On September 8th 1990, it was a hot sunny day in the city of Cali, Colombia. Temperature around 88°F with very low humidity, normal for that time of year, since the summer was about to begin. A sky full of altocumulus clouds cooled the estimated population of about 1.7 million people ("1990 population estimate for Cali, Colombia."). Among that population there was my mother. Already late for her gynecology appointment, inconveniently causes by a car accident, she would shortly find out when I would be entering the world. The accident turned a 20-minute drive in a 45-minute drive. Rushing into the clinic, as the doctor’s assistant was calling her name, she rapidly was taken to the back to speak with the provider. When the doctor came into the room he calmly said, “I have good news, and bad news”. My mom’s heart already racing she decided to go with the bad news first. “The probability of being a complicated birth is pretty high, which means the surgical team will have to perform a cesarean section instead of a vaginal birth”. My mother relived thinking it would be something much worse she asked the doctor to go ahead with the good news. “The baby will probably be arriving today”. My mom became frantic, “that’s the good news? They might as well both have been bad! My mother panicked, she had nothing ready for the birth, since her first child was not due for another 10 days. Her hormone levels raging at an all time sky high, she shortly began to cry. The doctor and his staff hugged her and reassured her that everything was going to be ok. They quickly rushed her to the hospital where they would have all the equipment in the event that there were any major complications. Once she was all settled in, the operating room staff started to prepare for the birth around 3:15 P.M. The staff thought I was ready to come out, however I took another three hours to make my grand appearance. At 6:23 PM I arrived spreading my arms and legs with a…
At 12:30 at night on June 1, 2015, my life would soon change forever. I was pregnant with my first child and my water had just broken. My mom rushed me to the hospital where I was immediately put in a private room, in the hospital bed where I was about to deliver my first child, a son. He came so quickly (5 & 1/2 hours in total) and I had requested no pain medications and turned it down on several occasions as the medical staff pleaded with me to use it. The pain began to become more and more unbearable, so much so that I honestly felt paralyzed from my waist down. My body was taking over to my surprise and I was just there with my legs in stirrups. They seemed immovable and with the pains coming faster, it is as if they stopped receiving any of the signals my brain was sending to them.…
It was almost 5am on July 17, 1996, when I was rushed to the hospital. I was balled up in the back seat of my mother in laws car, biting down on a towel because the pain was so unbearable. I heard him say “it’s ok baby… ” just as another jolt of pain came. As his voice faded I could feel him rubbing my back, and I tried my best to listen to his voice and forget the pain. It was impossible though, the baby was coming and there was no turning back now.…
When I was born I was born two and a half months early. No doctor, nurse or specialist could figure out why. I was born with a lack of oxygen to my brain causing it to bleed. Doctors told my parents I wasn’t going to live. I was left in the hospital for three weeks, my parents yearning for the chance I’ll survive. I did. Then as time went one I wasn’t developing the way other newborns were. I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy can cause many problems for the person who has it including low muscle tone, learning disabilities, seizure, loss of hearing, paralysis and more. Cerebral Palsy affected my legs to the point of where I could walk, but in crouched position with…
Some people believe that the first steps establish the future within the child, but my perspective seemed to reveal no hints. He showed many major disadvantages as a child. At birth, he came out 7 pounds and 9 ounces, which did not show much promise. Growing up was very difficult for him as he displayed many signs of being lazy. My view of his childhood was painfully tragic. Every step he took seemed to introduce more pain to me. Most of his days were spent laying down in his crib because, his size brought his inability to move around. He was absolutely not your typical healthy baby and, overweight was a understatement. Me spending every day with him became more and more depressing. It seemed as though the more he grew, the more hope I had…
Second my mom had another baby that did'nt make she had a miscarriage but she was so brave that overcome her sadness and depression to be Abel to take care of her other two angels that were still…
Due to my medical history, any child that my parents had after me had a much higher risk of having the same birth defect. My parents began taking all preventive measures possible so that this child would not experience the same difficulties I had. In July of that year, my little sister was born in Walnut Creek, California. I was immediately infatuated and loved spending as much time I could with her. Thankfully, she was not born with Spina Bifida to the great joy of my…
August 9th, 1998 was the day when my fight and formation as a person began. My mother was rushed to Piedmont Hospital, in panic, because I was eager to be born exactly two months before my due date. I was born at a whopping four pounds and five ounces, which terrified the doctors as well as my parents. After being held by my mother for only 30 seconds, I was seized from her arms and taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. I was placed on a ventilator because I was not breathing properly. Within six hours, I yanked out the breathing tubes only to have then put back inside me. Much my chagrin, I pulled the uncomfortable tubes out for a second time, and the doctor’s determined that I was strong enough to live without them. Despite…
