The first one.

Well, we've had two babies! We had started to think that this would never happen.

It all started in the beginning of
August of 2010 when, after multiple rounds of fertility drugs, my OB/GYN informed me that testing showed that I would not be able to conceive naturally. My only hope would be IVF or more rounds of fertility drugs. Michael and I had talked about continuing to use help to conceive and had come to the conclusion that if God did not want this for our family, why force it? I had prayed so many times for God to please not let me be infertile, and that I would take great care of any child he would give us. But all hope was gone on the day my doc gave me the bad news.

Driving home from the appointment, I called and unloaded the news on Michael. Although I tried my hardest to stay collected, I couldn't help but cry. Michael knew how much we had wanted this, and he reminded me that maybe God had something else planned for our lives. Needless to say that I found it very difficult to get any sleep that night.

As soon as we got married in August of 2003, I started getting birth control shots known as Depo Provera. I received one shot every three months, and this totally took away my periods. I stopped the shots in May of 2008 because it usually takes a year or so for everything to get back to normal. The plan was that by the time my body was ready, I would be graduated from Nursing school. I had planned to be pregnant hopefully by the end of school, and then start our little family right away, however, my period didn't come back that year. So, we waited... and waited.

A couple of weeks before my appointment, our pastor had invited Michael and I to go for a hike. This was one of the most grueling hikes I had ever been on! During the vigorous hike, I had felt some cramping in my lower abdominal region, but I figured it was because of the incredibly strenuous and horrific climb. The next day, the cramping continued. I started to think that maybe I was going to get my period back but unfortunately, the cramping stopped just as suddenly as it had appeared. 

By the end of August, Michael and I had our best to get on with our lives. We had found a house in the country that we were in the process of buying, and we were busy with all the exciting plans of what we were going to do with the new place. One Saturday morning, I awoke feeling very strange. Michael must have noticed and asked me if I felt like going to church. Honestly, I really didn't. What I wanted to do was to either stay in bed and sleep all day, or go to the zoo and take pictures. We decided on the latter and headed off. We had a great morning looking at all the animals and taking amazing shots. I was still feeling very strange, a little dizzy and very tired. By mid-afternoon, we were on our way home and decided to detour and go to OMSI before heading home. There was a reptile exhibit that we really wanted to see, as well as an Einstein exhibit. Although I was beginning to feel even more dizzy and tired, we went on in and enjoyed looking at all the reptiles. By the time we started in on the Einstein exhibit, I felt completely worn out. I told Michael that if I didn't find a place to sit soon, I was going to throw up! I collapsed onto a bench that was nearby. Michael suggested that we go home. I felt terrible because we had just paid for the entrance fee (which was not cheap), and we had not even seen a quarter of the exhibit. He didn't care. He helped me up and we left. I slept the entire car ride home.

The next morning, Sunday, we got up and got the dogs ready for our weekly Sunday morning walk with some friends. I was still feeling funny even though I had had a good night's rest. I was walking along and explaining to one of my friends how I had felt the day before and how strange it all was. She asked me if I could possibly be pregnant. I, of course, thought that was silly considering what my doctor had told me, and that I had not gotten my period back, and that it couldn't happen. That was the end of that. I figured that maybe I might have caught a bug and was starting to develop symptoms. Perhaps I was getting the flu or a very bad cold. However, I had never felt so strange in all my life.

We finished our walk, went out for breakfast, but I still had a weird sensation all over, and was still very tired. Michael and I decided to make a quick trip to Walmart before heading home with the dogs. I threw a five-pack of pregnancy test in the cart even though I knew I wasn't pregnant.

I had to pee as soon as we got home. I took the box of tests with me so that I could put them away since I was going to be in the bathroom anyway. It was a little curiosity and a little paranoia that made me decide to open up a test and confirm to myself, that I was not pregnant. I wanted to make sure that I was, in fact, sick with something else. After peeing on the stick, I had a strong feeling to pick it up and throw it away before waiting for the result. I had gone through this same process so many times only to read 'Not pregnant' on the display. I went back and forth in my head not knowing what to do. Should I look and be disappointed again? Or should I toss the test and shrug off the silliness of it all? I can't get pregnant anyway! My doctor told me so! I decided to throw it away, but maybe take a quick peek at the result before pitching it. I looked down at it.... What? My mind began to race: "There's one word...there's only one word! There SHOULD be two! But there's only one! There's only one word on there! That's my stick! I know it is, because I peed on it! There's only one and it's mine! That's my word! Oh my gosh! I'M PREGNANT!!!" I couldn't believe it! I began to hyperventilate as there was nothing else my body could do at the moment. I started to make my way to where Michael was, but he had heard my insane breathing and we met each other halfway. He looked at me, "Are you okay?!" All I could do was show him the test and in complete overwhelming joy and relief said, "Baby! I'm pregnant!!"

We spent the next twenty minutes on our knees, in the hallway, praising the Lord. Michael prayed first, then I managed a few words myself, both thankful for what was soon to come.