This article (Teaching NFP is a True Mission) is a gem of a find and is exactly what I needed to hear this morning.
Pope John Paul II addressed participants of an NFP Teacher Education Program in December 1994 affirming our mission. He states that our work is a service to the family and a labor of life and love.
I needed to hear this today.
Recently I began teaching again after a short 'maternity leave', and ever since then, the Devil has been relentless on spiritual and emotional attacks. I've been pretty tired lately and the Devil is great at kicking me while I'm down. It's hard to fight back when I'm physically exhausted, and he knows that. It's been rough especially when I'm teaching...
BUT.... that's okay because... JPII acknowledges this and says:
"You are well aware that the affirmation of these personalist values demand the courage to swim 'against the tide'."
NFP goes against all that society says is normal and easy and forces people to step out of their comfort zone. And believe me, it's really hard to teach something that is generally unaccepted because of the misconception that it's 'Grandma's rhythm method,' or because its ineffective, too difficult, or a just some other Catholic thing.
I get that all the time.
But as JPII says, this work demands courage especially in the midst of societal uncertainty.
Thank you, God, for allowing me to stumble upon this article this morning. JPII's inspired words lifted my spirits and reminded me that this ministry is good, true and holistic and a true mission... and even though it will be difficult at times, I must "persevere in this task with renewed commitment (JPII)."
So, here it is, folks.
My task, my mission is simply this:
I may not change your thinking on this matter, but I am sure going to challenge it, and pray for the courage to do so.
6/26/13
6/19/13
The Infertility Companion for Catholics: Great Resource
"One in every six United States couples experiences infertility but Catholic
couples face additional confusion, worry, and frustration as they explore the
medical options available to them. Filling a major void in Catholic resources,
The Infertility Companion for Catholics describes the Church's teaching
on reproductive technologies and provides a rich spiritual perspective on the
emotions and faith involved in embracing the cross of infertility. The authors
both experienced periods of being unable to conceive and they walk in solidarity
with readers, compassionately coaching them through the challenging landscape of
infertility. "
- Includes a variety of spiritual resources: prayers, devotions, wisdom of the
saints
Appendixes include suggested further reading, reference materials, Catholic documents, and Catholic blogs about infertility
This is a great resource. I encourage you to check it out.
6/17/13
Mucus Teaching Mom (MTM)
Every girl remembers the day she is welcomed into womanhood when her first period arrives. For some it's filled with anticipation and excitement, but for me it was filled with tears (probably due to the raging hormones) and traumatic because it came out of nowhere, it was the first day of 8th grade in a new school, and my Mom was thousands of miles away visiting Grandma...
"Welcome to womanhood," my Mom said.
"Thanks," I said, sobbing.
"Everything will be okay," she said as she tried to comfort me, "the stuff is in my bathroom."
Stuff? That's an entire post of its own... and one I will probably never share, but I digress...
After the shock wore off and the hormones calmed down a bit, I loved that I was finally a woman.
***
Last year, I received a call from a friend asking if I would be interested in presenting the Creighton Introductory PowerPoint to a group of senior girls that she had had the pleasure of mentoring through a Bible Study.
YES!
I jumped at the opportunity because interestingly (but not surprisingly), the desire to teach young girls about their fertility had recently surfaced in my heart; I couldn't wait to meet with these young women and teach them about their fertility.
I prayed the information would be armor for them as they ventured into the college world.
The young women were fascinated as I gently made my way through the Introductory slides; had God really created them that way? Could they really predict their fertility based on mucus? It felt great to tell them, YES!
But why were these young women just now hearing this information?
I left wondering.... what if we taught young girls about their fertility BEFORE their first period? What if when girls became seniors in high school, they had already been charting for a few years? How early is too early to learn this stuff? Is this information too risky to give to young girls?
I don't think it's ever too early to share this beautiful truth. Do you agree?
Is it weird that I want to be the Mom who talks to her daughter about mucus as though it were conversation about the weather? Is it wrong for me to want Zoey to feel comfortable with the changes happening in her body before she hits puberty so if I'm thousands of miles away when her first period arrives, she can say calmly and collectively on the phone:
"I knew this was going to happen, Mom; I saw it on my chart."??
***
It's a little scary though, right? If my daughter learns her days of fertility and infertility at such a young age, she might use that information in the wrong way (whatever that means), and that I would feel guilty forever because of it...
...but God says, "DO NOT BE AFRAID."
I can't be afraid; I have to trust that if God allows me to plant seeds that He will cause them to grow.
I have to trust that if I plant seeds about the truth of her fertility, that God will allow those seeds to have deep roots and produce many fruits.
I have to trust that if I plant seeds about the truth of God's design for her, God will give her the strength to fight the Devil's lies that try to convince her that she isn't beautifully made.
That said, I have to put my fears aside and trust that God is calling me to be a mucus teaching Mom.
Who's with me? Any Moms out there who want to be a MTM, too?
We could start a group... or something?
"Welcome to womanhood," my Mom said.
"Thanks," I said, sobbing.
"Everything will be okay," she said as she tried to comfort me, "the stuff is in my bathroom."
Stuff? That's an entire post of its own... and one I will probably never share, but I digress...
After the shock wore off and the hormones calmed down a bit, I loved that I was finally a woman.
***
Last year, I received a call from a friend asking if I would be interested in presenting the Creighton Introductory PowerPoint to a group of senior girls that she had had the pleasure of mentoring through a Bible Study.