I can still remember the day the doctors told me I was pregnant. That immediate sense of fear swallowed me whole and time seemed to stand still. It was not until a couple of months later that I realized there was no changing the situation and that I needed to make the very best of it. Finding out I was pregnant started out as a very scary experience but ultimately was one of the most positive and rewarding experiences I have ever endured. After the fear settled a little bit I was able to really start thinking about my life and what I needed to change. Up until that day at the doctors I was living day by day doing what I needed to do for me and no one else. I had no job, I was living with my parents and my only source of excitement came from the local bar rooms late at night. I knew things needed to change and I set out on a mission to make that change happen. Alone and afraid I was able to swallow my pride and ask my family for help and the guidance to get my life back on track before this baby entered our world. All through my pregnancy I knew I loved my unborn son more than I have ever loved anything in this world. I knew that my life was no longer mine…
Eight years ago, two pink lines signaled my greatest honor, and challenge. My daughter arrived at twenty-six weeks gestation. She fit completely in my hand: a tiny piece of my soul. A miracle for my wife and me, she fought to survive. Our first, a boy born at the same twenty-six week mark, drew breath for exactly twenty-four hours. A lifetime for him, not long enough for us. Her birth provided us with a new hope and opportunity.…
. .. What my missing baby would have looked like? What kind of person would it have grown to become? I will never have a chance to hear that first heartbeat, feel the first kick, or find out if the baby was a boy or girl. I will never get to go through the pains of labor and see that light at the end of the tunnel, the one where you would have been placed in my arms. My arms will forever mourn with emptiness because I will never be able to hold you. I may have only known of you for two weeks, but I carried you for two months. My child should have entered this world in October, instead my baby will never see the light of…
On a beautiful baby girl was born in the city of Sacramento, California. At the age of seven my parents had another little girl named Jessica (my middle sister). Shortly after my sister was born my parents separated. At the age of 13 my family was blessed with another baby girl, Alyssa. By this time I was in middle school and I have already been helping my mom take care of my middle sister Jessica, now I had the responsibility of taking care of two children at a very young age. Since my mother was a single parent working two jobs and going to school, I became the second parent as my sisters and I grew up; while my mom spent all her time to provide us with a better household.…
It was a cool and peaceful Tuesday in June, 1998 when I was born. I was born June 16, 1998 at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD to an amazing and loving family. My dad Jeff worked the night shift at the Police Department and got home around 7 A.M. My mom Melissa had been up several times that night feeling well with minor contractions. So my parents decided to go to the hospital at around 8:30 A.M. I was a very quick and easy birth with no complications. I was born at 2:46 weighing 5lbs 11oz and 18 and a half inches tall. For the longest time I had no hair but I had the cutest brown eyes, according to my mom, Melissa. Because I was the first born baby and since I was a boy my Mom and Dad picked my name Ryan Michael Beck from…
On a day to day basis, I experience the phobia atychiphobia; according to the medical dictionary, it is the fear of failing. This phobia is a major part of my life that I would like to change, because I am being consumed by the possibility of failing. I will either run from the task I am afraid of failing, or fear will motivate me to excel. This phobia has held me back from attempting more challenging opportunities like, pursuing a medical degree, adding a foreign language as my minor, or getting involved in a sport in college. I have noticed that I will mentally rationalize why I should not take on the difficult task, and how great of a failure I will be if I do not succeed. When I think of life changing experiences that will occur in the near future (love, marriage, children, graduation, or a career) overwhelming fear sweeps over me. These major events that will happen within the next few years, unsettles me, because there is a big possibility that these things that I want out of life will not become a reality. I have this ides that I am not competent enough or worthy to achieve all of these great things that I want. Over all, it is important for one to have confidence in their capabilities and their aspirations, because without that confidence, you are less likely to succeed in life.…
When I was a child I was always told about how strong I was. This was a big deal since I wasn’t even supposed to survive due to having the umbilical cord around my neck. The doctors told my parents that if I survived the first seventy two hours, they would see how much brain damage I had. It wasn’t IF I would have brain damage, but how much. I was to be one of the lucky ones. Not only did I live, but I didn’t have brain damage that anyone could find. I was however, cross-eyed until I was about a year old. I also had every childhood illness before I was a year old. I had chicken pox at three months, German measles at six months, and mumps at nine months. I even had surgery at six weeks old for an abscess in my chest.…