Instead of
announcing my long awaited pregnancy only on Facebook, I want to give my
testimony for those who are struggling with infertility. I know the pain you
feel every time someone announces that they are pregnant…the pain, yet the joy
for that person if it is someone you care about. It’s a very emotional
conflict. I know, I have been there many times.
We have been
trying to conceive for ten years. The first couple years we weren’t actively
trying, however, we weren’t preventing it either. We did see a doctor to find
out what our options were and he told us that we could opt for infertility
medication but at that time we declined since the risk of multiples wasn’t
something we wanted.
After we
left the Air Force and got settled into civilian life, we decided to actively
try again. I read the book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler
to learn more about my body and how it works. [I recommend this book for every
woman out there. Especially teens that are sexually active and do not want to
get pregnant. Even though I don’t agree with that behavior…let’s be real…it is
happening.] After reading that book I learned how to chart my cycles and keep
track of the signs letting you know that you are fertile. That is when I realized that I may not be ovulating
and that my cycles were longer than normal.
After this,
we decided to see my doctor. He recommended that we start with clomid. He told
us that there is a risk of multiples, however, it is the lowest grade of
fertility medication out there and recommended that we give it a try. With
clomid I ended up ovulating, but pregnancy never occurred. Then, in 2008, my doctor told me about a trial
that a specialist in Schaumburg was doing using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
Because it was a trial, it would be only about 1/3 the cost of a normal IVF
procedure. We decided to give it a try.
The next few
months were so stressful; yet they were exciting because I thought for sure
this was God’s answer to our prayers. I
just knew that it would work. During the IVF process, I found out that I had
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which is why my ovulation wasn’t consistent) so we
had to be careful about the dosages of the fertility meds the doctor was giving
me. If they over-stimulated my ovaries
(meaning, too many follicles/eggs), then the IVF cycle would need to be
cancelled and I would lose this opportunity.
So, that is what made it the most stressful. Needless to say, we made it through and they
were able to return two embryos. Unfortunately, they didn’t stick and I did not
become pregnant. If you want to read more about that, you can view the blog
that I kept here: http://lisaestrella.blogspot.com/search/label/infertility
After going
through that, we decided that we were done with medically trying to get
pregnant. We decided that if it didn’t happen naturally then it just wasn’t in
God’s plan. Also, we decided when the
time was right, we would most likely adopt.
However, my husband still kept faith that God would bless us with one of
our own. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so
sure. During the past few years I often prayed that God would take away my
desire of wanting to be pregnant and instead turn that desire to being a
mom. However, my desire to become
pregnant never truly went away.
So, between
the years 2009 – 2011 I did try acupuncture. That worked to regulate my cycle,
but I did not get pregnant. Around 2011
I also started seeing my chiropractor. My cycle again was starting to get
regular but still was longer than normal. By this time, I was still tracking my
cycle length, but nothing else. I was mainly just waiting on the time to be
right so that we could adopt.
Fast forward
to May 2013. I noticed that my cycle was
longer than normal. I told my husband and let him know that I would wait for 5
more days to see if my period would come. If not, then we would take the
pregnancy test. [This happened so often
that I dreaded taking a pregnancy test because it always ended in
disappointment] So, Sunday, May 19th
was the day. I woke up early and let my
husband know that I was going to take the test.
I wasn’t excited because I knew it would be negative. However, this time was different. I took the
test and it immediately showed POSITIVE! I could not believe it. I can’t
explain to you the emotions that happened.
I was crying, laughing, out of breath…I was in shock! I exited the
bathroom and Jesús saw me hunched over and said “Lisa, what is wrong?!” I told
him that the test was positive, that I was pregnant and he was so happy and
excited! He was yelling louder than when he yells at the TV for the Bulls
games! Ha ha! That was the happiest day of my life. God answered our prayers,
even when I had lost faith. I admit, I would pray that I could become pregnant,
but I didn’t truly believe that God would bless me…so I was praying faithless
prayers. My husband though…he kept the
faith and prayed knowing that God would bless us. I am humbled and grateful for the faith of my
husband…
I am now almost 12
weeks pregnant and Baby Estrella is due on Jan 14, 2014. Praise God that He has
blessed us in this way. He has given me
the desire of my heart…
Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.
Ultrasound
when I was 8w2d:
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