Walt Disney Pictures ; produced by Clark Spencer ; written and directed by Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois. Lilo & Stitch. Burbank, Calif. :Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2002.
Well what can I say? My name is Shelly. I'm the 30 something year old wife of Deryk (Del) and mother to Leopold (Leo) and Sybelle (Sibby), and this is our family.
Me and Del first met back in 2004 when we were working together. Although it wasn't "love at first sight" we did hit it off and became good friends for many years. Then in 2011 our stars aligned and we were both in a position to pursue a relationship.... And the rest, as they say, is history.
From proposing on our luxurious 2 week holiday in Mexico 2013
To having a beautiful, tudor inspired, wedding in 2016
Followed by a wonderful week long, all inclusive Mediterranean cruise.. (oh but wait I was pregnant, so no cocktails for me)
So let me explain. Did I plan it well? No. Was it planned per se? Not really. See the thing is, we had been trying to get pregnant for 2years. At 16years old I was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). This comes with a whole host of symptoms and issues, but the main one, the biggy, is infertility.
See even in this day and age where woman don't need to have a family if they dont want to. Can have a career first. Love who they want. Live how they want. Biology still tells us we are "supposed to make babies". Now I don't mean this to sound crass but we bleed every month (granted mine was synthetic) to remind us we can have babies. We literally have milk makers attached to our bodies. And not in some hard to see place, but literally right under our noses that can just scream "hello, I'm here to feed the offspring". If you don't want children, I guess these things can be ignored. But I did want children. It was all I ever wanted. From day dot I told Del there may be issues and we had a plan of attack. Starting early just gave us a jump start on things.
Just after our wedding I was prescribed Clomid. It doesn't work for everyone, and there is only so many times you can try as it comes with it's own risk. Round 1 didn't work so the dose was upped. Round 2 I ovulated! If you're pretty sure you've never done that before it is quite an exciting time. I was a chicken. I had successfully laid an egg. Step 1 of the battle complete. I did not expect to concieve on the first successful round. But low and behold...
I was a chicken god
Not only had I laid an egg but I had concieved and began to create life.
Throughout pregnancy we had some ups and downs, many of which I'll explain in detail in future blogs. It all ended at 38weeks and 2 days when our hearts melted and we got to meet our little Prince. Our miracle. Our baby. Our world.
At 9.37am on Sunday 26th November 2017 weighing 6lb 7oz Leopold Arthur Fordham was born.
"I want to do it all again"
And so we did. In 2020 as the global pandemic hit, we found out we were expecting again.
40weeks and 3 days of waiting we were blessed with Our Princess. Our completed family. Our baby girl.
At 11.05am on 13th November 2020 weighing 8lb 11oz Sybelle Violet Fordham shot into this world.
This time, in an operating theatre with lives hangining in the balance I was less inclined to do it again. And why would I?
My family was perfect and complete!
Let me know who makes up your family in the comments ❤️
