I will be a FTM in September and wasn’t sure where to put this post... but oh wells 🤷🏼‍♀️

So last night, I went to the Moose Lodge (it’s a bar but I haven’t drank since I found out that I’m expecting.. I just go to hang out with my mom and friends). So my mom started telling these two other ladies about the experience with me. When I was 10 months old, I got sick with meningitis and actually became Deaf. That’s all I really knew until last night. My mom full blown told the ladies the story, and I sat there listening to everything and started to cry. I think because I’m about to have a child of my own, I cannot help it but worry about my own child .. it really hit me. It was the very first time I heard the ENTIRE story. I tried to hide my tears, then my mom noticed and she started crying too.

Here’s the full story if you want to know.

So I was born hearing. No issues. Perfect as I could be. By 10 months old, I was already grabbing onto things and just starting to walk. Then one day, I was starting to run a fever, so my mom took me to the doctor. They said it’s just the flu. So they sent us home. The next day, my mom noticed that I was way off and not myself.... being the persistent mom she is, she went back to the doctor and said that she would not leave until she got answers. They eventually admitted me to a hospital to have my spinal tap checked. My mom had no idea what the hell it was all about and had no idea of meningitis. There was actually another case just like mine but more severe than what I went through. Eventually, I tested positive for meningitis. My mom, dad and brother were questioned where they were and etc. I was in the middle of getting shots and one of them must’ve brought the disease home and I caught it. So they had me at a hospital for 3 weeks. Now mind you, my mom was working a graveyard job delivering newspapers... my mom, dad and aunt created a rotation so that someone was with me at all times. Once I was released from the hospital, my mom said that my body was basically back to being an infant.... I couldn’t stand.. I could grasp onto things.. it was back to square one. She even mentioned that I started to say words until I got sick.. and couldn’t walk until I was 2 and couldn’t speak until I was 3. This really hit me. HARD. Then one day, my mom had a gut feeling and knew something was REALLY off. So she decided to put it to the test. She stood behind me, and dropped the biggest pot to the ground. I did NOT even flinch My mom instantly knew... I needed to get my hearing checked. She mentioned that she went through a few doctors before they finally committed that I was Deaf. The first doctor she went to, made a mistake and thought that my mom was going to be tested. WRONG-O! Then she went to another doctor. They put me in a booth facing a corner with two other corners on each side of me. Everytime it would make a sound, the light would turn on or the animal would move. My mom said to the doctor that she thinks I have 180 degree vision (she’s definitely right.. I still do to this day. One of my specialities.) I can literally look straight and still know what’s going on from the left and the right side of me. But the doctor laughed it off and said no she’s hearing it. Mom said, “YOU’RE WRONG!” Momma knows best. So she went to another doctor and asked for a script to have my wavelengths checked out. That doctor refused and said she wouldn’t want to put me through that. Mom said screw it, I’m looking for another doctor. She found another doctor. They gave her the script. She got my wavelengths checked. At the time, I was only able to hear low frequencies and not high frequencies. For instance, low would be a man’s voice and high would be a woman’s voice. So they finally was able to give me hearing aids at 3 years old. Mom enrolled me into an early intervention program. I had to travel about an hour on a daily basis to go to school. I was in a Deaf classroom up until 3rd grade. The speech teacher that I have had for years said, “it’s time for a challenge..” mom agreed. They decided to put me in mainstream. (Thank you for doing that.. 🙏🏼🙏🏼) So from 4th grade to high school, I was mainstreamed, straight A student and never got in trouble. Good kid. By the time I was 7/8, after a few changes with hearing aids, the doctor said that I was at my max and I’m about to lose my hearing entirely. So the next option was to have surgery and wear an external device (cochlear implant). I gotta say, it was the best decision for my parents to make.. Ive made huge leaps in life and I couldn’t thank them enough. (They always called me a million dollar baby because it was one thing after another with me). Fast forward to now, I am 25.. speak clearly (people have to be informed that I am Deaf, otherwise, they would never know...), married, bought a house in Florida, am a teacher in a co-teach classroom and am expecting my first in September.

Now that I come to think of it as a first time mom, I never realized until last night of how hard my mom had it with me... how much she had to go through to get me to where I am now. All I can do is say, that I would love to be half the person my mother is.. she’s amazing for what she did and it takes a lot of strength to go through all of this. With the effort and persistence that she put in, I will put in twice the amount for my own child. ❤️

One of the ladies that she was telling the story to, said to me, “I don’t think I’ve never met a stronger person than you.. considering what you have gone through and you have defeated so much! I truly respect you and am proud of where you are in life. For god sakes, you’re a teacher!” This made me realize that I really have pushed myself to get this far in life. All because of my parents’ persistence and support. It couldn’t have been done without them.

So I want to say for those parents who have children with disabilities or are expecting a child with disabilities.... it is worth it. Every strength in your body, every ounce of energy put into it, and all of the love that you could put into it... they will be truly thankful for what you will/have done. They will reach the peak of the mountains and defeat things that you didn’t think they could do...

I do not like being called “disabled”.. but I will say that I am unique and different. And that’s okay. I’m proud of who I am, where I am, and how far I’ve gotten in life.