A few months ago, I shared a pretty lofty goal to donate 1,000 copies of my book, Tiny Blue Lines, to the annual Heartbeat, Intl. conference this spring. (You can read more about the project here.)
Although I thought it would be lovely, I never really expected to raise enough to send that many copies of my book there (let’s be real, I have barely sold that many!) but I felt like it was a worthwhile enough of of a project to put it totally in God’s hands and see what happened. I hated the thought of asking for money because every day I pass over so many more worthwhile fundraising efforts for children needing cancer treatments or the heartbreaking expense of parents planning for their baby’s funeral, so really, I just wanted to kind of set this project down and back away slowly.
The truth is, you never know who can benefit from the message that life matters and that unplanned pregnancy is not a dead end and when it comes right down to it, this book really could save lives-but again, I really felt like it wasn’t up to me to ask for money. So I haven’t pushed this project, but have been lucky to have some great people in my corner and to date, I’ve raised a little over $1,000 dollars!
Last week, I called Heartbeat, Intl. to update them on my project and they were gracious enough to help me work out a new plan, since obviously, I will not be sending 1,000 copies of my book as I originally hoped—but I have to say, I’m so happy with the new plan:
Instead of providing a copy of the book to every conference attendee, I will now be donating the book to a client services workshop at the conference, which means 1) the book will be getting in the hands of pregnancy center workers who are actively seeking new resources (like mine!) to help with their ministries and 2) I can send as many or as few as books as I am able to raise money to purchase, so I feel a huge sense of relief there.
Honestly, as these things usually go, I feel like everything worked out perfectly and it’s my hope to now send between 100 and 200 books to the workshop by the end of March.
I just wanted to seriously thank everyone who took the time to donate and share about the book project. I’m so very thankful and I really and truly hope that if there are young moms out there who needs the message of hope and inspiration that I found from other women in my book, that Tiny Blue Lines will find its way into their hands.
Some press coverage on my fundraising efforts:
- Catholic News Service shared the news about the book donation project.
- The lovely Sarah Reinhard wrote up a great piece for the NCRegister.
- CatholicMom.com included a post about my efforts.
- Grateful to The Guiding Star for helping me spread the word.
I’m still accepting donations for the book project, so if you feel led to sponsor a pregnancy center to receive Tiny Blue Lines, you can do so right here. Thank you!
Hi there,
This website is wonderful and be a follower from now on for sure! I just wanted to share my story because I am a young mom like you and have a WILD story. I honestly do not want to be contacted, I just want to share my story. In fact, we have a lot of similarities, especially having children. I feel sooooo blessed with a large family! Wanted to give my details, just for kicks (no pun intended!) So, here goes…we have two sets of boy twins, another sweet boy, and I am due in a month with another boy! That’s right, we will have SIX boys….But wait, it gets better! My twin boys are exactly 9.5 months apart!!! Yep, you read correctly!!! My ob/gyn declared me a super fertile mama because I had my first set at 22 and my second set at 22 as well. I married my high school sweetheart right out of college, and we honeymooned in romantic Paris. On that trip, we were not doing much on the prevention side. Actually more than times than not, we just got caught up and forgot! I mean it was our honeymoon! When I got home after 12 days, I just knew I was pregnant. I could just feel it! A quick trip to the drugstore confirmed my assumptions, and my doctor confirmed twins a week later. I had a blissful pregnancy and gave birth on my due date. I felt really great right after the birth, and we thought we were in the clear birth control wise. Honestly, it had not occurred to me to start up the pill, since I had never taken it. My husband and I have always used the withdrawal method, except in Paris and while preggers. Thank goodness you don’t need contraception then. After I had the babies, I immediately asked my doctor about intercourse, he gave us the go ahead for sex right away. If I am being honest, we were very, very eager! Even though we were able to have sex almost up until the end, we just needed it. We obviously started right when I got home from the hospital! I was breast feeding, and we just were really enjoying our time with the newborns and each other, but something seemed off with me fairly soon. I had very swollen breasts, was very, very nauseous, and my hormones were raging, you know the drill. I did have what a thought was a menstrual period for five days. Eventually I had a routine doctor´s appointment, and I mentioned to my doctor how sick I had been feeling. He gave me puzzled look and asked me about contraception, and I answered that we were not using any most of the time. He immediately sent me to the lab for a pregnancy test. BOOM! It confimed I was indeed expecting, and it just so happened to be twins again! In fact, when I went to the doctor, my babies were four months old, and I was three and a half months along. Very,very rare, but it happens! Apparently you are very fertile after giving birth. We were shocked to say the least, but we were delighted! The second set of twins came along, and we knew we wanted more kiddos; so, instead of waiting, we decided to throw caution to the wind, and I got pregnant almost immediately. This time did consult my doctor beforehand, and he declared it very possible if it is something we wanted. So, very shortly after I got home, we got the green light again for sex. We all know what can happen with unprotected intercourse, and it did. Now my boys are 11 times 2, 10 times 2, and my other sweet son is 9. He was born 11 months to the day after the last set of twins. A small kind of a surprise, but as I mentioned we were also planning it! Yes, we have our hands full, but we would not have it any other way. My husband was in med school for many of the young years, but we made it work! For years, I thought we were totally finished with babies most of the time we used withdrawal, and when we did not, I was not preggers, but guess what? Three late periods is not early menopause as I thought I was going into…I am due 25 March with another baby boy. I guess I should have figured it out. I was so sick right away, and my breasts got so tender and huge. When I went to the doctor, he did not have much explanation for me, only that our choice contraception is not 100 percent. Honestly, of course we know this, but for years we have been able to have sex at any time of the month (and we do) with some casual contraception when we feel it is needed. This pregnancy seemed to conceive just a day or two before my period was to start. Oh my! I am so,so excited. Morning sickness has been terrible, and my hormones have been crazy, but ready to start life as a family of 8.
Sorry to ramble on, but I thought you would enjoy my story. If you are wondering, my doctor is amazed. He said my fertility is way crazy, and my cycles can not be predicted. Duh…my husband is also a doctor, but he is an orthopedic surgeon. He told me after this baby is born, he will be buying a truckload of condoms! Apparently we need to double protect ourselves or at least try, but as we all know some times it is just difficult. This is a wild ride, but I am young and happy! Thankfully I have never minded being pregnant, and I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I think you will understand…We love the intimacy of having sex, especially while pregnant. Yes, our “frequency”(which admittedly is a lot!) has gotten us some surprise pregnancies, but they have been the best. There I said it. I am sure many women feel this way. We always wanted a big family. People tend to ask me if I know how I got this way? ! What a comment…yes, I do, and that will not stop. In fact, I know for a fact my husband is planning a very, very special homecoming for me! It is something we both really, really look forward to, but this time a believe a condom will be involved!
OH MY GOSH. Thank you for sharing, but I can not even wrap my head around this, wow!! You are one blessed and busy mama! 🙂