Is God Still Good?

God has been working on my heart a LOT. He's also been asking me some really hard questions... questions I don't want to answer... commands I don't want to hear. Such as this:

"I need you to prepare yourself in case a time comes when you find out you cannot have children."

Initially I thought this was just another negative "thought" in my head. Surely I will have one day have a big beautiful swollen belly... and feel the life inside of me... and enjoy every second... and spread the word to the world of God's grace and mercy and His miraculous works... isn't that the whole point of this?? Nope. God has never promised that I would give birth, He has never promised that I will one day carry to term or have a miraculous conception as many stories go. (You always hear of a friend of a friend that tried and tried and failed and then when they gave up... BOOM. Pregnant! Happily Ever After...) Everyone is quick to offer up such stories, but do they really help? Nah. No one wants to talk about the fact that it is a big possibility that I may never physically have my own children. No one wants to hear it... I don't even want to hear it! But... I know it is a very real possibility. Now God is asking me to consider this. The elephant in the room has now been pointed out... and there's no way to get around it. 

So as I am trying to wrap my head around this horrid idea, He hits me with the big question:

"You boast My goodness when things are going in your favor, but if things don't work out like you think they should... if you cannot have children, will you still boast in My goodness? Will you still stand by Me and for Me? Will you still spread word of My goodness if I do not fulfill the desires of your heart in the manner that you want or think they should be fulfilled?"

Well, that'll stop you in your tracks.

When the bottom falls out... we are quick to say "God help me through this." or "God give me strength." or "God please TAKE this!" ... but how many times do we stop and say "God you are so good" ?

How different might our lives be if we stop making requests and start giving thanks above all things. There have been many moments in my sorrow and grieving where God has spoken saying "Can you not see My goodness in your life? Look around you... look how many blessings you have. Look at your church and your family and your husband and your beautiful home and your loving animals... all of these things I have brought into your life to make you happy and feel good. Can't you see how much I love you?"

God, You are so good.

Even in my sorrow, You are good.

Even in my grief, You have never for one second abandoned me.

God is not saying I will never be a mother. He is asking me to prepare my mind for the possibility of a different plan. God is saying- He wants to know that I will stand by him no matter what circumstances come into our lives. I need to learn to thank God for all of His goodness and blessings first, and then ask him to lead my heart to the right place... He always wants us to seek Him first... shouldn't that begin with acknowledging how amazing he is?

A smart man (our preacher) recently said, "God knows exactly the state of our hearts and what we are going through, but we are set up to believe our own lies." God knows everything that is going to happen to us before it happens, and He IS going to help us with through that! He is my strength... He is my strong foundation. I know I've said it before, but God never promises not to give us more than we can handle. He sometimes gives us things only HE can handle, and we must learn just to lean on His strength and understanding... above our own.

We should count ourselves blessed when He asks us to prepare ourselves for things that may come along, to warn us so we aren't blindsided... We must learn to discern God's word from our own negativity. And it is NOT easy... especially if it is something you don't want to hear.

While having lunch with my mother on Friday I begged the question, "mom, when does it get easier?" "What dear?" "Life." "It doesn't," she said. Leave it to mom to be honest with me instead of telling me, oh it's going to be easy before you know it! No, she's honest. She knows I want her honesty. She explained about life being like a roller coaster. The climb to the top is hard, and it takes forever... and once you reach the top where things are easy and beautiful and happy, it feels like it only lasts for a moment... then WOOSH! Down you go. The fall is fast, and the twists and turns are frightening and take your breath away and leave you feeling worn and broken from the whiplash. So what do you do then? You find the steady ground again... and then... you have to work your way back to the top.

God has a purpose, He is doing a huge work in me and in our family. But- I HAVE to be willing to do what HE has planned, and not what I have planned. I know that God's plan will be bigger and better than anything I could ever imagine. I know that it isn't going to be easy. I have to remember that no matter how hard the journey is, He will never abandon me. I also must remember that whatever He has planned, He also has a plan to equip me for it... and I thank Him for that.

So now I am learning to step back, and say in the midst of my grief and sorrow (sometimes even through my tears). God is good... so very very good... and He will use EVERY situation FOR good.

