Dealing with Infertility – An Answered Prayer

Friends! There is no easy way to say this. I’m pregnant.

Yes! You heard right, I’m PREGNANT!!!

You are probably wondering…”Wait a minute…How in the world is she pregnant when she has been infertile?!” That is a great question! All I can say is, God heard my prayers. He heard my cries. And he opened my womb in due time.

But HOW Did I Get Pregnant?!

Still, you are probably asking, “But, HOW?!  Did something happen or change?? Did she take medicine?! IVF?!” The answer is, no, nothing happened, and nothing changed. If you read my blog post: Dealing with the Rollercoaster of Infertility, I left off saying my husband went to a urology appointment and the doctor said we needed to go back for a follow-up once he received the semen analysis results. The whole infertility testing process started in the spring, but bullet points 6-10 all happened in the span of a month. Basically, once we saw the fertility specialist, there was a ton of testing that needed to get done, and so we tried to knock everything out as fast as possible.

My Prayer Changed

In that one month, the stress of testing and co-pays were taking a toll on us. Up until that point, I prayed, “Lord, in your perfect timing, please give us a baby!”

But during that month, I started to pray, “Lord, if it is your will for us to have a baby…please do so expediently!! Because we cannot afford this testing! And we do not want to go down the IVF track, which means there really is no point to get further testing. So if it is your will for us to have a baby, please give us a baby sooner than later! If it’s not your will for us to have a baby, please make that clear!”

A Month Later

A month went by and we were waiting for the follow-up urology appointment. I was tracking my period pretty consistently and then realized I was approaching day 28 of my cycle. Over the last few years, I learned I tend to have shorter cycles. Sometimes, I have a 23 or 25 days cycle. It’s rare for me to ever reach day 28, but whenever I do, my period always comes. So, after 2.5 years of trying and getting my period, I decided not to get my hopes up, I waited until the next day – still, no period. At this point, I thought maybe something was up, but still didn’t want to take a pregnancy test and get disappointed. I told my husband but he mostly brushed it off because up until this point, we hadn’t gotten pregnant! He thought for sure my period would come. So, we agreed to wait a week.

Six days after my missed period, we went to buy a pregnancy test kit. We wanted no room for misinterpretation, so we splurged for the Clear Blue test that clearly indicates, “PREGNANT,” or “NOT PREGNANT.”

Is It Possible That I Could be Pregnant? But I Thought I Would be Infertile Forever…

At this point, I realized that there was a real possibility that I might be pregnant. I wanted to capture all of my thoughts on my journey through infertility while I was still infertile, so that is when I wrote all of my previous blog posts on infertility. (I wrote them in one night, but then broke them into a few different posts because there was way too much information! Then, I published them over the course of a few weeks.) I wanted to make sure my readers knew what I was going through from the perspective of someone actually going through it. Ultimately, I wanted my readers to know that my true and only hope comes not from being pregnant, but comes from Christ and the promise of his Word. 

After I hit, “publish,” I ran to the bathroom and took the pregnancy test. My husband and I apprehensively approached the test. I turned it over and read out loud, “PREGNANT!!” 

My Prayer Answered

Of course, I’m excited about the baby. It’s still inconceivable to me! (No pun intended!) My husband’s initial response was shock and denial! But ultimately, really happy. No surprise, he already loves the baby more than me! But, he’s taking extra good care of me since I’m carrying his special cargo. For the first month, he would look at me and say, “If I could put you in a bubble, I would…”

The last 2.5 years of my life have been filled with waiting. I know from experience how painful it is to wait and I know how many of you are still waiting. But honestly, I am so happy with the journey my husband and I have been on, especially as it relates to infertility.

Two Reasons Why I Love the Journey God Took Me On

1.) God heard my prayer and he answered it. Can you believe that?! Wow! I serve and love a BIG God, who sees me (Genesis 16:13), who is not too busy to hear me, listen to me (Genesis 30:22-23), and answer me! What blows my mind about this whole thing, and I’m just now starting to realize it…During that crazy month of testing, that’s when my prayer changed. It was then that I started to ask God, if it was his will for me to have a baby, please give us a baby soon! The NEXT month, I found out I was pregnant! We never even made it to the urology follow-up. Can you believe that?

The NEXT month, I found out I was pregnant, which means…When I prayed that prayer, God answered it right then and there! 

This scripture takes on a whole new level of realization now, “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son…” – Genesis 30:22-23

2.) Babies are really a gift from God. I am more convinced of this now than ever. I can definitely be an ambitious person, go-getter, and hard worker. I am so glad that God put me in a situation and made it clear to me that there is nothing that I can personally do to make a baby. No amount of hard work, extra effort, or good deeds could earn me or allow me to make a baby on my own or with my spouse. It is ALL by the grace of God that he gives babies as a GIFT. He is the one who determines when to open and close the womb, and he does so as he pleases, and at just the right and most appropriate DUE TIME. I just love that! He is so infinite in his wisdom!

Thank you, friends! For all of your prayers and words of encouragement during my season of waiting. If you’re still waiting, I hope you can be encouraged by my story. We have a big and mighty God! He loves you and wants what is best for you. When we seek God and his righteousness, he is faithful and just to answer our prayers. 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

Please leave a comment and let me know how I can be praying for you!

Much love and thanks,

Mel!

**These photos were taken right after my first trimester. So sorry to keep this from you for so long, but it’s been a process to tell all of my close family and friends the news in person!