Una Luz (A Light)

Most of you know all about our fertility struggles.

It started with an ectopic pregnancy in January 2011.  We thought everything had healed properly, but it hadn’t.

Three weeks after we arrived in Costa Rica in October 2011, we found out my right fallopian tube was permanently blocked.  (At this time I also was misdiagnosed with PCOS – polycystic ovarian syndrome - and was on medication for four months before finding out that the ‘cysts’ were really just normal blood vessels).

Then there was the surgery to remove the damaged tube this past March.

Even though the rest of my reproductive system was healthy and normal, by July we were seriously starting to doubt whether we could get pregnant on our own due to some other symptoms I was having.

In fact, we were starting to consider going back home to get fertility treatment.  We even started packing a few bags!

And then out of the blue, one day in early August there were two faint red lines on little home pregnancy test.  Could this be real?

It was.

Due to the previous ectopic, I had to get my hormone levels tested three times right away, and then had to get an early ultrasound at 6.5 weeks to make sure the baby was in the uterus. (It was an excruciatingly long wait for that very first ultrasound.)  But on August 20^th, we found out the baby was where it should be and we even heard the heartbeat for the first time!

And so we are so excited to finally be able to announce that Baby Westfall #2 will arrive sometime around April 12^th of 2013.

*****

This journey over the past two years has created a lot of emotional stress, doubt, and even questions like “why now God?” especially when we found out about the blocked tube.

But now, we can see God’s hand and perfect timing in it all.  First, we were supposed to come to Costa Rica.  Had we known about the blocked tube before we left, we probably never would have come.  Second, through this trial, we had to lean on Jesus in a whole new way, and even with our doubts and questions, our faith was matured and strengthened. Third, if I had been able to get pregnant on our time line, we would have had a second baby sometime in the past year, which now looking back on other challenges we’ve faced here, would have been just too much.  God’s timing literally has been perfect.

In Spanish, "to give birth" is “dar a luz” – or literally – to give a light.  This such a light for us.  Such an answer to prayer.  Thank you to all of you who have walked through this journey with us and have prayed for us.