Friday, September 30, 2011

Selena's Story





My niece Selena wrote a powerful testimony and I asked her if  I could copy and paste it into my blog. The only change I made is I added a title. Oh, and I added a little quote of my own at the end. Check out the bottom for Annabelle's latest pic.


Selena (center), her husband Christopher,
and Annabella
Selena's Story (in her own words)

I want to share what God has been doing for my family over the last few weeks. Let me briefly give you some background information on my husband and me. Some of you may or may not know that Chris and I were diagnosed infertile nearly 7 years ago. When we received our diagnosis, I was devastated. There are no words to express the depth of my misery and pain at that time. The dream I had of a family had been shattered in one conversation with our doctor.
In 2008, Chris and I moved to Colorado Springs to get a fresh start on life. After being diagnosed infertile, we had 4 failed adoptions. This too was incredibly painful for me to bear. It was like losing a child each and every time.
In 2010 Chris and I became foster/adopt parents and this is how our son, Nathan, came to live with us. We became his Forever family on January 24th, 2011. He is 13 years old.
In December of last year we discovered I was pregnant. It was very unexpected and our whole family was shocked by the news. It was truly a blessing. I had an incredibly healthy pregnancy, aside from the enormous fibroid attached to my uterus. Now, this brings us up to the last few weeks….
I had a beautiful baby girl, Annabella, via a c-section on 8/19. And she is doing so fabulous. Growing like a weed and very healthy. She is honestly the cutest and most facially animated baby ever. Her birth was so smooth and it seemed that I was healing quickly from surgery. However, on 9/7 I started hemorrhaging and cramping badly. By the time I made it to the ER, I had lost so much blood that they immediately cross-referenced me for a transfusion. The amount of pain I was in was terrifying and unbearable. I really thought I might die. My body went into complete shock. As I started to convulse uncontrollably and continued to bleed out, I could see the faces of the nurses, doctors and my family…..everyone was contemplating the worst. I had an emergency D and C (dilation and curettage) that morning. The doctors found that I had a major infection in my uterus caused by the enormous fibroid and that tissue that had been left behind from my c-section. I was in the hospital 4 days and received 4 units of blood while I was there. My doctor told me that if I had waited one more hour I may not have made it, because I had lost so much blood. (This was frightening for my family, especially Chris who had taken on full-time Mommy duty while I lay in a hospital bed trying to recover from the trauma placed on my body).
Everything again seemed to be going smoothly until 9/16, when I started hemorrhaging and cramping again. This time the doctors came in and we discussed my options.....my fibroid was causing all of my issues. It was 14 cm in diameter and not allowing my body to heal from the pregnancy. My fibroid had basically enveloped by my uterus and there would be no end to the pain. So, on 9/19 (one month after giving birth to my first biological child) I had a hysterectomy. I was in the hospital 6 days. In addition to this, they are checking for cancer. The emotional and physical scars that have been left behind are so difficult to deal with. Literally I feel as though all new hopes for more children has been stripped from me again and my heart is breaking.
However, the God I serve is so mighty and gracious. And I am standing here before you today as an example of His love. I can’t tell you how many times I doubted. How many times I thought He must not exist; He must not be listening and if He is He just doesn’t care. But, now I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God loves me. He had a plan, He has a plan. I just couldn’t see it. I couldn’t conceive it. I couldn’t control it. But, He was placing the pieces of my life together so perfectly, so that my family (the one I’d been praying for since I was 7 years old) could come together. None of it happened the way I thought it should. My son came to us a little scarred and little broken, but He equipped us to be the best parents for him. My daughter came to us so much later than I would have liked and the events that followed have shattered the hope of more kids. But, I truly believe that God made a little miracle. And without Him Nathan would still be lost in a world without love, compassion and stability. And Annabella would have never entered the world. Every time I look into those bright eyes of hers I can see God’s love shining back at me.
I am so grateful today for my life (thank you Jesus for not taking me from this world just yet), my husband (who has been such a wonderful support to me through all of this) and my children (who are both my little miracles).

Here is the conclusion of the matter: God doesn't smoke a cigar, but every so often I think I see Him in Heaven saying, "I love it when a plan comes together". You can befriend Selena on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/selena.boyts and thank you, Selena, for sharing! - Mike  

How God orchestrated my life with miracles and grace into a living parable! 
By the way, all my Ad links are monetized, which means that if you click and buy, I get paid.

Annabelle is now 6 months old.
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