Everyone’s path to parenthood is different and it’s often not easy to become parents. Sarah had a rough road on her path to creating her family but her testimony is inspirational. I’ll forever be an advocate for those struggling with infertility and miscarriage. It effects more people then you know and I wholeheartedly believe we need to talk about it more. Here is her story…
I never post but feel my testimony may give others hope in knowing He hears your cries. Never give up hope in what you believe to be His plan for your life…
On June 2011, Jason and I got married, excited to start our life having children. In 2013 and three miscarriages later, I was referred to a fertility clinic by the amazing Dr. Sara Pierce. After six IUIs, a doctor at the fertility clinic recommended we go through a very expensive IVF process. After praying many prayers, crying many tears, and saving a LOT of money, we went through the IVF process in 2015. As many people know, it is a very painful and emotional process not only for the women but the men and their relationship. It takes work to get through the struggles together. It was even more emotional and painful when the fertility doctor attempted to extract the eggs and there were none to retrieve. We were devastated, but three months later we felt we needed to do another one. The summer of 2016 we went through our second round of IVF extractions. This time there was only one embryo which could possibly be viable. It was transferred in October of 2016, but two weeks later we found out that it did not “take” and I was not pregnant. We mourned throughout the holidays questioning what to do next.
Over the next few months, there were two instances which led us to feel that maybe we should try another IUI.
In January 2017, a pharmacist I was talking to recommended we become vegetarian before trying again, and a few days later I was reading an article suggesting the same thing. In February of 2017, we decided to do another IUI; however, qualifying exams for my doctorate were set during the week of the planned procedure. It took a lot of convincing from my husband to go through with the IUI. Two weeks later we found out we were pregnant with our son, Hudson. This was a complete shock because we were told the chance of us conceiving were slim. Hudson was born in November of 2017. As soon as we had our son, we knew we wanted to attempt to have another child. In January 2019 we did another IUI, but once again I was hesitant because I was going through the defense portion of the dissertation for my doctorate. To our complete surprise, on the first attempt I got pregnant with our daughter, Hadley, who was born in October. This pregnancy was not easy because at our 28-week appointment we were told that our daughter had ventriculomegaly, which is where the fluid filled ventricles in the brain appear to be too large. Dr. Pierce’s support was a critical reason that I was able to remain calm during this time and trust in His plan. I went to numerous MRIs and ultrasounds to check on our baby girl’s progress during the pregnancy. After she was born, an ultrasound was done on her brain. The ventricle was within normal range! I vividly remember a conversation I had with my parents just weeks after Hadley’s birth when I told them I wanted to try for a third child. Little did I know the emotional roller coaster we would be on over the next eighteen months.
Without telling anyone, we completed three different rounds of IUIs. The third procedure worked! We were excited to tell our family, even though I was taking progesterone oil shots every day. At our last appointment with our fertility doctor after which we would be transferred to regular OBGYN care, the doctor found something he wanted my OBGYN (Sara) to follow. Again, by the grace of God, Dr. Pierce was able to see us just a few days after our visit to the fertility clinic. We walked into the ultrasound room with fear and left with sadness and anger. During that eleven week appointment, we discovered that there was no heartbeat. Once again, devastated and lost, we clung to our faith in Jesus. Two months after the loss of yet another baby, we discussed moving into another IVF conversation with the fertility clinic. Plans were set to start medications and have the extraction in May of 2021. I was optimistic and felt we were doing what we needed to do. The doctors extracted three eggs and NONE of them were viable with life. Pain and grief flooded our hearts, not knowing where else to turn but to God and to our amazing family and friends. We were told the probability of having another child was extremely unlikely. We continued to pray and believe that God’s plan was for us to have a third child.
We contacted another fertility clinic in New York to hopefully find more answers and a solution to our infertility. We met via Zoom with the doctors four different times and did a massive amount of blood work to determine if I was ready for an extraction. My bloodwork came back and the group in New York indicated we should purchase medications in order to begin treatment the following month. I was going to turn 39 in September of 2021, so we knew this IVF procedure would probably be our final attempt to have another child. God had a different plan. We purchased $7500 of medication and ready for use the next month. In September of 2021, while patiently waiting to start the medication and begin the journey, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive with NO Medication! So many signs gave me peace that this was real including the fact that the baby’s due date was on my deceased father-in-law’s birthday, and the day I went in for blood work to determine if I was actually pregnant my Bible app said I would receive positive results.
I introduce to you Holton Christopher Beck born May 16th at 6:37pm weighing 8 lbs 10 ounces.
THIS was His plan for our lives. It didn’t come without many struggles over the past 11 years, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. To this day we are told over and over how shocked doctors are that we were able to get pregnant with Holton, and it all happened without medical intervention but with God’s intervention. We keep the non-returnable medication we purchased sitting in our kitchen as a sign of God’s presence in our lives.
Such an amazing family! If your family is looking for someone to capture your family’s story (whatever it may be!) I would be honored to do that for you. If you are in the Indy area and are looking for an Indianapolis newborn photographer please let me know. I would love to see if your due date is available and get it on my calendar.
