All I can say is that I am a firm believer that miracles happen everyday. I have had more blessings from the good Lord than I deserve for sure...
When Scott and I had been married about a year or so we decided we wanted to start a family. We got pregnant right off the bat. We got so excited that we started telling everyone immediately. A week and a half later we miscarried. It was crushing. There was no explanation aside from it happens often.
With heavy hearts we picked up and moved on. We decided to wait a few months before trying again. Eight months later we were ready. It happened super fast again. This time we went to the doctor and saw what looked like a rotisserie chicken! That little chicken developed in to a precious baby boy.
When I was 24 weeks pregnant I was at a wedding rehearsal dinner when I started to feel funny. I went to the bathroom and discovered I was losing a lot of blood. We were with my brother and his wife. They drove us to the hospital in Conway. I was so terrified! Words cannot describe how scared I was at the thought of losing this sweet baby that I had felt move inside of me so many times.
The first thing they did when we got to the hospital was hook me up to the fetal monitor. All I heard was this big strong heartbeat and hiccups! It made my heart melt. The entire night I laid in that hospital bed with Scott right by my side listening to that tiny little hiccup every few seconds. It was amazing!
When I got to the hospital that night they checked me and I was dilated to a one and 50% effaced. Super scary times. The placenta that was feeding Reid was trying to seperate from my body so it was throwing me into labor. They put me on iv meds and were able to stop the labor progress. I went home with an order for a weeks worth of bedrest. Yippee! I did enjoy spending that week on my couch (except for the 15 pounds I gained)!
In January of 2004 we had Reid. He was such a huge blessing from the get-go. Always had such a gentle soul. He brought more love and joy to our lives than we ever thought we could feel.
When Reid was about 3 years old we decided we were ready to expand our family. We got preggers on the first try. We lost this one at 11 weeks. So heartbreaking. I asked the doctor why and he said these things just happen.
We tried for two years before we got pregnant again. Reid's first week of Kindergarten was when we found out we had been successful. We were so excited! Then a week later we lost it. Again, we were devastated. Reid was old enough to understand too and he had been so excited. It's an awful feeling to have your child be disappointed by something that we have no control over. (I am sure that is the first of many for him but as his mother I wish I could protect him from all of that!)
Since this was our third miscarriage the doctor sent us to some fertility specialists. Scott and I both went through so many tests to no avail. They could not tell us why we couldn't maintain a pregnancy. They did have us try a round of fertility drugs to see if that would help. I was terrified we were going to have 5 or 6!
A dear friend had told me about a man in Rose Bud known as the "Witch Doctor." She said he just knew things about your body and how to heal you. I thought it couldn't hurt so I went to see him. Scott didn't want to go because he thought it was crazy. My mother went with me for moral support!
I sat down in front of this guy and told him my name and that my husband and I had some trouble having a baby and what could he tell me. First of all he prayed about/for me. Then he told me that God spoke to him about me. He said that there is a baby in Heaven that is waiting to join our family. He said it's the same baby we have lost several times. He said that baby just hasn't been ready to join our world yet but that it would happen. The last thing he told me was that he saw twins in my future. I left there feeling like he might be a little off his rocker!
Months went by with nothing happening. Scott wanted to try again but I just didn't have it in me. I felt like my heart would never heal. All I could focus on was the what if's...it was a sad place to be. Eventually we started talking about adoption. We talked to several agencies. We had a meeting with a local Christian adoption agency that we had decided we wanted to use. We were ready to move forward...just had to come up with some money. We decided to go home and pray about it.
Well, two weeks later God provided his answer. We found out we were pregnant. I called the doctor immediately and he put me on hormones. We went in at 7 weeks for our first appointment. Our hearts were racing when he brought that ultrasound image up on the screen. Then our hearts stopped when we noticed two heartbeats! Crazy how things happened. It was, in fact, twins. The doctor decided, given my history, that he wanted to see me every two weeks at least for my first trimester.
We were so excited! A little stunned that it seemed the "Witch Doctor" was correct. We went back at 9 weeks for our second check up and found only one heartbeat. One of the babies had died in that two week period. The other baby was very strong though. I left there with mixed feelings. On one hand I was heartbroken all over again because we had lost another baby. Then I was overjoyed we still had one strong one left. Then I started to feel guilty for being thankful we had two in the event we did lose one. The more I prayed about it the more God eased my heart. Afterall, he had a plan.
Our doctor sent us to UAMS for some 4D ultrasounds at about 19 weeks because some blood work had come back showing a chance the baby could have Spina Bifida. My nerves were shot at this point. It seemed like things just could not go smoothly. We went to the ultrasound and found out it was another sweet baby boy! We also found out he did not have Spina Bifida. Prayers answered!
The doctor there did find some cysts in the babies brain that he was a little alarmed about. He wanted to see us back at 29 weeks to ensure the cysts were gone. When we returned the cysts we completely gone. We were so thankful for these great miracles!
Ryan made his grand entrance to this world in November 2010. He is the happiest child I have ever known. Smiles all the time. I like to think he gets it from me since Reid seems to have gotten absolutely nothing from me! ;-) We loved this baby so very much.
So, after much debate back and forth...I wanted a third and Scott did not. Scott decided to schedule his vasectomy. They originally scheduled it for April 1, 2011. Scott, after much deep thought, came to the conclusion that it might not be smart to test that type of procedure on April Fools Day. Ha! He called and rescheduled the appointment for mid April.
I took off that day to take care of my ailing husband...even though I wasn't totally thrilled with doing this I knew it was for the best. We were content with our family as it was. So, two weeks after Scott's "procedure" I realized I was a week late. I didn't think much of it because things still weren't normal after having Ryan. Goodness knows he was only 4 months old, right!?!? Plus, Scott kept saying it wasn't possible...look at how long it took us to get Ryan!
I decided to take a test just to ease my mind. That test immediately popped up with two lines. HOLY MOLY! I thought I was going to pass out. I walked out of the bathroom, all pale faced, and showed Scott the test. He too lost all color in his face. I just kept pacing and asking him what he was thinking. His response, after about 4-5 minutes of total silence, was "we are going to be tired and broke!"
I called the doctor and got put on hormones again. We have been to three appointments now. I am 17 weeks and things seem to be going really well. We are due on January 1. Still not sure what we are having....find that out on August 11. I am betting it will be another boy!
All that said, my point is that everything happens for a reason. We cried a lot of tears but in the end we have been blessed beyond out wildest means. Goodness knows this is more than we deserve. A third child might not have been in our plan but it sure was in God's plan! I wouldn't change any of this for the world.
Debra :-)
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