It was a beautiful day in December twelve years ago when I tied the knot with the love of my life.

Like every young couple, my husband and I started looking forward to having an addition to our family, but that dream took 5 years, and honestly, those five years felt like 50 years!

And with each passing month, I waited with anticipation only to be faced with disappointment whenever I saw my period.! “Aunty Flo” was as constant as the morning sun.

As the months dragged  to years, I increasingly became worried. There were several times I cried myself to sleep.

 When was this going to happen?

Why was God taking so long to just do something that he could just do with a snap of his fingers?

How did I find myself in this position? 

What had I actually done? Who have I offended?

And there were times I thought perhaps the whole situation was the result of a curse.

This is because there were some strange encounters I had during this time. For several years, every time I made love to my husband, I would have a dream. And in that dream, someone would offer  me some food to eat. And after eating that food, whenever I woke up, there will be blood all over my bed. Surely this was beyond the natural and needed spiritual intervention.

I resorted to reading the Word and prayers with a holy zeal. I held on tightly and confessed the scripture, especially none shall be barren in the land. I thought to myself,” I am not barren. the word says none. It doesn’t say some  and so I will have my own children”. My family and friends were also praying and one of them kindly introduced me to a Pastor. from Nigeria. This Pastor was a god sent. He regularly called me, and prayed along with me. He would also give me prayer points advising me to go and do them at night. There was a time he gave me 21 days prayer schedule and he never asked any financial favours from me.

I also worked with the children department in my church as I believed there should be a close proximity between my miracle and I  I bought gifts and took care of them. However, I must say that I heard some parents who made some derogatory remarks as to my ability to take care of their children seeing I didn’t have any biological children. People also made comments, trying to tell us how to run our lives. as a couple, I usually turned a dear ear to these comments.

During this whole period, my husband was a strong support to me and our relationship grew. Although he is Muslim, we took time to fast and pray about the matter. He also protected me from family drama. He made me feel at all times that we were in this together and that was very encouraging. I had two special friends who had children of their own but they treated me in a good way. One day, one of them advised me not to focus continuously on the need to have children. She warned that the more I worried, the more it may become difficult for me to actually conceive and have my own children. She advised me to take my mind off and channel my energy elsewhere and I took her advice.

After a while, my husband and I decided that it was time for us to take a further step towards realizing our dream by going down the IVF route. We both had investigations done and although my fallopian tubes were ok, I was told I had “low reserve of eggs”.  I became devastated, coupled with learning about the practical things I would need to do once the treatment started My heart failed me as I thought about the daily injections. My husband also mentioned that if this first treatment did not work, we would have to wait another five years to try again, after which we could try adoption or something else. Our treatment was scheduled to commence the next time I see my period, however my parents advised they would be paying us a visit. I received the news with mixed feelings as I didn’t want them to see us going through the IVF process.

However, when my parents arrived, they were armed to fight the battle spiritually. For three consecutive nights, they held midnight prayers for myself and my husband. Amongst their many prayers, I remember my mother embracing me tightly saying  Oluwatoyin, I gave birth to you, so you will give birth to your own children. We received those prayers.

I missed my period for two days and my husband drew my attention to it during the week. He suggested I did a pregnancy test but I was not interested and told him the period would come. I didn’t want to be disappointed, My dad travelled that weekend and a  female cousin came visiting . We all went shopping but I discreetly went into a pound shop and I bought a pregnancy test. I hid it in my bag until I got home and closed the door behind me.

I tested and I couldn’t believe it. I saw two faint lies.

I screamed. I showed my husband. We were overwhelmed with emotions as we hugged each other. The next day, I went to church and also dropped off my cousin. I was still overjoyed as I drove down the motor way, speeding and singing .I was grateful to God. If this was a dream, I did not ever want to wake up.

My husband had actually said to me not to use the £1 kit. But by the time I got home, my husband had bought two Clearblu  pregnancy kits and they both showed positive. My husband then begged me to book an appointment for a blood test.

I did go to the hospital but was told I did not need a blood test but another pregnancy kit test was performed and it was still positive.

That was how the journey of my pregnancy started.

My pregnancy was not without challenges and there were times I had some strange experiences and some nightmares. These were all faced with prayer till I eventually gave birth to my first son in September the following year.

My husband had moved to Canada and on one of his planned visits the following December, during my ovulation, we just had one shot and I became pregnant again. In two years, I became a mother of two beautiful boys who could pass for twins.

I am grateful to God as this whole experience taught me there is nothing impossible for God to do, I would also say go near to the miracle you are expecting as well as have a good support system.

I hope my story encouraged you and I am sure you will be the next to share yours.

 

Toyin