Swimming Against The Current

I started my senior year of high school happy as could be cheering once again for the varsity squad. My sophomore and junior year went great and I was expecting the same for my senior year. I was tumbling, stunting, and everything else I never thought I would be doing when I first injured my shoulder. Both my shoulders bothered me a little but nothing worth quitting over. I made it through the season and was getting ready for our last game. It was Thanksgiving and we were going to Nashoba high school. I was so excited because I was almost able to do a roundoff handspring tuck by myself and thought I would try it out at that game. I asked a couple girls to stand near me incase I needed someone to spot me. One...Two...Three.. and off I went, running down the track ready to do this. On my way, I tripped over my foot and still tried to do it. There was no way for anyone to spot me and down I went. I fell on my right shoulder and could not move. Just when I thought things were gr...

My daughter is what keeps me going. Every morning when I wake up in pain, I look into Hailey's eyes and realize how lucky I am to be her mother. She is absolutely perfect in every way and I can't imagine how I ever lived without her. She's growing quickly, already 3 weeks old and becoming more and more alert. She loves to be rocked, loves her hair bows and loves to look into mommy and daddys eyes. I am so excited about our life together and watching her grow. My dystonia is getting worse and worse. I am really getting frustrated with it and with the health care here in Florida. My right hand goes numb when I carry something on that shoulder, I get spasms in both my feet and my neck has been getting stuck. The skin on my left hand is just falling off and is now bleeding. Taking care of Hailey is so difficult because I never know when a spasm is going to happen and it scares me to death. I have called what seems like every neurologist in the state of Florida and no one accept...

September 29, 2010 was the happiest day of my life. I went to the hospital at about 6am with an appointment to be induced. The labor and delivery floor was packed, I guess it was a popular day to have babies. I had to sit in the waiting room for about a half hour and anxiously wait for a room to be available. Once I was in a room they hooked me up to the monitors, gave me an IV, did some blood work and told me I was 4 1/2 cm dilated. I was having contractions but not strong enough so they started pitocin to get the labor going. By about noon time I was having pretty strong contractions that were getting more and more painful. My plan was to not get an epidural but by 7cm, I changed my mind. After I got it I was really happy I did and things seemed to go much quicker from then on. Around 5:00 I was 10cm and ready to go. I started pushing and at 6:34 pm I heard the most wonderful sound I have ever heard, my little girl cry for the first time. They put her on my chest and the s...

So yesterday I had a little scare. I woke up and felt ok and got ready for work. After I ate breakfast I felt really sick and ended up throwing up. I didn't think that much of it, and headed to work as I normally would. I didn't feel like eating anything for the rest of the day and around 10am I started getting a lot of cramping and contractions. I started to get a little nervous and talked to my boss (who just recently had a baby) about my symptoms. She told me to call my doctor right away. I tried and tried to get through to my doctor but it took nearly an hour for them to answer. They weren't that concerned and told me to just go to my appointment early (I had an appt at 3:30). It was raining out and by this time the contractions were getting closer together and everyone at work didn't want me driving 45 minutes to Fort Myers to see my doctor when I could go to a hospital 10 minutes away. My boss then drove me to the hospital nearby for an evaluation. I was...

After a few days of resting at home after my surgery, I had to go back to school. As it was, I was a freshman... you know, one of those kids that seniors found it amusing to make fun of. I walked into school petrified of what might happen when I walked down the hall with that brace on. I had nightmares of dropping all my books and no one helping me pick them up. Well, I didn't drop all my books but it was torture. I talked to my teachers ahead of time so it was okay to leave class early so I wouldn't have to be in the hall the same time as everyone else. The worst part was that my friends were all embarrassed of me. No one wanted to walk with me or talk to me. I lost all my friends that year, I obviously wasn't going to be cheering, and my boyfriend at the time broke up with me because I couldn't shave my armpits. I didn't think my life could get much worse. I held my head high and tried to think positive. I went to physical therapy and I got through that ...

My baby shower was amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who helped planned it, everyone was there and for all the great gifts. Ryan and I really appreciate all of it. Hailey will now be the best dressed baby girl out there! =) Our visit to MA was so nice. I loved seeing everyone and I loved the weather!! It was way too short of a visit but it was still nice. In about 7 weeks my parents will be here and hopefully Hailey will come shortly after that. The time is flying by!! I can't wait to meet my baby girl but I'm going to miss her movements inside of me! I've never felt anything like it and I never knew how much I could love someone before meeting them. It's such an amazing feeling. My dystonia is still about the same. I did get a muscle spasm in my neck that was very scary and my back is still killing me. Work is getting harder every day and I don't know how much longer I can do it. Hopefully I can make it through August. Well, time to rest now!!

Well, it's been a while. My internet was down for a few weeks so I wasn't able to update anything!! Now its up and working again. I am almost 31 weeks now and baby Hailey weighs a little over 3 lbs! Shes getting big... and so am I!! I am feeling pretty good, besides the normal aches and pains. Ryan and I are flying home to MA on Thursday and I am getting very excited!! It will be a very short visit but I am looking forward to seeing my family! My baby shower is on Saturday, so that should be fun too!! Hopefully I will have time to update again shortly! Bye for now!