Devil, I’m Ignoring You!

January 21, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres7 Comments

Good Morning Everyone!

First, let me apologize we didn’t blog yesterday – I know ALL of you were just devastated not to have our “choices” for the week! Ha ha! Craig and I left the house earrrrly in the morning and were not home until laaaaate last night, so there wasn’t a chance for a good blog. But, have no fear – we did make two choices yesterday for you, so this will be a double post! 🙂

Yesterday, I took the day off work for Craig and I to make our first appointment at ACRM. We were so blessed with a knowledgeable, understanding, thorough care team, who highlighted a few issues with our current treatment program to begin with, and took steps to solve some problems from the get-go! What a breath of fresh air!!!

When we spoke with our new doctor about wanting to pursue options other than IUI and IVF, and about a new option, embryo adoption, we are exploring, she was ready with alternative ideas for us! And what began as a refreshing experience, turned into something absolutely praiseworthy!

You may remember we attended a Joan Hunter healing service in North Georgia on Friday evening. Ms. Hunter is a Christian woman with a healing ministry, traveling around the whole world, asking for people to have faith and understand WHO God is – how loving and powerful! (We are going to speak a little more about this on Thursday!) Craig and I prayed prior to going into the service that God would truly use Joan to bless us, and to show us why He had led us to this conference – which was completely out of our Catholic comfort zone. 🙂

At the end of the service, we asked that Ms. Hunter’s daughter, Melody, pray with us. She asked, in Jesus’ name, to heal me of PCOS, to give me a new ovary (she knew it was my right ovary, and we did not tell her this information…), and a new pancreas to handle my body’s insulin correctly. She asked God to please bless us with a child. As she placed her hands on me, and prayed for healing, I felt a warmth through my abdomen. I felt a peace. Craig and I truly felt the power of God that night. We both left feeling thankful and blessed beyond measure.

Yesterday, at our doctor’s appointment, they performed both an ultrasound and blood-work to check my estrogen levels – which are typically very elevated. There was no strand of cysts (as there usually is) on my right ovary – or my left, for that matter – and my bloodwork came back “perfectly normal” – and not normal PCOS, normal for normal women. Compare this to the previous ultrasounds and blood-work levels of this past 16 months, and the difference is marked. It truly does appear I have a new ovary and a new pancreas, regulating my insulin and thereby, my hormones.

This news was such a blessing yesterday, an affirmation of faith. I am not saying we will finally be blessed with a child tomorrow, or even this year, but God is healing me, and He will bless us with children in His time. We have faith.

To wrap up TTC Tuesday, I would like to share with you this post from “waiting for baby bird”: Devil, I’m Ignoring You!. It’s powerful, and beautiful, and if you are struggling with God’s timing and maintaining faith, it is a message straight from the Lord to you.

And now, let’s back up to My Choice Monday! 🙂

First, something fun – beer ice cream! While this is for “adults-only”, it is so delicious, and a perfectly sized dessert! Click here to see where you can find this yummy treat in your area!

And finally, while I have heard so many raves about White Barn Candle Company’s Marshmallow Fireside, when it came down to decision time, Craig & I fell in love with this scent over the other:

We don’t have a true fireplace – something that makes me a little sad during these ‘harsh Georgia winters’… 🙂 This candle provides a pleasant, homey, evening by the fireplace with a great book scent. Click on the candle for a GREAT price on this candle at Amazon!

Well, folks, that’s all for today! Enjoy your Tuesday, and we look forward to chatting tomorrow for What’s Up Wednesday!

XOXO,

TTC Tuesday

Standing On His Promises

January 14, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

God has been really using the middle of the book of Isaiah this month as I have read His Word. It seems Isaiah is everywhere I turn – Mass, Jesus Calling, One Year Book of Hymns Devotional, blogs we read, and just this morning on the Mentoring Moments For Christian Women Facebook page: What a beautiful thought.

And as it turns out, God may (just maybe!) have a reasoning for pushing me to look at Isaiah more closely. Just take a look at chapter 54:

Isaiah 54:1-17

The Fertility of Zion

54 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;
[a]Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.
3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your [b]descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 “For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
6 “For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
7 “[c]For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
8 “In an [d]outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.

9 “For [e]this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not [f]flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.
10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in [g]sapphires.
12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of [h]rubies,
And your gates of [i]crystal,
And your entire [j]wall of precious stones.
13 “All your sons will be [k]taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.
14 “In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that [l]accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

Isn’t that something? “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child“, because God says, “For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman,”.

We are called to ‘enlarge our tents’, and to me, this is our call to put our full trust in the Lord. It’s like saying, “Lord, I trust you. You have promised in your Word we will be blessed with children, so I will lay that ‘concern’ in your Hands. I will prepare my heart, my soul, my marriage for this blessing, and in the meantime, I know that YOUR timing is perfect.”

