We have been married for 14-years and on our fertility journey for over ten. During those years we have undergone numerous test with fertility clinics and experienced eleven miscarriages. But our desire to become parents has not diminished. God has continued to provide us with love from our community, grace to support one another, and a desire to keep pursuing the family He has for us.
With our latest results, our hearts have turned to adoption and we would love to have your support on this new journey. We will be pursuing a unique form of adoption called snowflake adoption. A snowflake is a frozen embryo, which another couple fertilized through IVF in the hope of using for their own pregnancy. When these couples are done growing their family, they may have embryos left over which they can then choose to dump, continue to freeze, or donate. The embryo we will adopt has been frozen and waiting for us. What makes this style of adoption even more special is that Sarah will get the opportunity to carry our baby through pregnancy and delivery.
We will add one note about the science. If for whatever reason your beliefs about IVF do not align with our choice to adopt this way, that is fine. We believe that, whether naturally in the womb or through science in the laboratory, it is always God who sparks life. This is not a space to argue your points for or against embryo adoption. But if you want to learn more about the process and why so many families are choosing to pursue it you can explore the research at NightLight Adoptions.
We could not be more excited for this new season and want to start the process as soon as possible with your help. We are hoping to raise $20,000 to see this adoption come to fruition. That amount includes our application fees, home study, transportation of our embryo, legal fees, and IVF treatments. We would love your prayers most of all in this season. Many of you have walked with us through seasons of grief and loss for the last ten years and we are so grateful for your love and grace as we have grown. Pray that God's joy will multiply in this season and that our child can be a light in this world.
All our love, Sarah & Jeremy
After a long, challenging labor with some complications, Neveah (Nevi) Deborah Brummel was born - August 14, 2024 at 11:49pm. We celebrated her arrival with a Jatakarma ceremony where Jeremy placed a small drop of honey on her forehead and lips, whispered God's name in her ear, and prayed a blessing over her life.
Nevi had a brief stay in the NICU before her and Sarah were both discharged. It was a very long week, but we are grateful to be home and getting settled in with our little miracle.
We can't thank you all enough for being a part of this journey to bring our baby girl home and wanted to share some other updates that are impacting our life and family right now that you can continue to pray about.
We have recently been contacted by Nevi's bio-family to let us know they would love to have an open adoption relationship. We are so excited for this opportunity for her to have a direct connection to this piece of her family and also overwhelmed with all of the emotions that come with how we will grow and develop that relationship. Please pray for us as we engage and begin learning how to set healthy boundaries and build trust in this new relationship.
We are so ready to meet this little girl. Sarah is very pregnant and enjoyed waddling around San Diego and Disneyland with her sister, niece, and nephew who came to visit at the beginning of July. But she says the heat is getting to an unbearable level here, especially since she has a built-in heater these days.
We got some news that we've been adjusting to last week - we will not be able to labor and deliver with our midwife at the birth center as we planned. After much evaluation, and an extra ultrasound, our midwife believes it would be safest for us and baby to be at a hospital where we can be monitored and have the option of a C-section, if necessary. This is due to a condition with the placenta and cord (velamentous cord insertion), which are very common with IVF patients.
So, we've rewritten our birth plan, moved some funds around and will have a doula with us instead of our much loved midwife. There's very little control that we have in the birthing process and it's taken us a minute to pause and regroup to this new route of care. But our hospital bags are packed and the car seat is installed so that we are ready when baby girl decides she's ready to go.
We would appreciate prayers as labor and delivery are still a very challenging step in this process, and not without risks or complications for both baby and Sarah. Please pray for wisdom for our doctors, that our doula would be able to provide helpful input, options, and advocate for us as needed. Pray that the baby is safe and doesn't become distressed during the laboring or delivery process. Pray for Jeremy whose anxiety is running high with so much out of his control. Pray that we would have a peaceful experience with the birth and that God's hand would be ever present to us.
We are so grateful for you all and hope you are excited to see this journey fulfilled in the birth of this baby girl. We can't wait for you to meet her.
Shalom,
Jeremy & Sarah
We are into Week 26 of this pregnancy and feeling strong. After figuring out some issues with our insurance, Sarah was finally able to schedule the fetal echo, which was ordered at our 20 week anatomy scan. We had that completed this last week and results all came back NORMAL!!! Praise God!!
Baby girl is growing and measuring right on track. She's very squirmy and Jeremy was finally able to feel her move.
Sarah has her glucose test tomorrow, May 9th, 2024 and we are praying that this test also registers normal so that there are no additional complications that we have to balance going into the third trimester.
We would like to ask for extra prayers for us this weekend as we celebrate Mother's Day. This day is always challenging for Sarah and I as we remember, celebrate, and grieve our babies. It is not our 'first' Mother's Day by any means, but that is what we fear many people will want to celebrate with us with this year.
We love you all and are grateful for your continued prayers and support.
Shalom,
Jeremy & Sarah
We are officially 20 weeks into this pregnancy, which means we are halfway to the finish line!! Other than some heartburn and insomnia, Sarah is doing fine. Last week we had our 20 week scan and have taken a few days to process the results of that appointment. Baby girls is doing well overall. She is weighing 11 ounces and sitting in the 50% group for growth. She was moving so much that the images we got were very blurry and our ultrasound tech had me get up and move around 4 different times to help get the images she needed.
When the doctor came in to give us our results we were not thrilled to see that he was the same one who read us our first ultrasound results - we call him 'Doctor Doom & Gloom' because he leads with the worst news possible about EVERYTHING, even if things are looking good. We listened to what he had to say carefully knowing how he presents information and there was a concern that was relevant this time around which we will be following up on.
Doctor told us that the measurements of baby's ventricle and aorta were a bit off - either the ventricle is measuring small or the aorta is measuring large - neither is good. So, he has referred us to have an echo on baby's heart to see if we can get some clearer images and measurements to help determine if there is in fact a problem we need to stress about.
Jeremy and I are doing our best not to stress until we have solid answers, but we are nervous. There is also a factor with our insurance that is causing us to have to wait until May to do the echo.
So today we are asking that you would pray with us that baby girl would continue to develop well and that we can be patient in the waiting for God to work and for answers to come. Pray that everything works out as it should with our insurance as well so that we can schedule the echo asap in May.
We love you all. Thank you so much for your prayers, love, and support. They have been truly felt in this season.
-Sarah & Jeremy
It seems impossible that one year ago - March 2023 - we had just started this process by submitting our application to NightLight Adoptions. God had been working to open doors since 2016 to grow our family but we knew it was our turn to take the leap of faith and step into the work He was doing.
The process seemed crazy fast and slow at the same time - full of paperwork and bouts of waiting. Waiting for those documents to process; waiting for an email; waiting for test results, etc. But God was not rushed, He was ready and moving to match us with the family that He had planned for us. And because we listened and prayed and trusted we are in this incredible season - a season full of nausea, new pants, cravings, hormones, and lots and lots of joy.
Today we are 18 weeks along in this pregnancy and grateful beyond belief for God's guidance and provision, for our miracle baby girl, and for you who have walked with us and supported us emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Thank you for showing up, for your prayers, and for loving us through the ups and downs of this crazy year.
Shalom,
Sarah & Jeremy