YES!
I jumped at the opportunity because interestingly (but not surprisingly), the desire to teach young girls about their fertility had recently surfaced in my heart; I couldn't wait to meet with these young women and teach them about their fertility.
I prayed the information would be armor for them as they ventured into the college world.
The young women were fascinated as I gently made my way through the Introductory slides; had God really created them that way? Could they really predict their fertility based on mucus? It felt great to tell them, YES!
But why were these young women just now hearing this information?
I left wondering.... what if we taught young girls about their fertility BEFORE their first period? What if when girls became seniors in high school, they had already been charting for a few years? How early is too early to learn this stuff? Is this information too risky to give to young girls?
I don't think it's ever too early to share this beautiful truth. Do you agree?
Is it weird that I want to be the Mom who talks to her daughter about mucus as though it were conversation about the weather? Is it wrong for me to want Zoey to feel comfortable with the changes happening in her body before she hits puberty so if I'm thousands of miles away when her first period arrives, she can say calmly and collectively on the phone:
"I knew this was going to happen, Mom; I saw it on my chart."??
***
It's a little scary though, right? If my daughter learns her days of fertility and infertility at such a young age, she might use that information in the wrong way (whatever that means), and that I would feel guilty forever because of it...
...but God says, "DO NOT BE AFRAID."
I can't be afraid; I have to trust that if God allows me to plant seeds that He will cause them to grow.
I have to trust that if I plant seeds about the truth of her fertility, that God will allow those seeds to have deep roots and produce many fruits.
I have to trust that if I plant seeds about the truth of God's design for her, God will give her the strength to fight the Devil's lies that try to convince her that she isn't beautifully made.
That said, I have to put my fears aside and trust that God is calling me to be a mucus teaching Mom.
Who's with me? Any Moms out there who want to be a MTM, too?
We could start a group... or something?
6/14/13
Guest Post: "My Chart Knows Me Better"
Amanda is a beautiful woman of whom I have had the pleasure of working and getting to know. She just finished writing a book, and shares her insights on relationships and dating on her blog.
Check them out!
I am excited to share this post with you this morning because it shows how God can manifest Himself in the most unusual ways -- for Amanda, it was through a chart.
Here is her beautiful reflection on exactly that...
Check them out!
I am excited to share this post with you this morning because it shows how God can manifest Himself in the most unusual ways -- for Amanda, it was through a chart.
Here is her beautiful reflection on exactly that...
***
My Chart Knows Me Better
Amanda Mortus
Before I begin there are few things you should know about me:
1. I’m in my 20′s and I’ve been charting using the Creighton Model of Natural Family Planning (NFP) for nearly three years.
2. I’m not married.
3. I’m a perfectionist.
That being said, I love charting. There is something amazing about the natural rhythm that God has placed within my body. My practitioner has been known to marvel at my charts because my cycle is quite regular. Well, at least it is usually regular.
I’ve been charting long enough to know that the number one killer of my regular cycles is stress. Some cycles I’m amazed at how much I think I’m stressed, and yet my body does exactly what God intends it to do. In a normal cycle a woman goes through a fertile time when her mucus changes as her body prepares for and actually goes through ovulation. However, when a woman gets stressed, her body knows it, and changes accordingly. Her mucus may change, but she won’t actually ovulate until her stress level has calmed, at which point she will experience another change in mucus. When I first experienced this phenomenon I was awed at the wonder of my own body, awed by the fact that it knew, physically speaking, the best time to conceive a child would be when my stress levels were reduced.
I’m a perfectionist because I enjoy the fact that my cycles almost always follow the normal pattern. It makes me a bit proud of my own body and the wonder that God created in my fertility. This month, however, was different. I experienced the normal change in mucus, and I experienced the normal dry days that follow the change in mucus. Then my mucus changed again (normally dry days after the mucus change are followed by menstruation). As I looked over my charts from the last few years, I realized that when my cycle does this it is due to stress. The funny thing is, I didn’t realize I had been stressed.
As I lamented that my cycle for this month didn’t follow its usual pattern, I took to prayer. I asked God to show me the cause of my stress. Clearly, my body and my chart knew something that my head and my heart did not. In prayer I discovered that I had actually been avoiding God. Sure, I went through my usual prayers, but I had been avoiding really giving Him my heart. As I have been known to do, I was trying to take control over my own life, including certain aspects of my job, and a few projects I’ve been working outside of the office. When I finally relinquished control to His loving hands, my cycle returned to its normal pace.
God has created a wonder in women, of this I am certain. There is a beauty in the physical aspect of charting, in getting to know my body – and the God who created it – better. But there is also a beauty in the spiritual aspect of charting, and in realizing that God has written His love for us in every aspect of our lives. Thank God that, at least this cycle, my chart knows me better than I do. Had I not been charting I probably would have gone a lot longer before realizing that I was holding out on God. But more than that, thank God that He knows me better than I do. He has used my perfectionist ways to call me back to Himself.
Check out Amanda's website -- Worthy of Agape and have a great day!
***
Check out Amanda's website -- Worthy of Agape and have a great day!
6/12/13
His Will, His Time
God knows what you need even before you ask.
Let me explain.
I worked with this client couple who came to the Creighton Model because they were experiencing infertility and wanted to conceive naturally without any artificial help.
