From the deepest pain came the greatest joy

Sometimes out of the deepest heart break we can find hope and inspiration. Lori and John Ennis met in college and got married after four years. They wanted to start a family right away. “My husband had just gotten out of flight school and so that was a good time to start,” Lori recalled.

They were challenged by John’s schedule. They could only try to get pregnant between his deployments. As time went by, it became more stressful and worrisome.

“There were various diagnoses from unexplained to endometriosis to PCOS just no reason other than you should be getting pregnant and you’re not,” she remembered.

They struggled for more than ten years. They decided to adopt, but that fell through as well. Lori remembers thinking that motherhood just wasn’t going to happen for her.

Then they decided to try one more time and went to a fertility clinic. Through IVF, she was pregnant on their first attempt.

Lori went to the hospital nine months later when labor started. She did not progress and the doctor broke her water, and she started bleeding. Something was wrong.

It ended up that Lori had vasa previa, rare and undetected. Matthew, their longed for baby boy, was born in distress, without a heartbeat. He was revived, but not out of danger and medevaced to a larger hospital with his father. “I was able to reach into the isloette and touch his cheek and tough his shoulder. That was all I got. I wish I’d had more.”

Matthew died in his father’s arms eight hours later. From this horrific episode, Lori became more determined to be a mother and decided to try again. “He’s certainly not replaceable but now that we know what it feels like to be a mommy and a daddy we can’t even imagine not being able to feel that again,” she explained.

They tried IVF one more time. Nine months later Luke was born.

There is nothing more painful than the loss of a baby. But if you are driven to motherhood, you can find the courage to try again. There are websites which address the loss of a baby in particular. These are places you can go for support and help: grieveoutloud.org and facesofloss.com.

Source: ABC2News