My journey into mommy-hood Part I

So, I guess since this blog is mostly about my life as a mom, it might be fun to share the journey of how I came to be a mommy. Let me start by saying that it was nothing like what I thought it would be and was a journey that tested my faith like nothing ever had. Good news is, we all know how it ends! :)

I've always wanted to be a mom. I'm one of those weird people that figured out pretty young in life (when I was 14) what I wanted and just figured I'd follow my little plan and when I was ready, I'd have a baby. I'd go to college, become a physical therapist, meet the man of my dreams, get married and when we were ready, we'd just have a baby. Easy enough, right? Nope. That's not what God had in mind, that's for sure.

When I was 17 I was diagnosed with endometriosis by one my doctors in Uruguay. After undergoing surgery to remove the adhesions, I was placed on a very strong drug that essentially forced my body into a chemical menopause for 6 months. Let's just say that being 17 and describing what menopause is going to feel like to your 40-some mother just really seems wrong. It was very hard on my body and my spirit. But, I did it willingly, knowing that keeping the endometriosis at bay as long as possible would only improve my chances of conceiving and carrying a baby. I was told that having a baby would actually be the best "cure" for my condition. Really? That certainly didn't fit into my little plan for life, so we did the drugs.

Fast forward 8 years. Now living on the other side of the world, I had been checking things off my list....graduate college, check; meet man of my dreams, check; become a physical therapist, check. But then the plan began to crumble. John and I had only been married a few months (I wasn't even done with school yet at this point) and my endometriosis had come raging back. None of the previously effective measures were controlling my symptoms anymore and so we were given two options: start trying to get pregnant right away (definitely was NOT going to work in my little plan....I definitely needed to finish school first) or do another series of injections of a different drug to again induce a chemical menopause. The second time around was even harder on my body than the first time and let's just say that my poor husband had NO idea what to do with a 25 year old menopausal new bride. Very rarely does John comment on any of the difficulties we've faced but ask him about that one....I dare you! Not a good time.

I look back on that time and thank the Lord that I had married the real deal. He was all in and did everything he possibly could to make it easier on me. However, four months into the six month treatment he and I sat on our bed one night, me sobbing and him teary eyed and decided that it was simply not worth the strain on my body or our marriage to do 2 more months of the treatment. We just couldn't deal with it anymore. So, back to the doctor we went, who was very understanding and agreed to switch me to a less effective but more tolerable treatment until we were ready to try to have a baby.

Part II coming soon....