"Gotcha"

I, like many other young women with lupus, struggled with the decision if I should try to have a baby. Well, after much consideration, the hubs and I thought we would "try" to have a baby. The months came and went, but there was no baby made.

We were surprisingly calm about it and just went about our normal, everyday, life. I went for my check-up at the OBGYN and discussed my options with her. My mother went with me to this appointment because we were even discussing her as being a surrogate. The doctor recommended that I go see a fetal specialist at UAB. We made an appointment and off we went.

The second the doctor walks in and in huge red letters on the cover of my file read "HIGH RISK" I looked at the hubs and we were both like, OH MY!!!!

After a long discussion with the specialist, she told us that she couldn't tell us we shouldn't, and that she couldn't tell us we couldn't, but she wanted us to understand the risks to myself as well as the baby. We said we would give it another 6 months and if it was meant to be, it will be.

Long story short, we do not biologically have a child of our own. However, we do have a beautiful daughter that we adopted at a year old. She is perfect and couldn't be anymore ours than if I had birthed her myself.

We brought her home one year ago today. So, we refer to this day as her "Gotcha Day." We celebrate it as her special day. She gets to pick dinner and the hubs even brought her flowers.

Happy "Gotcha" Day to my princess!'