Sunday, November 9, 2008

Katie's Story

I feel that my husband and I have a strong relationship with the Lord, but through this experience and the Miracle Mothers group, it has grown even more.

My husband and I had been trying to conceive for 3 years. The first nine months or so, we tried naturally, but after no result, we decided to talk with my OB doctor. I first tried Fermara (similar to Clomid) for a few months and later did blood testing, etc. I had an HSG test (running dye through my tubes) and found that there were no problems. Approximately 2 years ago, I requested that my OB recommend me to a fertility specialist. Where we both underwent a lot of testing. We ultimately found that we had “unexplained infertility”. Three artificial inseminations (IUIs) using Fermara with two of them and Clomid with the last one resulted in no pregnancy. For a month or so, we took a break from all procedures.

The doctor at that point said that our next step would be in-vitro, but I felt strongly that I needed to first undergo a laparoscopy procedure to check for endometriosis. Based on Matthew 18:19 where Jesus promised if two of us agree as touching anything on earth, it will be done by our Father who is in Heaven, my Miracle Mothers prayer partners prayed with me that endometriosis would not be a factor in our infertility. The laparoscopy in Nov ’06 confirmed our answered prayer . The doctors found very little endometriosis which should not have affected our infertility, so we decided to try naturally for several months after as we sought God's direction on how to proceed.

I learned about Miracle Mothers through a friend of mine from church who attended the group. She said it was a great comfort and help. I was a bit hesitant at first not knowing many details about the group, but once I went for the first time, I loved it. I felt so comforted and realized I wasn’t alone in my struggle. I was actually amazed at how many women attended and were going through infertility as well. Karen is a perfect leader/speaker. She provided such encouragement and inspiration. I really liked that she included so much scripture and I knew that the Lord was really utilizing her for His purpose. After the first meeting, I felt like I was on such a spiritual high and could not stop talking about it with my husband. He could see what a great group it was for me.

I have been attending the Miracle Mothers prayer group for 1 ½ years. It has helped me to shift my focus from my own problems to focusing on God and praying for other women. I developed a yearning to pray more for the other women than for myself. I was thrilled even if they became pregnant before me! It gave me hope, that in God’s timing, I would be pregnant also. One of the scriptures that Karen shared that has stayed with me as a comfort is Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”


By early 2007 and still with no result, we began thinking strongly about in-vitro. We had many concerns about the financial, physical & mental aspects of going through the in-vitro process. We prayed to be led down the path the Lord wanted us to go, trusting Him to provide everything we needed. Miraculously, the finances were somehow available. In March we were planning to start the process, but then felt some conviction in our heart not to go forward just yet. We realized there was more decision to it than we first thought. The part that concerned us at that point was the possibility of having left over embryos that we may eventually not need and what would we do with those little lives. We took about a month to research, pray, discuss with others, meet with our pastor, etc. During our research, we found a Christian organization for the adoption of embryos. We decided that if we had left over embryos that we did not ultimately need, we would look into providing them for adoption. During this time, we prayed together with Miracle Mothers that the Lord would provide the exact amount of embryos we needed. The Lord blessed us with peace to know we should then move forward. As you may know, there are a lot of shots involved. I have always been terrified of shots, but truly with the Lord’s help, I was able to overcome my fear and give the shots to myself.

On the day of the insemination when I was about to go in for the procedure, the doctor showed us a photo of the 2 embryos that they had chosen as being good ones; however, he stated that there were 2 other embryos just as good. He asked if we wanted to move forward with the 2 chosen or wait for a few more days to see which of the 4 prevailed. After saying a prayer, we felt the Lord's peace to move forward with the procedure that day. Two days later our prayers were answered when we found out that the other two embryos did not make it to the freezing stage, thus resulting in no left over embryos. We were concerned that there would not be a second chance to become pregnant with this in-vitro cycle, but we also felt God’s peace that He had provided what we needed.

We learned in early June that we were pregnant with one baby. We were over-joyed and blessed! The Lord is so great! He answered our many prayers. I am now near the end of my 16th week, due January, 2008!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Melinda W.'s story

Let me start out by saying "WOW", the LORD is so AWESOME!!! Two and a half years ago, God blessed us with the most beautiful gift we could ever receive—when our son was born.

He is without a doubt a Miracle Baby, and this group helped get us through! I believe the Lord wants to give you the desires of your heart, and believe me He did for us. We went through quite a journey, and faced multiple challenges.