I can honestly say, I do not know exactly what our next step is. BUT- I can say with full confidence that God is preparing us for something amazing.

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Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. [1 Timothy 4: 7-10]

Share the Sacrifice

If you're a close follower, you've noticed I haven't posted too much since our miscarriage. I have been in a battle with myself. A battle against negativity... a battle against depression and thoughts of worthlessness and sorrow and guilt. Thoughts that you know aren't true but you feel them sometimes anyways. This has not been an every day battle, this has been a "kick you when you don't expect it", "trip you when you're looking up kind" of battle. Overall I would say I was doing well with this... but for some reason the last few days have been hard. Part of this may be due to the fact that I had my first period since our D&C (surgery to remove our miscarried babies). Part of this may be due to the fact that several people have made pregnancy and gender announcements... people that I love and care for and am so very happy for (people that know the pain of loss and people that know the pain of infertility). The happiness for them is genuine, they are in my constant prayers. But it leaves a twinge of selfish pain behind. The sorrow of our own children not being with us. The sorrow of not being able to have a shower or a gender reveal... the sorrow of having to start over.

So these thoughts... they would pop in my head mostly when my mind went unoccupied by other things. For instance, I was vacuuming and thinking about the blog, how I should write something... then I began to wonder, does it really even matter? How would putting my pain into words benefit the world? Do I really have to keep doing this? Then I began to talk to God... God, do I really have to keep doing this? You know I didn't want to do it to begin with, and although it was fun when we had good news to share... do I really have to tell them these things? Do I have to share my pain? Can't I just dwell in it and hide in my bed and cry it out like normal people??... The answer was a resounding YES you have to keep doing this, was I not the one who told you to?? And in my head it sounded like Do you really have the nerve to not follow what I called you to do? So I (sullenly) wrote out The Letdown even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.

Obviously I haven't been writing as much as I should, and I think God has shown me some grace in that area, letting me work a few things out before I was mentally ready to resume the routine. So here I am. Back into the world of the living. Life has just seemed so hard lately. I feel like so many bad things have happened over the years in my personal life and in the lives around me, I just would find myself asking, when is it all going to end already? Can't I just catch a break? Yeah, a lot of these prayers were selfish. A lot of irritation was taken out on my poor, and forgiving, husband. My first period was wretched, so very painful. The doctor said that is basically normal for a cycle after a D&C, so I knew to expect it... but nothing really prepares you to be in pain. So I became snappy and sad and depressed.

Then today happened.

Today was not a great day. I was mulling over the fact that I have to have a repeat sonohystogram (see An Interesting Case for explanation) (to see if maybe I really DO have more of a septum in my uterus and may need surgery to remove it) on Thursday and a repeat of a ton of lab work that I have to be fasting for and won't be drawn until that afternoon. On top of those things, I hurt my neck this weekend and have had a horrible headache and pain shooting through my neck... and did not sleep well last night after going to bed later than normal for a Monday night. I was so moody. There was not enough coffee in the world to make me happy this morning. The work day was fine, until the end of the day. It is always the end of the day when doctors want to work people in for tests, and I get it, the patient is there so yeah let's just do it. I stayed late knowing I will be taking off a couple of hours early on Thursday for my testing... so that part didn't bother me, it's just that my neck was hurting so bad. And all of the patients actually had things wrong with them so the reports took longer to write and consulting with the doctors... and so on. Luckily, I work at the same office as my nurse practitioner and she was able to work me up and get some help (thank you Lord for that).

After a long drive home in traffic and waiting what felt like forever at Walgreens (but was really only about 15 minutes) I was so so so relieved to be home. As I pull into the driveway I see a package on my doorstep... then I began thinking (ugh what did we spend money on that we shouldn't have)... I picked it up, came in the house to let the doggies outside and then noticed the return address. My friend. It was a gift from my friend. A smile immediately arose out of my frustration.

Then I opened the package.

Then I read the letter.

I began to cry.

Then I saw the gifts. ( A book called Footprints, A book called You Changed My Life by Max Lucado... and the elusive darkside skittles, where lime skittles have now made their home) : )

And I cried some more.

