Jessi and Rickey

We got married exactly one day (June 6, 2015) before we had been together for one whole year! We were your typical newlyweds- Young, Happy, & In Love. We both had/have a love for children like no other which meant we would try to have a child right away after tying the knot.

Several months went by with nothing! If any of you know my husband or I -patience is not our strongest point (when it came to this matter anyways). We began seeking out our options to see what was wrong after around 6 months. We had so many people telling us: “it just takes time”, “it will come one day”, “stop thinking about it & it will happen.” While all of those things sound great coming from the normal human being, coming from someone who has to wait month after month with failed attempts it’s the last thing you want to hear. We visited a fertility clinic to finally get some answers to all of our ongoing questions. We learned at this time that I checked out okay. On the other hand, Rickey had almost low everything on his entire workup they did at the clinic. Verdict: Male Factor Infertility, low sperm count & quality was at 1%. This news was absolutely devastating & tore my husband to pieces- literally! Our faith was being tested.

This disease percentage rate in males is only 33.3%. The news we received that day made him question himself & what he could do to “fix” it. He felt like his role as a husband had been striped from him. He couldn’t give his wife (who could get pregnant with no issues) what she had dreamed of being her entire life, naturally without some science & a whole lot of prayers. He asked himself, “why me?” over & over again.

We began to prepare ourselves for IVF. After many, many prayers from our close family/friends I felt it lay on my heart to be completely transparent with our journey. I started a blog & after each step I would come home & type out what we had done each visit. Stepping out of my comfort zone & being an open book was the best choice I could’ve ever made. It brought us comfort as well as bringing comfort to someone else knowing they weren’t alone even if they didn’t come out as openly with it as we did.

We did our egg retrieval on August 3,2016 and transferred 2 of those embryos on September 28,2016. October 24, 2016 we had our first ultrasound to confirm one of the two took & we were finally pregnant. I had a normal pregnancy from there on out. I gave birth to baby boy Alston on June 13, 2017, 40 weeks & 1 day. He weighed 7lbs 1 oz. & he was 20.25 inches long.

On February 11,2019 we began the process again. We transferred 2 on July 16,2019. This go round, both took. We were pregnant with TWINS! I had a normal pregnancy again other than the fact I got put on bed rest in January due to swelling. They decided to come early (35 weeks & 6 days) Baby girl A, Brystol Claire weighing 5lbs 13oz. & 18.5 inches long—Baby boy B, Bentlee weighing 6 lbs. 0oz. & 19.3 inches long on March 2, 2020. Bentlee did have an 8-day NICU stay due to some breathing issues.

Today, we are blessed to have 3 happy, healthy children. Keep in mind through our entire journey we had ZERO coverage. We buckled down, we worked overtime, we skipped vacations, etc.! In the end we have spent out of pocket around 30k!!! This is just another reason why we advocate. If you’ve made it this far thank you for hanging with us during this lengthy post. We share our story to hopefully be a light to someone else’s darkness. I’ve said from the beginning if my blog helps just ONE person, then I fulfilled the job God called me to do.

Romans 8:18 says, “The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the JOY that’s coming.” I whole heartily can promise you the pains that infertility caused us CANNOT compare to the JOY our children have brought into our families! If your still waiting on your miracle know that we are praying for you & spreading baby dust today, tomorrow, & until all of your dreams come true. So wherever you are & whatever your storm may be whether it is infertility, miscarriage, or adoption. You are NOT alone! God is with you & your families. He will never give you anything that you cant overcome & if you listen he is whispering messages to your heart & theirs that will change your world(s) forever if you only dare to BELIEVE!