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If I had met you seven years ago and you had told me that I was going to be a stay-at-home mom, I would have laughed in your face.

I’m being completely serious.

I had big plans and being a mom before I was thirty wasn’t included anywhere in those plans.

When we moved to Florida, my education options flew out the window. Though I took some online courses at the local community college, I just didn’t feel the same love that I had felt at my old university.

I found a full-time job at a very prestigious medical institution and decided that I had found a job that could eventually turn into a career.

Two months after landing that job, I was told that my chances of having a baby were somewhere around 10%. If I managed to conceive, my chances of carrying the fetus to term ranged between 35 and 50%.

I can still remember the gray-haired doctor looking me in the face and telling me that if I had any intention of having a baby, I had better get started trying right now.

Suddenly, my plans had been turned on their proverbial heads yet again.

Tucker and I had been married for less than two years at this point and having a baby was not something that Tucker had considered.

When I told him what my doctor had told me, he was not pleased. He worried that we weren’t ready for the responsibility and he worried about our financial situation and he worried about the stress that a baby would place on our marriage.

After considerable discussion, he finally asked me the most important question anyone has ever asked me.

“Do you want to be a mother or do you want to have a career?”

I’m going to be totally honest with you. Initially, that question pissed me off. I was so angry at the nerve of him to make me choose! How dare he!

But, the longer I mulled it over, the more I started leaning toward being a mom.

I had never encounter a job that I loved. I had never had a job that I wasn’t able to quit at the drop of the hat. I had never had a job that inspired me.

After considerable thought (and lots of doubt), I decided to be a mom. And, after a year and a half of trying, I met my new boss.

Now, my days are filled with dirty diapers, sippy cups, and breastfeeding. I have never felt more fulfilled and at peace with a decision. Ever.

Though I know that my choice is not the right choice for everyone (which I totally respect), it’s the right choice for me and my family.

At least with this job, I can tell my boss to “put a sock in it” and she will…literally (and usually a dirty one).

Photo graciously provided by the author, through a stock photography license, some rights reserved

[tags]career, infertility, choices, mothering, work, mom, motherhood, kids, children, parenting[/tags]