Part 5: The Year 2016

This is Part 5 of a series of posts telling the journey to our third little miracle baby.

Click the links to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

It's crazy to think that the previous parts of this story were written between August and November of 2015. Now it's the year 2017 and I'm trying to bridge the gap of what has happened since then.

After we found out the frozen embryo transfer didn't work I tried my best to cope around my pregnant friends and family. The holidays were especially difficult with one sister-in-law having a beautiful newborn and another sister-in-law announcing her pregnancy. I was happy for them, but in all honesty it was hard with the timing of it all. It was hard to know I could have been pregnant along with them. However, a couple weeks after we found out about the negative pregnancy test, a fire started burning within me to fight back. But I wanted to fight back on my own. I wasn't interested in going to fertility doctors anymore, or running more tests, and the last thing I wanted was the stress of another IVF. I started diving deeper into research that relates to me and my reproductive issues. I have never had a regular period in my life. The number of periods I've had without fertility medication can probably be counted on one hand. (You probably think having so few periods would be amazing! It kind of is, but definitely not worth the trouble and numerous hormone imbalances behind it.) But somehow I managed to have 3 periods within the first 8 months of 2016 all on my own. I didn't know if I was ovulating, but for me this was a huge step. Huge.

Somehow the stars all aligned and the timing of everything just worked. Turns out I got pregnant naturally in September of 2016!

What changed? What happened? Did going without any added sugars in my diet for 6 months do something? Did my body finally start to understand how it's supposed to function after I had the successful pregnancy and birth of my twins? Maybe those things helped, but I actually know the answer. It was my Heavenly Father and I know that to my core. It was so difficult exercising patience and moving forward with faith and hope in God's timing. I am very aware of all the intricacies that must happen for pregnancy to occur and with my reproductive issues, this pregnancy was nothing short of a miracle. I personally believe every pregnancy is a miracle, but this felt extra miraculous ;)

Waiting for my miracle wasn't all sunshine and roses. There were tears and sadness. I could sense my husband's yearning for another child stronger than ever. He kept asking when I would be willing to go back to our fertility doctor, but I didn't want to back...I didn't want to fail again. I started thinking about adoption, which is something I still really want to consider in the future. There was also a trial I faced that impacted me significantly, but now I can see God's hand in what happened and I believe its outcome helped me on the path to getting pregnant. However, that's a story for another time. I do want to share it, but I still feel too sensitive to talk about it.

Another important part of this journey is a priesthood blessing I received. Even though it was my sweet husband's voice I heard as I received this special prayer and blessing, I knew the words were coming from my Heavenly Father. The love I felt from my Father was so strong, especially as He told me I would have more children. I believed it. From that moment on I knew I would...just when was the question. That was September 4th, 2016. Two days later I conceived this precious child I am carrying, and 4 weeks later I found out I was pregnant. This might not mean much to you if you're not religious, but to me it just strengthens my testimony that much more of a loving Father in heaven.

I sent this to my hubby Oct 10th!

I remember reading stories of couples that went through IVF, had a baby, then went on to conceive naturally. I always wished their story could be my story, and now it is. Those stories gave me hope and now it's my wish that this journey of mine can do the same for others.

In the next post I'll share about finding out I was pregnant!