After struggling to find a good blog name, getting lost in tumblr settings and functions, and burrowing the theme of one of my mumblr friends, I think I’m now ready to start with this blogging stuff. I’m getting a lot of help from my very good friend, @mummamae, so I'm sure I’ll be doing just fine here in simumblr land. I love the idea of starting my own blog!
My name is Vanessa Cathaway, but you can call me Nessa or Nessie. I am 22 years old, and I work in a beauty salon alongside my older sister, Jasmine. I like long walks to the park with my kids, food and I'm a huge book nerd. I have two beautiful daughters - Clara and Emma. They are 21 months old and they are my everything. I am a single mom (and this is starting to look like a dating profile, so let's move on to our story).
I never in a million years would have expected to become a mother at a young age. But becoming a mother has changed so much about me, and I believe I have become a much better person after I became pregnant with my girls. My daughters’ father and I's relationship was never stable. We were very much an on-and-off case. We were both young and dumb and immature, and the pregnancy wasn't planned at all, I'll admit that. But I never felt like I made a mistake. I was terrified, yes. Not of how my parents would react, because I’d say I have the kindest and most supportive parents in the world, but I did doubt myself, and if I would be able to take care of this baby. I was even more terrified when we found out I was expecting twins, so it was an emotional rollercoaster. Even to this day, I am surprised by how fast I managed to step up and work on myself to become a good mom. I knew I wanted to keep them.
I feel like I matured very fast after I had made my decision. I used to be a bit of a party girl, and although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I just knew it couldn’t be a part of me anymore. Not in the same way at least. I lost a lot of friends along the way, and I did become a bit depressed at the time, but as soon as I saw my babies on that screen. As soon as I felt them move, all of the negative things was immediately forgotten, and I was excited about becoming a mom. So after hitting my second trimester, everything was going really great. I was still living with my parents at the time, but I was heading towards finding my own place (and cheap apartments are not hanging on the trees!)
Moving on to the birth, my water broke 5 weeks prior to my due date, and I was terrified. At this time, I had actually been told, at my previous ultrasounds, that there were some speculations about one of the babies, so I didn't know what to expect. We just knew she was special. And after over 6 hours of labour, my girls were born on January 4, 2015. Clara was born first, and was quickly surrounded by nurses because of some mild breathing trouble. She weighed a perfect 6 pounds and 8 ounces, while her sister, who was born 16 minutes later, weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces, and had no problems whatsoever. They were both perfect, and I can remember crying my eyes out as I held them for the first time.
After I had my beautiful girls, I was given a chance to rest and recover, while the girls were taken in for further examination. The doctor and nurses had noticed some distinctive characteristics in Clara's physical features, and although the staff had their suspicions, we were all a bit nervous about what could be going on with her. But after some genetic testing of both girls’ blood- and skin cells, it was eventually confirmed that Clara has MDS (Mosaic Down Syndrome), which in some cases can go undetected for years.
Despite the news of Clara’s given diagnosis, the love for my babies never changed. They have brought so much positivity and unconditional love into my life, and I can't go a day without them. I love them both to the moon and back.