I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and never ovulated correctly, and I found out during this journey that I also had issues with my thyroid gland. It seems like it was just one problem after another, as we struggled to become parents. I was really starting to give up hope, until my dear friend Lisa told me about this amazing prayer group! Karen Cross, the minister who led the group, helped teach me about a personal relationship with God.

We talked and prayed about what God wanted from us, and all that He wanted to give us! During prayer group, we prayed for peace, direction and healing for every issue that came along. One week, it would be hormone issues; another week it was a thyroid imbalance. But no matter what the problem, we would pray, and it would get better (and I do mean better!). As we approached the time for our IVF, I was told that my thyroid levels were too low, and that I might as well not even try to get pregnant until the doctors could stabilize my levels with medication. They said this could take a few months! I was so disappointed, because I really felt it was time to move forward. So, I went to prayer group the Sunday before the next thyroid test, which was scheduled for Monday. We knew that the next day we would have to make a decision whether to move forward, and that if the thyroid levels weren’t better, we would have to reschedule. Karen said that “God was bigger than any thyroid problem,” and we prayed for my body to be whole and healed.

Well, I went to the doctor the next day, after only being on the thyroid medicine for two days, and my thyroid levels were PERFECT. I mean PERFECT!!! The doctors were all amazed, and so was I. God had given us a true miracle! We proceeded with the IVF, and that was the cycle that my precious son was conceived. And to think, had we not prayed for healing, we would have skipped that month. WOW!!! The LORD works in His own time, and it was perfect! He knew exactly when He wanted me to get pregnant and when He wanted my son to join us on this earth. That is almost too AMAZING to think about. It had to be that baby--- At that time!!!! PRAISE the LORD!!! I couldn't stop thanking the Lord, and I still can't stop thanking Him even now!!! He is so Good!!! I hope my story inspires you to never give up and to believe in the power of the LORD!

SOURCE: miraclemothers.org

Sheri's Story

Our journey to overcome infertility was a road filled with many sorrows—but also one of ultimate joy, as God has now blessed us with precious twin boys! Even thinking back now about all we went through as we struggled to have children, I can still remember the pain so vividly. But, I’m not the same person anymore, and Miracle Mothers played a major role in getting me through. Working through this group and Karen Cross, God brought me back to life!

My husband and I were married in 2001 when I was 36 years old. We decided to have children right away because of my age. After six months of trying, we saw my obstetrician and had the usual fertility diagnostics done. We then tried IUI four times with no success and finally visited a fertility clinic in February 2003.

We completed our first IVF cycle in April 2003, when I was about to turn 38. Although that cycle failed, we became pregnant on our second IVF cycle in August of the same year. As the pregnancy progressed, I was followed closely by a perinatologist, due to my age. Everything was progressing according to plan, until at 18 weeks, we were given the horrible news that our baby had multiple anomalies and would never live through the pregnancy; the doctors were shocked, in fact, that the pregnancy had gone this far. On November 26, 2003, we terminated the pregnancy, and we were devastated. On November 29, our son William Alexander was delivered into the hands of God. We spent months trying to understand how this could happen to us and, of course, “playing the waiting game” before the fertility doctors would let us try again. We luckily found out that the problem wasn’t genetic, so we could proceed without worrying that the same problems would recur.

We went through a third failed IVF cycle in February 2004, and then became pregnant with twins through our fourth IVF cycle in April 2004. Tragically, at 6 ½ weeks, we lost both babies. That was without a doubt the lowest point in my life. I thought God was punishing me for the things I had done wrong when I was young; I was mad at God and the doctors, and I was looking for someone to blame. That was when my cousin introduced me to the Miracle Mothers prayer group. And, I’ll tell you, after that first meeting, I felt an amazing weight begin to lift!

We were still struggling with what to do next—“Do we go on? Do we adopt?” But, having those women to pray with and talk to turned things around for me and gave me purpose again. I turned back to prayer and began to get clarity on how to tunnel my energy toward a solution. I began doing some research on miscarriages and problems conceiving and spoke with many women who were having similar problems. Then, I found a clinic in Nevada that could do blood testing to screen for multiple potential problems. My doctor sent off some blood, and they were able to find a problem with clotting. This could be the reason I was unable to either get pregnant or stay pregnant! I found out that I needed to be on Heparin before and during the pregnancy, so we decided that we would give it another try.

Karen prayed with me and told me to trust God for His timing. She continued to focus me on prayer and the Word, and somehow I just knew that it would finally be our time. Our fifth IVF cycle was in August 2004, and we became pregnant. Our first ultrasound was on September 21, and what a shock-- “triplets”! This definitely put me at high risk, so I went in for ultrasounds every week.

