Pregnancy After Infertility :: Special Guest
Happy Tuesday!
A couple weeks ago Millie Jo & I headed to my friend, Betsy's, baby shower. I have pictures to share with you but before we get to that I wanted to do something special for this post.
I shared back in September that Betsy struggled with infertility for several years. Yesterday morning I reached out to her & asked her if she would be interested in sharing her story. It wasn't long after that she emailed me. I've known her story & have witnessed the heartbreak her & her hubby have endured for a while now but sitting there reading it brought tears to my eyes as if I were just hearing it for the first time.
Here's their story . . .
I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I remember a conversation with a friend many years ago in which I said if at the end of my life, my grave reads beloved wife and mother I will feel like my life was fulfilled. Fast forward a few years and my husband and I decide we want to start our family. I knew it wouldn't be easy, because when I was 21 I was diagnosed with PCOS, which is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It has a lot of side effects such as excess body hair, obesity, mood swings and not being able to ovulate. I say all that to say, at first I wasn't too worried, I mean women have been having babies since the dawn of time. But boy was I wrong. We tried for about 3 years on our own, just enjoying being a couple and if it happened it happened. After 3 years of nothing we decided to go to a infertility doctor. She confirmed my PCOS and she explained it a little more in depth and put me on a couple different medicines. That was May of 2015. In November of 2015, we learn that I am pregnant for the first time ever, but that I am also miscarrying. It was twofold. We were excited that finally after so many years the fact I was finally able to get pregnant was great, but also such pain and loss knowing we were losing the baby. So we decided to take a break in Dec and start fresh in January. February 20th 2016, I found out I was pregnant again. There was much joy and rejoicing for about 5 weeks, until I went in for my first ultrasound and I heard the words no woman ever wants to hear, "I'm sorry but there's no baby." Apparently a sack formed, but no baby ever formed. This is medically called a Blighted Ovum. I call it misery. What's worse is that my body wasn't rejecting the pregnancy so I had to take some medicine that would clean everything out. This was after 3 different ultrasounds and 3 different doctors confirming what was happening and that there was in fact no baby. Having to take that medicine was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. I was so sick and bleeding so much & on top of that, the pain of not knowing if my body would ever be able to give my husband the children he wanted as much as I did. I'm not sure how many people reading this have ever struggled from infertility but it's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It makes you feel like less of a woman, like there's this cool club that you're not allowed to be a part of. And also, because we knew it was my body with the issues, I constantly felt like I was letting my husband down. He was great during this whole journey, holding me when I was crying because of yet another negative pregnancy test. Or listening to me yell and rant, when there was another Facebook pregnancy announcement. I will forever be grateful to my amazing husband for all his support and love. In May 2016, we decided that we wanted to take another break and give my body a rest. So I stopped all tracking and all meds except one. Fast forward to July 1st, and I got really nauseous before I went to bed that night so that got me thinking and when I woke up Saturday morning I look and I happened to have one pregnancy test left. So I take it on a whim and to my surprise it comes back positive. So I ran in the bedroom and woke my husband up. We were so happy but still anxious after everything we've been through. I took 3 more test during that week just make sure. We told our family and friends later that week. We went in for our ultrasound in August and let me tell you that was the most nervous I ever remember being in my life. But praise The Lord, there was our baby, with a healthy heartbeat of 185. Of course over the next few months we were super nervous. Every twinge and every pain I felt had us worried but at every doctor appointment our baby has been growing and healthy. In September we learned that we are expecting our miracle baby GIRL! As I write this, I am currently 35 weeks today and we are so ready to meet our daughter. This journey has been long and hard at times but I believe that there was a reason. I'm not a shy person so I've been sharing it all along on Facebook with our friends and family. I hope that our journey has helped others along the way. If you're reading this, I hope that it will help you or someone you love too. I know some couples have a much longer journey than we did and I cant explain why. But I can say have faith in God's timing and His plan for your life. His plans are always, always better than anything we could ever plan for ourselves.
-Betsy
-Betsy
Y'all! How good is God!?!
He is so faithful & His timing is just perfect!
You can only imagine how sweet this baby shower was . . .
Bets, thank you SO much for sharing your story today, thank you for being so open & thank you for keeping your eyes to Jesus throughout this entire journey! I can not wait to love on sweet Kassie!
xo
1 comments
What a touching and amazing story! Thank you for sharing. I related to several parts of your story; especially the rollercoaster of emotions. Infertility is a beast of a journey. Prayers for your precious baby girl and your family.
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