16 Jul Welcome to Parenthood

By Tiffany Rucker, MBA

It all started with vital signs during clinicals.

I was in a nursing program, and every night we practiced taking vital signs on each other. One evening, my usual vitals partner was absent, so I was working with the instructor, who was a 30-year veteran. No pressure, right?!

The Instructor noticed that I had a slight temperature, so she looked at the notes for previous days. She noticed that I displayed an elevated heart rate and a slight temperature. I was 19 at the time, with my whole life ahead of me, so I never expected to hear what the doctor told me when I went to check on my heart rate and temperature at my instructor’s request.

After a physical examination, the doctor said, “Ma’am, everything is okay; you’re just pregnant.”

I remember feeling the color leave my face as I tried to understand exactly what she meant by pregnant. I left that appointment feeling like my whole world had come crashing down.

I was studying to be a nurse, but my long-term dream was becoming a pediatric neurologist. As my stomach grew, my goals and dreams changed significantly. I started thinking about the little person I was carrying and wondering if my choices would benefit him in a positive way.

So I made the decision to change career paths and do something that would also allow me to parent successfully.

My son was an amazing baby, and he made my transition into parenthood easy, even though I was alone and struggling financially to make ends meet.

I overcame many obstacles and placed my focus on being the best version of me—for him.

In a way, motherhood saved me from reckless, careless behavior. It made me everything that I had dreamed of becoming—and so much more.

Today I can say that my life did not turn out the way that I had originally hoped, but, as my oldest child matures into an amazing young man, I know that every sacrifice, every tear and every hurdle was worth it.

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Tiffany Rucker is a small business and financial literacy coach as well as wife, mom and special needs advocate. She lives in Tampa, Fla.