One of the embryos was smaller, and the heartbeat was slower so we were cautioned that we might lose one of the babies. Unfortunately, this happened at ten weeks. But, thank God, the other two boys were o.k.! And, according to the doctors, if we hadn’t lost him, the other two children might not have made it. Amazingly that time, I was actually able to focus on the positive outcomes and not be angry. I guess I had learned to trust God, and the prayer group gave me the support to get through.

The rest of the pregnancy and delivery were not easy. I had to be admitted to the hospital briefly when I began leaking amniotic fluid at 21 weeks, and was then put on bed rest at home. I began having premature labor at 26 weeks and developed gestational diabetes. I was put on Terbutaline and followed very closely, and at 28 weeks, I received steroid shots for the boys’ lungs, just in case they came too early. At 30 weeks and two days, I went into real labor. I was admitted to the hospital, and my water broke before we could stop the labor. I had an emergency C-section, and the boys arrived, each weighing just over three pounds. They spent seven weeks in intensive care, and we spent many days and nights praying for them to survive. Praise God, they did!!! They are now 2 years old and thriving!!!

I am still a part of Miracle Mothers group, and I pray for other women going through the same struggles I did. This prayer group is wonderful, and you will find more support and information here than you could ever need. Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and I pray that you find the strength and courage to see you through even the hardest times!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Miracle Baby

TO READ TESTIMONIES OF COUPLES WHO HAVE OVERCOME THE CHALLENGE OF INFERTILITY, CLICK BELOW:
http://www.mybabytestimony.blogspot.com

The Miracle Baby
By Tammy Batson April 8, 2002


Even as little children, the majority of us wanted to be Mommies and Daddies when we grew up. As a little girl I babied my dolls, fed them, diapered them, and even took them to McDonald’s in my imaginary car! I started babysitting at the age of 13 - I loved children!

At the age of 21 when my soon-to-be husband and I were talking about marriage, I did not know if I would be able to have children because I had been diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 8. (Carefully controlled diabetes was a major factor in carrying and delivering a healthy child.) In September 1994, we had been married two and a half years when my endocrinologist told me it was safe to have children. I was overwhelmed with joy!

My diabetes needed to be in near perfect control just prior to and during the pregnancy to lower the risks of birth defects and risk of miscarriage and that occurred in February 1995. By November 1998 I had miscarried three times. My husband and I had prayed fervently about this and even had different ministers pray for us. We had also been prophesied to that we would have a child of our own.

At times I would cry and pray and ask God what was wrong and I would pray so hard for a baby. In my frustration I visited an infertility specialist. We went through all the tests; I even had exploratory surgery. The doctor said nothing was wrong with me. Then in April 1999 I became pregnant again! The doctor admitted me to the hospital to help prevent a miscarriage. I miscarried in the hospital at five and a half weeks.

All of our friends had children, and most were going on round number two. I wanted to have a baby so bad I craved being pregnant. I longed to mother a child of my own. We talked about adoption and the opportunity even came up a couple of times, but after praying about it we just couldn’t get that “this feels right” peace about it.

I remember a visiting minister pointing at me during his sermon one night and saying, “God’s delays are not His denials.” And then a visiting missionary looked at me during his sermon, pointed, and said, “You will have a child of your very own.” Wow! This gave me great hope and strength! But, at times it seemed my hormones were screaming out, wanting to birth their motherly instincts! I would find myself window-shopping at children’s shops, maternity stores¾at times I felt like I was going crazy!

On December 14, 2000 , my grandfather became very ill, went into the hospital, and never returned home. I was his only living responsible party besides his daughter who is very ill herself. So I had the full responsibility of him, his vehicle, his house, and his bills. I was with him every day and eventually moved him into an assisted living home. Working a full-time, very stressful job (with major overtime), being the Sunday School Director at my church, taking care of him (which meant visiting him every day after work, maintaining the upkeep of his home), plus trying to take care of things at my own home left very little time for myself or my husband. It was almost as if my personal life were put on hold.

On March 13, 2001 , I was attending a computer class for work and while sitting there, staring at the board, my mind began to wander as it would so often do with so much on my plate at that time! All of a sudden I imagined my stomach being cradled by two giant arms and I felt a peace come over me. I sort of shook my head as if to wake up and thought, ‘What in the world? I’m going crazy!’ I didn’t think much else about it.
Still later, while sitting there, I got to thinking back over the last couple of days and I started putting two and two together because of some symptoms I was having and I thought¾could I be pregnant? No way! So many times before the test would be negative and I just couldn’t see those two little pink lines popping up!

