When two people decide to spend the rest of their lives together, they can never know for sure what’s waiting for them. It’s a risk you take, but you believe you’ve picked the best person to have by your side for whatever comes next – for better or worse, sickness and health, all of that.
Kate and David Pipe met because of her parents. They encouraged her to ask a man she’d never met as a wedding date, but she refused. When he emailed her about it, though, something made her reply.
They ended up dating, and, two years later, in 2009, they tied the knot.
Photo Credit: Kate Pipe
After a year or so of marriage, Kate and David decided they were ready to have a baby, and that’s when they came face-to-face with the “worse” part of their wedding vows – they weren’t able to get pregnant on their own.
“It’s a hopeless feeling when you realize that you are the statistic that needs intervention to have children. And when that intervention fails month after month after month, it’s devastating… and all you can do is try again next month.”
Most of the burden of getting the treatments fell on Kate’s shoulder’s, a never ending and complex task that David recognized and appreciated more than he could say.
“She used to get up at 5am and drive 90 minutes each way to a clinic in downtown Toronto and get blood drawn, do some testing, and be back at work before 9am. She did this between 10-15 times per month for months and months.”
The couple went through 7 rounds of intrauterine insemination, suffered two miscarriages, and finally tried one round of in vitro fertilization that was… extra successful.
Kate got pregnant with triplets – two boys and a girl.
Photo Credit: Kate Pipe
“Once you get pregnant, that’s not guaranteed either, so you are constantly living in a state of worry, just hoping that it works out… But the thought of having three babies at the same time never scared David or me, we just wanted to make sure they were safe.”
The babies were a blessing in so many ways. They were a gift the couple had been hoping and praying for during the whole, difficult process – and they helped ease some of Kate’s pain, too.
“I always felt that we would get those babies we lost to miscarriage back, and that’s what we feel happened with the triplets.”
Their babies were born healthy and are now happy toddlers, but David never forgot the dedication and sacrifice his wife showed while they were trying to conceive. So, he decided she deserved a surprise trip to her favorite place in the world.
Photo Credit: Kate Pipe
“She really deserved way more than a trip to Disney World, but we both love it there, and I really thought she needed to get away.”
Disney was a perfect choice, though; Kate had loved it since she was a child, and she and David honeymooned there years earlier – before marriage, and all of the heartache they managed in order to get their beautiful kids.
They’ve even already taken their kiddos, and are planning to make another trip for their fifth birthday.
David really wanted the trip to be a surprise, so he went all out, contacting her boss to rearrange her schedule and working with family members to make sure the triplets would be cared for while they were gone – he even packed her bags for her and didn’t tell her they were on their way to the airport until the very last minute.
“He didn’t tell me anything until we got on the bus that takes us to the airport and he said ‘we’re going on a plane’ and that was it. He said nothing else until he took that video.”
We’ll get to the video in a moment.
Kate was blown away by all David had gone through to plan a surprise trip just for her, even managing the kids’ schedules down to the very last detail.
Photo Credit: Kate Pipe
“He is truly an unbelievable husband and father. So many of my friends and family came together to support this surprise. It makes me emotional thinking about how lucky we are and how lucky our children are to be surrounded by so many kind and loving people.”
Her husband’s incredible act of love and kindness has left Kate on the lookout for ways to repay him, and show him how much he means to her and the kids.
“Now I just keep thinking ‘how am I ever going to top this surprise?’ It’s a challenge now that I think about often, how to create a surprise as epic and incredible as he deserves.”
She and David want you to know even though struggling to conceive is a “lonely feeling,” that “so many couples go through infertility struggles.”
Here’s that video we promised you!
I hope that all of you have such a bright, shining moment at the end of your journeys, too.
