I've loved babies for as far back as I can remember. I grew up with 3 older sisters, so as the 'baby' myself, I didn't have anyone younger to annoy the spit out of me (and consequently to change my mind about the wonderful little people). The children on the cul-de-sac where I lived out my formative years were all in the grades below me. So I had lots of practice with my playmates' baby brothers and sisters. I learned how to change diapers, mix a formula bottle and rock a baby to sleep with great skill. The parents of said tots would love for me to come 'play' with their children, because they could get a few things done around the house while I entertained their youngins.
My Mother has often said that I have an "old" soul, and that I am mature beyond my years. That I wasn't typical of the usual role that the youngest of siblings often plays = the spoiled, rotten, center of attention kid. Not that I was without my faults: I was an especially tender-hearted child. Very prone to break out in tears if someone so much as looked at me wrong. I was very, very attached to my Mama...
School teachers started harping about college and gave the "What are you going to do with your life?" speech earlier each year it seems. In junior high, we had "Career Day" and I wavered back and forth between a NASA Scientist, Marine Biology and Archeology. It wasn't until after my nephew, Connor, was born in January of my 8th grade year that I had even given thought to a possible career in Medicine. His birth opened up my 14 year old eyes to the "origins" of babies! From then on, my mind was made up, I was going to be a Labor and Delivery Nurse!
I was on the Drill Team in high school, tried out for the Captain spot my senior year, but made Lieutenant again for the second year in a row. Maybe that was divine intervention. I'm almost certain that if I'd made Captain, I would have most likely had pursued a major in Dance. I hadn't had any form of professional training, and may not have made it very far. Its all irrelevant, anyhow. After graduation, I signed up (and paid for by myself) County College courses that had everything to do with my future major, Nursing. I would get my pre-requisites at a cheaper rate, and then finish out my degree at a 4 year institution a little farther down the road.
My husband proposed to me on my 19th birthday (7 months into our relationship), at the end of my first semester. The agreement was that we'd both continue with schooling, and not rush a marriage. I told him that I wanted to be engaged for a year or more, to ensure that we fully got to know one another before committing ourselves to each other for an eternity. We were wed on May 14, 2005. Thirteen days after our two year dating anniversary.
I took a break from college that next semester, and we had decided to try to start a family. College and my degree was no longer something that I felt I was being led to do. My heart just wasn't in it. I was spending my time and money doing something that had become mundane, just to appease those around me, and it felt like I was betraying myself. I think I had the baby part of my life figured out -- but I know now, that I was meant to be a Mother to my own children. We kept our trying to conceive a secret from our families. We knew we'd get the "wait 'til you've finished college and have a degree and get a job" and the "you've got plenty of time to have babies" speeches, and just weren't interested in continually trying defend our decision.
I'm so glad we jumped on the baby bandwagon as soon as we did. One year and no baby into 'trying', I found out that I had Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). It causes extreme pain (due to cysts formed on the ovaries) and causes infertility. My heart was crushed. My OB/GYN prescribed fertility drugs, and we kept trying.
Fast forward to April 29, 2008 - I had an elective Laparoscopy done to try to explore the possible reasons for my still not having gotten pregnant. The doc was able to remove some scar tissue, and see first-hand that my body was in prime condition to be able to bear a child.
We were 3 years into trying to have a baby. July 15, 2008 - My first appointment with Reproductive Endocrinologist Dr. DeLeon. He took my rather hefty medical file into his hands, and was taken aback by all of the information it presented. I was a 23 year old woman, who had undergone a lot of fertility testing, to no avail. He was very interested in what I had to say, and was willing to let me suggest our next possible course of action. He prescribed, and I immediately started medicating with a drug intended for diabetics (works on insulin absorption in the body - which is affected by my PCOS) took a different type of fertility drug (I had taken 10 cycles with Clomid, a very popular, and often prescribed fertility med.) and took a "Trigger Shot" on the most optimal day for conception to occur.
Exactly one month after my initial appointment with DeLeon, I finally get my first Positive Home Pregnancy test. I was pregnant! My due date was April 25, 2009 (my Mother-in-law's birthday; Westin is her first grandchild) but Westin decided to arrive on April 29, 2009; one full year to the day after I had the Laparoscopy done.
We often call our son our "Miracle Child". We had many doctors tell us that we'd never conceive without the aid of In-Vitro Fertilization. Westin is a product of our determination and faith. I never stopped believing that I would be a Mom, that I would make my wonderful husband the amazing Father that he is today. We never gave up, and I definitely hope Westin inhereted our stubborn streaks!
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