This time the lines popped up. This was our fifth pregnancy.
Now, if my husband and I could just get through the next few weeks under strict watch of my doctor and medication, we would have hope. Signs of miscarriage crept up a couple of times in the first few weeks. We just kept praying. With much prayer and dedication to my diabetes I was able to maintain normal glucose levels and soon came off the medication around the third month of pregnancy. I had never made it this far and I was elated!

The fourth month of my pregnancy was eventful. First I was laid off¾without insurance (my diabetes would cost me about $14,000 per year because of my insulin pump). Yet God gave me such a peace during this time. My sugar levels remained near normal and I was able to draw unemployment. (Wow, what an added bonus!) And, I was able to get on my husband’s insurance through his work. (It is so amazing how God works things to our good.)

Also during this month I got a phone call from my doctor who said my blood work came back abnormal from a routine test. He said there was a great possibility my baby would have a spinal cord abnormality and wanted me to come in for an amniocentesis. If he found something wrong, he could abort the baby at that point.

Okay, by now I’m losing it. I said, “No way!” Even if there is something wrong with this child, I will not have an abortion. He said, “Well, if you feel that way then we’ll just do a special ultrasound that will show more than what a normal ultrasound will show.” As soon as I got off the phone, I began bawling. I immediately called my husband and my father-in-law (who is also my pastor), and asked them to pray. He told me it was a trick of the devil and we were going to believe this was not so! I had to wait two weeks before they could see me for this special ultrasound. It seemed like an eternity.

Finally the day came and my husband, mom, and mother-in-law went with me. I remember the ultrasound being in color and at one point seeing a hand. I immediately started counting, 1-2-3-4-5! Yes, all five fingers were there! Then we saw feet! We were all crying! They did a careful study of the spine and they wouldn’t say a word to us about it during the test.

My husband finally asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?” She just smiled and said, “It’s a girl!” Oh my we all really started crying then! Everyone else wanted a girl! I just wanted a “healthy.” Afterwards the doctor called us in his office and told us that he saw absolutely nothing wrong! I think we jumped back out to the lobby to tell our waiting moms! Wow, another prayer answered!

The pregnancy continued and all was well until about the 29th week when some complications landed me on bed rest again for days, and from there on out I had to take it pretty easy. Soon I started having ongoing contractions, but it was just too early to have a baby! The doctor said I’d have to suffer through it.

By the 35th week of pregnancy I was so big I could barely walk. I’m only 4’11” and very short-waisted, and my doctor told me that my body wasn’t made to carry children. The doctor told me that my stomach was the size of an overdue 43-week “twin” pregnancy (mainly due to the diabetes).

I’ll never forget that Wednesday, October 10, 2001 . I was so big and miserable I had to lean over to walk. I prayed and I told God that I couldn’t take it anymore, that He was going to have to do something, then I went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night as my water broke. We were on our way to the hospital within the next half hour! At 3:01 p.m. the next day, LeAnna Rachel was born via C-Section. We were so excited; we still couldn’t believe it was finally happening!

LeAnna was five weeks early and had some trouble breathing because her lungs weren’t fully developed, so they put her under an oxygen tent and eventually had to insert a ventilator tube. Because of the surgery, and her being in the special care nursery, I was unable to go and see her for the first time until Friday evening. The ventilator tube was removed and oxygen placed on her Sunday morning and we got to hold her for the first time on Sunday afternoon. Wow! We just could not believe our baby was finally here.

I’m not going to say it was easy by any means to see her hooked up to all the tubes, needles, and equipment, but she was finally here! The hardest thing for me was going home on Monday night without her.

The doctor told me before I left the hospital that he had never had a diabetic patient that was not admitted to the hospital at least three times during their pregnancy, but I was his first. My blood sugar levels were near perfect the entire pregnancy, which was a first for me in my 23-year diabetic career. The doctor was amazed at our little miracle!
LeAnna Rachel was able to come home on Sunday, which we called “Coming Home Day.”

Today, LeAnna is a healthy, happy near-six month-old baby girl. I look back over the last year and think where God has brought us, the prayers He’s answered, the needs He has provided, and we are so humbled and overwhelmed at His grace and mercy that has been at work in our lives. We are having the time of our lives with our baby and we pray that we never take another day for granted!

ninetyandnine.com
ã 2002, Tammy Batson