie, who likes Hannah Montana and having Mom paint her fingernails.

"Settle down," said Jennifer, a stay-at-home mom.

Both stopped running and sat on the floor.

"Do you want to lose your Wii or TV?" she warned.

"No!" they echoed each other.

The twins can be a handful. But they bring a lot of joy to Jennifer, 34, and Ray, 36, who are thankful for in vitro fertilization.

Without it, they wouldn''t be Mom and Dad.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves fertilizing an egg with sperm and surgically placing it in a woman''s uterus, hoping she will become pregnant.

The procedure was the last resort for Jennifer, who feared she would never be a mom.

Her mother, Roberta Giglotto, died of cancer when Jennifer was 15. Roberta had primary peritoneal carcinoma, cancer of the lining that encases the abdomen and reproductive organs. The cancer often spreads to the uterus and ovaries.

"She was only 46 and it was terrible. My mom and I were so close and I was the baby of the family," said Jennifer, a 1992 graduate of Collinsville High School.

Jennifer knew she could be at risk for cancer and got tested. Doctors discovered she had cysts on her ovaries and monitored them closely.

She and Ray, an electrician, married in 1997 and wanted to start a family right away.

Jennifer couldn''t get pregnant, so they tried artificial insemination. When that didn''t work, she saw a doctor for more tests.

Doctors discovered her fallopian tubes, which carry the egg from the ovary to the uterus, were damaged. The egg couldn''t travel to the uterus to be fertilized.

Doctors ordered exploratory surgery to check on a cyst on her right ovary.

"They drained it and the fluid was malignant," said Jennifer.

A doctor removed her right ovary and half of her left ovary.

In 1997, Jennifer and Ray attended an in vitro fertilization seminar at Fischer''s Restaurant in Belleville, but couldn''t undergo the procedure because of Jennifer''s ovarian cysts.

Shots helped stop the hormone flow that fed the cysts.

Jennifer was hopeful.

"I still had part of an ovary so I could still have kids," said Jennifer.

But doctors advised her to have a hysterectomy as a precaution. Jennifer, who is 4-foot-11, wouldn''t hear of it.

"I wanted to have the experience of being pregnant and giving birth," she said.

Ray understood.

"I just tried to give her a shoulder to cry on, be there for her," said Ray as he played a game of table hockey with Nathan. The Foosball-like table features wooden players with miniature hockey sticks.

"Stuff like this is fun for me," said Ray as Nathan tried to score a goal.

Because Jennifer''s cysts had quit growing, they decided to try IVF through Barnes Jewish Hospital. They worked with a team of doctors, including Dr. Sarah Keller, assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Washington University.

IVF treaments performed from 2002-2006 at Barnes produced the following results in women age 34 and younger: Fifty-two percent of the egg retrievals were successful and resulted in embryos. Of those embryos, 46 percent resulted in births.

Jennifer braced herself for the emotional ups and downs she had experience giving herself hormone shots.

"They send you home with medicine you have to mix up and I had to give myself shots. I knew I had to do it. I''d get emotional and Ray was there for me," said Jennifer.

Keller talked with Jennifer and Ray about how many fertilized embryos to implant.

"Based on my age, they could implant three, but we talked about how many children we were really ready to care for, and we chose two instead."

Keller implanted the embryos in February 2002.

Jennifer and Ray went to a St. Louis Blues hockey game that night.

"We had tickets for four rows off the ice and we didn''t want to miss the game," said Jennifer.

Ray got a surprise.

"I caught two pucks during the warm-up," he said.

Both Jennifer and Ray joking said "Oh no! This could mean twins!"

Two weeks later, Jennifer learned she was pregnant with twins.

Ray remembers Jennifer''s call to him at work.

"She was crying so I didn''t know at first if it was good news or not," said Ray.

Jennifer had regular prenatal visits and followed doctor''s orders. The twins were born at 34 weeks at Barnes Jewish Hospital.

"I delivered them and they stayed at the hospital for three weeks before they came home," said Jennifer.

Ray remembers the first night the twins came home.

"I looked at her and said, ''Now, what do we do?''"

Their two vibrant 5-year-olds will start kindergarten this fall.

When the twins were 2, Jennifer had a hysterectomy because cysts were growing again. She had no regrets because she already had her family.

Jennifer brought the kids to Washington Univeristy to see the doctor and thank her.

"I think the doctors get caught up in the science of it all, so I want her to see our kids, how she helped change our lives."

In vitro meeting

Doctors from the Washington University Infertility and Reproductive Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital will host a free informational meeting on in vitro fertiliation:

When: 7-8:30 p.m Thursday

Where: Fairview Heights Public Library, 10017 Bunkum Road, Fairview Heights

Registration required: Call (314) 867-3627 or (866) 867-3627.

Cost of IVF: $21,000 per attempt for couples without insurance. The Houks paid $1,500 because of an Illinois law which requires insurance companies to help couples with infertlility problems stemming from natural causes.