During our second meeting they shared this with me:
After their initial appointment with one of our Creighton physicians, they were advised to start the charting process so this physician could better help them using the chart and NaproTECHNOLOGY. The physician handed them a list of practitioners in the Metro area so they could get started right away. Overwhelmed, they prayed and asked God to tell them which practitioner He wanted them to contact. After this prayer, my name jumped off the page. They trusted that God wanted them to work with me and called to schedule an appointment. They said they needed a teacher who had faith and was a Godly woman, and when they walked into our apartment and saw the really, really, really large crucifix hanging on the wall, they knew they were in the right place.
I thought to myself, wow, I am a woman of God and they are in the right place; I am going to do amazing things in their lives beyond teaching them how to chart.... I'm that good.
Wow, right? Sheesh. Stupid pride.
Anyway, that meeting continued and they shared their faith with me and how God was working in their lives despite their cross of infertility. They were joyful in trusting the Lord would bless them with a child -- they could feel it deeply in their hearts.
I heard them... kind of. Their testimony sounded so beautiful, but I couldn't relate at least not on the infertility side of things. My husband and I weren't having any issues getting pregnant --- (NOTE: I had not yet accepted the fact that we were struggling to get pregnant at this juncture. I was still in that uglydenialbitter place... you know, the one I mentioned earlier and it wasn't that I couldn't relate to their struggle -- I just didn't want to).
We continued to meet and after a few months I felt very close to them both emotionally and spiritually. So, it was easy for me to finally share with them that my husband and I were having a difficult time getting pregnant, too.
Upon hearing this and before I could ask for their prayers, she grabbed my hand, he bowed his head, and she began to pray. She quoted scripture and spoke with Divine eloquence -- it was as if I could taste her words...
...like warm buttermilk pancakes dripping with butter -- it was that good.
She asked God to bless us with a child according to His will and His time, and my heart softened at the sound of her request.
It was an incredible gift of grace. It's not grace if it's earned. I didn't earn this beautiful moment, He gave it to me because He knew I needed it. What an intuitive God.. eh? :)
In the midst of their pain, they prayed for mine as if they weren't suffering at all. I know that when they prayed for the practitioner God wanted them to work with, God chose them for me, not me for them. My name jumped off the page because I needed that prayer.
God knew what I needed before I had to ask and gently slapped me in the face for being prideful believing I was the reason He sent them to me.
Talk about a humbling moment... It's really never about me. I have the hardest time accepting that.
I am grateful God wove this couple into my life. Have you ever experienced a situation where everything is perfectly woven together -- people, places, events? Think about it, and please share those moments with me. We can never give God too much glory in the ways for which He works in our lives.
Can I get an Amen? Holla!
Will you join me in praying for them? Pray that God bless them with a child according to His will and His time. Let our prayers be like butter on pancakes for them, too, okay? :)
Let me explain.
I worked with this client couple who came to the Creighton Model because they were experiencing infertility and wanted to conceive naturally without any artificial help.
During our second meeting they shared this with me:
After their initial appointment with one of our Creighton physicians, they were advised to start the charting process so this physician could better help them using the chart and NaproTECHNOLOGY. The physician handed them a list of practitioners in the Metro area so they could get started right away. Overwhelmed, they prayed and asked God to tell them which practitioner He wanted them to contact. After this prayer, my name jumped off the page. They trusted that God wanted them to work with me and called to schedule an appointment. They said they needed a teacher who had faith and was a Godly woman, and when they walked into our apartment and saw the really, really, really large crucifix hanging on the wall, they knew they were in the right place.
I thought to myself, wow, I am a woman of God and they are in the right place; I am going to do amazing things in their lives beyond teaching them how to chart.... I'm that good.
Wow, right? Sheesh. Stupid pride.
Anyway, that meeting continued and they shared their faith with me and how God was working in their lives despite their cross of infertility. They were joyful in trusting the Lord would bless them with a child -- they could feel it deeply in their hearts.
I heard them... kind of. Their testimony sounded so beautiful, but I couldn't relate at least not on the infertility side of things. My husband and I weren't having any issues getting pregnant --- (NOTE: I had not yet accepted the fact that we were struggling to get pregnant at this juncture. I was still in that uglydenialbitter place... you know, the one I mentioned earlier and it wasn't that I couldn't relate to their struggle -- I just didn't want to).
We continued to meet and after a few months I felt very close to them both emotionally and spiritually. So, it was easy for me to finally share with them that my husband and I were having a difficult time getting pregnant, too.
Upon hearing this and before I could ask for their prayers, she grabbed my hand, he bowed his head, and she began to pray. She quoted scripture and spoke with Divine eloquence -- it was as if I could taste her words...
...like warm buttermilk pancakes dripping with butter -- it was that good.
She asked God to bless us with a child according to His will and His time, and my heart softened at the sound of her request.
It was an incredible gift of grace. It's not grace if it's earned. I didn't earn this beautiful moment, He gave it to me because He knew I needed it. What an intuitive God.. eh? :)
In the midst of their pain, they prayed for mine as if they weren't suffering at all. I know that when they prayed for the practitioner God wanted them to work with, God chose them for me, not me for them. My name jumped off the page because I needed that prayer.
God knew what I needed before I had to ask and gently slapped me in the face for being prideful believing I was the reason He sent them to me.
Talk about a humbling moment... It's really never about me. I have the hardest time accepting that.
I am grateful God wove this couple into my life. Have you ever experienced a situation where everything is perfectly woven together -- people, places, events? Think about it, and please share those moments with me. We can never give God too much glory in the ways for which He works in our lives.
