This journey through infertility has had so many ups and downs. There have been so many moments of hope that were then pulled back by a “No”, or “Not this time”.

In 2016, with our first significant fertility treatment, we naively thought we’d have an announcement to make to our families. We underwent a procedure called Inter-Uterine Insemination (IUI). In this procedure, the doctors make sure the environment is right and all of the pieces are put together at the right time and right place. It seemed logical to us that there was a good chance of pregnancy.

So, in hope, during the two-week wait between the procedure and the first chance to test for a pregnancy, we worked on our announcement. We dreamed about what it would be like to share the news with our families that our little family was growing.

We decided on a little theme involving birds. (In my previous post, you can read about how this theme extended to how Daddy was told the good news.)

We made a little box that carried our message.

My brother, Daniel, and his family we’re coming to visit for the weekend and would be there when we got the news whether we were pregnant or not. So, knowing I’d never be able to keep that information to myself, we made a plan. The boxes for my Mom, Dad, Grandmother and a few close friends were sent to Tanja at Classic World Travel for safe-keeping until we got the news. The box for Nick’s parents was sent to our friend, Amy, because she lived down the street from them in Jacksonville. The boxes for the other brothers were packaged and ready to be dropped off at UPS as soon as we had a “yes”!

Sadly, the procedure was not effective and did not result in a pregnancy. Our hearts were broken, but we still held onto hope. The boxes were put on a shelf and Amy and Tanja hid theirs away as well.

For the next three years, with every possible cycle, we hoped to use the boxes and announce our miracle to our family and close friends.

After stops, starts, much prayer and anticipation, we decided to give one final try by attempting IVF in March of 2019. We were gearing up for this next level of our journey and praying that it was the right decision. Honestly, I was desperately praying that God would come through and we wouldn’t have to walk this challenging road. But, the Lord did not say “yes”, but wasn’t saying “no” to us moving forward. On February 11th, Nick and I made a visit to The Fertility Centers of Illinois to start the process for IVF. We both needed blood work and I needed to undergo some physical exams as well. However, the morning of February 15th, our lives changed forever when 2 faint pink lines showed on the Home Pregnancy Test.

After the blood test confirmed that we were indeed expecting, we decided to tell our families immediately. Conventional wisdom says that you should wait until 12 weeks gestation before spilling the beans. However, we wanted to celebrate this life for every second we could. So, we raced around that evening to get the. It’s to UPS and start telling our families that another “Giardolly” was on the way!

What fun it was to watch them each open the box and discover that our long awaited answer to prayer was on the way. How beautiful is God’s faithfulness to His children.

Hope can be a treacherous thing. But, when it comes to fruition after a long, cold wait, it’s more beautiful than words can say. We are grateful that we were not disappointed by hope nor continue to live in a hope deferred. We continued to trust the the Lord would make a way or He would reveal a greater plan for lives. What a celebration when hope becomes reality.

I’m so grateful for this little girl and for the lessons we learned as we waited for her arrival.

May you continue to hope in the Lord for the answer you seek. May He grant those desires or give you a fuller picture of His desire and plan for you. May you be surrounded by celebration when those plans, hopes, and dreams become reality.