Craig & I have started praying for His timing, and His Will to be done in our waiting for our child. It has given me a sense of peace, of an almost relaxation. Craig & I are putting our full trust in God, and devoting our energy – instead of to worrying & frustration – to our relationship with the Lord and with each other.

As my blogger friend & fellow PCOS girl, Elisha said, ” If He can cause a virgin teenager to get pregnant and give birth, then He can cause you to get pregnant and give birth, even with all of your short, long, non-existent cycles, and crazy up and down hormones. Just believe.”

Well friends, I have a ton of e-mails to respond to and a new guest post to begin writing (Stay tuned!)… If you didn’t have a chance to read yesterday’s guest post at The Veil of Chastity, you can here.

We will see y’all tomorrow for What’s Up Wednesday! In the meantime, follow our blog and “like” us on Facebook (see the Follow widgets in our left sidebar)!

Love Love Love,

TTC Tuesday

Grieving What Never Was

January 7, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres8 Comments

{Deep breath}

Oh, this is a hard topic. For me anyway…and for any of you out there who have experienced infertility. This post covers something never spoken about, but felt so strongly by those of us who have endured this trial. Those of you who have had no issues in conceiving a child might not understand this pain, but for those of us who know it – it stings. (What an understatement.)

Gena Golas of the blog “CT Working Moms“, writes in the Huffington Post about “The Five Stages Of Infertility Grief“, and while it might seem a humorous post for some…It is all too real to be laughable.

For those of us who deal with infertility on a daily basis, to hear: “Oh, it’ll happen. Don’t think about it so much. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” or “It will happen as soon as you ‘stop trying so hard’,” is akin to being punched in the stomach. I can’t tell you how many times we have heard those phrases, and on each of those occasions, I have been forced to hold back my tears. Every time we see horror stories on the news about child abuse and neglect, I am reduced to a puddle on the floor – wondering why them, and why not us!?!?

I will admit it gets harder and harder every single day to bow my head in prayer for the same thing Craig and I have been praying for for the past 16 months. I keep in my heart Hannah, Sarah, Rachel, the mother of Samson…Women of the Bible who were infertile only temporarily, until God stepped in and gave them a blessing, a miracle, an utterly amazing gift.

I keep these verses close by for comfort:

“…that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:5
“…God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

At the end of the day, this excerpt from the Infertility Survival Guide by Cindy Lewis Dake, hits the nail on the head of how Craig and I feel:

“We have a good life together. I don’t want us to “embrace the emptiness” that seems to swallow up some infertile couples. “Empty arms” doesn’t mean empty hearts. When a couple desperately wants a child, they begin to think their life is empty without one. They become completely centered on the quest for a child, financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. We don’t want that feeling to ever control us. We love our life together and want to always be satisfied with it, so if a child comes along, he/she will be an added blessing.”

But it is the biggest struggle we have ever faced – together or apart – to go on without that blessing – wondering if we will ever be blessed with a child.

As always, we ask for your prayers.

All Our Love,

TTC Tuesday

It’s Almost Here…2014!

December 31, 2013 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Happy New Year’s Eve!!!

Can you believe it’s almost 2014?!?! Less than 24 hours to go! It must be especially hard to believe in our household because I discovered this last night:

Yes, that’s the envelope from the Christmas card I gave Craig this year… I was apparently so confident in the fact it was Christmas 2012 I went the extra length to date even the envelope. So, maybe we aren’t ready for 2014…but like it or not, it’s on the way!

One thing we are definitely ready for is a child, and on this Trying to Conceive Tuesday we ask for your prayers as we discern how to face this coming year with the many choices in front of us…We have an upcoming appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist this month, along with a call with an adoption agency we met with early in 2013. We need God to lead us and guide us to make a decision in this. Your prayers are very appreciated – as always. 🙂

What upcoming things in 2014 have you on your knees in prayer? First and foremost, let’s all remember to celebrate the amazing gifts with which God has already blessed us, and thank Him constantly for those. And to get us in the spirit of celebration, here’s a little something Craig and I have been collaborating on with that new software and recording system he bought me for Christmas. It isn’t edited – this is raw ‘footage’ – but here I am, singing the 1940’s Traditional Jazz Song, “What Are You Doin’ New Year’s Eve?”

Happy New Year’s Eve!

With Love,

TTC Tuesday

Talk About A Miracle Baby!

December 24, 2013December 24, 2013 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Merry Christmas Eve Folks!

In our land of the fertility-challenged, we often hear the term “Miracle Baby” – Couples who were told they would never conceive, miraculously do, and that is NOTHING short of a true miracle!

But on this Christmas Eve, we, as Christians, have the most amazing miracle baby of all – Jesus! Not only was Jesus born to a virgin, he was God incarnate!