Can I get an Amen? Holla!
***
Will you join me in praying for them? Pray that God bless them with a child according to His will and His time. Let our prayers be like butter on pancakes for them, too, okay? :)
6/11/13
It's All About Creativity
A little Creighton humor for your Tuesday -- It's okay, go ahead and chuckle because you deserve it. :)
For this post you need to know two things:
#1 A woman is required to check for mucus at night if she gets up to use the restroom.
#2 White and green stamps with babies on them mean a woman is fertile.
Got it? Great! This post is dedicated to two very creative women for which I had the pleasure of working.
A shout out to you!
This client was a hoot. She wanted to come up with a creative way for her husband to know she was fertile without 'saying' it.
For this post you need to know two things:
#1 A woman is required to check for mucus at night if she gets up to use the restroom.
#2 White and green stamps with babies on them mean a woman is fertile.
Got it? Great! This post is dedicated to two very creative women for which I had the pleasure of working.
A shout out to you!
***
For this particular couple, the woman had the hardest time making her observations in the middle of the night; she simply didn't want to turn on the light.
We've allll been there, right?
For a couple trying to avoid a pregnancy (or breastfeeding mamas that are up at all hours of the night), these annoying middle of the night observations are critical for the success of the program in avoiding a pregnancy, so she needed a solution.
You'll never guess what she came up with...
She looked at me and said, "You need a Creighton headlamp specifically for nighttime observations."
For this particular couple, the woman had the hardest time making her observations in the middle of the night; she simply didn't want to turn on the light.
We've allll been there, right?
For a couple trying to avoid a pregnancy (or breastfeeding mamas that are up at all hours of the night), these annoying middle of the night observations are critical for the success of the program in avoiding a pregnancy, so she needed a solution.
You'll never guess what she came up with...
She looked at me and said, "You need a Creighton headlamp specifically for nighttime observations."
Ha. Can you imagine this hardware in your bathroom cabinet? Or simply hanging on a wall for easy access??
I can. I would buy one.
****
This client was a hoot. She wanted to come up with a creative way for her husband to know she was fertile without 'saying' it.
So she came up with...
"You should make nightgowns that look like the fertility stamps. That way, when I am fertile, I can just throw the nightgown on before my husband gets home, and then the rest is up to him."
How about it married ladies... She might be onto something here.....
 |
| Said green and white stamps of fertility |
What about you, do you have any creative ideas I should add to this list??
6/10/13
Praying for Zoey
Thank you all for taking the time to read Jacob's story. He touched our lives, and I hope he touched yours, too.
I am going to continue to peel the layers off of this Creighton onion and be vulnerable once more in sharing our story with infertility.
It was hard to make the decision to 'try again' after losing Jacob. It's wasn't easy trusting God. We feared that although an umbilical cord accident was rare, it could happen again.
Fear. Ugly fear.
Eventually, we put fear aside and moved forward. When we took that step, we didn't think we would encounter any problems because Jacob happened easily, but a few cycles went by, and when we hadn't conceived yet, we began to ask ourselves...
Why were we having such a problem getting pregnant again?
Month after month the physical reminder every cycle that we weren't pregnant began to hurt more and more. My husband couldn't grasp the weight of that pain, and understandably -- he's not a woman. Even talking to other women who were going through a similar trial, their pain was so different than mine, and understandably -- they weren't me.
After six months, I still had hope that things would eventually happen. They had to, right? Surely month 7 would be the month... how about month 8, month 9....? God?
By month 12, I was in a really ugly place. Why wasn't God answering our prayer? Hadn't we suffered enough? I mean He did allow our first born son to die. Why wasn't God giving us a break?
I told you it was an ugly place and ungrateful and selfish... ugh.
I had the most difficult time accepting we might need medical help. I was a Creighton practitioner; I analyzed charts on a weekly basis; I should know how to navigate my fertility, shouldn't I?
We should be pregnant by now.
I battled with the thought of seeing a doctor for another month before making an appointment to get things 'checked out'.
I felt nothing but bitterness scheduling it, too.
Before my appointment I went to the cemetery to visit Jacob and pray to calm my anxious heart and ask for his intercession for our family. I pulled up, parked, got out, walked to his headstone and sat down. I took a few deep breaths taking in the warmth of the sun and letting God speak to me for a moment before I began reciting the rosary.
It was in these few moments that God blessed me with the most incredible experience.
There was another woman at the cemetery that day. I didn't know she was there until she approached me.
"Excuse me, is this your baby?" She was pointing to a newly buried baby's temporary marker.
"No, Jacob, this one's mine," I said pointing to his marker.
She proceeded to sit down next to her son who was buried next to Jacob.
Remembering those next 45 minutes still gives me chills. In those minutes, two strangers, two moms who had lost babies too soon, sat there next to them and shared their sorrow, frustration, joy, hope, love, and prayer... she lost her son at nine months just nine weeks prior to our meeting. He too suffered an umbilical cord accident.
My heart felt for her. Her emotions were still so raw, and I remembered that place all too well even though it had been two years since losing Jacob. I began to recall all the moments of grace I had in those two years and they just started pouring out of my mouth with an eloquence that was certainly not mine...
I am going to continue to peel the layers off of this Creighton onion and be vulnerable once more in sharing our story with infertility.
