Many people think it's unwise or impossible to have a baby at the age of forty, but I made it possible against the doubts of many. Of course, I had hoped to have children earlier in life, but life got in the way. Before I knew it, my twenties and my thirties had flown by me in the blink of an eye.
At 36, I had gotten married to an adoring man and we began planning for an addition to our family right away. After a year of trying, I found that I had conceived. Unfortunately, this and three subsequent pregnancies ended in miscarriages.
All of these setbacks began to dishearten me and I began to doubt my ability to bear children on my own. When my husband and I lost our third child, we were in such a shell shock that we decided to focus on our marriage and our intimacy. During this time, I began researching the testimonials of women who had suffered multiple miscarriages like myself and the biological processes of conception and pregnancy. But what was most uplifting to me at the time was meditating on scriptures each and every day.
A month later, I found I was pregnant again by the grace of God. This had been the quickest I had ever become pregnant and had I not already experienced so much loss, I would have been elated. The truth is I was petrified. I was also determined not to lose another child.
I immediately made an appointment with my OB/GYN and had bloodwork done on their recommendation. After some time, I received a phone call from the doctor who said "I'm sorry, Tiphanie, but based on your levels I don't believe this is a true pregnancy." When I hung up, I went right into affirming my pregnancy, breathing the truth of my child's life into existence, just as I had already been doing for months. I refused to accept another loss. I spoke to my child. I spoke life, not death, to myself and my child. I cursed all the things the doctor had said to me on the phone that day.
Later, I made an appointment for an ultrasound to determine whether what the doctor had said really held truth. I was holding my breath in anticipation. She looked at me and said...
"Okay, you can breathe now. I hear a heartbeat
