A Hard Decision and A Miracle

Last year, my husband and I made a hard decision.  A really hard decision.  We were facing the birth of our 5th child, who we loved so much already and couldn't wait to meet.  The difficult thing was, we had just had a baby 15 months before her.   And one 2 years before that.  And one 17 months before that.  And another one 17 months before that.  We were about to have 5 children ages 6 and under.

Home life was busy and stressful as many of you with small children already know.  Finances were getting tighter with each new baby.  Each child receiving a little less attention as their slice of the parental pie got a bit smaller.  Each pregnancy began with morning sickness starting earlier and lasting longer than the last pregnancy.  Last, but certainly not least, my last prenatal blood screening revealed an antibody present in my blood which had been passed to me through a previous delivery, when my baby's blood and mine had mixed.  This antibody "Anti-JKA" was multiplying and had the propensity to attack my baby's red blood cells, if it reached high enough levels.  It gets more complicated from there, but I found a very informative blog post that it explains it pretty well, which you can read here.  I saw specialists during my pregnancy, having lots of extra ultrasounds and blood tests throughout.  The specialists at the Maternal/Fetal Center at the children's hospital monitored my antibody levels closely up to the end of my pregnancy and felt that they were low enough that they were not a present threat to the baby.  My frequent in-depth ultrasounds confirmed that she was doing well.  However, they cautioned my husband and I that we should not have any more children, because the antibody levels in my body would only continue to rise and would become more of a threat to my next baby.  This was an extremely stressful time for us.  We absolutely relied on God in so many ways, every day; for His provision, for His peace, for His strength.  That is why we named our new daughter Brianna Faith:  "Strong" Faith.

So, we made the hard decision to have my tubes tied after the birth of our 5th baby.  The procedure took place in February 2014.  I cried on the operating table as I ended a special chapter of my life.  I thanked God for blessing me with my 5 beautiful children.  I told Him that I trusted Him to carry and lead me through this next new chapter.

That was our hard decision.  And about the miracle?.....

We just found out that I am 5 weeks pregnant.  Today, on my 28th birthday, I saw my little miracle's heart beating on the ultrasound screen.

God gave us the faith.  He has always provided for us.  We have His peace and are resting in it.  He will bring us through this, as well.