So pretty much all of you that know me, know that I am currently 5 1/2 months pregnant with twins. But what a lot of you don't know is the journey that I took to get here. I am going to tell you my story, not for recognition but because I have realized that all the credit should be given to the one who deserves it all...God. After the birth of my youngest child, Christopher, who is seven years old, I decided that the best thing would be for me to tie my tubes. A mistake I have been dealing with since. I never though about my future or how much it would burden me to not be able to have any more children. Fast forward to two years ago, my husband and I decided we wanted more children. Now you need to know, my husband and I have no children together. My children are from a previous marriage and he has no children at all. We are a normal, average family that has everything they need but not the luxuries to spend money without being careful. The guilt of not being able to give my husband children was putting a giant strain on our marriage. So we turned to the only hope we knew we had, we turned to God. Now, I am not under any circumstances looking for pity or anything of the sort. I know that I made the choices that led me to where we were. So in every prayer, my request was for it to be God's will. I asked him to help us accept whatever it was that he decided was best for us. Then he answered my prayers. He didn't give me a time frame or a step by step outline that I needed to follow, but he gave my husband and I peace. In November 2008 I got a job offer to work for the OB Oncology Department in Methodist Hospital, a job I had not even applied for. I knew right away that this was from God, this job was perfect for me. It was exactly what I needed, I would be able to be home by the time my kids God home and things were just perfect. I didn't realize how it was just the beginning of God aligning everything for me. In May of 2009 we decided that it wouldn't hurt for us to at least find out what it would be that we would need to do to look into doing a tubal ligation reversal. Upon asking in my own office I discovered that we actually referred patient's to Dr. Hickman's office! I made an appointment to discuss things and find out where we stood. My husband and I promised that we were not going to make any irrational decisions, we were simply going to gather information. Dr. Hickman informed me that it had been a pretty long time since my tubes had been tied and that the guarantee for success was not something we were comfortable with. We inquired on the in vitro process and quickly realized that not only was it something we could not afford but I was not comfortable with the process of freezing embryos. Then the unbelievable happened! Dr. Hickman informed us that we were the perfect candidates for a frozen egg study that was about to begin. He filled us in on all the details about how this was a study being done primary with cancer patient's in mind. It would allow cancer patient's that are on their way undergo many heavy and harsh treatments to freeze their eggs, giving them an opportunity to have a baby after they have completed their treatments. Because of my job I have learned so much that I didn't know before about what cancer treatments do to a womans body. I immediately knew that if it was possible for me to help these women in any way I definitely wanted to do it. My husband and I told him we needed to pray about it. And we did. After lots of prayer we decided that we were going to do this. We decided to try and seek some financing to cover whatever it was that my insurance would not cover and pay it off in time. We let Dr. Hickman know that we were definitely interested and informed him as to what our plans were. He immediately informed us that if we participated in the study, our expenses during the study would be covered!! Talk about God paving the way!! We went through the qualification process and were chosen to be the study participants. So the process began!! Medications after medications, pills, injections and lots of blood drawings later I was pregnant with twins!!! Throughout this process my husband and I spoke out about it to only our family and our pastors. Even after the success of it all, I felt that there had to be somebody out there that deserved this opportunity more than me. Somebody who hadn't caused their own infertility and had probably gone through more things to earn it then me. I mean, I already had three healthy children. I still felt guilty and because of that I was robbing myself from fully enjoying all the blessings that God had provided me with. Until today... Today I received a card in the mail from a woman named Meredith Stedham. Meredith is the first cancer patient in Texas to undergo the frozen egg treatment. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to have her eggs re-inserted. So here is this woman, this brave, courageous woman who is currently undergoing some of the harshest things a body can go through, and she's thanking me. Me!! This is how God showed me what his purposing in choosing me was....It's my testimony. I am not going to share the kind, beautiful words this woman said to me but know that they filled my heart with so much happiness. And I decided that the world should know. They should know that what God did for me was not something that I should be ashamed of. He not only gave me the gift of the two beautiful lives growing inside me but he has allowed me to be a part of the many blessings he has in store for women like Meredith. I give him all of the honor and glory for how he aligned everything for me. Beginning with placing me in a job that would be the door to helping fulfill my dreams to paving the rest of the way for me. I proudly post my story, I gladly take the back pains, nausea, insomnia and all the other joys that come with this pregnancy and I turn to the Lord and say thank you. And to Meredith Stedham, I say, no...thank you. Thank you, for being a part in God's plan to helping me realize the full potential of this journey. I admire you and I pray for your wishes to also come true.
