Year 6: After our failed IVF cycle we were drained…drained emotionally and financially. Further fertility treatments seemed to be nowhere in our future. The negative IVF cycle was in October 2009. By February 2010, Allen had decided that maybe it was time to look in to adoption. I, of course, was trilled! I had suggested adoption several times to no agreement from my husband. We had actually always talked about adopting, once we had had our own children first. I remember that when we were dating there was this one time when we were at his parent’s church during Christmas. There was this little girl sitting across the aisle from us at a night service. She was precious but filthy...covered in dirt from head to toe. You could tell that she came from a family that was struggling. We vowed to each other that night to adopt a child one day. We wanted to give a child a life that was greater than they could imagine. We never knew that might be the only chance we would have at parenthood.
So, I did some research and talked to several people I knew that had adopted. We finally settled on an adoption agency. Catholic Social Services. There was an office in Montgomery and I had a friend that I graduated from high school with that had used and been very pleased with them. We made our first appointment. I was so so so nervous. I felt like that first impression was the most important. I obsessed over what we would wear and what we would say. In the end, Allen did the best job of explaining why we wanted to be parents. We met with this nice lady named Jane Blackmon and went home with the application packet. I spent the next 2 weeks filling out the application. We also had an appointment with a photographer to have some professional pictures taken to include in the packet. For some reason, completing the application took longer than it should have. And before we could figure out why, the reason was laid out before us. God was moving us…away from our home for the past 3 years.
So, I did some research and talked to several people I knew that had adopted. We finally settled on an adoption agency. Catholic Social Services. There was an office in Montgomery and I had a friend that I graduated from high school with that had used and been very pleased with them. We made our first appointment. I was so so so nervous. I felt like that first impression was the most important. I obsessed over what we would wear and what we would say. In the end, Allen did the best job of explaining why we wanted to be parents. We met with this nice lady named Jane Blackmon and went home with the application packet. I spent the next 2 weeks filling out the application. We also had an appointment with a photographer to have some professional pictures taken to include in the packet. For some reason, completing the application took longer than it should have. And before we could figure out why, the reason was laid out before us. God was moving us…away from our home for the past 3 years.
We put our adoption application on hold until we got settled into our new lives in Ozark, AL. We were excited about the change; however miss our ZC family very much. We dove straight in to getting settled as Coach and Mrs. Maness in the Ozark City School System. We figured we better take some time before sending in our adoption application...besides, we had 2 house payments. We just didn’t have the money for a child while supporting 2 houses. We started school in August and enjoyed our new house and “real” pool; and the fact that Allen was not coaching varsity football. We had no clue that we were about to embark on the greatest roller coaster of our lives.
It all started one weekend in September. We went to a couples shower for a guy I graduated high school with. A couple of weeks before the shower, Allen and I both had gotten a sore or two on our bodies. (Strange, I know.) Mine was on my toe and elbow and Allen’s was on his shin. While at the shower, we showed a friend of ours who is a nurse. She immediately said the sores looked like staff and we needed to go to the doctor sooner than later. The next day we went to the urgent care center in Troy. (It was Sunday so we didn’t know what else to do…) The doctor cultured the sores and sent us home with antibiotics. Before we left the office, the doctor stuck his head back in and said “Oh, I forgot to ask, when was your last menstrual cycle?” I told him September 12th. He charted it and was gone. Fast forward 5 weeks…Thursday, October 14th. I had to run to Wal-Mart after school. I can’t remember what the trip was for, but I had a strange thought. “I should buy a pregnancy test.” It had been exactly 1 year and 1 day since our failed IVF cycle and I had not done a pregnancy test since. (Before the failed IVF cycle, I took a pregnancy test at least every other month in hopes of a miracle baby.) When I got home, I put the test in the bathroom cabinet and out of my mind. Our night went on like normal. We had dinner and hit the sack…pumped that the next day was Friday and excited about the fact that Allen’s parents were coming to spend the weekend with us.
