Testimony - Chapter 3

(Tyson here...I'll be narrating chapter 3.)

If you haven't yet, please read chapter 1 and chapter 2 first.

Winter had passed and Spring of 2008 was upon us. It had been several months since our latest doctor visit, and nothing had changed. We felt discouraged but hopeful, and were blessed to be surrounded by loving friends, family and church leaders.

As April arrived, we had become ready to try the prescription given by Sarah's doctor. The Lord reminded us that all healing is from Him, and often times He does use a doctor and common medicine. We felt that if that's what God wanted to do, even though we were still uncomfortable with it, we should not box God in. We became spiritually prepared to start medical treatment soon.

The first week of April, I (Tyson) was planning to travel to Searcy, AR for a Camp Wyldewood benefit golf tournament over the weekend. Record rainfall ensued the 4 days prior to the tournament, and the forecast was even worse for game day. I was all but certain that my travel plans would be canceled. In the three days leading up to Friday, Searcy received over 5 inches of rainfall, and yet to my amazement the tournament was never canceled. On Thursday evening I shrugged, grabbed my clubs and hopped a flight into Little Rock. In the 6 hours after I touched down, Searcy received over 3 inches of rain. The tournament was canceled first thing Friday morning, leaving me in Searcy with nothing to do for two days. I called the airline, but no early flight was available back to Dallas.

Realizing that I had better make good of a bad situation, I decided to try to touch base with some old friends from camp, Michael and Shelley Lincoln. I was happy to catch Michael on the phone, and we quickly met for ice cream and caught up with each other's lives. Within minutes, he had called Shelley and insisted that I join them for dinner and stay the night with them. Of course I was happy to do so. These are dear friends that Sarah and I consider in many ways a third set of parents. The Lincolns have fed us, employed us, counseled us, worshiped with us, cried with us, laughed with us and most of all blessed us with a clear example of a Godly marriage and family.

Later Friday night at the their house, I began asking for their prayers for Sarah and I and our attempts to conceive a child. Of course they agreed, and each began talking about their six-year experience with natural healing instead of medical doctors, and how they frequently visit a man in Rose Bud, AR who owns a herbal supplement store called "Remedies".

The Lincolns had plenty of testimonies of how they had used herbal supplements and natural remedies to cure common ailments, from common colds to athlete's foot and back pain. Shelley went on to tell me that Barry, the owner of Remedies, had mentioned to her earlier in the week that he had helped 125 women get pregnant. She didn't understand his comment at the time, calling it "random" and out of context. Shelley started to believe that maybe she was told for our sake, and she asked if I would like to go talk to Barry in the morning.

Now...needless to say I was a little uneasy about the thought of seeing an "herbalist". I'm generally skeptical about things like that, as most people are, I think. But Michael and Shelley told me that they believe Barry has "a gift from the Lord", and he often knows his patients even before they disclose any information about their lives. Because of our relationship, I knew the Lincolns would never recommend anything that they didn't believe was firmly in the will of God. I agreed and Shelley and I planned to go see Barry first thing in the morning.

On Saturday morning, Shelley and I made the short drive to Rose Bud (population 429). Barry was in, and after a short wait we joined him in a comfortable living room adjacent to the store. He asked how he could help, and I gave a 30-second recount of our attempts to get pregnant and the doctor's diagnosis of Sarah's condition. Barry took a 4x6 note card and began to write on it.

"Tyson, has anyone in your family had thyroid issues in the past?" he asked. Uh...wait a minute here. I came to ask about Sarah, and he's asking about me! In fact, my Mom has had thyroid trouble her entire life, but I didn't know how that was relevant. I answered simply, "yes, my mother has." He went on to explain that I also had thyroid problems that caused a low body temperature. He said it would be hard for us to get pregnant unless my body temperature was closer to normal. He jotted down on the note card some information about something called Wilson's syndrome, and told me to pray about taking a specific amino acid supplement for 60 days.

Now, I had just had a physical exam a few months ago with complete blood work and tests, so I was a little suspicious about the beginning of this conversation, but the fact that he knew about thyroid trouble in my family caused me to stay locked on his words. Nevertheless, I never remembered having a low body temperature.

"Sarah," he continued, "has two cysts on her left Fallopian tube. This is why she hasn't had a period on her own." Barry went on to explain that for both males and females, the left side of the body is responsible for reproduction. Left testicle, left Fallopian tube, left ovary, etc. On a new note card, he jotted down an herbal supplement and handed me the note card, saying "pray about this, but I think it will work and you should be pregnant in 60 to 90 days."

So there I was...holding two note cards and overwhelmed with emotion. Is this crazy? Is this real? Does this guy know anything? He just sat there and looked at me...how can he know anything? I thought back over the last 48 hours, wondering how I had even come to this point. 48 hours ago I was certain I would not be going to Arkansas, and yet, for some reason, I got on a plane, flew north and ended up sitting and talking to a guy from Rose Bud named Barry who seemed to know more about our situation that our doctor or even ourselves.

17 Weeks Update

Here is an updated picture of the baby bump! :) The baby and I have definitely grown since I last posted a picture! I have had to make the leap with some of my pants to wearing the Bella Band (actually, the Motherhood Maternity version of it). It really is great...so thanks to all the moms and moms-to-be out there for the great advice! I also went shopping this weekend with my mom to look at cribs and maternity clothes...so fun! I now own 2 maternity shirts (so pretty!), but I'm not quite big enough to wear them yet. I'm sure it won't be too much longer. ;)

I went to the doctor last week, and he was pleased with my weight gain (2 lbs. since the previous appointment 4 weeks earlier), said the baby's heartbeat sounded perfect, and my blood pressure looked great. Those were all good things to hear! I go back (with hubby in tow) on October 2 to find out if we're having a boy or girl. We are both very ready and excited for that day! Then we'll start turning our "Batman Room" into a nursery!

