{"id":8979,"date":"2016-05-06T20:46:48","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T20:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=8979"},"modified":"2016-05-06T20:46:48","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T20:46:48","slug":"touching-story-of-how-late-arch-bishop-benson-idahosas-daughter-inlaw-battled-infertility-by-pst-efe-osarenkhoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=8979","title":{"rendered":"Touching story of how late Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa’s daughter inlaw battled infertility by Pst Efe Osarenkhoe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Idahosa\"<\/a>My husband, F.E.Benson Idahosa II, and I met in Benin City, Nigeria when I was 13 years old; our fathers
\n(Benson Idahosa and Gary Whetstone) were friends. I\u2019ve referred to my love for Feb as \u201clove at first sight\u201d
\nbecause very soon after we met, the sparks of love began to flicker between us.
\nAfter many years, my dream came true when I was 28 years old; Feb made me his wife! I was the happiest
\nwoman on earth and smiled ear to ear all through our courtship and wedding day. I was so excited to be
\nhis wife! The next thing I couldn\u2019t wait for was to be the mother of his children; I wanted so badly to carry
\nhis baby.
\nDuring the first year of our marriage, pregnancy didn\u2019t happen like I expected. Subsequently, I convinced
\nmy husband to go with me for a fertility check-up. He thought it was silly because he was so sure that
\nwe\u2019d have our kids. Eventually, just to pacify me, we went for the check-up.<\/p>\n

\"NG-[C:G.Wclo,B:Allbrand,Wk:1816,Dim:300X250]:Dresses\"
\n<\/a><\/code><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To our surprise, they did all the testing and came back to us with tormenting news. They told us that both
\nhe and I had very serious fertility issues and that we would never be able to have a child without In-Vitro
\nFertilization (IVF). The Doctor looked at us both in our eyes and told us that we are 99.9% infertile.
\nMy world felt like it crashed down on me. It was a journey I never expected to undergo. My husband on the
\nother hand had steadfast faith and kept reassuring me, saying, \u201cWe will have our children! God promised it,
\nHe will do it!\u201d
\nFollowing the logical path of thinking, we decided to embark on the journey of IVF. The next year, we
\ngathered our money together from some investments we made before marriage and went for our first
\ntreatment. After $25,000, injections, surgery and so many stories that ought not to be told, we did our
\nfirst embryo transfer. 2 weeks later, so full of hope, we went back to see if we were pregnant and my world
\ncrashed again; it didn\u2019t work!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

We repeated this process several times over the next few years, each time ending in disappointment.
\nThe more treatments I did, the puffier my tummy began to look. Well-meaning friends and family would
\nsee me and think that finally I was expectant! They would rub my tummy and give me hugs of
\ncongratulations\u2026 all the while, but I knew my uterus was empty. Empty! And trust me, I sooo longed for a
\nbaby.
\nAfter four failed IVF attempts, my husband and I decided to find another hospital which had a statistical
\ntrack record of better outcomes. We went to New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University. This time,
\nIT WORKED!!!!!
\nI was finally pregnant! Hallelujah!!!!!!
\nI carried that pregnancy like someone carrying an egg with a spoon; very delicately\u2026 although we were
\nbased in Nigeria, I refused to travel back during that pregnancy. I followed every instruction and went for
\nevery doctor visit. I was ready to be a healthy mom with a healthy baby.
\nOn July 3, 2007 after a long labour and eventual CS, I gave birth to the most handsome baby boy. He had
\na full head of hair and to this day, I can remember that feeling when they brought him to me and we
\nlooked at each other, eye to eye. We quickly announced it to our family and to anyone and everyone.
\nAcross the globe there were celebrations and outbursts of Thanksgiving! He was the first grandson born to
\nthe late Archbishop Benson Idahosa!!!
\nThe doctors asked to monitor him overnight in the NICU because he was born via CS. We were so excited
\nto have him that we didn\u2019t give it a second thought. Early the next morning, the head nurse came to my
\nhospital room and asked us to rush to see him. She told us that he was having trouble breathing and
\nsustaining a blood pressure.
\nWhat happened next, one could never have prepared for.
\nWe watched our miracle baby die.
\nBenson Idahosa III, lived for only 12 short hours.
\nThe first time I held my miracle baby in my arms was when he was dead.
