This whole past year and a few months has been a difficult time. We really were desiring to start a family and as soon as we wanted to start "trying," my body just stopped doing the normal functions it needs to do in order to get pregnant. I'll try to not to go into too many details. Month after month, I started to get frustrated. As people all around me were getting pregnant, I kept wondering why we couldnt and what was wrong with me. Why was I not "normal"? During these months and months, the Lord was really teaching me that it was Him who was in control....not me. I always just assumed that I would get pregnant right away because I thought it was completely up to us. Again the Lord showed me how I was wrong in this area. We just kept praying and praying and I know that so many faithful others were praying for us as well. I had picked up a prescription for a fertility drug and was waiting for my next cycle to begin so I could start this medicine. When my cycle didn't start, I really didnt think too much of it because that was pretty common for me. I had taken so many pregnancy tests the past year and they all had come back negative. But I figured I would take one any way just to make sure. So on April 1 (Fools Day...haha), I took a test and it came back positive. I must have stared at it for about 20 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. The Lord had answered our prayers!!!! I went up to the seminary and met Andrew for lunch so I could tell him the news. I just couldnt hold it in. He had the same reaction as me and just couldnt believe it. He said he couldnt focus at all during his next class.
The hard part over the next few weeks was keeping it quiet. We had so many people praying for us and they would occasionally ask how we were doing. My parents were coming in town the weekend of the 25th and I really wanted to wait to tell them in person. When we told my parents, they were sooo excited. My mom and I both cried. We told Andrew's family and then slowly began spreading the word. We had our first appointment on the 26th and got to see the baby on the ultrasound. We could see the little heart just beating away! That was amazing to see that. It was also very comforting for me since I had not felt very pregnant up until that point. We went again on May 18 and got to hear the heartbeat. Such a miraculous thing!!
Thank you to everyone who had been praying for us. We know that this pregnancy is truly a gift from the Lord. Here are the first pictures of Baby Nordine:
