[stylist] Exciting news

[Jacqueline Williams]

Bridget and Ross,
First, Bridget, congratulation for your professional advancement to a new
possible column. And more than congratulations for your abiding spirit, hope
and faith in your future as a family.
You are not alone in your voyage. We are all with you.
Having shown your courage and love this far, it will abide no matter what
the future course takes.
I will look forward to all of your updates.
You both warm my heart.
Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 1:40 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Exciting news

So I am not sure if I've shared my professional exciting news with
Stylist. I've been a blogger for the Omaha World Herald's Live Well
Nebraska.com website for more than a year now. My blog is frequently
featured in the Living section of the Herald's newspaper, and I found
out a couple of weeks ago that my blog will now also be featured on the
Herald's websites Momaha.com and Omaha.com. I also was contacted about a
potential book along the memoir genre after my blog was viewed. I'm
working on some possible pieces to submit. This is exciting for me and
hopefully will continue to lead to new opportunities.

In light of this awesome news along with my exciting personal news, the
pregnancy, grin, I thought I'd share my original blog about the
pregnancy news. Thanks for those of you who have supported my blog.

I look down at the object in my hands. So small and slim, and yet able
to carry life-changing news. Cradling it, my mouth stretches in silent
revelry. Ross holds my face between his hands as we stare quietly,
breathlessly, into one another's eyes. And just like that, the last
three years slip away like distant memories.

The waiting room buzzed with quiet commotion. Ross and I gripped each
other's hands; his right, my left. Anticipation settled throughout our
entire bodies. The nurse announced our names, and we paced towards the
doctor's room with barely contained excitement. We were consulting a
high-risk obstetrician about a potential pregnancy.

After months of discussing it, we decided to seek medical advice. I've
been a type 1 diabetic since I was four-years-old. Any diabetic
pregnancy is considered high-risk, and I knew diabetic women who had
successful pregnancies; why should I be different?

Being different is the story of my life. I should have known better.

We left the doctor's office, trudging towards the elevator, wanting
nothing more than to get out of there. Our hands reached towards one
another as though a magnetic energy manipulated us. All I felt was cold.
A deep landscape barren, desolate. Blustering winds tore at my bones.

Two more doctors would deliver the exact same blows. "No, if you were
pregnant, you will die and possibly the child." What parent gambles on
those odds?

Ross sustained me through the hurricane leaving us weak, homeless, but
standing.  In each other, we found a sliver of joy.  We rebuilt our
life, picking through the fragments.  Strength came in silence, hope,
love.  Together we stood, in sickness and in health,
'til-death-do-us-part.

Strength came fresh and renewed, but longing seeped into every aspect of
life.  My dream, my hope to call a child mine, was never out of reach.
Every turn, every encounter picked the healing scab away.

The pregnant women on the bus, complaining of aches and pains that I
would never experience.  The mother's at the park swinging giggling
children, pushing chattering babies in their jogging strollers.  Rain
soaked the land, smudging the landscape into a blurred image.

Torn, battle-scarred, wanting to just let it go, we picked at the scab
once more. Longing is a tough addiction to break. We asked a new
endocrinologist if a natural pregnancy was possible. We expected similar
results.

"Oh, it's perfectly possible; and if anyone can do it, you can."

Shock, excitement, elation, confusion-so many emotions merging together.
The clouds parted and for once, I felt a small ray of joy caress my worn
features.

Four months were spent preparing. A diabetic bootcamp, following a
strict regimen just to even try. Appointments with every specialist
imaginable; test upon test, lab after lab. Weeks of trekking to and from
appointments, then, we were given the greenlight, the okay to finally
pursue a dream we thought broken and unattainable. We still readied
ourselves for disappointment; we were cautious with our fragile hearts,
expecting a long, tedious journey.

Yet here I am, holding this precious device, a pregnancy test,  in my
trembling hands. I look up at Ross as he holds me in his strong, steady
arms. I can not visually see his face, but I search him, not sure if I'm
dreaming.

He holds me close, kissing my forehead, then my lips. "We're having a
baby."

And just like that, life changes.

To date, both baby and I are doing well. It's been fourteen weeks, and
we're going strong. Strength is our badge of courage, and I know Ross
and I have created a fighter, just like me, just like us.

My doctors and I are constantly monitoring both the baby and my health,
which is what any pregnant diabetic must endure. There is no reason to
believe September twelfth will bring anything but happy news-the due
date.

So prepare, readers, for more updates as the weeks chug along!

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan


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