On December 10, 2006, we celebrated the arrival of our gift from heaven. Contemplating our little daughter resting peacefully in the arms of her father, we recalled becoming witnesses to the miracle of life and experiencing children as supreme blessings of God. After losing two babies at 6 and 10 weeks gestation, we began to investigate the reason for the miscarriages. Numerous tests did not identify any hormonal or structural problems that would have ended the pregnancies. With the help of a CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ practitioner a Method of Natural Family Planning we studied the graphs and symbols of this method, and after 6 months of charting, we recognized that the signs of fertile cervical mucus were present. Alleluia! While using the Creighton Method, we consulted with an OBGYN trained in NaProTECNOLOGYwho identified, by referencing our graphs, a minor deficiency in the hormone progesterone. After this diagnosis, we trusted that we would conceive again, but this did not happen immediately. Dr Michael optimistically told us that we would probably conceive on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2005), but God had other plans. We continued charting and trusting in divine providence, as we had surrendered to God’s will. On March 25, 2006, we attended the Celebration of the Annunciation of the Lord at University of Dayton. There late Bishop Moeddel invited pregnant women to the altar for a special blessing. My heart took me before the altar to receive this blessing. We remember how our friends who attended the event at the University of Dayton were elated about the pregnancy and congratulated us, but the truth is we believe that our daughter was conceived that day. The 25 of March was the peak day. Two weeks later we were invited to give a talk on NFP to a Hispanic community in Phoenix, Arizona. There we met some holy priests who listened to our story, and they advised us to seek Saint Gianna Molla’s intercession to be able to conceive and take the pregnancy to term. The only condition was that if we delivered a girl, we would name her Gianna. We prayed constantly for 9 months asking Saint Gianna and Saint Gerard Majella for a healthy baby.
During the first 10 weeks of the pregnancy, we used progesterone cream, and the rest of the pregnancy continued without complication. On December 10 (the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto, patron saint of aviators) at 11:12 p.m., our daughter Gianna Manuela (weighing 7 1/2 pounds and measuring 19 inches) was born healthy, beautiful, and happy. We thank our all-powerful God for this miracle of life. We hope our story inspires many couples who suffer from infertility so that they find faith and hope through prayer, the intercession of the saints, and the help of expert professionals who use modern methods of Fertility Care to enable conception and take a pregnancy to term.
*Click Here to visit St. Gianna’s website.