Supporting Each Other in a Health Crisis



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Myrtle Alegado: A health or medical crisis can have a significant impact on any marriage, but perhaps even more-so for newlyweds. You're still finding your footing early on in your marriage, so how do you ensure you support each other enough to help each other get through this ordeal? We'll find out about Joel and Richelle’s experience in today's episode.



Welcome to Happy Life, a podcast brought to you by INC Media Audio that aims to help newlyweds navigate through the first years of marriage. I'm your host, Myrtle Alegado, and I've been married to my husband, Paul, since 1999. Later, we'll hear some Bible-based advice through Brother Felmar Serreno, a minister of the gospel in the Church Of Christ.



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Inspiration to make your marriage thrive, you're listening to Happy Life.



Myrtle: Because the topic of discussion today is an extremely sensitive one, and I know it may be difficult to talk about, I am so appreciative of Richelle and Joel, from London, who are here to chat with me today. Welcome to the Happy Life podcast, Joel and Richelle.



Joel Dela Cruz: Hello.



Richelle Dela Cruz: Hi. Hi, Myrtle. How are you?



Myrtle: I'm good. How are things over there, over the pond?



Joel: We’re good. Thank you very much. Thank you for having us.



Myrtle: So you two have been married for how long now?



Joel: Coming up to three years in September.



Myrtle: Oh, wow! Congratulations. So, now tell me about finding out that you were expecting your baby boy, Noah.



Joel: So, we weren't really planning. We just left it up to God and if He blessed us with a child, He blessed us. So, we weren't really actively trying to have a baby or conceive at the time.



Richelle: Yeah, so you can say that we were surprised when we found out. Actually I was the first one who found out. I realized it because that day, it was during the pandemic, and I was working from home and I don't usually eat junk food. But I realized I finished, like, a bag of crisps, or chips for America. I finished a whole bag and then I looked at it and I was like, “What's happening?” And then I messaged him, I was like, “Can you actually buy a test?” and when he came home, I tested and we actually filmed ourselves. And yeah, we were really surprised. We were really scared. It's something that we didn't expect, and we felt we weren't ready for it at that time.



Myrtle: But it was God's perfect time, right? [laughs]



Joel and Richelle: Yes.



Myrtle: And what was your pregnancy like?



Richelle: So my pregnancy went very well, if I can say that. Every stage of my pregnancy, from the moment that we found out that we were pregnant, to finding out the gender, up to the due date, we tried everything that we could to prepare ourselves. So, not just physically for me, mentally, and even more so spiritually. We held our devotional prayers, and I did some exercises as much as I could, tried to eat healthily.



Myrtle: So up until the delivery, was everything pretty normal with your pregnancy?