Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood. Even though I couldn't run around like all the other kids I was around it didn't seem to phase me too much. I still did "normal" kid things, I loved to play with my dolls, play house, play tag, even kickball. I found at an early age that I also loved to draw & paint. (which ends up being my career that I will talk about later.) I had 2 wonderful parents that taught me to stay strong & positive, to be aware of my disability but to not let it get in the way of what I want to do in life. They NEVER said "No Casey, you won't be able to do that because your not able." When I wanted to be in a cheerleading group when I was in grade school my Mom was supportive & all for it.
As I grew up & went through high school I was part of our marching band. I loved band, choir, & art classes the most. I went out on dates, went to homecomings & proms, went to the skating rink on weekends with friends...lived a typical teenage life.
I graduated high school in May of 1999. By this point I was bound & determined to continue a "normal" life. I was going to take a big leap & be independent just like most do at my age. I attended college & lived the dorm life. I had the time of my life there. It was where I started to find out more of who I was as an individual. I only attended one semester for reasons I won't discuss on here. :) But I continued to work as an administrative assistant in the same town for a year after that, while living in an apartment with my best friend & cousin. That's when I met my future husband Kevin, on February 26th, 2000.
In 2001 we both moved to Nebraska where his family was & we both continued our education. I attended a Graphic Design school & graduated in May of 2003. Kevin attended business school graduating also in 2003 with an Accounting degree. We continued living in Nebraska working a couple different jobs. We had plans to get married someday but we weren't in a hurry & enjoyed our lives together as it was.
In October of 2007 we made the decision to move back to the small town where I was born & raised. On Christmas eve one of my dreams came true...Kevin proposed to me. We had came home from spending the evening with family. I was watching A Christmas Story & I noticed my screen saver on my computer was different...I looked over & it was a picture of Kevin & I. On it read I know we can't afford too much this year, (since we had just moved Kevin just started working & I wasn't yet, so there was no money coming in yet for extra things) so I just want to ask one thing...Will you marry me?" By that point he was on one knee in front of me!
the pic above is an engagement pic
We were married June 13th, 2009 in the same church my parents were married in almost 29 years earlier. It was definitely by far the happiest day of my life. It was something I dreamed of my whole life!
We were able to take our official honeymoon that following May 2010 to Florida. Thanks to one of Kevin's cousin, his gift to us for our wedding was to book us a condo for a week. We were surprised with something that would change our lives FOREVER! We arrived in Florida on May 21st and on May 22nd 2010 we found out we were pregnant!! This was another thing I dreamed about since I was pretty young. One way or another I wanted to be a Mom, preferably biologically & the ability to carry the baby myself. We were ecstatic yet a tad nervous knowing pregnancy could be more of a challenge for me than for a "normal" healthy woman.
the pic above was the day we found out we're preggo
In this blog I will talk about the joys & challenges of being pregnant with SMA & being in a wheelchair. This will give my extended family the opportunity to follow along & be aware of all my doctors visits to how I am feeling & dealing with pregnancy & of course how our precious little baby is doing. Also I hope that this blog can help other women who are in a similar situation as I am. Even though other women with neuromuscular diseases are starting to realize that they can become pregnant and carry their own children, there isn't much out there documenting their experiences through pregnancy and motherhood.
Thank you for joining in our journey of parenthood. And welcome to my blog Pregnant on Wheels!
Love, love, love it Casey!
ReplyDelete