***
It was hard to make the decision to 'try again' after losing Jacob. It's wasn't easy trusting God. We feared that although an umbilical cord accident was rare, it could happen again.
Fear. Ugly fear.
Eventually, we put fear aside and moved forward. When we took that step, we didn't think we would encounter any problems because Jacob happened easily, but a few cycles went by, and when we hadn't conceived yet, we began to ask ourselves...
Why were we having such a problem getting pregnant again?
Month after month the physical reminder every cycle that we weren't pregnant began to hurt more and more. My husband couldn't grasp the weight of that pain, and understandably -- he's not a woman. Even talking to other women who were going through a similar trial, their pain was so different than mine, and understandably -- they weren't me.
After six months, I still had hope that things would eventually happen. They had to, right? Surely month 7 would be the month... how about month 8, month 9....? God?
By month 12, I was in a really ugly place. Why wasn't God answering our prayer? Hadn't we suffered enough? I mean He did allow our first born son to die. Why wasn't God giving us a break?
I told you it was an ugly place and ungrateful and selfish... ugh.
I had the most difficult time accepting we might need medical help. I was a Creighton practitioner; I analyzed charts on a weekly basis; I should know how to navigate my fertility, shouldn't I?
We should be pregnant by now.
I battled with the thought of seeing a doctor for another month before making an appointment to get things 'checked out'.
I felt nothing but bitterness scheduling it, too.
Before my appointment I went to the cemetery to visit Jacob and pray to calm my anxious heart and ask for his intercession for our family. I pulled up, parked, got out, walked to his headstone and sat down. I took a few deep breaths taking in the warmth of the sun and letting God speak to me for a moment before I began reciting the rosary.
It was in these few moments that God blessed me with the most incredible experience.
There was another woman at the cemetery that day. I didn't know she was there until she approached me.
"Excuse me, is this your baby?" She was pointing to a newly buried baby's temporary marker.
"No, Jacob, this one's mine," I said pointing to his marker.
She proceeded to sit down next to her son who was buried next to Jacob.
Remembering those next 45 minutes still gives me chills. In those minutes, two strangers, two moms who had lost babies too soon, sat there next to them and shared their sorrow, frustration, joy, hope, love, and prayer... she lost her son at nine months just nine weeks prior to our meeting. He too suffered an umbilical cord accident.
My heart felt for her. Her emotions were still so raw, and I remembered that place all too well even though it had been two years since losing Jacob. I began to recall all the moments of grace I had in those two years and they just started pouring out of my mouth with an eloquence that was certainly not mine...
Talk about an amazing feeling of being used.... Come Holy Spirit!
I shared the times God pushed us to heal deeper and the times when His compassion and love comforted our weary hearts. I wanted her to know that He was grieving over the loss of her baby, too. I invited her to cry with God and not at Him.
I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to the sorrow in her heart through me while simultaneously gently slapping me in the face.
Before this meeting, I had a bitter and ugly heart, but during this beautiful exchange of words, God spoke to me, too. He reminded me of His love and that this cross was not a punishment, but an opportunity to grow closer to Him. He reassured me that everything would be okay according to His will and not mine; I needed to trust Him.
His will. Tough to swallow sometimes, huh? But I had to do just that... surrender it all to Him.
I didn't want our conversation to end, but time came for me to leave so we exchanged contact information, and I left for the appointment.
The drive there was full of tears. I was in awe at the beautiful encounter I had with the Living God through this stranger. She was there for me that day, and I was there for her. It was not a coincidence, and I left the cemetery refreshed and I knew He would carry me through whatever awaited me after the appointment.
I was overwhelmed after meeting with the doctor. He is a NaproTECHONOLGY trained physician and could interpret my charts and from them know what we needed to do to help figure out the underlying issues of my inability to conceive.
He wrote out a list of eight different things he wanted to rule out before diagnosing. It started with blood work on specific days of my cycle, and he wanted to test my thyroid, and when those results came back, he would then rule out endometriosis... so on and so forth. I don't even remember what else was on that list..
Without the grace from the moment in the cemetery prior to receiving this infertility checklist, I would have lost it right there in the doctor's office, but I kept it together long enough to lose it in front of my husband later. I was so angry that this was going to be hard -- that having another baby would require all this extra work. I wanted so desperately for it to be easy. Ugh.
I quickly calmed down; I just needed to get some emotion out.
We spent the next couple cycles doing blood work which concluded that I had an issue with my thyroid. I didn't have hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, but instead I had a problem with my reverse T3.. meaning that there was a malfunction somewhere in the thyroid process. This is, to my knowledge, not something that many mainstream medical professionals have ever heard of before in their studies. That's partly because it's new research being done at the Pope Paul VI Institute. Mainstream physicians would not know to check these levels (from what I understand at least), and would stop at that. I am happy that wasn't the case for me.
Anyway, I began supplementing reverse T3. I was skeptical. I wanted it to work, but didn't think it would be such a simple fix. Hey, there was comfort in knowing that we were finally trying something.
Surprisingly, after taking the supplement for one cycle, God gave us another beautiful gift; we were pregnant.
I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to the sorrow in her heart through me while simultaneously gently slapping me in the face.
Before this meeting, I had a bitter and ugly heart, but during this beautiful exchange of words, God spoke to me, too. He reminded me of His love and that this cross was not a punishment, but an opportunity to grow closer to Him. He reassured me that everything would be okay according to His will and not mine; I needed to trust Him.
