Worries

Years ago, I was babysitting my niece when she was probably about 4 years old. I was living alone in my first grown up apartment and she had spent the night. That afternoon we had gone to the pool and had a fun time and then we watched a Disney movie or two before it was time to go to bed.

The next morning I woke up with a Migraine*. It was awful. I remember wanting my sister to come earlier to pick her up since I was in such pain. This was also when my Migraines made me sick. (For some reason that's not the norm any longer, thank goodness.)

It was that day that I really worried about what it would be like when I had children of my own. How would I handle it? Would they (the Migraines) still be an issue for me? Would the be inherited from me?

Well, it turns out I am not one of those rare women whose Migraines go away with pregnancy and don't return. They are still around and in fact have not even eased up.I cannot even begin to tell you how many people would say, "Oh, they'll probably go away. That happens you know?" Gee thanks. It's rare according to my neurologist so please don't say this to a pregnant women who suffers from Migraine. Trust me.

I cannot tell you enough how often I pray that Julia will not inherit this from me. I would not wish this on someone I disliked, much less my own child. This is probably one of the things I worry unnecessarily about. But, mostly I worry about things such as how early we should watch for signs of her having headaches. How would she communicate to us if she couldn't talk yet?

Her pediatrician knows about both of our histories and my Migraines weren't diagnosed until I was a teenager. So, I'm probably worrying too soon, but I would hate for this to be an issue and us not be aware. And, like I say, I don't worry about the present so much as what the future holds for her.

Of course, there are plenty of things to worry about now, so, I'll try not to get ahead of myself.

*Yes, I capitalize Migraine. I read this article once and the writer had such good reasons I decided to do the same.