New Date to Add

June 26, 1982

June 26, 1995

June 26, 1998

August 28, 2000

October 20, 2000

June 22, 2002

June 26, 2003

July 8, 2006

March 14, 2007

August 25, 2009

April 29, 2010

A random list of dates, right?  Not to me.  These are life changing (or completely life beginning) dates.  There are significant birth dates, dates that are special to Matt and me, the dates when I found out about my pregnancies, and the birth dates of my girls included.  

Pretty soon I can add another date to the list: July 25, 2011.

And what is special about that date?

That is the date in which I have surgery.  Tubes will be tied, and endometrial ablation (uterine cauterization) will be done.

And I will no longer be able to bear children.  

Not that I want any more children, but this is a big step towards something unknown to me.  I’m voluntarily letting something of myself be taken away.   I never thought I’d let child bearing define part of me, but it does.  It’s really less than 1 percent of my thoughts that go to this subject.  I’m mostly happy about this decision.  No more periods.  Ever!  No more cramping, icky, painful, crud.  No more worrying about taking a pill every day to make sure I stay on schedule and to prevent any more children.  That’s a pill I’ve been on for 13 years! 

 

I will have to figure out what my “normal” is now.  My hormones have been altered by taking pills or being pregnant for so long I have no clue what normal is for me.  This is the part that scares me (besides the cuts to my abdomen).  I know what normal is for me right now.  It’s fine, and workable, and happy, for the most part.  What is to come?  

These questions can only be answered by going through the procedure and then taking things day by day.   I have good people around me to help out as needed, and many people excited for me as I embark on this portion of my life journey.  One person in particular surprised me: Matt’s coworker Rebecca.  She fought some kind of reproductive cancer and had to have a hysterectomy.  She’s happy and excited for me (I’ve heard, Matt talked to her, not me) to not have to deal with monthly cycles in the “prime of my life.”

It’s good to know there are people I can talk to about this and who are willing to drive Kirstin back and forth from Vacation Bible School.  It’s wonderful to know my parents will take care of the kids while Matt and I are gone for this surgery, and it’s even stupendous to know my husband is willing to take time off of work to drive me back and forth and take care of the girls while I recover enough to care for them myself. 

It’s a beautiful life!