Responsibilities

I just found out I’m pregnant, and I’m beginning to panic. This is a huge responsibility. How did you cope with the weight of that?

Our Mommy MD Guide’s reply: I was totally unprepared for pregnancy! I was working at my first job after completing my residency, and I wasn’t planning on having a baby then. So I didn’t do anything to prepare. I was very surprised to find out I was pregnant!

When my pregnancy test came out positive, at first I was shocked. Then it hit me: Oh my goodness, what am I going to do? It really hit me at that moment that I was now responsible for another person. That was a defining moment in my life.

Even though I’m a physician, and I take care of people all of the time. But I knew that I would be responsible for my daughter for a huge part of her life. This responsibility completely  motivated me. My daughter brought my life into focus. It was clear to me what I needed to do with my life to make sure that she has everything that she needs.

When I found out I was pregnant, it motivated me to get all of the pieces of my life in order. For the first time in my life, I got life insurance. It was really important to me to know that if something happened to me, my daughter would be cared for.

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant, I put together a will. I needed to know that if something happened to me, there was someone to step in and care for my daughter. I needed to make sure that person and I were of the same mind and that she would be able to help my daughter to develop and to reach her goals.

—Christy Valentine, MD, a mom of one, a specialist in pediatrics and internal medicine, and founder of the Valentine Medical Center in Gretna, LA