Our Miracle Journey

     One thing that I always knew I wanted in life was a family with lots of kids.  The timing of my life was never right and babies didn't happen.  Jim and I got married in June 2003.  It was a second marriage for both of us.  Right away, I got the family that I always wanted in Jim's boys.  Shane and Dylan welcomed me as part of their family.  We never had the ugly stuff that so many blended families go through.  I was lucky enough to avoid that.  Jim's ex wife and I have always gotten along well and the three of us always put what the boys needed before any issues that we might have had.  I know how lucky I am that I was not treated as the ugly step-parent.

     Jim and I really wanted another child...and nothing happened.  I saw my doctor who said everything looked great and gave me a fertility medication to take. It didn't work.  In January 2005, I saw another doctor who did some more testing...and that testing told a different story.  He told me that medically I would not be able to get pregnant without surgery or IVF or something.  I was upset to say the least, as was Jim.  Insurance didn't cover treatments, so that was the end of that dream, or so I thought.  God had other plans (like He usually does).  

     I called Jim during the Superbowl of 2005 and asked him to stop on his way home to get a pregnancy test, in spite of what the doctor said, I just had a feeling.  And I was right, I was pregnant.  For 12 weeks, I was so sick...not just morning sickness, but all day sickness.  It was horrible.  And then in March, I lost the baby.  I was devastated, as were Jim and the boys.  The one thought that kept me going was that I was able to get pregnant, something the doctor didn't think I could ever do!  So I tried to stay positive.  I prayed and kept living, although there were some dark days mixed in.  

     In June of that same year, the year that I turned 40, I became pregnant again.  Jim and I were quietly optimistic.  We kept the news pretty much to ourselves, just in case.  The boys knew, as did our bosses at work.  After 12 weeks, we started telling people.  We began to plan for our baby that we called Odie.  We didn't want to know the gender and we wouldn't tell the names that we picked (Owen James or Delainey Kaye...I was not a huge fan of our boy name).  My pregnancy was carefully monitored by my doctors, who were well versed in high risk pregnancies like mine.  Two weeks before my due date, the doctor felt that my blood pressure was getting to high (even with the medication that I had been taking through the entire pregnancy) and it was time to induce.  I was able to pick the day, time, and doctor that would deliver.  Jim and I picked February 28, early in the morning, with the doctor that first told us that we would not be able to have any children.  

     When I say that Delainey is our miracle baby, she truly is a miracle.  Only God could have given Jim and I such a precious gift when medically there was no way for her to be here.  Every day, even on days when she is driving me crazy, I thank Him for her.  Tomorrow, I will get up and write more about my girl, but today, I want to remember the miracle of her creation.  I want to say thank you to the One who gave Jim and I this child that we call Delainey...our miracle baby, whatever her age!  We are truly blessed beyond all that we could ask for with this little girl, she teaches us things every single day!