In May/June 2012, I decided I was
ready to have my third child, a son that I so desired. Also around the same time
I noticed that my periods had changed. The colour, consistency and content were
different from the norm. My periods became darker, were late and lasted longer.
I thought it must be the copper coil that I was using. So I decided to remove
the coil. I started trying to conceive,
using the ovulation kit etc to ensure I had a boy but I wasn’t getting
pregnant. A couple of months later the periods were still the same. After a
couple of examinations, my doctor said I had polycystic ovaries which causes
infertility. Now this came as a shock since I already had two kids. I also
recall that as soon as he checked my cervix, he asked when last I did a pap
smear. I told him and he said since the results were fine then there was no
cause for alarm. According to him I had cervical erosion which apparently could
be a symptom of a bigger problem or as a result of child bearing.
After I was diagnosed with
polycystic ovaries in January 2013, I cried and told my husband. He said I
shouldn’t worry about it and I should trust God. That Sunday we went to Church as we normally
do. At our church, Guiding Light Assembly, towards the end of Sunday service, a
basket is passed around which contains bible scriptures in folded pieces of
papers. Each member of the congregation is expected to pick a bible promise. On
numerous occasions God has spoken to me through those promises. On this particular
Sunday, my husband picked a promise Psalm
128:3 “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons
like Olive shoots around your table”. He showed it to me and I believed God was
speaking to us. The following week I picked the same Bible verse and I knew
that God was talking to us. He was confirming what he already told us a week
earlier. I believed it and knew that in
God’s time I would have my son. By summer 2013, I began to worry again when
nothing had happened. I went to see another doctor who also confirmed I had
polycystic ovaries. No one could really say what I needed to do to reverse the
condition. Anyway at this point, I decided to just let go and let GOD.
February 2014, I felt something
in my breast that felt like a lump. I told my cousin and she prayed with me and
advised I go get it checked. As usual I procrastinated and didn’t get it
checked. Then one Sunday in March, we had a guest minister from the States,
Francina Norman, a woman blessed with a gift of prophecy. She preached that day
and in summary the message was that when God wants to enlarge your capacity or
container, he often removes certain things in your container and this is often
a painful process. I believed strongly
that the message was for me from God. Then after preaching, she began to
prophecy and then she said there is a lady in the congregation with a lump in
her breast and the lady should come out now. I went out with about 4 other
ladies. Then she prayed for us and everyone apart from me said their lump had
disappeared. She began to pray for me saying Lord you must heal her too. She
then touched me saying the Lord will turn your sorrow into joy and I fell down.
When I got up I was so embarrassed that the whole Church now knew my
predicament.
Meanwhile my best friend, hadn’t
been to Church in a very long time and that day she happened to come to Church
and coincidentally sat right next to me. So after service, she called saying “Omi
I didn’t know you had a lump ..….” . She also said and that another of our
friend who has a breast cancer foundation had
been in Church and called her out of concern. She got the number of a
doctor for me and I decided to go get it checked. I called the doctor and
booked an appointment, however, that whole week all attempts to see the doctor
were futile. I made several attempts to
go get checked but for some reason, something kept happening that made it
impossible for me to go (fuel scarcity, car problems etc). At one point I was confused and even told another
friend that I wasn’t sure what was going on, that was it God preventing me from
going to see this particular doctor or was it the devil.
By the weekend, I remembered I had a swelling in
my gum and decided to go get it checked on Monday before going to get my
breasts checked. I went to the dentist and they decided to do an x-ray and then
said I needed to see a maxillor facial surgeon to confirm what they thought
they saw. They said I would have to wait another week to see him. You can
imagine how I was feeling at this point. From a lump in my breast to the fear
of a lump in my gum. I told a lady who had been praying with me during this process,
what the dentist had said and she said she was going to take me to another
dentist to get another opinion and that she would pick me up the following
day. The next morning I received a text
message early in the morning around 5 am from a friend of mine saying : “Good
morning Omi, God said to remind you that He is your shepherd and you will not
want, that He anoints your head and protects you from the evil one. That his
goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life”. I received it and believed that
as a shepherd guides its flocks, the Lord will guide me.
I went to see this
other dentist which is considered the best in Nigeria and he said I had nothing
to worry about that it was just excess bone deposits which occur in some
people. I then told him that I was worried because I had also felt a lump in my
breast and thought the two were connected and he advised me to go check the
lump out immediately. I called the doctor I had tried to see the previous week
and she was annoyed and basically said I
had been wasting her time and that she was leaving the office shortly . I told
her I was on my way. I got to her office but didn’t see her and saw another
doctor, who then checked and said she didn’t think there was anything there but
that she would rather I get another opinion and asked me to come the next day
to see two of her other colleagues. I got there the next day but still didn’t
meet the doctor I had been trying to see and saw another doctor. She checked me
and said I was fine but that she would like to talk to me in her office. I went
to her office and she sat me down and educated me on female health etc, She
took her time and we were there for over an hour talking through her presentation
slides and also her families experience with cancer. She wasn’t even feeling
well and wasn’t supposed to be at work that day but it didn’t deter her from
doing her job. Towards the end of our discussions, she said the top three
killers of women are breast cancer, cervical cancer etc. At that point I
remembered that I was due for a pap smear and asked if they did it at their
clinic. She said they didn’t but that she could recommend a good doctor. She
gave me his number and I drove all the way from Lekki to Surulere to this
clinic.