His will. Tough to swallow sometimes, huh? But I had to do just that... surrender it all to Him.
I didn't want our conversation to end, but time came for me to leave so we exchanged contact information, and I left for the appointment.
The drive there was full of tears. I was in awe at the beautiful encounter I had with the Living God through this stranger. She was there for me that day, and I was there for her. It was not a coincidence, and I left the cemetery refreshed and I knew He would carry me through whatever awaited me after the appointment.
I was overwhelmed after meeting with the doctor. He is a NaproTECHONOLGY trained physician and could interpret my charts and from them know what we needed to do to help figure out the underlying issues of my inability to conceive.
He wrote out a list of eight different things he wanted to rule out before diagnosing. It started with blood work on specific days of my cycle, and he wanted to test my thyroid, and when those results came back, he would then rule out endometriosis... so on and so forth. I don't even remember what else was on that list..
Without the grace from the moment in the cemetery prior to receiving this infertility checklist, I would have lost it right there in the doctor's office, but I kept it together long enough to lose it in front of my husband later. I was so angry that this was going to be hard -- that having another baby would require all this extra work. I wanted so desperately for it to be easy. Ugh.
I quickly calmed down; I just needed to get some emotion out.
We spent the next couple cycles doing blood work which concluded that I had an issue with my thyroid. I didn't have hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, but instead I had a problem with my reverse T3.. meaning that there was a malfunction somewhere in the thyroid process. This is, to my knowledge, not something that many mainstream medical professionals have ever heard of before in their studies. That's partly because it's new research being done at the Pope Paul VI Institute. Mainstream physicians would not know to check these levels (from what I understand at least), and would stop at that. I am happy that wasn't the case for me.
Anyway, I began supplementing reverse T3. I was skeptical. I wanted it to work, but didn't think it would be such a simple fix. Hey, there was comfort in knowing that we were finally trying something.
Surprisingly, after taking the supplement for one cycle, God gave us another beautiful gift; we were pregnant.
Praise God. :)
***
Infertility can spawn many ugly emotions. It was a tough journey for my husband and me, but we remained faithful. If I have any advice for couples experiencing infertility, it is to continue to pray. God will give you what you need when you need it and will always answer your prayer with a 'yes', a 'no', or simply a 'not right now'. He'll surprise you and give you grace and strength when you least expect it, and whatever happens, it will be okay.
In a cemetery, really? I love how God thinks. Still blows my mind..
My husband and I had a devotion to Our Blessed Mother during our time of infertility. From the moment we began our journey, we asked Our Lady of the Milk Grotto to pray for us to have a baby. We were devoted to this prayer and our faith in her intercession and God's love, our beautiful baby girl, Zoey came into existence. Isn't she amazing?
Would you share your testimonies with me? I would love to hear them.
My husband and I had a devotion to Our Blessed Mother during our time of infertility. From the moment we began our journey, we asked Our Lady of the Milk Grotto to pray for us to have a baby. We were devoted to this prayer and our faith in her intercession and God's love, our beautiful baby girl, Zoey came into existence. Isn't she amazing?
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| Zoey Marie -- Finding Truth |
Would you share your testimonies with me? I would love to hear them.
6/5/13
Jacob
"We're pregnant!" The most delightful news for a couple, isn't it?
Well, in December 2009, this became our big news. We had been open to life just four months into our marriage, but never thought it would happen so quickly; consequently, that big news was instantly coupled with "oh my goshes", and tears of joy and panic. We were having a baby!
We couldn't wait to tell our parents, though, and deciding on the how and when of our big news flooded our every thought. It had to be meaningful and perfect, right? Afterall, this was the first grandbaby on his side and only the second on mine. It was exciting! What a joy to be able to finally give a parent the title of Grandma or Grandpa.
Anyway, we came up with the idea to announce with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because well, his name starts with a P and mine with a J and put a baby in the middle and you have a PB&J. :). We carefully made each one and ended up practically throwing them at our family members because how exactly do you give a PB&J sandwich to someone who isn't hungry? Ya, we didn't think that all the way through. But alas, it was a success and there were many tears of joy to be had.
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| We put the sandwiches in bags that said this.. |
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| Making the sandwiches! |
The following weeks of early pregnancy were miserable to the point of eating Zofran --- a drug to help chemo patients with nausea after radiation treatments --- like candy. Get my drift? I was one of the lucky ones.
There were days of some relief and it was in those days when we were able to enjoy first visible kicks, hiccups, and marvel at the life growing inside me. Pregnancy is an amazing gift, isn't it?
Unfortunately, those moments ended too soon.
Memorial Day weekend 2010, I noticed that baby hadn't moved for at least five days. Being a new mom, I didn't think this was alarming because it still seemed so early to monitor movements; I called my physician and he offered to meet me at his office to make sure the baby's heartbeat sounded okay, but I told him I would wait until Tuesday (I called him on a Sunday), lay on my left side and drink juice... He agreed and reassured me that tracking movements is very hard at 24 weeks and it really isn't a sign that anything is wrong because the baby is still so tiny.
I felt no peace after that conversation and panic when laying on my left side and drinking juice did nothing.
Tuesday came, and within a few hours, we went from joy, anticipation, and excitement to sheer sorrow knowing our little baby's heart had stopped beating.
It was an umbilical cord accident at 24 weeks.
The next morning we welcomed that little boy into the world. Jacob Christopher Washburn was born on June 2nd and weighed nearly a pound and measured 10.5 inches long. He was beautiful and wonderfully made. We were proud parents and blessed to have a son.
