This beautiful couple has such an amazing story…I am so excited to share it with you. It is a testament to their personal faith and restoration of pain and hardship into something truly lovely. “We got married in 2010, and I really was hoping to have children right away. The Lord had a different plan…we started trying for a baby as soon as we got married and knew something was wrong right from the start”, explained mom Ashley, “I went to my O.B., and was put on fertility medicine. Still, nothing happened. I took it upon myself to seek further help; that is when we set out for the Center of Reproductive Medicine and met with another doctor to find out what was going on. They ran numerous tests, and they found my left ovary was full of cysts and tumors. The surgeon had to remove my left ovary that day. I woke up devastated, thinking I may never have children, but they assured me the issue was fixed and I would get pregnant. It fixed my ovulation, but we were still not getting pregnant.”

The heartbreak continued for the next few years, as Ashley and Dusty continued trying, but were unable to conceive. It was a wake-up call for the young couple, and Ashley says, “Back then, we weren’t living for God, He wasn’t the center of our lives. Something in both of us changed about 3 years into our journey, we both felt convicted to give ourselves to Jesus and accept in our hearts and to change from our ways and to give all our worries and concerns to Him! Once we submitted to him and turn our lives around, the burden of not being able to get pregnant wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t so bitter anymore.”

To their delight and surprise, Ashley found out she was pregnant in June 2014, but miscarried shortly after. “I don’t know how people go through things like that without the Lord; it seemed at my darkest hour, he was closest to me! I could actually feel his presence with me”, continues Ashley, “We tried for another year, but nothing happened”. The couple sought a second opinion and heard about IVF and IUI, which involved medications and injections, but they were very hopeful. “That month I could tell something was different, I could feel the Lord’s presence with us; and every single test they ran came back well, and  I responded to the medicine exceptionally well! The Sunday before we went in for the procedure, I remember me and Dusty going to church and the church specifically prayed over us for a baby. I feel like I prayed more that month than any other month of my life. I remember the day before I tested to see if it worked, praying no matter the outcome I would praise His name. The Lord heard our prayer and blessed us that month and we conceived our special little boy Eli Jack Wilson!”

Their sweet baby boy was born July 3, 2016, six weeks early. Ashley added that even though she knew they should have been scared, they felt such a peace. Their little miracle beat the odds and went home in just four days. “The Lord has his hand on my baby; I pray over him daily and pray the Lord blesses his life. We give our Lord Jesus Christ all the glory for our miracle. Here are a few scriptures I quoted daily as I waited on the Lord:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, BELIEVE that you have received it and it will be yours
Mark 11:24

I just fell in love with this sweet couple! The excitement and joy was very obvious and they could barely wait for their little bundle of joy to arrive. We just made it getting their session in…not only because of the rain, but their little guy decided to come early, as his mama mentioned above. What a handsome little guy he is…you will be seeing his session soon! I’ll leave you with his mom’s encouraging words:

“If any of you struggle with infertility, know the Lord is with you!! He is molding you into the perfect mother he knows you can be! I feel like struggling with this has made me such a better parent than I would have been before. Makes me love my baby that much more!! I have cried so many nights for a child! I will never forget this experience and pray for other women that have to go down this path. I see all of God’s plan now and how amazing it really is. During the hard times, I couldn’t understand but now it makes perfect sense”.