My alarm went off at 5 a.m. I got up and headed to the bathroom. I remembered the pregnancy test I had bought the day before. I decided that it would be a good time to take it since it was morning and “they” say the best time to get accurate results is right when you first wake up. I took the test and went to the other part of the bathroom to get towels for my shower. After my towels were in place, I peeked at the test. Oh. My. Goodness. Was that 2 pink lines? My heart stopped! I didn’t know what to do. I starred at the second faint pink line for several minutes. The shower was going and I was naked. What should I do? I walked, in a trance, back in to the bedroom…birthday suit and all. Allen of course was dead to the world. I climbed in the bed and told him I needed him to look at something. He rolled over and looked at me like I was crazy. I lead him to the bathroom, eyes half open. “Is that 2 pink lines?” I said as I shoved the pregnancy test in his face. It only took a few seconds for him to realize what was going on. “I think it is.”, was his response. BTW...that's the nicest Allen has EVER been to me at 5 o'clock in the morning! Even nicer than the morning of our PCT. :) We both stood there in pure shock. I don’t remember if there were any emotions other than shock. I do remember that Allen said we needed a blood test. Eventually, I had to get in the shower in order to be ready for school in time. Allen left the bathroom and headed back to bed, or so I thought. While I was in the shower I formulated a plan. I would go to school but take off the second half of the day and find a doctor to do the blood test. When I got out of the shower Allen wasn’t in bed. He was in the kitchen on the computer looking up accuracy of at home pregnancy tests. We decided that he would take off the second half of the day too. We got ready and left for school in a state of pure awe…scheduled to meet back at the house at 11:30 to find a doctor to give us an answer.
When we got home, Allen suggested that I take another home pregnancy test. He headed outside to wait it out. I took the test. It was positive. Shock was not an element this time. As soon as I saw the second pink line I raced out the back door to share the news. “It’s positive!” I shouted. Allen immediately shouted with excited. He did the cutest little fist pump and turned and picked me up and spun me around. I can’t remember a more excited and exhilarating time in my life. That very moment topped everything that was ever exciting to me…better than coming home to a Mustang when I was about to turn 16, better than winning a National Championship at cheerleading, better than taking off a blindfold to find Allen on one knee with our families in the background, and better than saying “I do” to the man of my dreams. This was the greatest moment ever…we had conceived a child…a miracle child!
My alarm went off at 5 a.m. I got up and headed to the bathroom. I remembered the pregnancy test I had bought the day before. I decided that it would be a good time to take it since it was morning and “they” say the best time to get accurate results is right when you first wake up. I took the test and went to the other part of the bathroom to get towels for my shower. After my towels were in place, I peeked at the test. Oh. My. Goodness. Was that 2 pink lines? My heart stopped! I didn’t know what to do. I starred at the second faint pink line for several minutes. The shower was going and I was naked. What should I do? I walked, in a trance, back in to the bedroom…birthday suit and all. Allen of course was dead to the world. I climbed in the bed and told him I needed him to look at something. He rolled over and looked at me like I was crazy. I lead him to the bathroom, eyes half open. “Is that 2 pink lines?” I said as I shoved the pregnancy test in his face. It only took a few seconds for him to realize what was going on. “I think it is.”, was his response. BTW...that's the nicest Allen has EVER been to me at 5 o'clock in the morning! Even nicer than the morning of our PCT. :) We both stood there in pure shock. I don’t remember if there were any emotions other than shock. I do remember that Allen said we needed a blood test. Eventually, I had to get in the shower in order to be ready for school in time. Allen left the bathroom and headed back to bed, or so I thought. While I was in the shower I formulated a plan. I would go to school but take off the second half of the day and find a doctor to do the blood test. When I got out of the shower Allen wasn’t in bed. He was in the kitchen on the computer looking up accuracy of at home pregnancy tests. We decided that he would take off the second half of the day too. We got ready and left for school in a state of pure awe…scheduled to meet back at the house at 11:30 to find a doctor to give us an answer.
When we got home, Allen suggested that I take another home pregnancy test. He headed outside to wait it out. I took the test. It was positive. Shock was not an element this time. As soon as I saw the second pink line I raced out the back door to share the news. “It’s positive!” I shouted. Allen immediately shouted with excited. He did the cutest little fist pump and turned and picked me up and spun me around. I can’t remember a more excited and exhilarating time in my life. That very moment topped everything that was ever exciting to me…better than coming home to a Mustang when I was about to turn 16, better than winning a National Championship at cheerleading, better than taking off a blindfold to find Allen on one knee with our families in the background, and better than saying “I do” to the man of my dreams. This was the greatest moment ever…we had conceived a child…a miracle child!
