Our Story

Okay, so I've decided I need to backtrack a little. I'm holding Ryan in one arm...so sorry if there are typing errors.

The reason I'm backtracking is because I think our story is important to tell. Not only because of God's awesome miracles shown in it, but also because we want others to know that they are not alone.

David and I were married on July 26th, 2003. (We're coming up on our five year anniversary!) He was still in school. I worked a low paying job at a day care/preschool. It was only by the grace of God that we made it through the first year of our marriage. We lived in the OC apartments which were over 30 years old and less than 500 sqare feet.

Right after David graduated he got a job in Broken Arrow. He got his degree in mechanical engineering, but his job wasto be a software engineer. He had never done this kind of work before, and from what I understand the company rarely pays to train employees, but they did with David. They knew they had something good. I searched and searched and prayed and prayed all summer to find a teaching position and three days before school started God answered my prayers and I became a first and second grade teacher. Gail, David's mom, a long time first grade teacher, came and put my room together for me while I went to meetings. The day before school started was meet the teacher. I wasn't even able to tell parents what time school started! It's been four years and I believe we have both shown to be valuable employees.

We started trying to get pregnant in the summer of 2005. We didn't tell anyone we were trying. We had enough badgering already about kids. I just knew it would happen within the first couple months. After all, my mom never had a problem getting pregnant, so if genetics had anything to do with it, it should be a breeze! Well, a couple months went by and it didn't happen. I started wondering what was going on. "I should be pregnant by now!" I thought. At six months I went to see my gyn and she said that I would have to wait until we had been trying for a whole year before we started investigating why we weren't getting pregnant. Six months was hard enough, I had to wait a whole year?! I was not happy. I knew my body!! I knew I should have been pregnant already! So in secret agony David and I kept trying to get pregnant for the next six months. Why we didn't tell anyone I don't know. It was probably the worst decision we could have made. Why were we trying to handle things on our own? Did we really think that we could have done this on our own without our brothers and sisters holding us up in prayer to the ONE who would really make this miracle happen? We were so foolish.

After the year came we decided we needed to tell our parents. That was the hardest thing for us to do. We were suffering and now we had to tell our parents and only hope that they would not suffer with us. We knew, though, that they would immediately begin to pray for us and continue to until we announced a pregnancy. Telling our friends was hard too. Little did we know that there are so many people out there that have gone through something like this too. That's why I'm writing. If we would have known that this is so common we would have talked about it sooner. We would have asked our friends and family to pray sooner than we did. We hope and pray that others who are struggling with this will not make the same mistake that we did. You can't do it on your own.

When we waited a year David and I started having tests done to see what the problem was. After many not so fun test we figured out that both of us had just the right amount of problems that made it hard for us to conceive. We went to a fertility specialist to see what our options were. We knew that IVF could be our only option, but prayed that it wouldn't be because of the expense. The doctor told us it was the only way. I soon began drugs and different testings to start the IVF process. Our friends and family prayed for us and supported us along the way.

Our church family amazed us a couple months before we went through IVF. Normally the young families classes are split in two, but one Sunday we were all together. I think they said it was because the other class didn't have a teacher. I knew something was up. We started class and Clint Vaughn started talking about us. I started to cry, of course. He had a photo album in his hand. Jessica Wills had organized a garage sale at her house. She'd been working on it for at least a couple months. She had asked for donations from different bible classes at church and the response was amazing. They raised I believe between $1,500 and $2000 and then an anonymous donor matched it which made the amount around $3500. We could not believe the love that was outpouring. They all knew that we did not need it, but because they loved and cared about us so much they did this wonderful thing that we did not deserve. It still brings tears to my eyes to think about it.

David and I decided that we would only ask people to pray for us on certain days, but not to tell them why. We were afraid that if they knew what procedure was being done that day and it did not go well and we did not get pregnant it would be too devistating to be asked about it by so many people. Our friends were so kind and respected our wishes. The feeling of knowing that our names were being lifted up by so many people every day was so completely awesome!

There were so many bumps along the way. So many things that made me think it would never happen. Satan was surely there trying to bring me down.