\nThroughout the grieving process, we discovered that there was a grace upon our lives that man can never
\ngive. We cried desperately; deep tears that I never knew I was capable of crying. Simultaneously a faith
\nunlike anything that I ever experienced began to billow in our spirits. As dark as that time was, our resolve
\nhad never been stronger. We knew that we knew that we knew that we would have our children!
\nWe buried our long-awaited son on July 9th.
\nDuring the burial service, Bishop David Huskins prophesied over us saying, \u201cWithin a year from today, God
\nis going to give your family a cause to rejoice.\u201d At the time, I was reluctant to receive this prophecy,
\nknowing our arduous journey of infertility treatments.
\nWe returned to Nigeria with empty arms but hearts full of hope and prophetic promises.
\nThe doctors in New York told us that we couldn\u2019t attempt another IVF for a year, so, we began to fit back
\ninto our life routine. We also began to embark on a project that the Lord had birthed in our spirits during
\nthe height of our pain; to open a hospital for women and children in Nigeria. We were awakened to the fact
\nthat if this could happen to us in America (where we had everything humanly available to attend to our
\nbaby), how much more is it happening in Nigeria where many medical facilities available are sub-standard,
\nto say the least. The dream for Big Ben\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital (BBCH) was birthed
\nBy November of 2007, I still had not gotten a period since the delivery of my son in July. Figuring it would
\neventually come, I didn\u2019t give it much thought, however, one morning, on a whim, I decided to do a check.
\nI had drawers full of home pregnancy tests and I just decided to take one. To my surprise, it read
\nPOSITIVE!!!!
\nI was pregnant again, and this time, completely NATURALLY!!!
\nGod had worked a miracle in our lives! We travelled back to America for good medical care.
\nThe morning of July 9, 2008 (exactly one year after the burial of our first son and the prophecy) I gave
\nbirth to a healthy, handsome baby boy!!! To God be the Glory!
\nFeb Jr. is our son\u2019s name and is alive and doing very well. He is in elementary school and excels in
\neverything!
\nGod answered our prayers and kept His promise toward our home!
\nWhen Feb Jr. was 2, I started being concerned as to why I wasn\u2019t getting pregnant again. We wanted a
\nsibling for our son. We went back to the doctors for testing and they told us that we were worse off than
\nbefore. While they acknowledged the miraculous nature of Feb Jr.\u2019s conception, they told us, \u201cNobody wins
\nthe lottery twice.\u201d I was convinced to try another IVF, which I did. Sadly, it failed, just like all of the others
\nbefore it.
\nI returned to Nigeria and within two months, I got pregnant naturally! Naturally, I say, naturally!
\nOn November 14, 2011, we gave birth to yet another son, Nathaniel Benson Idahosa.
\n\u201cNate\u201d is going into kindergarten this year and is an exceptional joy to have in our home.
\nWhile still breastfeeding Nate, birth control was the furthest thing from my mind. I assumed that I had
\nnatural birth control, only to discover that I was PREGNANT
\nGAIN! Another natural conception to the Glory of God!
\nJudah Benson Idahosa was born on January 2, 2013 and is now a thriving toddler with the energy of 100
\nmen!
\nGod has given us our heart\u2019s desire. We are raising three boys, all naturally conceived. Our marriage and
\nlove for each other has been strengthened through the journey of infertility and infant loss.
\nGod is faithful to His Word! He will always do as He has promised in our lives. He never fails His children.
\nThough it may seem like it\u2019s getting worse and it may feel impossible, keep your eyes on Him with
\nexpectation. He is the giver of life and never fails.
\nMy prayer for you is that you will follow the path that God has for you and that your prayers will be
\nanswered as God has planned, in Jesus name!
\nRev. Laurie Idahosa is the Senior Pastor of CGM, Church Unusual in Benin City.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband, F.E.Benson Idahosa II, and I met in Benin City, Nigeria when I was 13 years old; our fathers (Benson Idahosa and Gary Whetstone) were friends. I\u2019ve referred to my love for Feb as \u201clove at first sight\u201d because very soon after we met, the sparks of love began to flicker between us. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[1919,1920],"class_list":["post-8979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-benson-idahosa","tag-gary-whetstone"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Idahosa.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-2kP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8981,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8979\/revisions\/8981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}