We left the house headed to an urgent care facility in Ozark to get a blood test. We ended up waiting for over an hour to get in to see a doctor, only to find out that they did not do blood tests in the office. He sent us to Dale Medical Center with an order for the blood test. We headed to the lab. They did the test and we said we would wait for the results. The wait seemed like an eternity. Finally, the lab technician came out of the lab and across the hall to the waiting room where we were. She had a piece of paper in her hand folded. Before she gave us the paper she said “I hope these results are what you want.” I opened the paper and saw positive. I looked up at her and she nodded her head. “The pregnancy serum numbers are very low, but you are indeed pregnant.” she said. Allen broke down in tears which started a chain reaction. The nurse began to cry and I joined in immediately. Through tears and a squeaky voice Allen explained to her that we had been waiting for this for a long time. The nurse hugged us both and told us congratulations. We left the hospital parents, one of the greatest miracles that God gives his people. A million thoughts were racing through my mind. Atop those thoughts was the fact that Allen’s parents were coming to visit and that we were already scheduled to meet my parents for dinner in Troy that night.
Once we left the hospital we headed to Dothan to buy some surprises for our moms to open to find out the news. We ran around town for 2 or so hours collecting a book and bib for each new grandmother and a picture frame that said “I Love My Aunt” for my sister. We stopped by our house in Ozark just long enough for me to wrap up the gifts and headed back out the door. We called Allen’s parents and told them to meet us at my parent’s house. When we got there, Allen’s parents were already there but my dad wasn’t. We were about to bust with excitement so I called him and hounded him about hurrying home. When he walked in the door, we corralled them in the living room and I gave both moms a wrapped gift. I told them that I saw something that they would both like and I wanted them to open the gifts at the same time. I couldn’t take my eyes off of my mom and Allen was squared in on his mom. My mom pulled out the book. I can’t remember the exact name of the book but it was something like The Big Book of Things to do with Grandma…or something to that effect. Allen’s mom’s book was Chicken Soup for the Grandmother’s Soul. My mom looked at me with the same look of shock that I saw on my own face earlier that morning in the bathroom mirror. “What is this?” mom asked. Allen’s mom spoke up and asked what this meant. “We’re pregnant.” is all I had to say. The tears began to flow. 3 grown women and 3 grown men stood in my parent’s living room with tears of joy flowing and hugging each other. We eventually joined hands to form a circle and Allen’s dad prayed, thanking God for this miracle. The rest of the night passed in a blur of pure bliss. We ate dinner at The Pines where my sister joined us. After thousands of tears of joy, several phone calls to share the news and goodnight hugs to my parents, we called it a night and headed back to Ozark. We were finally going to be the parents that God had called us to be. Life couldn’t be better.
Once we left the hospital we headed to Dothan to buy some surprises for our moms to open to find out the news. We ran around town for 2 or so hours collecting a book and bib for each new grandmother and a picture frame that said “I Love My Aunt” for my sister. We stopped by our house in Ozark just long enough for me to wrap up the gifts and headed back out the door. We called Allen’s parents and told them to meet us at my parent’s house. When we got there, Allen’s parents were already there but my dad wasn’t. We were about to bust with excitement so I called him and hounded him about hurrying home. When he walked in the door, we corralled them in the living room and I gave both moms a wrapped gift. I told them that I saw something that they would both like and I wanted them to open the gifts at the same time. I couldn’t take my eyes off of my mom and Allen was squared in on his mom. My mom pulled out the book. I can’t remember the exact name of the book but it was something like The Big Book of Things to do with Grandma…or something to that effect. Allen’s mom’s book was Chicken Soup for the Grandmother’s Soul. My mom looked at me with the same look of shock that I saw on my own face earlier that morning in the bathroom mirror. “What is this?” mom asked. Allen’s mom spoke up and asked what this meant. “We’re pregnant.” is all I had to say. The tears began to flow. 3 grown women and 3 grown men stood in my parent’s living room with tears of joy flowing and hugging each other. We eventually joined hands to form a circle and Allen’s dad prayed, thanking God for this miracle. The rest of the night passed in a blur of pure bliss. We ate dinner at The Pines where my sister joined us. After thousands of tears of joy, several phone calls to share the news and goodnight hugs to my parents, we called it a night and headed back to Ozark. We were finally going to be the parents that God had called us to be. Life couldn’t be better.
No comments:
Post a Comment