Just take a moment to THINK about how utterly incredible it is that the God who created Heaven & Earth came down as a human being in the form of a helpless infant, and was born – not in the fanciest of hospitals, as anyone noteworthy would be today – in a manger.

I’ll take it a step further, and think about just how much Craig and I want children of our own…And then I think, God sent His Son to knowingly live a life that would end by suffering death on the cross to save this whole utterly undeserving world from our sins…

The ultimate sacrifice…your own child.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

Matthew 1:21

21 And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.

Luke 2:7-19

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. 9 And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. 10 And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: 11 For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. 15 And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us. 16 And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. 18 And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.

On this Christmas Eve, take time to remember the real reason for the season: the most amazing miracle baby of all!

All Our Love & Christmas Blessings,

TTC Tuesday

All It Takes Is One

December 17, 2013 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres7 Comments

Good Morning Everyone!

Remember how I told y’all last week the Metformin is really helping my insulin resistance?! Well, it continues! Probably the most common ‘symptom’ of insulin resistance (which is the root cause and/or side effect – depending on how you view the situation – of PCOS), is fatigue, and not only has the medication greatly improved my morning commute to work, but this morning, I was able to leave the house at 4:45AM and make a Pure Barre class near my office that began at 6AM! I even made it through the 55 minute class, and arrived at work with 10 minutes to spare! Winning! 😉

Yay for Metformin and for exhilarating morning exercise!

In other TTC news, our doctor’s office called late last week to:

Let me know that after looking over my sonogram results, it appears I did have one mature follicle. (That’s improvement over NONE and means the Letrazole and Metformin are doing their duties!) ALL IT TAKES IS ONE!!! {Praying. Praying. Praying.}
Inform me the doctor had written “PCOS” on my sonogram results. “Ma’am, were you aware you have PCOS?” REALLY?!?!?!? Oh my goodness. This practice…

Craig & I both read an AMAZING daily blog you too can read here. Basically, it is a daily devotional based upon one of our favorite books (as you well know), Jesus Calling, and today’s devotion gave me chills as I read it – thinking in conjunction with our journey of hope, disappointment and sadness as we have tried to conceive to no avail.

Today’s Jesus Calling contains these words:

“Come to Me with your gaping emptiness… Facing the emptiness inside you is simply the prelude to being filled with My fullness… If you persevere in this dependence as you go through the day, you will discover at bedtime that Joy and Peace have become your companions. You may not realize at what point they joined you on your journey, but you will feel the beneficial effects of their presence.”

God is so good. Thank you, Lord, for the hope you give for tomorrow, and the joy and peace you provide for today.

Keep us in your prayers, please.

All Our Love,

TTC Tuesday

Trying To Conceive Tuesday

December 10, 2013December 10, 2013 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

Welcome Back!

It’s TTC (Trying To Conceive) Tuesday here at The Newlywed Lefebvres blog, where we will limit ourselves to one day per week of discussing our (trying) journey of infertility. For the purposes of future posts, maybe today I should tell you a little bit about our unique situation.

For the past year and 3 months, Craig and I have been trying to have a baby, and thus far, we have been unsuccessful. After complaining to my doctor the entire time of issues I was experiencing, after almost a year, he finally referred us to have some testing completed. Long story short, they found a polyp blocking my right fallopian tube. This was surgically removed in October.

Further testing (which is an entire novel of a story in itself) confirmed I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) – Click here to find out more.

We began treating this condition in the past month with Metformin and Letrazole, as well as vitamin and mineral based supplements. In addition, I am using a progesterone cream, as well, and (as I have for years) am following a extremely low-GI, gluten-free diet. Yay.

Last Wednesday, I went in for my first sonogram to monitor the medication’s effectiveness…If you have gotten a frustrated call or e-mail from me, you know we are struggling with the most inept medical practice in Northwest Georgia, and to put the cherry on top, they had no idea why I was there when I arrived at the doctor’s office last week…So, that being said, who KNOWS if they were able to obtain any worthwhile results from our first sonogram or not. This Friday, they will have another shot, so we will have to let you know next week if they redeemed themselves or not. Pray for us and my patience with these people. Seriously.

On a positive note, the Metformin has been wonderful at treating all sorts of things I have struggled with for years. Insulin-resistance can affect alot of things, and finally finding an answer and a treatment is priceless, albeit a little bit maddening that it took so long for the doctors to diagnose and to grab their attention. If you want that saga, send me an e-mail. It’s quite the tale…

The bottom line is that YOU know your body. If YOU think something is off, don’t stop until the doctor LISTENS and DOES something!

The anagram is PUSH – Pray Until Something Happens. I say: SPADS – Start Praying And Don’t Stop.

Until Tomorrow…

Much Love,