Thursday, April 29, 2021

Another Year Older

 Another year older, another year without a child...Not me, but him. 

Today is Brandon's 32nd birthday. (April 28th) And for his birthday, he should have been becoming a dad. If we wouldn't have miscarried, baby owens would have made his or her arrival this past week. This week should have been the start of our IVF; however, the records did not get to ART on time. Another year older, another year without a child. 

This past month at church we were in a sermon series titled the Comeback. The series started with the greatest comeback of all time, Jesus' resurrection. Then we went on to discuss Peter, Paul, and David's comebacks with some members of the church's testimonies. 

As Brandon and I were talking about my results not getting to ART in time for us to start our IVF cycle, he mentions, "you know, maybe God is setting us up for a comeback." In my mind, all I could think was well it is definitely possible. 

My prayer today, is for all of those that are in need of a comeback. Jesus is there to welcome you with open arms, if you'll take that leap of faith and turn to Him. I also pray, thanking God for the comebacks that have happened! Don't be afraid to share your testimony with someone else! You never know the positive impact you might make. 



Wednesday, April 21, 2021

National Infertility Awareness Week 2021

 Journey Update: 

I went back to the hematologist yesterday to get my results from all of my blood work, and shocker...I have Factor V. I have known this for 6 years now, but had to get retested for it. I also previously mentioned that I had to start taking iron pills. So the real reason I had to go in was for the hematologist to make a decision on what to do with the birth control part of IVF. So, I will be taking a blood thinner while going through IVF. This blood thinner is a injectable. The nurse asked me if I would have trouble with it, and I was like no ma'am I have been giving myself shots for a while now. 

Now, the catch to everything is that for some reason my cycle decided to show its face earlier than 50 days. So I started on Monday, which means I am cycle day 3 today. In order to do IVF, the doctor's office has to see you by cycle day 4 (aka tomorrow). Well I called yesterday to make sure my records had been faxed to ART. I cannot make an appointment at ART until the results of the blood work, and the doctor's recommendation have been faxed to ART. When I called them yesterday, and of course the blood work results are ready to fax over, but the doctor's recommendation isn't. So more than likely we will have to wait until my cycle starts again to actually have another baseline IVF appointment. The one good thing, is that the timing would be over the summer. So now, we wait again. 

_____________________________________________________________

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. If you see the hashtag on facebook #niaw, that is what it stands for. So during this week, many many people share their stories on social media, etc. We don't share our stories for the comments, or attention, most of us simply share our story/struggle to raise awareness to an issue that is so hard to talk about casually. 

1 in 8 couples struggle to get pregnant. 

1 in 4 women have had a miscarriage. 

I saw this wonderfully written on facebook and wanted to share it: 

To the woman in target walking by the baby clothes, softly touching everything you pass with your fingertips; but continuing to walk by without buying anything ... I see you
To the woman at the baby shower who slips into the bathroom to hold back the tears and walks back out with a smile on her face... I see you
To the woman at the grocery store seeing the pregnant teenager, and the woman shopping midday with 5 kids in and around the cart; and thinking why not me?! ... I see you
To the woman sitting in her car a little longer than necessary parked at the fertility clinic, before walking in for another appointment or treatment, because nothing good has happened there yet... I see you
To the woman who prays every morning, every night, and a little harder every Sunday at church for a baby that hasn’t come... I see you
To the woman who has the heart of a warrior, and will never give up hope... I see you
To the woman feeling broken... you’re not.
To the woman feeling alone... you’re not.
I see you.
I am you.

________________________________________________________________

Dear God, I pray as we take this week to share stories and raise awareness that we would continue to put our hope in you for your future. I pray for each and everyone couple going through infertility. It is just so hard Lord, but daily we are praying to make a comeback! Help us to believe it! AMEN.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Will you still love Him?

        The song "Even if" has really been on my mind lately. When I think about this song, I think about the story in Daniel where the men are thrown into the blazing fire. In Daniel 3:17-18 it says, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Even in the mist of the fire, they knew God was able. They knew he had to the power to rescue them. They had so much strength that they told the king, even if God doesn't rescue us, we won't turn from Him to worship your gods. Wow! Do we have this kind of faith? That even if God doesn't rescue us, are we still going to believe and trust in His plan? Are we going to believe that their is a purpose for the trial that God has not revealed to us yet? The next thing this reminds me of is the movie Facing the Giants. I think I have referenced this movie before. But in the movie, the husband asks his wife, "If the Lord doesn't give us children will you still love Him?" Tough to think about. But fill in the blank with whatever your struggle is... Will you still love Him if you stay single? Will you still love Him if life doesn't go as planned? Will you still love Him when a loved one is taken to early? Will you still love Him? 


Life Update: 
The past two weeks we have finally had kids back and school, and while most of my caseload chose to stay virtual, it has been great having students back in the building! I also got my 2nd Covid vaccine today. I am praying for no crazy symptoms to appear. There is not really a fertility update this week. We are just still waiting to see what the hematologist decided and for my cycle to get here. 

Dear God, I pray for the person reading this right now. I pray that they would feel your presence among them in whatever trial they may be facing. I hope and pray that you are their confidence and where their hope lies. I pray they'd still love you even if something isn't going as planned. Help us to love you no matter what. Thank you for not leaving us as orphans, but making us you children. I thank you for the person who took time out of their day to read this. I hope they know how much it means to me that they are reading to keep up with our story. In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Thursday, April 8, 2021

A year later..

Today makes a year since I made our journey public on facebook and began to blog about it. I wanted this week's blog to be today, which is why it wasn't posted yesterday. 

A year later...

  • Still no baby
  • Still not pregnant 
  • Still HOPEFUL
  • Still FAITHFUL
  • Still PRAYING
  • Still THANKFUL

What have I learned over the last year? 
-My worth is not defined by two pink lines.
-My worth is not defined by being a mom. 
-My worth is defined by God only! 
-I don't need to let infertility be the center piece of my life.
-I only need Jesus to be at the center! 
-I have the most incredible support group! 
-To rely on God more!
-To be open about other struggles within my life.
-Not to be scared to ask for help.
-That my story can inspire others.
-God's not done with us yet. 

This is a clip from a Netflix movie, but these two songs together are just so powerful! 


Journey update: 
I learned over this past weekend that apparently I have low iron. The low iron, and a few other things have a lot of symptoms that cross paths together. Right now, we are just praying for the decision from the hematologist about how to handle the Birth Control part of IVF. 

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me with this blog and our journey. This past year has definitely been tough, but I couldn't be more thankful for my friends and family who have been through every step with us! Love you all so much! 


Two Years Later

It has been way too long since I've written in this blog. Here is where we are at now. Hopefully since I'm off for the summer I can ...