Infertility to Motherhood: God's Gift (Part 3)

The number 3 has always been my special number. "Third time's a charm" kept echoing in my mind as we prepared for our third round of In Vitro Fertilization. I always dreamed of having three children.

The number 3 is the number of Divine Perfection; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus was crucified on the Third Hour, as told in Mark 15:25 "It was the third hour when they crucified him." Jesus referred to the prophet Jonah, just as he was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so would He be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:39-40; Luke 11:30. On another occasion, Jesus stated that He would destroy the temple, and He would raise it again in three days - John 2:19. (This is referring to His body, as his body became the living temple/tabernacle on earth).

My prayer was for God to bless us with however many He felt I could handle. Whatever God willed for my life was fine with me. He made it very clear that I'd be having a baby through this process. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see when it would happen.

My Reproductive Endocrinologist was amazing. Their research was so aggressive that they had discovered other ways to increase the success rate. Unfortunately, it required another daily injection. Oh yeah, I was just thrilled about that. By this time, I had become so accustomed to needles they really no longer phased me. The odds still remained at one out of every three. There it was again, the number '3'. Well, here we were, on round three.

Our fertility center offered us a 'package deal'. You get three IVF cycles for the price of two! Wow, so round three was on them! Well, to a certain extent, anyway. Some of the costs were not included in their fees, such as all my meds. We took another trip down to Tijuana, Mexico and experienced another crazy taxi drive, saving ourselves a ton of money by doing so.

I had finally let go and trusted God would fulfill His promise to bless me with the gift of a child. Honestly, this was the first time I ever consciously handed something over to Him. Of course, I vowed to do my part. One of my biggest obstacles was my job. I left the credit union I had been working at for the past seven years, and now working in the same position at another credit union, making the same salary, but traveling sixty miles, one-way. What was I thinking? After driving back and forth for my medical appointments, I decided to find a part-time position with a smaller credit union. This reduced my stress level significantly. However, it also reduced our combined household income.

One of the 'new' discoveries now presented to us for this cycle was using a blood thinner. The idea was to allow more blood to flow through the microscopic capillaries of my uterine wall; therefore, increasing the chances of an embryo actually embedding itself. Just fascinating.

Waiting two days for the blood test results is literally like waiting two months when you are counting every time the minute hand makes a revolution around the clock. We chose to spend our waiting time on the coast, where we could relax and trust God. Fort Bragg is on the northern California coast and sounded like the perfect spot. So we drove up Highway 1. Though it was a gorgeous drive and perfect location, I endured severe motion sickness all the way there. It took quite awhile to recover once we arrived. After the first night, we drove down the coastline to Dillon Beach.

At this point in the IVF cycle, I was still so overloaded with hormone injections, that it was easy to mistake all the symptoms and aftereffects with those of an actual pregnancy. Even during the first two attempts, I felt like I was actually pregnant. I learned not to jump the gun this time and simply waited for the test results.

The day after arriving back home from the coast, the call came from the doctor. I will never forget this moment...

"Are you sitting down?"

"Uh...yeeeessss?"

"My dear, you are pregnant!"

Tears.....overwhelming tears of joy....tears of relief....tears of gratitude...

Nothing but PRAISES to Jesus!

A few months later, I was back at the women's retreat with my mom and best friend.  This was a celebration of answered prayers and God's faithfulness. It was a celebration of our just God who refused to let the enemy steal something so precious from me.  This was a celebration of FAITH!  Over three hundred women prayed over me the year before and now they would see me very pregnant, with a precious little angel babe inside.

Lorraine, our ministry leader, was so elated. She could not wait to lay hands on my baby. When she did, my baby leaped inside of me! It was so beautiful!  Just about every sister there that weekend was witness to God hearing their prayers and the fulfillment of the prophetic word shared by sister Stephanie the year before. Amen!

The precious gift of life..of motherhood...

God blessed me with a very healthy baby girl.

To top it off, the following year after this, I returned with Angelica in my arms. She was dressed in a beautiful white lace gown. Sister Lorraine dedicated her to the Lord that day....

Now, my Angel Babe is a very healthy young woman, about to graduate from high school. Eighteen years has flown by so quickly.

Every year, I re-tell her birth story. I want her to always know how much she was loved even before she was conceived. I am forever grateful to those who prayed relentlessly for her life...for this gift.

God will always be glorified through my Angelica's life...