Episode 1: In the Beginning

In the beginning, there was a new bride and her dashing husband. Life was wonderful. The bride's heart's desire was for a big family full of bouncing, happy babies. The husband agreed. After a trip to the girly doctor, however, that dream became a bit more complicated. It seemed the bride (let me switch to first person...so much easier!) It seemed that I had polycystic ovaries, the number one cause of major fertility problems in young women. I was greatly saddened, but Jeremy and I decided to just have faith and see what God did. We thought it would take at least a year for us to get pregnant, and so we decided to stop using birth control right away. That is how we became pregnant eight months into our marriage on our first "try"! What a miracle!!

We were surly high on a mountain top! We were madly in love and enjoying the newness of life together, God had granted us a teeny-tiny bun in the oven, and we had just started the bidding process on a house that would be perfect for our growing family. I can remember a specific conversation with Jeremy, laying in bed on a sun-dappled Saturday morning, about how richly God had blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. We were soaking up the time on top of the mountain, knowing it could not last forever, but so thankful to be there.

When I was six weeks pregnant, I started spotting, just a little. I knew enough about the beginning process of pregnancy. "It's just my little guy implanting," I convinced myself and went about my day. Within a few hours I began bleeding heavily, blood running down my leg at Target. "This can't be good," I thought, running to the car, crying hard. I rushed home and called a dear friend. I knew I was losing my baby. Sobbing to her, she asked me if I had called my ob. "No! She can't do anything if it is a miscarriage." She convinced me to call, and my wonderful ob had me rush right in to check for a beating heart. I met Jeremy, who was quietly crying standing in the parking lot, at the doctor's office. "Lord of all mercies, spare our child, if it is Your divine will, "we cried together.

Miracle of all miracles, the heart was beating,

strongly,

steadily!

God of wonders! Thank you!

Baby #1's First Photo

The doctor found a second egg sack, but one that lacked a beating heart. Twins initially, but no more. That was probably the cause of the bleeding. We were saddened at the loss of one, but we had not known it existed. So although there was a twinge of grief, we were elated that one heart was beating strongly!

At doctor's orders, I was to head home and be on bed rest for the next week. Then everything would be fine! So home we went for a little R&R. An entire week of no work, movie watching, pampering by hubby, all with a safe tiny baby tucked inside. Things could definitely be worse!