Week 11: Lucky ME (Member Photos)

Sara Lowing-Wright - My youngest son had a really bad health scare when he was 18mo. He became really sick and started having seizures. What we initially thought were febrile seizures quickly turned to something less benign. It was a fast cascading event into darkness. At one point they couldn't get him to come to in between seizures ( he had many many seizures) and we all knew that wasn't a good sign. At the worst part of the experience, he stopped breathing and they had to resuscitate him. But guess what? He's totally FINE now! (long story short) And I totally attribute this to LUCK. I really do. I am not a person who thinks of luck often and I don't have any rituals surrounding it, etc. Even though I prayed and prayed through this awful event, I don't believe it was divine intervention. That may sound callous, but I am a teaching specialist in the early intervention field and meet kids weekly that didn't end up so lucky as my little guy. Many of the cases I read start out similiar. Sickness. Seizures. Medication. But many don't get the break. I don't believe God would help me and not them. We got lucky. I am grateful.

Emily Ingalls - I don't consider myself to be lucky by nature. Everything I've earned, I worked hard with blood, sweat, and tears to get.I do consider myself lucky to have my kids. I was the first of all of my friends to start a family. As the years went by, I saw several of my friends struggle with infertility. And here I was pregnant over and over again without issue. I never realized how blessed, lucky I was to have no medical problems with fertility until I saw what others were going through. And now, I'm lucky enough to stay at home and raise them.

Alexis Pickard - Before I was lucky in love I was lucky with winning...money specifically. I have won three jackpots at the casino and $10000 on a scratch ticket (*bonus in Canada we are not taxed so we get the whole amount :)). My luck paid for college, bought me diamond earrings and helped with a down payment for my house. Although being lucky with winning was fun, I am very thankful that I am finally lucky in love.

Jenny Parker - Being a parent is hard. These little people can drive you nuts at times, they are hard to understand, they throw tantrums for what seems like no good reason, they take up a lot of your day. But it's true what every person tells you about them...They are worth it. I have been so lucky (fortunate, blessed) to be able to get pregnant when I wanted. I know a lot of people, including my own sweet sister, who struggle with infertility. So here is me and my little blessings, toddler in the tub, junebug in the belly. (It's barely a selfie, but I made it in there!!)

Jennifer Podesta - I always knew I wanted a little boy! Well, I got three of them! All of my life I wanted to have kids, and I REALLY wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do just what I wanted. It doesn't mean it doesn't come with rough days, especially not having any family around to pitch in; but the good times always make the rough times worth it. There are sacrifices: I don't watch nearly as much TV as I thought I'd have time for (haha!), and I'm convinced my house would be a lot cleaner without my kids in it all day... but I love not missing any more moments than I have to.

Loren Haar - I have the most amazing family. I have felt lucky to find my husband again (after 17 years of no contact) ever since the day we reconnected. But even more lucky is that each of our children came to us in unexpected ways, the first often called "our miracle baby," and the other two adopted with circumstances that are hard not to classify as "meant to be." So a picture of us at the dinner table seemed a good way to convey our family dynamic. And I did get that nice shot of most of us looking at the camera, smiling, peaceful. But.... that's not the reality most of the time, so I thought I would post the next shot instead, which is SO much more representative of our life right now. My oldest, as usual, won't stay seated at the dinner table so you see her hand there on the left, holding a stick of some sort (what?), and my boy is indeed jumping in his high chair while I try my best to pay attention to our middle girl. SO funny! I laugh every time I see it.

MacKenzie Gilliam - We got admitted into the hospital again. Life is hard sometimes, but there is still so much I can be thankful for. My family woke up again today, my son is stable, and we're happy.

Aubrey Dettmer- For 6 years we tried to have a baby. I suffered from a chronic illness when first married and its many complications, and then infertility that never seemed to end. One day, it just happened...well, with a lot of help and so many prayers and pleas to God. And then we were blessed again. Now I feel so blessed - even lucky - to have two beautiful daughters when I thought I'd have none. Luck is what you make of it. Call it luck. Call it a miracle. Either way, I helped create two of the most amazing human beings, and I will never ever take that for granted.

Sofia Di Trapani - Someone said, "Luck is when opportunity meets preparation." Here's the reason why I choose not to call myself lucky. I prefer to call myself favored. There's a difference. Favor (Unmerited favor) is to receive something good even when you don't deserve it. I've been upset at God for a while. I've blamed him for evil in the world. However, when I even dare to think, how would it be to live without his favor? My bones tremble. When my mind doubts his love and compassion, I try to remember, his light shines upon me even when there's darkness around me.The cross is my greatest hope. Jesus took my punishment, canceled my debt so I can be blessed even when I didn't "prepare."

Tricia Machel - I'm not one to think of things in terms of luck, but I was able to capture something today that reflects a day full of blessings from the Lord. It's not my best image, but it's an image I was able to be in with most of my family. And that makes it special for a few reasons. I've been facing quite a bit of health challenges lately with multiple sclerosis. Yesterday was especially difficult. Today, however, I was able to spend time running errands with my husband and 3 little girls, and I was even able to work on a couple puzzles with them this afternoon (while my youngest was napping), a definite improvement from yesterday! My husband and daughters are amazing. They are such a huge support and help in all my ups and downs. My little girls have such compassionate hearts even at such young ages, wanting to help me in any way they can when I'm in pain and having a hard time walking. My husband sacrifices so much to take care of us. He is absolutely incredible. I am so thankful that God has given them to me. And I'm thankful I was finally able to have a little fun with them this afternoon.

Cash Murray- This is my first post ever & I hope I am not late. Almost 5yrs ago I got essure permanent birth control. The story is a bit long so I will just say that it has caused me so many health problems & some days made me feel like I wasn't even human. Every doctor I saw insisted that essure wasnt the cause. To make matters worse all tests kept coming back normal except autoimmune and low vitamins. I was luck enough to finally find a Dr. willing to listen, believe me & help me get these evil coils out. On St. Patty's day I finally got to have a hysterectomy to remove these coils & our lawyers filed suit against the manufacturer on the same day as my surgery! The Dr. said that I was lucky he didn't have to do a c section cut to clean up the damage. I am lucky coils didn't migrate, break or embed themselves into other organs like they have in many other women. I truly feel like I found that pot of gold this St. Patty's Day. I was so lucky to wake up from surgery surrounded by my hubby, 3 kids, my parents, the greatest friend and her 3 children a girl could ever ask for! I made it home today & now the 6 week journey of recovery begins. To learn more about the truth of this device feel free to visit www.essureprocedure.net and "essure problems" fbook page.

Elena Pendell - When my newborn son lay in my arms and I first heard the words Down syndrome, I most certainly did not feel lucky. I spent the first part of his life pushing him and trying to be a PT, OT, SLP thinking I was giving him every advantage I could. I read the parenting magazines and tried to live up to their expectations. My heart broke with every missed milestone. As the years went on, I focused on what he could do and only went on outings that he and my daughter would thrive at. I don't remember changing. It was so gradual. But somewhere in the last 7 years, it changed into what he could teach me. I saw how in the moment he was. I saw how a nurse could torture him with a blood draw and just as soon as she was done, he would forgive her and hug her. I realized that all this pressure we put on ourselves just doesn't matter. I began to see people for who they were and appreciate all the different abilities. Life is beautiful just the way it is. This little boy grew my heart three sizes too big and he is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me.