The Miracle of Life

Many of you are familiar with our struggles bringing a new life into this world. For you who are not, Jen has been pregnant three times in four years starting in 2002. Each pregnancy ended before making it out of the first trimester. We then started seeing a specialist at the University of Utah Hospital in July of 2005. Nothing happened for over a year. We were then referred to a fertility doctor at the U of U. We tried every fertility drug and super-ovulation drugs. We piled prayer upon prayer. Still nothing. We were at a crossroad - adopt or in vitro fertilization.

Accepting adoption humbled me to the lowest level. I am a big fan of me, as well as a big fan of the plethora of wonderful attributes Jen possesses. Thinking that we would not be able to create a perfect melding of Jen and I in the form of a darling infant child was hard to digest. I then thought of all the people I love who were also adopted and I felt much better about the prospect of adoption. Jen was much more altruistic and quickly felt at peace with the idea. In the fall of 2007, we began the adoption process. I personally feel that our ability to accept our situation and apply for adoption was the "works" needed to accompany our faith.
We decided to try in vitro fertilization at the same time as adoption. In November of 2007, Jen started a nasty regiment of shots in her abdomen and buttocks to stimulate her ovaries. After several days Jen had an ultrasound to see if she is ready to have her eggs harvested. The ultrasound showed that only one ovary responded and it was the minimum level of response for them to go forward. The harvest was scheduled and I gave Jen a priesthood blessing. When Jen went in for the harvest, the preliminary ultrasound showed both ovaries have fully responded and there would be plenty of eggs to extract. We both felt good about this and thanked God for his love and kindness towards us. It also gave us confidence that everything would work out because we had just seen His hand help us.

The harvest went well and the eggs were fertilized in a lab. Many of them developed well and were frozen. The two best were implanted in Jen. December 30th we discovered we were pregnant. It was a happy day, yet a very scary day. We have been pregnant before, and knew the pain and anguish of losing an unborn child. Jen was put on a new regiment of shots, low-dose aspirin, and weekly ultrasounds with our high-risk OB/GYN doctor. Each week the ultrasound looked promising, but Jen started seeing signs that things weren't going well. Several times in the first trimester, I gave Jen priesthood blessings of comfort. Each blessing helped me feel good about the pregnancy, and I hope it helped Jen feel comforted. By about week 15 (from early December) we felt our odds of having a full-term baby were about as good as the average person. Oh happy day!

The second trimester came and went without a hitch. We learned that our little baby would be a boy, and Jen started planning for his arrival. Most of the third trimester went perfectly as well. We had great support from friends, family and ward members who offered prayers in our behalf, as well as kind words and thoughtful deeds. It would bring tears to my eyes when someone would come up to me and tell me their thoughts and prayers were with us. Thank you one and all for all your kindness. I truly appreciate it.

With a month to go in Jen's pregnancy, weekly exams were scheduled to make sure all was well leading up to delivery. All was not well with our little boy's heart. The Non Stress Test showed a general cardiac arrythmia and more specifically a heart block. It was decided to induce Jen two weeks early so that our baby could get the medical care he appeared to be in need of. Jen was in labor for about 34 hours, part of which I gave her a priesthood blessing just to let her know that everything would be okay. Just look at God's hand in her pregnancy and it would be obvious that we would soon be holding a healthy baby boy.

After pushing for a grueling 45 minutes, baby Jaden was born on August 19th, weighting 8 lbs. 10 oz. and measuring 21¾ inches long. Mere moments after I cut the cord, our little baby was whisked away and sent to the NICU. Jaden's 1 minute APGAR score was just 1 - all he had for the first minute of life was a heart beat. By five minutes, his APGAR score was 7. He would live. He had to overcome an infection (most likely viral, as all his cultures came back negative), a hole in his heart, and pulminary hypertension. On August 30th, nearly two weeks later, we were able to bring our precious healthy baby home.

From beginning to end, Jen and I felt the hand of the Lord, and we are forever grateful for his tender mercies.