The IVF was done July 27th, the day after our anniversary in OKC. The doctors extracted 10 eggs, but only nine were good. They fertilized all nine and watched them grow each day. There was a certain number of cells the embryos were supposed to have each day, and if they did not then those embryos would not work. The nurse would call us each day to tell us how many cells the embryos had and how many embryos were still in good shape. They implanted the only two embryos that had survived the five day growth period outside my body. We stayed the night in a hotel by the hospital. I had to lay flat on my back for the next three days and not shower for the next two. Little did I know how uncomfortable I would be. David brought the TV into the bedroom. My mom stayed with my during the day. My back hurt so incredibly much. I was so tense because I was so afraid to move and loose the babies. It would be another 10 days before we would find out if we were pregnant.

A few days before the IVF David had to start giving my progesterone shots. In case you don't know progesterone is a very thick substance. Almost like cooking oil, but possibly even thicker than that. David had to do it because for one, they had to be given in the behind where there's muscle, and secondly because of the thickness the needle was huge and it was hard to administer. I cried almost every time he gave me those shots because they hurt so bad. I was bruised and had so many knots.

August 10th, David and his dad went to the PGA tournament that was in Tulsa. We knew that would be the day I would go to the doctor to take a pregnancy test. I was a good girl and did not take one at home. I decided that I would go up to my classroom and start getting it ready for the beginning of school to keep my mind off what I would be finding out that day. I went in first thing that morning and the nurse told me that she would call around 1:00. I went up to school and was working on my room when my phone rang around 11:30. I answered and the first thing she said was, "How much progesterone do you have left?" I started to answer that question and then laughed one of those "oh my goodness" laughs. We had been told that if the IVF worked I would have to continue the progesterone shots through my first trimester. I WAS PREGNANT!! It took all I had not scream and shout. I couldn't let my coworkers find out before my husband.

I immediately left school to plan how I was going to tell David. I originally thought I was going to "make" a dinner of baby-back ribs, baby carrots, baby spinach salad, and any other food that had the word baby in it. At the PGA you weren't allowed to keep your phone on, so I couldn't get ahold of David. I decided that maybe I could text him and he could reply when he was in an okay area to use his phone. I asked him if he was going to be home for dinner. He soon replied "I'm already home." Oh no!! It was around 2:30. My dinner plan was not going to work. So, I'm looking around the store trying to think of another idea. I see a shirt that says Dr. Pepper on it, David's favorite drink. Then I decided to find a little baby onesie that says something about "I love Daddy" on it. I found one and left for home. I hid the itty bitty onesie at the bottom of the bag under the DP shirt. When I got home David was sitting on the couch and I could tell he had been crying. What a day this must have been for him. I knew right away that I could not tease him. I gave him his present. He took out the DP shirt and said "This is nice" in one of those "what does this have to do with anything?" tones. I said "Are you sure that's all that's in the bag?" He dug deeper and found the onesie. He asked if it meant we were pregnant and I said yes, and we both held each other and cried.

What a journey it had been for us!! We knew it was still not over, though. There was still 12 more weeks of painful progesterone shots. As with any pregnancy there was still a chance of miscarriage. I knew, though...I knew...God put this child inside of me, and he was going to do great things.

We called our parents later that evening, and of course, they couldn't be happier. It's funny...I don't actually remember how we told them. We waited a few more weeks to tell our friends at church that had prayed for us so diligently. One Sunday morning in class they asked for any announcements and I plainly said "David's going to be a daddy." Everyone cheered. We went next door to our friends in the other class and said the same thing and they stopped and prayed for us right then. God has blessed us beyond what we deserve with our family and friends.

I was put on bedrest at 31 weeks. I was mildly preeclamptic. It hurt to stop working so abruptly. I missed my class so much. Bedrest is probably the worst thing anyone can go through. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I made it through though. Dr. Fumia kept saying that there was no reason to go past 38 weeks. Then he would say the next week, "You can make it all the way." I would go home and cry. Sometimes I would cry in his office. I hated being home alone day after day after day. I missed church most of all. I reminded him at our 37 week check. He finally agreed that there really was no reason to go past 38 weeks.

On Sunday night, April 6th, we checked into the hospital so they could induce me the next morning. Well, the medicine they gave me that night put me into labor around 2:00 in the morning. My water broke at 11:45 Sunday night and Ryan was born, after what I feel was a very fast and intense labor, Monday afternoon at 2:06 pm.

So this is really the beginning of our story. We can't wait to see all of the great things Ryan will accomplish in his life. Will he become a doctor or lawyer? Will he decide to work with troubled teens and go without an income? Maybe he'll be the first president from Oklahoma!! Only God knows the plans for Ryan. Plans to prosper him and not to harm him. So...we begin.