This person (who shall remain nameless for theirs is not my story to tell) has become a dear friend to me over the last few months, we have gone through our battle through infertility and miscarriage (her first) almost hand in hand. We were only a few days apart on our schedule and, unfortunately, on our losses as well.

I know she will be reading this and I want to say: You have no idea but those words validated everything I have needed to hear and squashed all of my doubts about sharing our story. You, my dear friend, are an answered prayer to me just as you said that I was for you. She shared with me how sharing our story, our struggle, touched her and caused her to focus more on her faith. I read the letter through the tears in my eyes, I couldn't believe the words. The words written in front of me that I so desperately needed to hear. It's likely, my dear friend, that I will read your letter a thousand times... and thank you and God each time.

Sharing the intimate details of your life to the world is a sacrifice. It makes you vulnerable... it shows your weaknesses... your faults. Part of our human nature is to guard our experiences (at least the bad ones) and keep them to ourselves, to not let the world know we are not feeling 'okay'.

So, my dear friends, I encourage you to share your stories... your pain, your sacrifices... if it helps only one person, doesn't that make telling your story worth the pain of it?

As I re-read her letter something came into my thoughts, a fleeting thought that I have had before but brushed off, unable to fully acknowledge it. If I hadn't miscarried these babies when I had, would I have been able to walk with her through her loss as I did? Would I have been as sensitive? Would I have been as helpful? I would like to think I would have been but there is nothing quite like walking through sorrow and loss together. If the reason for this timing was so that my dear friend did not have to be alone, I am okay with that. Maybe that isn't the reason, but it was an opportunity for God to use me, if I was willing, to help. I am grateful for anything that made her hurt less... or that made the load a little easier to carry. As she was facing her own realities (at a time when I was still facing mine) I felt so sad for her. I didn't want this for her. I wanted to be able to take all of her pain away, but I knew I couldn't. So, I did what I was able. I was there for her... and she's been there for me too. Now we are bonded not only by our pain but by our faith in a loving and merciful God. A God who makes it clear that He can use every situation for good.

 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

 

How beautifully amazing is that? God's words... coming to pass just as He said. I was called to share my story, that is my sacrifice... being vulnerable, putting my heart out there for the world to examine and judge and react however they see fit... just in the hopes that it would help one person. I know that it has. I pray that it continues to help others as well. I am thankful once again for those that reached out to me during our first loss when I didn't know how to deal with it (Thank you again and again, you know who you are).

 

God made the ultimate sacrifice for us, giving His Son to die on the cross so that we may live. We are forgiven... we are loved beyond measure. That is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. That is the most amazing gift that I have ever received. So, shouldn't we be more willing to sacrifice to help those around us when we can?

 

So today I pray... a prayer of thanks for my dear friend and her kind words that came at a time that I exactly needed... a prayer of forgiveness for any time that I doubt God's callings and timing... and a prayer for strength, that as I continue this journey I keep my eyes on the only One who leads me on a straight and narrow path (no matter how curvy it may feel at times.) Thank you Lord for these blessings.

 



The Letdown

For most things in life, the more you do them, the easier they become. I would have to say that miscarriage should be within the top 10 exceptions for that rule (or at LEAST the top 20). When you become pregnant it becomes an entirely new love, and therefore an entirely new heartbreak. You are never prepared to let that child go... you never WANT to.... and if you have to say goodbye it is nearly unbearable... at least that has been my experience.

People keep asking how I'm doing... the answer to this question generally is "fine" or "I'm doing ok," which isn't a lie... per se. It's more of a partial truth. Honestly even if I'm not fine I will tell someone I am because it is either what they want to hear or it is a time that I just don 't feel like delving into how I'm REALLY feeling at the moment. Most of the time I actually am ok, or at least as okay as a person who has lost three children can be. I get out of bed in the mornings, even when I don't want to. I go to work, I do my job to the best of my ability. I keep my house clean... I love on my puppies. I try to be a good wife. All in all, I am living my life, even when I don't want to. Life is funny that way, it keeps going even when you feel like you can't... so you muster the strength to conquer each day, sometimes only an hour or two at a time. If I had things my way, I would take my husband and my three dogs and move off to St. Lucia for a few months... or years. But the reality is, I have a job... and bills... and people and things to tend to. So that's what I do. I live.

