A Birth Story... Sort of.

I have been blogging for three months now - wow, time flies when you're having fun! I thought that maybe it was time for a post or two about me, since I can no longer operate under the assumption that most of you good readers actually know me personally. So, let's start at the beginning. Maybe a bit before the beginning.

I am the second child in a family of seven children. Or more accurately, the second surviving child of nine children. My parents met and married in a small town in Indiana, and ten months later had a bouncing baby boy. Shortly before this baby was to be delivered, the OB/GYN informed my mom that she would have to find a new doctor. Luckily, my mom found Dr. M. , who was willing to take her as a new patient.

Five months later, my mom conceived again. My parents were very excited; they had both dreamed of having a big family, the kind baseball teams are made of, the kind that make the bus driver blink in amazement and ask if your house is really an orphanage, or hint that your parents may not know what's causing "it".  But after only 10 weeks, the baby miscarried.

Following the miscarriage, Dr. M. preferred to let nature run its course before utilizing the procedure known as Dilation and Curettage (D &C), which most doctors at that time routinely recommended. D & C is an invasive procedure in which the cervix is dilated and then the lining of the uterus is scraped. D & C (or  "dusting and cleaning" as it was sometimes cavalierly called) has valid therapeutic uses and invalid ones, but is much less common today due to the risks associated with it and the availability of other options. Ahead of his time, Dr. M. examined my heartbroken mom, and sent her home, advising her to contact him only if she felt something wasn't right.

Fast forward six months or so... My parents found that they were expecting again. But almost four months along, another miscarriage occurred. My mom was devastated.  Dr. M. tried to console her and again sent her home without a D & C (this time even more unusual because of how far along the pregnancy was), assuring her that her body could handle it.

Days passed, and my mom felt awful, so she called the doctor to set up an appointment. Dr. M. did an examination, and told her again that it was best not to have the D & C, though for a different reason this time - she had been carrying twins, and one was still alive! The routine procedure would most certainly have aborted the baby that was thriving in her womb.

And that baby was me, in case you hadn't guessed. One physician's decision to stop delivering babies and another's trust in the female body coincided to spare my life, but I don't really believe in coincidence. I believe in blessings.

My sister and I (I'm on the right). Excuse me for not finding a baby pic in time to post.