OK, I know it's been a while since I've posted . . . I thought today would be a good day to continue telling of our journey . . .
Last I left it, we had experienced the mighty healing of my precious husband! Cancer was a tough road, but it was fast, furious, and done with rather quickly. That left us to focusing our attention back onto trying to get pregnant. We decided to move forward with infertility treatments, namely IUI (intrauterine insemination). We had tried this multiple times before, but it never worked. I had my first laparoscopy surgery the day after we found out Mike had cancer . . . so the pipes were clean, so to speak, and we were optimistic that we would achieve a pregnancy.
On our third try, our dream for a pregnancy finally came true! We were cautiously optimistic, but found out pretty quickly that things weren't good, and it ended in a miscarriage. I ended up having a D&C surgery to remove the pregnancy, and we were left again, broken-hearted. We were left with more questions than answers. Would God EVER hear our cries for a child? We're we doing something wrong? Why, God? Why put a child there and then take it away? I spent many days crying - bawling my eyes out and crying out to God. Would he EVER answer our prayer for a child?
We decided, after I healed from the surgery to give it another try. The next IUI didn't work . . . we were running out of money. You can only spend $2500 a month for so many months before the money runs out!
We had enough money to try one last time. We were putting all of our eggs (quite literally) in one basket.
I remember so clearly September 10, 2001 . . . Mike and I went to a Michael W. Smith concert . . . it was an amazing concert centered on praising and worshipping THE ONE . . . THE ONE who loves me, THE ONE who gave his Son as a sacrifice for me, THE ONE who created me, THE ONE who is in charge, THE ONE who I needed to submit and surrender to. That night, I recommitted myself to trusting that God would fulfill his plan in and through me whether I ever was able to have a child or not. I remember bawling as we sang, "And I . . . . I'm desperate for you! And I . . . I'm lost without you!" I left the concert that night with a renewed faith and trust in THE ONE.
The next morning was September 11, 2001.
In October, we had our final IUI done. On the 29th of that month, I found out I was pregnant. Then on the 31st, I found out the numbers had more than doubled. A couple of weeks later, at 6 weeks pregnant, I laid eyes on my beautiful Faith Ellen Huisman. She had been inside of me for 4 short weeks, and already I could see her little heart beating - truly the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life.
Being pregnant was the most amazing feeling and experience of my entire life! Watching her via ultrasound growing and developing - having a window to see what THE ONE - the Creator was weaving together in my womb (Psalm 139) filled me with unspeakable joy! I get tears in my eyes even now just thinking about it.
Then, on June 28, 2002, four years after the beginning of our infertility journey, our precious Faith Ellen Huisman was born! She was named Faith because she was the fulfillment of God's faithfulness to us. Her middle name is Ellen, which means light. She was the light at the end of a very long tunnel.
The lows of the journey were oh so low . . . but the highs - there's nothing like the highs! There's nothing like experiencing God's face shining on you and His being gracious toward you!
It just goes to show that there's always more to the journey. You never know what God has in store for you around the corner.
There's always sun after the storm. There's always spring after a long winter. God's faithfulness is new every morning. We just have to trust him to bring us through the storm . . . through the long winter . . . to the place where everything is new and beautiful!