I fight through the depression of each day without my children, my stomach now flat and lifeless... I laugh when things are funny... I cry when I get really sad. I let myself feel the spectrum of emotions that are humanly possible. I think part of the grace of God is that He doesn't let us feel the full burden of some pains because it would be unbearable. I am not mad at God for our situation. It is hard to write about though, that's why it has taken me so long to find the words to put on paper... well, on the screen. Some people say to give all your problems over to God, and that is true. But what they don't tell you is that just because you give it to God, doesn't make it hurt any less. The hurt in this instance is still palpable. I know one day I will heal, but the ache for my children will remain until I am united with them in Heaven.

When I wrote about our first miscarriage, it was easier... the words flowed freely. The lesson I needed to learn had become apparent, I could find reason in it. I was better for it. But now? It hasn't been long enough. I don't know what we are supposed to learn from this. Maybe we are doing something in our lives that we shouldn't be... or maybe we should be doing something that we aren't. We just at this point have no idea what that is, so we go on. Day by day... living the best that we know how.

Physically my body is healing. I look like it is back to normal and I hope that I will be soon. I had retained products after the D&C which means that there was some tissue that was left behind after the surgery that I had to pass naturally. The d&c is a blind procedure which means there is no imaging, such as ultrasound, guiding the doctor to remove the sac of the baby (or in my case sacs). I've had a ton of blood drawn to do various panels of labs that test for recurrent miscarriage causes. I also have to re-do some testing that was previously done. My doctor wants to re-examine the possibility of my uterus having a septum. Right now, we know practically nothing. Except that my beta HCG (the pregnancy hormone) has not completely dropped to zero. This level will be rechecked weekly until it bottoms out. We have no current plans to do another transfer any time soon. Between the expense of IVF and the fact that we only have 2 frozen embryos, we want to know everything we can and try to have ideal circumstances for our next transfer, it will likely be our last. I can't even think about that right now, though. The fear of it far outweighs the excitement at this point.

We need a break. After all of our next testing is done we plan to take as long as we need to finish healing, physically and mentally. Maybe do some traveling. Have some fun as a married couple. If we had a bigger house we would probably get another doggie. : ) They bring so much joy and love into our lives... always full of kisses no matter how bad of a mood we are in.

My birthday is on Saturday. I will be 29. I feel so much older though. I always dreamed that I would be done having children by the time I was 30. My parents were so young when they had us, I wanted to be able to have the same kind of bond as we do... the young parents that are so often the "cool" parents. For now, my dream of being a mother feels so far out of reach, it's heartbreaking. I see it happening all around me... even to people that don't want it to happen, but for some reason, it is still not my time and that hurts so much... but I have no choice but to live with it... and make the best I can out of it.

I bought myself the new Tenth Avenue North album "The Struggle" today. It couldn't be more appropriate for how I'm feeling. So far my favorite song on the album is called "Strangers Here"

 

"Strangers Here"

I know you’re tired of the hurt and the heartache
You feel like giving in, you feel like walking away
And I know it’s difficult feeling so out of place
But this is not how it’s gonna be
Your pain is temporary

We’re all strangers here
So it’s alright if you can’t
Stop the tears that you cry
‘Cause some day we’ll touch the face of our God
And the sorrow will disappear
Until then, we’re strangers here

That’s hard to hear if you want to keep chasing
This broken world that only keeps your heart breaking
So if you’re scared ‘cause you think that you’re missing out
This is not the ending
No, this is not the ending

We’re all strangers here
So it’s alright if you can’t
Stop the tears that you cry
‘Cause some day we’ll touch the face of our God
And the sorrow will disappear
Until then, we’re strangers here

This is not the homeland
We can see the lights from here
He’s making us a city
Where there are no fears
And it’s drawing near

