Matthew R's Story

Matthew - A Miracle Baby

My story is about my son Matthew, our precious gift from God. I truly believe he is our angel that has been long awaited, not only by us but our families. My husband Sal and I were married 10 years this year like most newlyweds, we talked about "plans" for our future. We wanted to buy a house and wait at least 2 years to start our family. Well, needless to say, things didn't go exactly as planned. We waited 2 years, and after another 2.5 unsuccessful years of trying to start our family, we went to an infertility specialist. Many RX's and IUI's later, I went for surgery and still nothing worked.

Our Dr. suggested IVF, but we weren't convinced that we needed that yet since they told us there was a slight chance we may get pregnant on our own. We left that Dr. and went on with our lives hoping and praying each month that maybe, that month would be "it". After many disappointments, we tried to focus on other things, so in our 6th year of marriage we bought our house. I truly believed in my heart, that one day God would send us a child when He was ready. I am a big believer in God's plan, and that he gives us only what we could handle, both good and bad. In 2001 my faith was truly tested.

In February of that year, my mother was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Being the eldest of her 5 daughters and being very close to my mom, I took on the responsibility of telling her that she had cancer (instead of having the Dr. tell her). I vowed to her that I always stand by her and we would face this together. At that same time in my life, I was seeing a new (2nd) infertility specialist and had decided to start IVF. I truly believe God had his hand in this one, because just when my mom was about to go through her tests to start her chemo treatments, My Dr. called me and told me that we had to postpone my IVF treatment due to his own personal problems. I know now that this was the best thing that could have happened since my priority was to get my mom better and focus on her medical condition. My husband was very understanding when I told him that I needed to be there for my mom and that I wanted to put our plans for a baby on the back burner.

While all of this was going on, my dad met someone through his business that introduced Sal and I to a 3rd infertility specialist (My parents were very persistent in not letting me give up). My mother made me swear to her that I wouldn't give up on trying to have a baby - Thank you Mom! After her 2 rounds of heavy chemo, my mom had a successful stem cell transplant in August and was in Sloan for close to a month. Then there was 9/11, which touched our lives and the lives of many of our families and friends. When my mom recovered and came home from the hospital, I went back to the fertility specialist. I had my IVF insemination in the beginning of October 2001. My mom insisted on staying with me during my first few weeks of bed rest. Close to 1 month later I got the call, and I was able to tell her that she would be a grandma! I truly believe that those words were her best medicine.

On July 16, 2002, my Son Matthew came into our lives, and now I could say, that I am complete. I thank God every day for my mother's health the for the strength he gave to me and my family, and most of all for my long awaited gift. Matthew has brought so much love and joy to our family, he is my breath.

Submitted by: Carmela Rivaloro, Mother