After the vows, life’s sweetness and sorrow

Deborah’s hair hadn’t grown in when she and Aram married in June 2010, but the wedding was a celebration of life. And a tribute to their relationship, which had grown immeasurably stronger through their trials.

After the wedding, Deborah began radiation therapy. Doctors urged the couple to wait to have children until she had been cancer-free for two years.

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Trends for goin’ to the chapel in 2013: Don’t look good in white? Spring brides can choose from striking colors, including crimson, and floral prints. Sheer backs, asymmetrical hemlines and dresses that can go from ceremony to dance floor with a swap of a skirt all got nods from top-flight designers. Also making headlines are hair adornments, from feathery pins to bejeweled headbands. For the most modern invitations to a fete, go graphic and go bold.

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Early last year ,the couple found a fertility doctor in New York and drove “Frosty” there in a special tank in the back seat. “It was our first family road trip,” Aram says with a laugh. The couple were also able to produce one more fertilized embryo; they named it “Frostina.”

The chances of a successful pregnancy were slim. “I had to really grapple with and come to terms with the idea that biological parenthood might not be in our future,” says Deborah, now 40.

Trying to have a baby “was the ultimate act of optimism,” she says. So, last March, she had both embryos implanted. A little more than a week later, they stared at a home pregnancy test. It was positive. They didn’t believe it, so they tried four our five more. All were positive.

“It was this combination of disbelief, excitement and a realization that ‘Oh my gosh, we really could be parents!’ ” Deborah says. But even as the pregnancy progressed, the couple kept their guard up, fearful of something going wrong.

On Nov. 17, Evan, was born, perfectly healthy, the spitting image of his father.

“It was just so awe-inspiring. This moment of, ‘I couldn’t have imagined it would work out this well,” Deborah says.

Neither she nor Aram, who live on Capitol Hill, can imagine having gone through the past three years without one another.

“When Deb was diagnosed it was ‘Why her?’ And ‘Why us?’ ” Aram, 37, says. “And now this is sort of the opposite. Life is like that — there’s bad stuff and good stuff.”

“It’s important to remember that in the end, we’re really blessed,” Deborah says. “We have so much more good stuff than bad — and the bad had helped us appreciate the good.”