Hearts And Things

As you all know my name is Val. After much debate my parents both said my name at the same time and whallah . . . . my name is Valerie. I was born February 9th 1973 so close to Valentines Day which is what mainly contributed to my name. After being born at home on the northwest side of Chicago, we lived there for a few years. When the neighborhood became less desirable my family ventured out to the suburbs. At the age of four I moved in 2 doors down from another little girl who was 5. Her name was Val too. She was a whole year older than me. A year and 3 days. That's right, her birthday is on February 12th just a few days after mine. She came from a family of four. She only had one sibling like myself, an older sister that was, - you guessed it the same age as my sister. 31 years later, Val and I are still friends.

Over the years I tend to get jipped on Valentines day, still do. Not a big deal but because my birthday falls just 5 days before Valentines Day I often get heart themed gifts. I have a small heart collection. So I like hearts just not for the same reason most girls like hearts.

On June 10th 2006 I realized I was pregnant. I just had surgery and was concerned because of the amount of ibuprofen I was taking for pain. I conceived before I even had surgery, woops. Anyhow, we were excited and went for our first ultrasound. We went back to see the doctor to review the ultrasound about the month later. She told me I had a mishapen uterus. We were stunned and scared. She said that everything should be fine but I would be under close observation and would have to go every other week to see the specialists in the Maternal Fetal Medicine department at the hospital. There were risks and several bad things that could happen. It was scary. They told me that I would most likely have to have a cesarean because once the baby got bigger it would not be able to flip into the head down position due to the shape of my uterus. Nonetheless, I got ultrasounds every 2 weeks which was an extra treat. I will have to be watched and go through the same procedure with every pregnancy. Level 2 ultrasound with the vaginal probe every 2 weeks . . . . . . yeah. OB visits the opposing weeks. The biggest concern was preterm labor. Term was 37 weeks. After a relatively smooth pregnancy that was extremely uncomfortable in the end (footling breech, crouched baby in a short woman). I went into labor fast and furious at 36 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, and 40 minutes. Just 20 minutes shy of 37 weeks or "term".

Well would you guess after all that what shape my uterus is? A heart.