The Beginning

I'm so excited....this is my very first blog! Well I think I shall start in the beginning. I will try to give you the shortest version possible, but I must warn you folks, it's somewhat of a soap opera! I want to give you history of what life was like before my little angel, Ariana came into the world and we embarked on our long journey to bilateral cochlear implants.

I got married when I was 20(yes I was a baby) to a wonderful man who made me laugh and could light up any room he walked into. A month later, I got pregnant with our precious son, Joseph who is turning 13 (Yikes!!!) this month. Rob and I were not planning on him so soon, but we were so happy nevertheless. We found out we were having a boy, named him together, planned for his birth, and were in the middle of a move when Rob passed away very suddenly with no warning. I was 5 1/2 months pregnant. He was only 29 and about to graduate from Life Chiropractor School in Atlanta, GA. It was so devastating, but I thanked God for leaving me with part of him that would live on and his son would be his legacy. I felt like everything happens for a reason even though I couldn't understand any of it at the time. It's no walk in the park to bring a child into the world with no Father present due to a untimely death. I had my Mom in the delivery room with me and lots of family and friends that gave me support during that time.

When Joseph was one, I was pushing him around my apt complex on a tricycle when a dog came out of the middle of nowhere and knocked my son to the ground. His owner came running, looking appalled and mortified, and thinking his dog was mauling Joseph to death. He was actually licking him to death and Joseph loved it! The dog's name was Gator and his owner's name was Pete. We started talking, hit it off, became friends, and the rest is history. Pete later became my husband, the only Daddy that Joseph has ever known and the Father of my other 2 children.

When we got married, we decided not to wait a long time before we had a child due to we wanted Joseph and his sibling/siblings to be close. My sister and I were 7 years apart. It was so hard for us to be close. 3 months later, I got pregnant with Ariana. I prayed for a little girl and that's exactly what I got. She was born 2 weeks early on September 29th, 1997. She was a very healthy baby and weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. Did I mention that she was also born with perfect hearing?!? In my next blog, I will tell you about the fateful day in February 1998 that forever changed our lives as we knew it.