The weeks and months that followed were full of every emotion and to be expected, right? No parent ever prepares to lose a child whether the baby be a stillborn or lost through a miscarriage. It is such an intimate and personal pain. Every person experiences it in his/her own way.
For those reading this who have experienced this tragedy, I am sorry for your loss. Truly.
I never fully understood the level of communication my husband and I had until after we lost Jacob nor did I ever think I could love him or understand him better than I did. I've reflected and journaled quite a bit about this very thing, and I can say that using a natural system gave us the foundation to 'deal' with this sad time in our lives mainly due to the fact that we were forced to communicate differently and more holistically on a daily basis.
Communicating intimately, about our fertility, our plans for children, and our marriage prior to this tragedy, allowed us to communicate a little easier our grief. I thank God every day that He gave us strength to carry this cross -- but more importantly, to carry it together.
Charting postpartum was difficult. I had a minor surgery after delivery and white stamps of fertility populated majority of my chart which made it even harder, but we pushed through and continued to love each other in different ways when loving each other physically was impossible.
Was it challenging? Yes.
Were there times when charting seemed impossible? Yes.
Did we want to give up? Absolutely.
But we didn't. We knew that if we did, our lines of communication would start to crumble. We needed to continue to communicate the ugly emotions and feelings and work through them together or losing Jacob would have meant the beginning of an unhealthy marriage.
Yes, charting became that foundational for us, and it took losing Jacob to understand how much stronger we were as a couple because of it.
Yes, charting became that foundational for us, and it took losing Jacob to understand how much stronger we were as a couple because of it.
When I said charting was pro-marriage, I meant it.
God blessed us and gave us this truth. We are grateful for Him and His faithfulness, the love and openess we have in our marriage, and the life He gave us as a result of that love.
God blessed us and gave us this truth. We are grateful for Him and His faithfulness, the love and openess we have in our marriage, and the life He gave us as a result of that love.
6/4/13
It's in the Science, Folks
For new users, the practitioner introduces the couple/woman to the System through a PowerPoint presentation; it was during this Introduction that I became convinced this science would really work to both achieve and avoid a pregnancy.
Let me explain what you are looking at... in this slide you have a blown up picture of the cervix. The tree like structures (in red) are called cervical crypts and it is in these cervical crypts that mucus is produced. On the left side you can see that the type of mucus that is produced has, what looks like, lanes in a highway. These days are considered 'mucus' days in the system and are fertile. On the right hand side you can see a different type of mucus that looks similar to a stone wall. These days are considered 'dry' days with the system and are infertile. The point being that only on days of mucus does pregnancy occur because the sperm have lanes to travel through, and pregnancy does not occur on dry days because the sperm cannot navigate through the stone wall.
www.popepaulvi.com
Home of the Pope Paul VI Institute
www.creightonmodel.com
Education programs of the Institute
www.fertilitycare.org
The home page for the FertilityCare™ Centers of America (FCCA) with directory of FertilityCare affiliates.
www.aafcp.org
The home page for the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals
www.fertilitycare.net
The home page of Dr. Phil Boyle, FertilityCare™ for Europe and Ireland..
My husband and I decided during our engagement to postpone having children until we worked through some financial kinks. That said, when I heard the Introductory PowerPoint, I was solely interested in hearing/seeing the proof that this System would be effective in avoiding a pregnancy.
This was the slide that convinced me.
This was the slide that convinced me.
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Fascinating right?
Isn't it amazing that a woman's body was designed this way? With a little effort, I was convinced I would be able track where I was in terms of fertility and confidently use the System to avoid a pregnancy.
Isn't it amazing that a woman's body was designed this way? With a little effort, I was convinced I would be able track where I was in terms of fertility and confidently use the System to avoid a pregnancy.
You see, even though I had a strong desire to use a natural system in marriage because of my Catholic beliefs, it was not those beliefs that convinced me it would work; it was the science and the unarguable proof that my body had clear times of fertility and infertility and that I could interpret those times easily without any artificial help.
Speaking of science, check out the two types of mucus under a microscope... I still get excited thinking about how cool this is. :)
Speaking of science, check out the two types of mucus under a microscope... I still get excited thinking about how cool this is. :)
Here's where I stand. With a natural system, I think it's lack of confidence in one's self that scares couples away from using it in marriage; it's not the science or the research behind it because you can't argue that it will work to avoid a pregnancy; however, just like with any form of family planning, there's a level of responsibility that goes with it, right?
Well, the same goes for a natural system. If you are responsible and committed to it, it will work....and it will work successfully to avoid or achieve a pregnancy. It has worked for my husband and I and we've been charting for four years! More on that later....
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| Property of PPVI Institute; do not use without permission: Types of Mucus |
Well, the same goes for a natural system. If you are responsible and committed to it, it will work....and it will work successfully to avoid or achieve a pregnancy. It has worked for my husband and I and we've been charting for four years! More on that later....
***
Check out the following links for more information. This stuff is tasty, juicy, and I can't wait for you to sink your teeth into it!www.popepaulvi.com
Home of the Pope Paul VI Institute
www.creightonmodel.com
Education programs of the Institute
www.fertilitycare.org
The home page for the FertilityCare™ Centers of America (FCCA) with directory of FertilityCare affiliates.
www.aafcp.org
The home page for the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals
www.fertilitycare.net
The home page of Dr. Phil Boyle, FertilityCare™ for Europe and Ireland..
