Hello to our Family and Friends!

Greetings from the Lamont’s!  Thank you for holding a very special place in our hearts and being a part of our lives.  We have so much to be thankful for and are so blessed with all of our wonderful family and friends.  You all have been an important part of our lives in helping to shape who Russell and I are as individuals and as a couple.   You may have been a part of our lives when we were young, or just recently come into our lives, or maybe you’ve been alongside us all along, but every single one of you is so important to us. We believe that God has had His hand on every step of our journey so far and this is just the beginning.  So many of you have loved us, encouraged us, made us laugh hysterically and been a part of some great story telling and we cherish these memories.  You have been amazing examples to us of faith, hope and love.  Thank you for doing life with us!

We wanted to share our story with you and ask for your continued support and encouragement as we head off on another great adventure.

Russell and I will have been married 11 years on July 15th this year. Whoo hoo!   Can’t believe it’s been that long already, but we know there are exciting things in our future and so much more to see.  We have overcome so much in our last 10 years and are thankful that the Lord has brought us this far.  We wouldn’t have been able to do it without Him, his forgiveness and his grace!

As long as I can remember, I had always dreamed about being married and being a mom.  Having a family and doing all the fun things that I did with my family growing up.  Sitting on our deck watching the thunderstorms roll in, road trips, camping, playing games, clambakes and spending time with my family and friends and their growing families.  I of course didn’t realize that I would be living in rural Alaska and that the New York kind of life that I dreamt about might not look exactly as I had dreamed it would, but even more exciting that its different than anything I could ever imagine.  Since I have made Bethel my home, those dreams consist of spending time on the river boating,  going to fish camp, going on a snowmachine ride, mowing our little lawn, playing with our dog Bailey or watching the amazing sunrises and sunsets that Bethel offers us on a daily basis.  But all of my dreams included us having children.  Who knew it wouldn’t happen the way we dreamed?  Well, we believe God knew and that even though infertility was not “His” plan for us, but that through infertility He has had his hand on our situation and is using it for the purposes of His perfect plan as a whole.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.”

 Jeremiah 29:11

 We started thinking about starting a family back in 2007 and have been on a long and bumpy journey since then.  After those first few years of trying and no luck, we started seeking medical help and were told that I wasn’t ovulating due to PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome) and that was causing our difficulties.  So, we were started on some medication and continued praying and hoping.  In February 2010 we had our first pregnancy and were so excited and beyond joyful, but sadly lost the baby at 7 weeks.  That was really hard on both of us and it took many months to work through our grief and our loss.   Miscarriage is so hard to talk about for so many people, and I know for myself, healing began when I finally was able to share and talk about it more.

We continued on our journey, sought more medical help, and continued to trust and hope that the Lord would hear our prayers.  He put this desire in our hearts for a reason and we know He did for a specific purpose.  So onward we went.  More testing, more medications and months and months of disappointment as each month passed without exciting news to share.  Months and years passed as we hoped to start growing a family alongside our own friends and family.  During all of this, we continued to trust that God had a very special plan for us.   

“For NOTHING will be impossible with God.”  Luke 1:37

In September 2013, we had our second positive pregnancy test and with a lot of contained excitement, we very carefully and cautiously wanted to make sure things looked like they were moving forward normally.  After some blood work and a few short days later, we were told that my HCG levels weren’t rising normally and that there was no pregnancy seen in my uterus, so there was great concern for an ectopic pregnancy (tubal pregnancy).  Sure enough, as things progressed I started having severe pain and was admitted to the hospital.  Unfortunately, we had lost our second baby.  I’m not sure how to explain the loss of someone you haven’t really had a chance to meet yet, but it for sure was painful and so heartbreaking.  Something I wouldn’t want to see anyone go through.  But, through all of these ups and downs, it was our faith in God that kept us looking up and the numerous prayers and encouragement from family and friends that held us up.  We never would have been able to make it through and continue down the road without all of you standing around us and lifting us up.  Some of you may have not even known what was going on, but your love and friendship were exactly what we needed. 

As we kept walking down this road in hopes of extending the Lamont family, we endured a few more tests, a diagnostic surgery and were told that pregnancy would most likely never happen naturally.  That never stopped us from continuing to pray for complete healing and restoration of my broken body or for the plan that we were meant to walk down.  We know and believe that God is plenty capable of doing that and so much more, but sometimes His plan doesn’t take us exactly where and when we thought we might end up.  So, we proceeded to pray for direction and wisdom and for peace with the journey He had planned for us.

It was after the second loss that I realized that through these experiences that we had endured that God was still able to use them for His good by allowing us to share our story and sympathize with others who have been down the same road.  And even though these things weren’t easy to go through at all, I know God allowed us to make it through and gave us the strength to continue seeking our hearts’ desire.  A Family. 

He gave that to us and we will continue to trust in him to provide.  We don’t know how this story will end, but we know this isn’t it.

So, the next part of the journey we are headed down is leading us to seek In vitro Fertilization (IVF).  It may not be the usual way people make their families grow, but we feel like the Lord has brought us here, and for such a time as this!!  Exciting, right?  Yes!!!.....and very scary!  So, we are asking for you to join us in praying with us and for us.  We have so much that we are in need of, but prayer is so powerful so that is what we seek the most.   

So, when is all of this excitement going to start?  Well… right now!   Actually we are starting to prepare for this big process now, but the actual IVF procedures start this JULY, 2017!   I have planned to be in New York for the whole month of July while Russell will be there for about 2 weeks.  The whole IVF process will last through the month with about 2 weeks of medication stimulation and monitoring, egg retrieval and then embryo transfer.  We have a lot of things we need to prepare for, one of which we aren’t quite sure where the funds will come from, but we believe the Lord wants to show us big things through his PROVISION! 

We have already purchased our airline tickets and paid for my rental car for the month and are so thankful our housing is already taken care of thanks to some awesome Fam-bam peeps!  

We have created a Facebook page that we will try to keep updated letting you all know where we are in the process and how you can be praying at that specific time.   If you want to keep up with us and our adventure, please send me an email or message on Facebook and I will invite you to our page.  This page is also for you to post prayers and encouragement for us or anything that you would like to share with us.  We can’t wait to hear from you!

For those of you interested in donating financially, all of the funds will go towards the procedure.  Estimated costs are:

Monitoring/blood work:  $850
IVF Process as a whole: $3900
Medications estimated: $3000-$5000  This depends on how the initial monitoring goes and how my ovaries respond.
If the first cycle doesn't work, I am planning to stay and do a second frozen embryo transfer before returning to Alaska to save on travel expenses.  

Thank you SO much for your time and especially for your donation.  Praying a special blessing over each person who is apart of our journey!

If you have any questions or pieces of wisdom for us, please send us a message! We would love to share more about our journey with you and would love to hear from you. 
Please, leave us a message or your prayer for us!!  We love you!