Day Four

I've had women's health issues since I was young. In fact, I was actually born with double inguinal hernias that weren't discovered until I was around 6 months old. My parents always told me that when the doctor did my surgery he came out of the operation telling them that the internal organs (namely my Fallopian tubes) were all twisted and misplaced from the hernias and due to this fact he said I may have difficulty ever conceiving a child. My parents prayed and believed in a different story for me, but it was always something there was concern over. 

As I aged many painful symptoms developed. The year we married was one of the worst. I developed agonizing pains all throughout the month and other symptoms that would leave me often writhing in pain or vomiting from the severity of the pain. I remember the one night in particular we had driven in toward Philadelpia to watch a friend's concert. As we sat there the pain in my pelvic region grew so severe I thought I may pass out or throw up. That evening we drove to the LGH ER and they found that I had an ovarian cyst. Pain meds and more tests until they eventually discovered I had a fibroid tumor at the base of my cervix. 

The pain continued. Eventually I was sent to a specialist at Hershey Medical Center. He recommended a very risky surgery to remove the tumor which could have left me with a hysterectomy if it did not go well. He wanted to do one final test before the surgery to determine that the tumor was definitively benign. Before I left his office that day I remember distinctly him telling me, "Because of the location of the tumor you may never be able to conceive any children." 

Those words were like an arrow to my heart. 

Ever since I was a young child, myself, I dreamt of having children someday. Those words were ones I went home and wept over. I remember a phone conversation with my wise Mother-in-law who encouraged me to lay down my desires at the feet of Jesus because He knows my hearts longing! I cried so much! 

Then, as I pulled into the hospital the morning of my MRI to determine whether or not the tumor was cancerous I sat in my car and prayed and told God, "if this whole situation is just so that ONE person could know You and find salvation it would all be worth it to me..." And then, me and my wanna be gangster self took my Mace CD into the test because they told me I could listen to a CD while the test was being done. Mace had supposedly become a born-again believer and so his lyrics had changed quite a bit apparently from the rapper he used to be. So, when I got ready for my test the tech asked a series of questions, one was, "Are you pregnant?" Which brought some more tears as I said, 

"No. Sadly I'm not." So he asked a bit more, "Are you sure? Is there any possibility of you being pregnant?" Which brought more tears and led me to more fully explain, "No, there's no possibility, in fact I've taken two negative tests just in the last couple weeks and I was just told I may never have children which is one of the reasons for this test." He finally was satisfied with my answer but he said, "Well, if we do see that by some chance you are pregnant we will stop the test IMMEDIATELY!" 

I tried to ignore what he said and handed him my CD. He looked at the CD and a shocked look came across his face. "MACE?!", he said. "You do not look like the kind of girl who would be into Mace!" I excitedly told the tech he should listen to the lyrics and that I'd heard that Mace has changed a lot since his past albums. And that he had sorely misjudged me, I love rap music I always have and I always will🎶😉

But anyway, I thanked God for the opportunity to share my faith through song as the test finished up the album made it all the way through the song Mace sang about salvation! I thanked God I was able to hopefully plant a seed that day in the techs heart as he listened to the lyrics! 

That next week I went to work and on my lunch break I received a very scary phone call from the doctor himself. 

He started the call by saying, "Well, we have the results of your test back. You do not have cancer BUT..." 

"BUT! BUT WHAT?!?! Oh my goodness what else could it possibly be?", I thought to myself. 

"WE THINK YOU ARE PREGNANT!" 

"You think I am what?! But you just told me I probably could never have kids. And I just took those two negative tests. And the tech just told me if he sees I'm pregnant he would stop the test IMMEDIATELY!", I thought to myself. 

He continued, "We want you to come in first thing tomorrow morning for an ultrasound to determine what is going on." 

Okay, in my unbelief I asked him, "What else could this be other than a pregnancy?" 

"Extra fluid." He said. 

And that was all I needed to hear because I immediately believed that was all it was. I went back upstairs to the room I taught in and told some of my co-workers about my relief but also my bewilderment at what I'd been told. I believe, like Sarah, I laughed it off. They did not laugh. They looked at me like I was crazy and told me to go home and take a test immediately. I wasn't even going to do that because I was in such disbelief. I figured I would just wait until the morning at the ultrasound appointment. But, because of their coaxing I went home and did take a test. Crying, shaking and in amazement I remember calling Sean (who was not home for the day yet) the news over the phone, "Happy early Father's Day! I'm pregnant!" 

That night, we knelt by the foot of our couch and prayed and thanked God for this little miracle and prayed protection and health and praised Him for the life He had hidden away inside of me to reveal His glory in His timing! 

The picture above is us dedicating our miracle baby to God! We named her Seana Jane, which means Gods Gracious gift twice over! 

#miraclebaby #praiseJesus