It is crazy to see how God works and how truly perfect his timing is! How boring would it have been if I had a boy 2 years ago with no one to grow up with. He would have been the lone ranger. God has planned this perfectly to be best friends with his cousins since myself and Kelli are done after these sweet little angels. So they can basically be brothers with each other. So that makes 8 grandkids 6 and under for Grammy & Pops and we have evened out the numbers. 4 girls and 4 boys! :)
So rewind to about 5 months ago when I had done my egg retrieval and I knew that only 2 embryos had made it to day 5 and been tested. I was devastated. I knew the odds were 50% of the embryos would be normal and the other wouldn't. Well if that was true only 1 would be normal. But who knows maybe 2 would be normal or maybe they would call and say sorry both are abnormal and we would be back to square one. It was the longest 2 weeks of my life waiting for the results to come back in. Finally the day arrived when my Doctor called and gave me the news. "You have one normal embryo. The other one was abnormal." So I breathed a sigh of relief to know that I at least had one shot at a baby. Then he said would you like to know the gender. Well all along I had been saying no I don't want to know just pick the healthiest baby and God will give us what we need. But I didn't have any picking and choosing now. The gender of that one healthy one was what it was going to be. I said um ok sure tell me the gender. He said it is a male. I about wrecked my car! I said excuse me could you tell me that again. He said it is a male and the abnormal was a male too. I about died. I only wanted a healthy baby but that made it even that much sweeter knowing my sister and sister-in-law were already pregnant with boys! So I decided to keep it a secret from everyone until I made it to the 2nd trimester. David was fine with that and my little secret was locked away for a few months.
To be honest, the main reason I did it was to save everyone else from the extreme heartbreak if it didn't work. We had already lost 2 babies at 10 and 12 weeks and that was difficult enough. But to know the gender and really truly view the few dividing cells as a human with a name made it that much harder and more difficult. Yes losing any baby is devastating, but to know the gender and know how perfect having a boy would be to complete our family was that much harder. In hindsight I think I would have said no to finding out until I made it to the 2nd trimester, but you live and you learn. I did however love having a specific name to pray for from day 1 when implanting the embryo.
Which brings me to his name. His name is going to be Samuel David McLaughlin. And we chose Samuel for 2 reasons. Number 1 it is my grandfather's name (Bumpa for those of you who know me well). I know you aren't supposed to pick favorites, but he was my absolute favorite grandparent! He was a good old Italian boy who had the softest hands and earlobes (yes I loved rubbing his ears) and he loved us like we were his own. He taught me how to drive a car, he would walk me to the bus stop and on cold days let me and my friend Holly hide under his jacket to stay warm while waiting for the bus. He made the best Italian spaghetti and meatballs and I have clearly gotten my love of pasta from him. He was just so amazing and I have so many great memories of him that I want to carry on his name and keep his legacy in the family.
The 2nd reason is because of Samuel in the Bible. (You can read the story in 1 Samuel 1) Several years ago when infertility really struck, I drew near to God and started reading the Bible and books about people who had to wait from the Bible. I quickly learned about the story of Hannah who was a barren woman. She had no children and cried out to God to give her a son. She pleaded with God that if he gave her a son she would give him back to the Lord for all the days of his life. A priest named Eli saw her crying and praying and he said may the Lord grant you what you have asked of him. Sure enough Hannah had a son and she named him Samuel because it meant "God gave what I asked of him." When he got a little older she brought Samuel to Eli and dedicated him to the Lord and he ended up being one of the greatest prophets to ever live. I loved this story and often prayed to God to grant me a child like he did Hannah. It was my story of hope I held onto that God could perform a miracle at any time. I think it is also very ironic that Samuel anointed David as King and my husband David was named after David from the Bible. So we have ourselves a good old Biblical name for this baby boy!
One other crazy thing that proves God had all this planned, is that I bought this blanket over a year ago right before my second miscarriage. I loved the verse and the story behind it (Samuel). Little did I know it had my sons name on it long before he was ever even created.
So there you have it folks! We are having a little boy named Samuel and he should be here by January 7th, 2019. We couldn't be more thankful and grateful and we just feel so blessed that this 2 year journey was all worth it and God had it all figured out from the very beginning. What an awesome God he is! Thanks for the continued prayers! XOXO
PS. I shared our gender reveal video on Facebook and Instagram if you want to see how the family reacted when they found out it was a boy! It was precious!
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