I got checked and was told; I had pre-cancer cells in my cervix and
needed treatment. I asked what kind of treatment I needed and I was told I
needed a cryotheraphy which is a procedure that involves freezing the affected
area and burning it off. Alarmed, I asked how much it
would cost and the doctor told me the cost of treatment. I didn’t have money on me and so I told the doctor that I would come back to do the treatment
and he said to me, you look like someone that would pay. We would do it for you
and you can come back to pay us later. Without checking the credentials of the
hospital, doctor or even the consequences of the treatment and without even consulting
with my husband first, I did the treatment. It wasn’t until after I did the treatment that
I thought to myself how I could have gone through something like that without
telling anyone. The normal thing to do
would have been to first of all discuss it with my husband, get a second
opinion before deciding on what to do but I guess God had other plans. It was
as though I was on remote control, everything happened so fast. So when I got
home I told my hubby and we thanked God.
The next day, I went to a
restaurant opening and I bumped into the doctor I had tried to see several
times with regards to the breast lump. I spoke to her and told her everything
that had happened that week. She said I shouldn’t have done a cryotherapy, that
there are consequences etc, etc. Basically she put fear and doubt in me. I told
my hubby and he said, don’t you believe in God. At that point I realized why God
had prevented me from seeing this doctor all week. He had a plan for me and he
directed me to who he wanted me to speak to and where he wanted me to go. I
stood on the words of encouragement from my husband and believed that God was
in control.
At the end of the month, my
period came and for the first time in about 3 years, my flow was fresh and
exactly what it had been previously. Immediately I knew I had been healed and I
thanked God. The next three months, my periods were regular and consistent. No
more darkish brown and no more delays. I began to think again about getting
pregnant but I thought to wait for a while to ensure my cervix had healed.
Around that same time I started
co-hosting the talk show the Heart of the Matter and we recorded about three
episodes on fertility. I interviewed a fertility doctor and I began to think of
getting my self-checked again especially since I had been diagnosed with polycystic
ovaries. I also interviewed a lady who had waited 10 years to have her kids,
she couldn’t and in the 10th year she opted for surrogacy. This too
wasn’t an easy process and eventually she had twins three years later through
surrogacy. After hearing her story and seeing how much she went through both
physically, financially and emotionally, I realized how blessed I was and I said
I was content with my two girls and didn’t need to have any more. I stopped obsessing
about having a baby boy. Later that month (about 3-4 weeks), I got up one
morning to go to work and by my bedside I saw a Bible promise I had picked in
Church a while ago Psalm 127:3 ”Lo children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb His reward”. As I was about to leave the house, I checked
through my bag and picked up the same Bible promise. When I got to my office ,
I saw the same bible promise at my desk. I then said to myself, God must be
saying something. I hadn’t even missed my period and I went home and did a
pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant.
On the 25th of April,
2015, the Lord blessed us with
beautiful, baby boy who weighed 4.26 kg/9.3pounds. I had a very quick
labour (about 3 hours) and didn’t even know I was in labour. When I got to the hospital I was already 4 cm
dialated. All the while I thought I was having Braxton Hicks.
Everyone says my son is so
beautiful and so cute and it is the Lords doing. I cannot even begin to say all
the wonderful things God did even during the pregnancy. All I can say is that
God is never late and always on time. His ways are not our ways but His ways
are far better than ours. He would always do exceedingly and abundantly above
your wildest imaginations.
See the delay in getting pregnant
was for a purpose. If I had gotten pregnant when I wanted to I would not be
here today. Pregnancy is said to aggravate diseases and the pre-cancer cells
may have developed into cancer. God knew this and removed the cells before I
got pregnant. He also knew it wasn’t the right time. The time my son has come
is perfect timing and I have received so many confirmations to this effect. See
we need to learn to trust His timing. Delay is not denial. ‘Not yet ‘does not
mean ‘No’. He sees the bigger picture, He sees the future. We must learn to
trust his timing. Then suddenly, when you least expect it, He answers your
prayers and it is beautiful, it is beyond your wildest imagination. It is more
than you can ever imagine.
I pray this encourages you. I
pray it gives you peace that that thing which you have been waiting for would
surely come to pass. I pray that it also gives you confidence to trust in His
will and even if He says no, it is for your own good. Today I read something
that said on Good Friday, the disciples and Mary thought it was over but then
Sunday came and Jesus resurrected. It’s not over yet, your Sunday is on its
way.
Stay blessed and have a wonderful
Easter. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season.
