Our Story for God's Glory

This is the story behind our miracle which I am posting so I will always remember God's amazing grace in our lives and to share how BIG God is. I have never felt more compelled to share His enduring love and faithfulness for His children. This story begins about 4 years ago when we were unable to conceive on our own. The doctors thought it may have been from birth control and put me on hormones to regulate a cycle. They then had me try fertility medication to increase our chances of conceiving. After two cycles of fertility medication my IBS became much more severe and exacerbations became more frequent. Needless to say, the medication did not work. December of 2010 I was hospitalized due to sepsis (blood infection) with a 40% survival rate (At the time I was unaware of this fact). By God's grace I recovered and with the help of acupuncture and the appropriate medication and supplement regimen started feeling better. In October of 2011 one of the medications was immediately withdrawn from the market and I suffered another exacerbation. I researched Mayan Abdominal Massage and started getting treatments which has helped me cope with the sometimes debilitating symptoms of IBS. Because it has helped, I continue to get treatments and practice it on myself daily. Mayan Abdominal Massage is also used to treat fertility issues. My practitioner's goal was to not only improve my IBS symptoms but also to help me have a cycle on my own. I was very hesitant about even addressing the latter as I had such trouble with hormonal therapy and fertility medication in the past. Fortunately she did not suggest any medications to me. However having a background in Chinese medicine, she did suggest a follicular formula. I started this a week and half before we found out we were expecting. Clearly God's hand was upon me and working in my body in ways I could not even imagine well before this. I have not had a cycle on my own since I was pregnant with Makaio. On Tuesday April 3rd I went to my acupunctures as usual and as we always do talk about symptoms (usually c/o my belly), stress affecting me presently, and nutritional support. My acupunturist, Sharon Gray, is amazing, has a deep passion for her work and clients, and has been a pivotal point in my healing (website is theartofnourishment.com). That day I shared with her symptoms I only had felt during my pregnancy with Makaio. She then proceeded with the acupuncture treatment but refused to work on my aching shoulders as this is contraindicated during pregnancy. I was not exactly pleased at the treatment session. I thought "_How could I possible be pregnant when I haven't had a cycle at all in over four years and that was only with hormonal therapy". She kindly told me I couldn't do anything until I took a pregnancy test in case of the rare chance I was pregnant. I purchased the test but refused to take it till several hours later. Honestly, I didn't want to take it because I had taken two several years ago and when they came back negative it was too much to deal with. When the test came back positive I thought for sure my eyes were deceiving me and the follicular formula I had started was giving me a false positive. I texted my Mayan Abdominal practitioner, texted my dear sistier-in-law J-osie who is a midwife and N.D., paged my N.D. and ran to the store to purchase another test. When the second test came back confirming I was pregnant, I was quite literally in a state of shock. Fortunately I was able to talk with Josie very early in t-he morning as I couldn't sle She again told me a false negative is much more likely than a false positive. I then received a text from my Mayan abdominal therapist telling me congratulations. I still was very hesitant to believe them. That afternoon I had an HCG blood test to test to confirm my suspicions and later an ultrasound. My N.D. after seeing the positive HcG, said he would believe it when he saw the ultrasound. He has seen me through the worst of times including my hospitalization and has gotten to know me quite well. The HcG test showed I was anywhere between about 1-2 months. When I told the ultrasound technician my HcG results, she stated she may not even be able to detect pregnancy. Upon performing the ultrasound, we were both surprised to see I was indeed much farther along than anyone expected. She put my most accurate due date at October 2nd. It looks like I will be getting the best birthday present ever! God continues to amaze me. We are so thankful for His blessings beyond what we could ever imagine. Makaio is pretty excited to meet hos little sister.

18 weeks