Until then, we’re strangers here
We’re just strangers here
We’re all strangers here
So it’s alright if you can’t
Stop the tears that you cry
‘Cause some day we’ll touch the face of our God
And the sorrow will disappear
Until then, we’re strangers here

I don't know what life will be like from here on out, but I do know that it will be okay. I will survive. I will get through each day. I'm comforted knowing that I have the love of an amazing man that I get to come home to every day. I'm so lucky for that. He really is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I hope he knows that. I thank God every day for him... and my dogs... and my whole "thankful" list. The power of positive thinking right? I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a lot to be thankful for... but we always want more don't we? We want our babies. We want them here on Earth with us. We take as much comfort as we can in the fact that they are safe, in Heaven... they will never know pain and sadness. They will forever only know love and happiness. That's really the greatest thing any of us can wish for our children.

I know that God will ultimately use this experience for good, for His Glory. I can't wait to see what He has planned... praying for the strength to see this through...

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Dear babies,

We miss you so very much.

With all the love our hearts are capable of,
Mommy and daddy.

Goodbye My Darling

I woke up Monday morning knowing something was wrong. I didn't know what. I couldn't put my finger on it... but I could feel it. I went to the restroom, then I saw it.... blood. Old blood... so we assumed it was from the resolving hemorrhage. Then the cramping began. I got to work where I decided to look for a heartbeat on our little butterbean... and I couldn't see it. I called the doctor and went in on my lunch break for stat labs to be drawn... I never asked the results. On my way home that day I went by our other office where our good ultrasound machine is... Mike met me there and we scanned. There on the screen was our perfectly shaped baby... with it's perfect little head and body and arms and legs... but it wasn't moving. I could see it's perfect little heart... I could see that that perfect little heart was no longer beating for us.

When the nurse called with our blood results I told her what I had seen... then the labs no longer mattered. Our baby had gone to heaven.

We went to the doctor yesterday morning to confirm my findings... I have never wanted to be so wrong in my entire life. But the nightmare continued to unravel before our eyes. Our beautiful perfect third little angel.

I don't have any answers for you as to why this happened, our doctor was just as surprised as us. The ultrasound tech that did my scan cried... the doctor cried... no one can tell us why this has happened.

We were quickly scheduled for a D&C that afternoon. It would just be too traumatic to miscarry twin sacs with a  10 week fetus naturally. So we opted to have this procedure done.

I was, thankfully, knocked out for the procedure... it was at the same surgery center where we had our retrieval and our implantation. It did not take long... for those of you wanted to know more about this procedure please google it... the short story is they dilate your cervix and remove the contents of your uterus. Mike has been with me the entire time... minus the 30 minutes I was in the surgery room.

We are doing... okay. I say that carefully because while I am not deep in the depths of depression where I cannot face anyone... I am completely and utterly broken. I want my child. I want all of my children... and it just feels so wrong. I cannot even put into words the pain I feel in my heart right now. I can barely wrap my mind around what has happened. One minute I was deliriously happy and pregnant... and the next I am drowning in my worst nightmare. I just cannot believe we are here... again.

Please pray for us my friends.

I am on pelvic rest for a few days... no real activity, just a lot of sleeping and crying... and walking around the house some.

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My dear child,
Mommy and daddy don't understand why you had to leave us... maybe the desire to be with your siblings was just too much to pass up. We are so heartbroken without you here. They removed your little body yesterday and I've felt so empty since then. Mommy will be okay one day... I know we will be together again in Heaven. I hope you are having fun with your siblings... but I miss you so incredibly much... more than you could ever imagine. I will never stop loving you my child. I desperately do not want to have to tell you goodbye... but you are already gone. So I will just say, see you soon my love. I know you are safer with our Heavenly Father than you would ever be with us, but we wanted you SO BAD! I cry whenever I think of you... I just don't understand what happened, I tried my very best to take care of you and give you everything you needed, I am so sorry if I fell short of what you needed. There was never one second that I wasn't happy when you were with me. I will cherish that time together for the rest of my life. I miss you... I miss you so incredibly much.

God... please take care of my babies...

forever loving all three of you, our dear children...

mommy and daddy