6/3/13
The System Basics
I think it's appropriate to explain what it is I teach. Here is a brief breakdown of The Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System and the new reproductive science that is NaProTECHNOLOGY.
If you have any questions after reading this, please don't hesitate to contact me; I can give you more information.
The Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System
"The CrMS (Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System) relies upon the standardized observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to a woman's health and fertility. These 'biomarkers" tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile, allowing the couple to use the system either to achieve or to avoid pregnancy. These biomarkers also telegraph abnormalities in a woman's health. The CrMS allows a woman to unravel the mysteries of the menstrual cycle."
The Advantages
- SAFE: No known medical side effects- Inexpensive: Comparatively and significantly cheaper than contraceptives
- Highly Reliable: Over 50 years of research
- Natural: No artificial means
- Cooperative: Works cooperatively with a woman's cycle
Effectiveness
Data collected from a study incorporating five separate studies that included 1,876 couples and over 17,130 months of use, the effectiveness of the Creighton Model System to avoid a pregnancy is:Method-effectiveness to avoid pregnancy: 98.7 to 99.8
What is NaProTECHNOLOGY?
"NaProTECHNOLOGY uses the Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System biomarkers to monitor easily and objectively the occurrence of various hormonal events during the menstrual cycle. NaProtracking provides valid information that can be interpreted by a woman and by physicians who are specifically trained in this system."
"Unlike common suppressive or destructive approaches, NaProTECHNOLOGY works cooperatively with the procreative and gynecologic systems. When these systems function abnormally, NaProTECHNOLOGY identifies the problems and cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles that correct the condition, maintain the human ecology, and sustain the procreative potential."
"Women now have an opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms from which they suffer."
NaProTECHNOLOGY and PMS (Premenstrual Symptoms)
Do you have any of the following symptoms at least four days prior to your menses?
Irritability
Breast tenderness
Bloating
Weight Gain
Carbohydrate cravings (bread, chocolate, brownies....)
Cry Easily
Depression
Headaches
Fatigue
Insomnia
If so, then you have a legitimate medical condition and NaProTECHNOLOGY can help treat these symptoms. "By charting one’s cycle, a physician can target the postovulatory phase (after a woman ovulates) of the cycle with an adequate hormonal evaluation. In women who have premenstrual syndrome, both progesterone and estrogen levels, along with beta-endorphin levels, are decreased late in the cycle."
Both charting and NaProTECHNOLOGY can help a woman evaluate her hormone levels and get treated with "either cooperative progesterone replacement therapy or targeted HCG support (which should also improve both progesterone and estrogen production)."
Isn't that exciting, Ladies and Gentlemen!?! Ladies, you don't have to hide every month, and Gentlemen you don't have to hide from your Ladies, either!!
NaProTECHNOLOGY and Infertility Approach
A NaProTECHNOLOGY approach to the infertile couple has the following goals:
- It works towards assessing the underlying causes of the reproductive abnormality.
- It allows for the treatment of these underlying causes.
- It assists the couple in achieving pregnancy while maintaining the natural acts of procreation.
- If the treatment program is unsuccessful, research into the unknown causes is undertaken.
- If medically unsuccessful, the program will assist with successful family building by being supportive of adoption.
NaProTECHNOLOGY and Infertility Treatment
What is infertility?
"Infertility is a symptom of underlying disease. The diseases that cause infertility have a “two-pronged” effect. They not only hinder the functioning of fertility, but they also cause both short and long-term health problems. The persistent unwillingness to address infertility problems from this point of view or perspective is one of the major flaws in the current approach to the treatment of infertility."
"Fertility problems also carry with them significant emotional sequelae. This is fairly well recognized by those who work in this field and psychosocial distress can contribute significantly to the cause of some forms of infertility."
Effectiveness of the Treatment of Infertility with Napro vs In Vitro Fertilization
The following chart simply "shows that a NaProTECHNOLOGY approach for women who have anovulatory infertility, polycystic ovarian disease, endometriosis, or tubal occlusion, all have statistically significantly higher pregnancy rates than patients with similar conditions treated with in vitro fertilization."
This means that NaProTECHNOLOGY is much more effective in achieving a pregnancy than In Vitro Fertilization. This is GREAT news for those couples who are experiencing infertility.
In Figure 51-38, a comparison is made of the “per woman” pregnancy rates between the NaProTECHNOLOGY approach and in vitro fertilization.
[Figure 51-38, p. 691 from the NaPro textbook. The “per woman” pregnancy and family-building rates comparing NaProTECHNOLOGY and in vitro fertilization (From: Pope Paul VI Institute research, 2004 and the listed references).]
Source: http://www.naprotechnology.com/infertility.htm
Note: The source of this material is property of the Pope Paul the VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction and pulled from the following websites: http://www.creightonmodel.com and http://www.naprotechnology.com. In no way is this post meant to diagnose or treat any person but simply to inform.
***
Check out these links to learn more!
www.popepaulvi.com
Home of the Pope Paul VI Institute
www.creightonmodel.com
Education programs of the Institute
www.fertilitycare.orgThe home page for the FertilityCare™ Centers of America (FCCA) with directory of FertilityCare affiliates.
www.aafcp.orgThe home page for the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals
www.fertilitycare.netThe home page of Dr. Phil Boyle, FertilityCare™ for Europe and Ireland.
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