The first time McKenzie Lyng got pregnant, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. After three months of trying, she and her husband discovered they were expecting, and nine months later, they happily welcomed their son Brayden, now three and a half. But when it came time for Baby No. 2, they suddenly found themselves among the millions of couples affected by secondary infertility. And little did they know, it would take more than two years of trying and three painful miscarriages before they would finally get their rainbow baby.
Lyng says her pregnancy journey came as a surprise
"I believe now that the way things happened were supposed to play out this way," she tells Mom.com. But at the time, when she and her husband were still in the thick of it, getting through each loss felt unbearable.
"In the beginning, you think trying for a baby is easy," shares Lyng, recalling how quickly she became pregnant with her first child. "When we started trying again, I assumed it would be that way."
But then came her first miscarriage
She tells Mom.com that the experience left her "shocked but not discouraged."
Six months later, though, she wasn't so sure.
After a second miscarriage, Lyng says she felt she needed to seek help.
"Something didn’t feel right," she says, adding that she and her husband had heard heartbeats with both babies, which left them gutted after each loss.
"It was just very sad," Lyng shares.
In the end, her gut proved correct
Something wasn't right, after all, and doctors soon discovered that a gene mutation was to blame.
"We ended up finding out that I was homozygous for MTHFR C677T," she tells Mom.com. "It can cause reoccurring pregnancy loss, and you have to be on the correct vitamins and watch the ingredients you eat."
"I was already gluten and dairy-free for many years, but the vitamins I was taking were synthetic," she continues.
So, after making some adjustments to her diet, she kept trying. But sadly, Lyng would be met with one more painful loss before she got her rainbow.
On October 21, 2019, she miscarried for the third time
It was then that the couple decided — after two years of trying and three upsetting losses — that they would give IVF a try. But as luck would have it, right before they underwent treatment, and ironically after they paid their first bill, Lyng says they got pregnant on their own. (Don't worry — they got their money back.)
Lyng is now expecting a baby girl to arrive any day now
"God's timing is everything!" says Lyng, a professional golfer and cofounder of BackSwing Golf Events in Scottsdale, Arizona. "I believe we can 'plan' to a point, but ultimately it's going to happen when it's meant to. Might not be your timing, but it will happen."
Last month, while patiently waiting for her due date to arrive, Lyng posed for a maternity photo shoot with Little Lullaby Photography, also based in Scottsdale. What resulted was a stunning series of portraits with (what else?) a rainbow theme to celebrate her soon-to-be rainbow baby.
"The maternity photos I took with Brayden were good, but I felt this time needed to be WOW," she shares. "Because we had waited so long for her, prayed so long for her … it needed to be stunning!"
Clearly, she hit the nail right on the head
Instagram users are loving the images, which have been liked thousands of times.
"This photo is unbelievable!" wrote one person. "What a powerful photo with a special meaning."
"Currently 30 weeks pregnant after losing our son at 18 weeks," wrote another. "Congratulations mama. These pics are amazing!!"
Lyng is happy the images are hitting home for others, since they carry such a special meaning for her. In fact, that's why she decided to share them to begin with.
"People don’t talk about loss much, and it happens to a lot more people then you think," she says. "There's always a rainbow after a storm and that should be acknowledged."
For now, she's anxiously counting down the minutes until her rainbow baby arrives
Though she was due on July 27, she tells Mom.com that her little girl hasn't decided to make her grand entrance yet — but when she does, she's going to be oh-so-loved.
Until then, Lyng hopes that sharing her story can help other couples who may be struggling find hope.
"It's not easy. And it's not easy hearing 'Relax, it will happen,'" she admits, adding that there are many "annoying" things people say to couples who are trying to conceive. "But I looked into many options,
including holistic things, to help my hormones and body that I truly believe helped us. Keep searching and keep asking questions!"
For many couples, the greatest struggle lies in the unknown — and the question of whether or not things will finally come together.
Ultimately, Lyng says, she's happy that she kept going, even when hope seemed lost.
"It's easy to give up, but I think if you pray about it and never lose faith, it will happen," she says.
