Josh and I got married on September 8, 2001. We were excited about finally being together as a couple, after having pretty much our entire relationship be long-distance. Our plan was to enjoy married life to the fullest and to be married for about 5 years, then to start a family. So, in sticking with "our plan" we started trying in July 2005. However, by January 2006 we were already at the doctor's office realizing that our dreams of starting a family might not come as easy as we had hoped. And by July 2006, after having tried a few other things, we were told that doing Invitro-Fertilization was really our only chance to have a child of our own biologically. So much for "our plan"...BUT, God had a plan of His own. A plan to draw us closer to Him.
After taking about a year to pray about this, whether or not to do IVF, and to just work through the struggles that our infertility brought, we finally came to a place where we were ready to move forward and give it a try. So, on my birthday in October of 2007 we started our first IVF cycle and on November 14, 2007 we found out we were pregnant! We were shocked and excited! Although I had a few bumps in the road during my pregnancy, overall, it was a great pregnancy and I really did enjoy every minute of it! And so, on July 22, 2008 we welcomed Rachel Grace Green to the world! We love being parents, and we feel so blessed that the Lord answered our prayers in giving us the desire of our hearts.
So, as she's grown, of course we've contemplated how we would add to our family. We have chosen to just enjoy our time with her and have sort of put off making another big decision like this. However, we know we want more children, so for the last year or so we've been praying more specifically about what the Lord might be calling us to do. Obviously, our first thought was to do IVF again since it worked the first time. However, after praying, we didn't feel like God was pointing us in that direction. Our hearts were being drawn to adoption...something we'd thought a lot about even prior to doing IVF. So, here we are now...preparing to adopt and welcome a new child into our family. We are excited to see how the Lord will work and are praying that we will trust Him each step of the way.
