I was watching TV when I felt a lump in the middle of my right breast. I raised my arm, and I could still feel it. I looked down, and it was noticeable to the eye. “It’s just scar tissue,” I told myself. But, I immediately reached for my phone. I sent a message to […]
December 2012 I woke up on December 6th, exhaled and smiled. I had made it through the first trimester. I continued to meet with Dr. OB, and she recommended that I see Dr. Real Deal. Dr. Real Deal is regarded as one of the premier maternal-fetal medicine specialists in the region. She performed the CVS […]
Merriam Webster defines a miracle as: An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. A divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law. I’ve written before about how I’ve been described as a medical miracle. It was also a miracle that I […]
I had hoped for a photograph from my 18-week sonogram that was worth showing a few loved ones. That didn’t happen, though. Instead, I was given an ultrasound picture that looked as though the fetus came straight out of a Frida Kahlo painting. If everything was good from a health perspective, though, that's what was […]
Are there any sexual restrictions during pregnancy? Dr. OB posed that question to the expectant moms in attendance during the mandatory first trimester class. The answer? Pregnant women should feel comfortable having sex as much as they want during pregnancy. Sexual activity won’t hurt the baby-to-be since the uterine muscles and amniotic fluid protect the […]
November 5, 2012 I jumped over the first hurdle and prepared to face the second hurdle of my first trimester. I headed off to my appointment with Dr. OB. After taking a thorough health history, she began the physical exam. When Dr. OB felt my belly, she exclaimed, “You’re growing nicely!” I smiled and exhaled. […]
October 25– 31, 2012 I had a plan in place for my first trimester. I visualized each step within the plan as its own individual hurdle. I was only eight weeks pregnant. At my age, I had a 30% chance of miscarriage. I needed to get through the next five weeks so that the first […]
October 23-24, 2012 I awoke the morning of the 23rd and began reframing my thoughts around being pregnant. If my doctors were comfortable with me trying to carry, what steps could be taken to make this work? I needed more information to be fully prepared for my consultation with the high-risk obstetrician. After an hour […]
During the Rodney King protests in 1992, I didn’t understand how the protest on my campus related to me. I think of numerous times in my teens and 20s when I did not speak up, made biased-filled assumptions or turned a situation that was not about me into a tear-filled response. In my junior year in […]
Once we returned from NYC, the remainder of January found Roya with back-to-back viruses. I’m grateful for our wonderful pediatricians for accommodating us into their schedules and always making us feel like a priority. Thankfully, the doctors ruled out ear infections and pneumonia, but that didn’t make the fevers any easier. Roya’s viruses also caused […]