I'm not quite sure yet, but I think I may have felt the baby in the last week or so. It's a little hard for a first-timer like me to distinguish from other things moving around in there! :) (was that TMI??) I am still feeling really good, so I am thankful for that. I will be working on the next installment of my testimony this coming week, so be looking for that. Be blessed, all of you out there in blog-land!

Chapter 2 - A Word from the Lord

In case you're thinking, "Chapter 2?? Where's Chapter 1??", here you go :)

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The fall of 2007 was just kind of a waiting time for us in this trying-to-get-pregnant process. Nothing was changing with my body, and we weren't sure what steps to take next. We were getting tired of just waiting for something to change, so I made another doctor's appointment for the first week of December.

The Sunday before my appointment, December 2, 2007, Tyson and I went to church. I mention that not because this is an unusual event, but because it was a significant day for us. Our preacher had been teaching an in-depth series on the work of the Holy Spirit, and lately had been talking about the gifts of the Spirit. (this was a really good series, by the way, and you can listen to any of the sermons here) That week, the topic happened to be prophecy. At the end of the sermon, he had members of the church stand up in front whom the Lord had used in the past to speak to others. Each of these people had a chance to say something to the congregation that they felt that the Lord wanted them to say.

One lady said words that I'll never forget hearing, "There is a woman here with a hormone imbalance, and the Lord wants to impart healing in your body." (*In case you are not a PCOS expert :) the cysts on the ovaries cause hormones to be made in incorrect amounts, not allowing eggs to develop.*) Now, I don't deny the fact that there very well could have been multiple women there with hormone imbalances. Even knowing that, I felt like God had reached down and personally touched me. I never wondered if that word was for me or not...I knew it was. And that one sentence would shape the way I thought about my situation for the next several months...it brought back some hope.

Before that day, I had not personally experienced prophecy that was meant for me. For Tyson and I both, prophecy was a pretty foreign concept, and I associated prophecy with predicting some future event. So, to feel that the Lord was speaking directly to me about something that was going on with me at that moment was pretty shocking. I can now look back and see how the Lord wanted us to hear those words to give us encouragement and strengthen our hearts that day, not just some day down the line.

Later that week, I went to my doctor's appointment. I'm not sure what I expected to learn at this appointment...I guess I was just looking for someone to tell me what to do next. I didn't really learn anything new about my condition, but that was the first time that the doctor suggested and prescribed a low level fertility drug, Clomid. Tyson was out of town on business at this point, so when he got home, we really talked this out. I still felt emotional about taking fertility drugs, especially after what we had just heard earlier that week.

Now, I will say that I do not think that taking fertility drugs is wrong. I just felt that it wasn't the right move for me at the time.

Once again, I felt conflicted. I wasn't sure whose word to trust...that lady in church or my doctor. I wanted some resolution to this problem, but the words I was hearing seemed like total opposites. So, not knowing what to do, we spent December, January, and February waiting on the Lord. Really, I was actually waiting on Him to fix me...to heal me completely.

...stay tuned for Chapter 3...

Testimony - Chapter 1

The story of the last year of our lives has been one of major ups and downs (and lots of just so-so times in between), but ultimately it is a story about the Lord. It is a story about hurting and healing, questions and peace. It's also a little long, so here's Chapter one. :)

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In the Spring of 2007, Tyson and I decided that we were ready to be parents, and that we would start trying to get pregnant at the beginning of that summer. We also decided at that point that we didn't want to tell people around us about this decision. We didn't want the pressure/questions about it, and then when we got pregnant, it would just be a fun surprise for our friends and family. So I went off of birth control at the end of May. A month later, I had a period, so that meant we were unsuccessful. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a little disappointed that day. Oh well, better luck next time. :)

But the next month I was late, and I was excited! Maybe this is it! So I took a test...negative. Well, maybe it's too early. So, two weeks later, I took another test...also negative. OK, so I'm not pregnant, but I'm also not having a period. This is weird. During this time, Tyson and I (along with the HUGE help of his family) were completely redoing our master bathroom. It was very busy and stressful, so I just figured that I was late because of stress. July, August, and September went by...nothing. Realizing now that it is probably something other than stress, I set up an appointment with my doctor.

October 4th of 2007 was my appointment. My doctor did several tests and drew blood, and told me they would call with my blood test results in a couple of days. They called later that week and said that my blood work showed an imbalance of hormones that indicated polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I had never heard of this unexplainable, incurable illness before, but the nurse told me that there were several treatments available (including fertility drugs), and that I shouldn't worry. Riiiight. At the time, I had a very emotional reaction to the thought of taking fertility drugs. I wasn't sure where it came from or what caused that feeling, but I knew that I did not want to take that route. Now I know that was the Lord speaking to my heart, but not letting my mind in on the secret. :)

Here began a time of confusion for me. I wanted to be hopeful, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I wanted to believe that we would have a child, but I couldn't ignore the fact that so many couples try unsuccessfully for years to get pregnant. I hadn't given up hope, but the thought had crossed my mind, "I may never be pregnant and have a child of my own." It was tough to reconcile all of those thoughts while feeling that it is the Lord's will for us to have children.

Not knowing what step to take next, we just waited it out for a few months. That November, we made a visit to Tyler to visit family, but also to visit our friends (Team Arequipa) who are now in Peru. Our friend Greg taught our class at church that Sunday, and just happened to teach about Hannah. I had one particular "Hannah" night not too long before that where I just wept to the Lord about my infertility. I think most people would say, "How funny that he taught about Hannah when you guys were going through the same thing." I say that the Lord provided that class for us as reassurance and hope that we would have a child just like Hannah did, however unlikely it seemed at the time.


...Chapter 2 to come...