Henry's Story

It is said every baby is a miracle. While this is a belief we subscribed to well before this story began, now that it has, now that Henry is a reality, the miracle has further brought with it an abundance of gratefulness and a renewed sense of wonder. For us, it has also personally re-affirmed this belief in our minds…because we know what was needed to get to this spot. We know the likelihood of pregnancy was stacked against us…but it happened anyway. And in the process, it gave us something few people get to see. It turned a belief into something tangible. We do not just believe anymore. We KNOW that our baby is a miracle...because he is here against the odds.

Growing up and through adulthood, we have both, individually, always felt a calling to be parents. While dating, this was established early on, and it was fun to know the other was on the same page. So, after getting married and, relatively soon, starting to try for a baby, we became worried when it didn’t happen. In elementary school, they basically tell you, “If you have sex you will get pregnant.” I mean, this is pretty much the norm for so many couples out there. So why wasn’t it happening for us? After trying, unsuccessfully, for many years, we started to question whether we needed to transition our thoughts from “should it happen” to “could it happen?”

We were referred to a fertility specialist who ran many tests and ultimately concluded she didn’t know what was going on inside and that we probably could have a biological child...but only through IVF. That pronouncement by an expert left us sad, reeling, and researching ways to afford the expensive IVF process and mentally preparing for its assumed rollercoaster of emotions. But deep down we knew there had to be another way and explored that route.

We pursued the opinion of another recommended fertility specialist who ran her own tests and alternately declared: only through laparoscopic surgery could she determine what was preventing pregnancy. After this, and despite our attempts to elicit a more creative solution from her that didn't involve IVF or surgery, she sent us a bill and then questioned our willingness to cooperate with her when we questioned and doubted the reasons of such a rash prognosis. Here two doctors were blindly telling us we needed to go to extremes to get pregnant, but neither actually wanted to look into the reasons why we couldn’t. We concluded that we were not willing to accept that.

Without hope or helpers we wrestled with our faith in God...why would He place this desire to be parents on our hearts and then withhold the baby? Why? Why do so many women in the world get pregnant without trying or without intent; yet, here we are trying and aching to expand our family without results? Adoption was always an option. But somewhere, somehow, deep inside our souls was a tiny mustard seed of faith that God would provide. We kept waiting.

They say that God's timing is perfect. We both have several instances of this to prove the saying true. One instance was how we met each other in August of 2016...there is NO doubt that God brought us together at the perfect time. Everything just happened too perfectly for divine intervention to not be playing a role in that! Now we have another instance: our miracle baby. We finally got pregnant…NATURALLY…after the medical community repeatedly told us we wouldn’t be able to without extreme measures. Yes, we had to wait MUCH longer than we wanted. Yes, there were many tears shed and frustrated prayers shouted to the heavens. Yes, the story is still unfolding before us; yet we finally feel hope. We feel God working in our lives through the creation of our miracle baby boy.

God created Henry without the help of doctors, fertility specialists, or expensive medical treatments. He created our boy while we had put our dream of a baby on hold, not knowing how we would proceed or who would help us. Henry was created with a little boost from a natural supplement called Vitex (chaste tree berry extract), an herb used for hundreds of years to enhance fertility through progesterone production. We had known of this herb for a long time but hadn't been using it correctly. In the second month of revised usage (based on self-guided research), nature made a way. God gave us Henry.

Every fertility journey is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But we wanted to share our story for a couple reasons. Firstly, we are so FRICKING excited to finally be pregnant and share our news with the world! Secondly, we know how isolating, scary and hopeless the fertility journey can be and wanted to give comfort and hope to anyone who empathizes with and relates to our story. We are not secretive people and are open to sharing more details with anyone who is interested. Our wish is that our pain and heartache can be put to good use in helping others however we can.

Until our miracle baby greets us this December, we are enjoying the pregnancy as much as possible and not taking anything for granted. We are so excited to meet Henry whenever he's ready and welcome him with open arms and overflowing hearts. Thank you for your continued prayers and support on our journey!

-Love, Laura and Erik