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Couple celebrates twin pregnancy after fertility struggle: 'We prayed for 953 days'

Lauren and Garyt Walker announced their pregnancy in a photo that included several hundred syringes used during fertility treatments.
/ Source: TODAY

Lauren Walker is pregnant with twins after spending more than two years trying to conceive..

Specifically, “we prayed for 953 days,” she wrote in a Facebook post about the journey.

Walker also went through “452 needles, thousands of tears, one corrective surgery” and a handful of fertility procedures before finding success, she noted in a lengthy caption to her photo.

The picture features just some of the hundreds of syringes and dozens of drug vials she went through, as part of her fertility treatments, shaped into a circle around two baby onesies, one that says "Worth the Wait" and the other that reads "and Wait and Wait and Wait."

Walker, 28, and her husband, Garyt, 29, are expecting their twins in August.

The couple, who were high school sweethearts, live outside of Houston in The Woodlands, Texas. They learned about their fertility problems shortly after they started trying to have a family in 2014, Walker told TODAY.

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“We found out pretty early that we had a lot of complications and issues working against us,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘No way. I’m young and healthy and I have no medical issues.’ So to hear that was like a huge bomb dropped into my life.”

Lauren and Garyt Walker IVF twins
Lauren Walker, here with her husband Garyt, said she hopes her story provides "a beacon of hope" for others suffering from infertility.Courtesy of Lauren Walker

They sought treatment, including in vitro fertilization, which yielded one initial pregnancy that resulted in a miscarriage.

“It devastated me because we came so far only to miscarry,” Walker said.

By the time she and her husband got much happier news late last fall about their twins, the couple had had spent tens of thousands of dollars on treatments and wasn't sure how much emotional trauma they could handle.

RELATED: Mom uses IVF-related drugs, syringes to announce her pregnancy

That's why Lauren knew she wanted to share her joyful news with family and friends through a powerful photograph. She had seen a similar image before and knew she wanted to replicate it if the time came.

“It really speaks to the personal struggles, the emotional struggles, the financially struggles. There’s so much there,” she said.

Lauren Walker is expecting twins after dealing with infertility
Lauren said her twins, Duke and Diana, are due in August.Courtesy of Lauren Walker

But about halfway through her composition, she said her hands began to shake and she had to stop, and she began crying.

"Not because I was sad about what it took to get here, but because it was a representation of my world, our world, for the past over two and a half years staring back at me," she wrote in her Facebook post. "There was a lot of pain, hope and fear behind each of these needles. Each one represented a different day, a different path, a different emotion. It's a lot to take in."

RELATED: Mom's photo of IVF baby surrounded by syringes inspires potential parents

Walker hopes the photograph demonstrates "just how incredibly thankful and blessed we are," she told TODAY. She also hopes her story will resonate with anyone “who is struggling right now with this. I want to be that beacon of hope for whoever that may be out there.”

Couple pregnant with twins after years of IVF
"There was a lot of pain, hope and fear behind each of these needles," Walker said of the photo she used to announce her pregnancy.Courtesy of Lauren Walker

For those who had an easier time conceiving, she hopes her now-viral image will remind them of how lucky they are.

"I just want to show how blessed they are, to tell them to hold their kid a little bit tighter,” she said.

Walker said her twins, who will be the first sets of grandchildren for both sides of the family, will be named Duke and Diana Walker.

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In her Facebook post, she notes that the couple credits their faith for giving them the strength to keep trying.

"They say God only gives you as much as you can handle. Well, He must think very highly of us," she wrote. "As painful as these few years have been, I'm honored that he chose this path for me. He has shown me the power of faith, the comfort of prayer, and a strength I would have never found on my own."

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