So much has happened since our last post back in September announcing the good news that we are expecting a baby. We have been able to see our little miracle numerous times via ultrasound, and have started gathering everything that is needed to care for our little one.
Before we knew the gender of our baby, we had a girls name and a boys name picked out. We were very intentional with the name, seeing as the Lord has been so good and answered so many prayers on our behalf and we wanted the name to reflect God's goodness. I was set to find out the gender the day after Christmas, but with each passing day, it became harder and harder to not know whether we were having a boy or a girl, so we decided to go get a 3D/4D ultrasound done about 4 weeks before Christmas. Sure enough, the very first thing we saw on the ultrasound was that it was indeed, a little boy! Our baby was going to be a little boy, and his name would be Judah Zion Roop.
How did we ever come up with that name you ask? Heres the story. So WAYYY back in the old Testament in the Bible, There is a man named Jacob. Jacob works for a man in order to marry his daughter Rachel. However, he was tricked, and the man gave him his other daughter Leah first. After Jacob agreed to work some more, the man also gave him Rachel. However, Leah was not loved by Jacob. God noticed this, and allowed Leah to concieve, and Rachel to be barren.
(Stick with me here) Leah first gave birth to a son and named him Rueben and she said "It is because the Lord saw my misery, surely my husband will love me now." Then she had a second son, and named him Simeon and said "Because the Lord has heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So then once again she had a third son, and named him Levi saying "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have given him 3 sons." (We are almost there, hang in there) Then guess what happened? Yep...she had a fourth son. This time however, she said "This time I will praise the Lord" so she named him Judah.
If you know anything about our journey, you know it was quite the process for us. After 4 years of trying to convieve through multiple interventions, God finally blessed us with a baby. Follow me here:
Attempt number 1: We tried to get pregnant on our own for 2 years. I always just wanted a baby just to have a baby. They are so cute, and bring so much joy. This was my Rueben.
Attempt number 2: When we weren't getting pregnant on our own, we went down the path of IVF. I first had to have extensive surgery for endometriosis and to fix a problem in my uterus. After the surgery we attempted IVF for the first time. After months of tests, shots, bloodwork and everything else, our IVF attempt failed. This was my Simeon.
Attempt number 3: After another year of disappointments and our hearts healing we decided to give IVF another shot. This time, there were complicaitons and the day I was supposed to have my eggs retrieved, I found out they were going to have to cancel our attempt because I was hyperstimulating. This was my Levi.
Attempt number 4: After all this had happened, I had a serious talk with God. I told him that I no longer wanted to have a baby just to have a baby. If he blessed us with a baby, all the glory would be his. If he didn't bless us...thats okay, the glory would still all be his. I told him that I wanted this baby to be a vessel for bringing him glory in whatever way he saw fit, and that if he decided to bless us this time, we would do our best to make sure that baby was raised and brought up to praise the Lord. I had decided this would be our last attempt. No more were we going to keep pursuing IVF. We would trust that God had everything under control. So, with IVF attempt number 3 underway, I praised God. Through the hard times and the exciting times, I praised God. After all was said and done, we had a pregnancy test done and it had confirmed that we were pregnant! For the first time ever, we were pregnant! What did we do? We praised the Lord.
We only saw it fit that our babys name be a outcry of praise to the Lord. Judah means 'Praise God" and Zion means "In the highest" So together his name means Praise God in the highest! We hope that when people hear his name and they ask how we came up with it, we can tell them of Gods grace in our lives and how he answered our prayers and gave us such a little miracle and that they in turn will praise the Lord.