Our Family Story

When we were married on January 6, 2001, kids were no where on the radar in our near future.  I was 21 and Jon was 23--both of us were still in school (Jon at UNC-C working on his Mechanical Engineering degree and myself at Gordon-Conwell working on a Masters in Counseling)  and we wanted to finish up our degrees and have "real" jobs before we started a family. 

In 2005, we were finally both finished with school and were surprised to learn our graduations were on the VERY SAME day!  I panicked for maybe just a moment until we realized my ceremony would be at 9am and his at 2pm--which turned out to be perfect timing for family to come into town for both ceremonies and have one big family day together!

Jon is the one right above the person with the crazy yellow wig (made it easier to find him, though!)

We both found jobs very quickly--Jon, at Fontaine Modification Co. designing custom modifications to Freightliner trucks (he could give you a much more thorough description of the work!) and I at Metrolina Christian Academy as the High School Guidance Counselor.  I also sat and studied during that time for the licensure exam and became a Licensed Professional Counselor in NC.  (Which I still have never technically used since it wasn't a requirement for my job).

It was at this point that we started talking about having kids, and we were pleased when we became pregnant the very FIRST month we tried!  I was so happy and excited and thought, "wow! that was easy!"  However, that joy was very short lived when at 6 weeks pregnant I had a miscarriage (October 18, 2005).  In the back of my mind the previous week I thought something might be wrong because I didn't "feel" pregnant.  My doctor was so very kind and explained that about 50% of pregnancies end in a miscarriage and it was probably "just your body's way of ending a pregnancy that was not healthy, and that most people end up having subsequent pregnancies that are perfectly healthy." He did find that my thyroid was slightly enlarged, and after checking my levels, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).  He said that the thyroid managed the production of SO many different hormones, that this could be one possible factor in my miscarriage.  I was placed on Synthroid, and hoped that this would help me.

(Our memory box of Baby Youngblood)

 He recommended we wait a couple of months before trying again, which we did...and then the very next month that we tried I became pregnant again...but I was very nervous--especially when I didn't "feel" pregnant again this time.  And sure enough, at almost 6 weeks, I had another miscarriage (January 15, 2006).  That time I just felt numb...this couldn't possibly be happening!  It seemed SO easy for us to get pregnant, and then for some reason it wouldn't "stick" so to speak!  This really brought us to our knees before the LORD and we knew He was really getting our attention and making us focus on His plan and His will for our lives.  I studied I Samuel quite a bit and did a study on Hannah and how God blessed her with Samuel.  I continued to trust God with our future, but I was starting to think that there was something wrong with one of us, and that we might not be able to have children. 

The doctor told me that unless I had 3 miscarriages in a row, most insurance companies would not pay for testing to determine if one of us had a genetic flaw or something else that would be causing "spontaneous abortions" as the medical field calls them (how horrifying to a Pro-Lifer to see that diagnosis circled on my check-out sheet!)  However, they called my insurance and we were so thrilled to learn that they would pay for testing!  (LOVE Blue Cross/Blue Shield!)  They had Jon and I come in for bloodwork, and everything came back in a couple of weeks perfectly fine (whew!). 

Since I did have the hypothyroidism, my doctor said that it was possible that my body was not producing enough progesterone to sustain the pregnancy.  Apparently, during the first 12 weeks, your body produces the progesterone needed to support the pregnancy, and then after that time, the placenta is large enough to take over the production of this hormone.  He said that for some women, simply taking progesterone for the first 12 weeks solves the problem of early first trimester miscarriages.  SO, he told me to call him ASAP the next time I have a positive test, and that he would write me a prescription for Progesterone suppositories and we would see if it worked. 

We again had a positive pregnancy test on April 20, 2006 and of course I called the doctor at 8am sharp that morning!  They called in a prescription for me and I started taking it that day and was on pins and needles for the next few weeks.  They went ahead and scheduled me for an ultrasound at 6 weeks when they would be able to see a heartbeat if everything was ok.  Thankfully, that day came and on May 8, we saw a precious little heartbeat flickering on the screen!

I was beyond elated, especially when the doctor told me that after seeing a viable heartbeat, the chance of a miscarriage drops to below 5%.  (I'm still not sure why on that one).  So, I just prayed and prayed until that 12 week mark was over (and I even continued taking the progesterone until 13 weeks just because I had some more in the box, even though he told me it wouldn't be necessary)!  Praise God everything went smoothly and we found out on July 20th that we were blessed with a little boy!

(My kiddos will be waking from their naps soon, so this post is...

To be continued...)