My Babies

I am so lucky to have 7 babies!  Our journey to parenthood wasn't the easiest.  I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (except it was called disease back then).  We did fertility treatments and I got pregnant, but had a blighted ovum.  It took another 2 1/2 years of fertility treatments and I got pregnant with Kaleb and Noé.  Our prayers were answered, we had a son and daughter of our own.

When they were 3 1/2 we moved to Taiwan.  Our apartment was furnished, and after we unpacked we had an empty dresser.  I teased Leonard that we could put the baby clothes in there.  One day as I was walking down the hall, I saw in Noé's bedroom, "Ali" up on the wall next to where the "Noé" was.  I went back and looked again because it was so real.  Of course, it wasn't there on the second look, but I felt we needed to have Ali.  I also had Gavin in my mind too.  Before we blinked, I was pregnant!  We were so excited to have Gavin!

I still had Ali in my mind, but Teague and Macy were there too.  I got pregnant again and we were so happy to welcome Teague!

When we were deciding Teague's name, we also really liked the name Hiram.  I was really wanting Ali and Macy though, so I was surprised when we had another boy.  We fell in love with Hiram, and now just wished for Ali, Macy, and Sasha.

When we got pregnant again, I thought we'd have another boy, but the Ali I envisioned years before finally joined us.

Leonard thought our family was complete, but I still thought we were supposed to have more.  As soon as Leonard decided he wanted more, I got pregnant with Macy that minute!  We were so scared about her having Down syndrome, but she is our little angel and we couldn't imagine our family without her.

We still dream of Sasha though.  We've pursued all avenues of adoption (private, public, international), but none of them worked.  We decided to do fertility treatments again.  I had another blighted ovum.  We were able to harvest and fertilize 8 eggs.  We did an embryo transfer with the 3 that survived, but the pregnancy didn't work.  Miraculously, I got pregnant on my own- with identical twins!  Unfortunately, I lost them at 11 weeks.  I'm old enough to be a grandma, but I still dream of having Sasha, or twins, or even triplets.  I know this dream might not come true, but I'm still hoping for it.  And I still feel so lucky for the 7 sweet children I do have!