8 months into our marriage we found out that we were expecting a baby. Unfortunately we lost the baby at around 8 weeks pregnant and over the next 2 years we had 2 more miscarriages. We were then placed under the care of U.C. Davis infertility clinic and after 6 months of testing, with no explanation for our losses, we again found out that we were expecting a baby. In February 2004 we were blessed with a beautiful little girl, which we named Hannah, "The Grace of God".
How fitting that God would impress this name so strongly on our hearts.
Hannah's birth was one of two big changes in our lives in February of 2004. The day that Hannah was born was the day that Ryan received an invitation to go on full-time pastoral staff for the Gridley Nazarene Church. His first day was March 1 and things havn't been the same since. Almost exactly a year after Ryan was brought on staff we sold our home, packed up our belongings, and moved to a smaller home in Gridley. God really stretched our faith. We were faced with the thoughts that we might not ever buy another home again but we were confident that God knew better than we did about what He had in store for us. Once we settled in, we decided that it was time to try to give Hannah a little brother or sister. We were excited and nervous to find that we were pregnant less than a month later. Once again we were faced with a devastating miscarriage, then another, then yet again another. Not knowing how much more we could take, we asked our O.B. to send us to another infertility clinic who would hopefully find our problem. Our first appointment was in October 2005 and within a few short weeks we were told that one of my blood tests had come out abnormal. The doctor explained to us that I had an inhibitor in my blood that could result in microscopic blood clots. These clots could have been what had caused the 6 previous miscarriages. I was placed on a regular dose of baby aspirin and two shots of heparin in the stomach every day. We got pregnant right away again and were surprised to find out at 6 weeks that we were having twins. We soon discovered that we had lost one of the babies. We were terrified that we were going to lose the other baby, but after 10 painful, scary months and a c-section, on September 1, 2006 we were holding our son, Riley, in our arms.
Although our journey has not been an easy one, God has undeniably blessed us in more ways than we could begin to count.
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