It has been three years since I posted on here. A lot has happened
since then.
First, we are back
in the US. Miguel is undocumented again. He now has a lifetime ban that will be
able to be waived in 10 years. We knew this would happen, but as you'll see in
the next few paragraphs, we really had no choice.
Let's go back to
2014 where I left off. I lost my job in May 2014 after moving to Matamoros. I
had been job searching in Brownsville, McAllen, and Harlingen, Texas, but never
even got called for an interview. We were barely surviving off Miguel's salary
of 1,200 MXN pesos a week (60 USD). If it hadn't had been for his aunt and my
grandmother, we would have been here before we came. We were in bad shape. No
money to pay bills or even buy food. Most days we were eating with his aunt.
After paying rent and utility bills, we had no money left from his check. My
grandmother was sending us around 150 USD a month for food, but that would only
buy so much food.
July 2014: Miguel
started working with his brother-in-law out of town. We hated that he was gone
all the time, but he was making 2500 MXN a week (125 USD). We were actually
surviving, but barely. This job only lasted a little over a month. His
brother-in-law started shorting his check. First, it was 2000 pesos, then 1500
pesos, then nothing. He came back to Matamoros and started working at his old
job again.
August-October
2014: I had been feeling nauseous at night and craving hot salsa constantly. I
decided to do a pregnancy test. It was positive! We were very surprised and
ecstatic!! I was so scared though. We did betas. The first was 76. 2 days later
it was 115. I was scared, because it didn't double like it was supposed to do.
The next one was 334. Awesome number!! I was beyond happy! I broke down crying.
I started cramping and spotting a few days later. My doctor from Monterrey
prescribed me a higher dose of progesterone. I took it and went to the
obstetrician 2 days later. She checked and everything looked good. She did
another beta. It was 467, not good. We did an ultrasound. We saw a sac in the
uterus, but we saw what they thought was a tumor on my right ovary. They said
the sac was not a viable pregnancy. I knew that. They did the ovarian cancer blood
test on me, and the levels were high. I was so scared. I calmed down, and
researched. I found out that that test is not to be done during pregnancy,
ovulation, or menstruation, because it causes false positives. I went to the
oncologist. He measured it through ultrasound and sent me for a CT scan. He
also had me do more blood work. I did another beta, and it was 142. So the next
day, I had the CT scan. The spot was tiny, 17mm. He offered 2 options: remove
the tumor and test it or remove both ovaries. I decided both ovaries, I didn't
want to deal with this again. the surgery was 60,000 MXN (3000 USD) which I had
to pay beforehand. I didn't have any money, I created a GoFundMe account, but
very few people helped. I decided to go to a doctor in Texas. One person,
someone I don't even know personally donated $250USD. He was from the Ranch
that Miguel's from. I won't share his name, because he did it privately.
However, I am forever grateful to him. He helped when nobody else would, not
even my own family except my grandmother. I went to the doctor in Texas. They
reviewed my medical records from Mexico. She then scheduled an ultrasound for a
month later. Over the next month, I threw myself into the last month of school.
2 years of tears, frustration, and happiness ended with an Associate's Degree.
The ultrasound showed no tumor or even cyst, and the ovarian cancer test was
negative. They did it when I was not ovulating or menstruating.
November &
December 2014: I am still job hunting. Our van broke down. It was 6000 MXN to repair
it (300USD). Thank God for Miguel's aunt. She paid for the repair. I went to a
few interviews, but nobody called me back for a second interview. Thanksgiving
was ok, my grandmother sent me enough money for Thanksgiving dinner and a few
Christmas gifts. Miguel’s aunt pitched in on the dinner, so we had a really
good dinner. I made buttermilk custards, turkey, dressing, macaroni salad,
potato salad, and green beans. I decided to use the money my grandmother sent
for Christmas on Cyber-Monday I was able to get the kids a cheap tablet, tennis
shoes, an outfit, and a few other small things. They were very happy with their
gifts. Miguel's parents and sisters came for New year's, so it was a good
holiday spent with his parents, sisters, aunt, and uncle.
February-May 2015:
A friend helped me to get a job at Dish in Harlingen. I worked there for 3
months, and one day they fired me. They just said it wasn't working out. I
think it was because I wasn't getting many upsells which are sells made during
an incoming phone call about a technical or billing issue.
May 2015: I lost
my job the day before Mother's Day. I was devastated. I began searching for
another job the same day, but couldn't find one. 2 weeks later, I returned to
GA. A week later, Miguel followed.
June 2015-
September 2015: Life was hard when we first moved back to Georgia. Miguel was
working but I couldn't find a job. I had come to the conclusion that my degree
was no good. In July, my grandmother's fiancé passed away unexpectedly with
heart failure. We knew he had heart failure, but he got sick one week, and the
next he was gone. I reconnected with an old friend. She had her husband get
Miguel a job with him in concrete. He started making a better salary, so things
started looking up. I was still job searching, but I wasn't as stressed about
it. We could actually afford to purchase a few things here and there.
December 2015:
Christmas this year was awesome for the kids! It felt so good to actually get
my kids what they asked for Christmas instead of what I could afford. It was
pretty boring, because my family defuses to celebrate Christmas in a fun way.
We eat dinner and open gifts. That's it. Mexico was about spending time with
family and having fun. Not here with my family.
April- June 2016:
I was told that I would never get pregnant one my own anymore. My hormone
levels were off, so I was preparing for menopause. My gynecologist recommended
a reproductive endocrinologist or fertility specialist near us. Well, fertility
treatment in the US is ridiculously expensive so that was out. Jeni graduated
middle school and Luis graduated elementary school. We bought them a cookie
cake and made enchiladas potosinas for a celebration dinner. We wanted to do
something special, because they are special events in Mexico. I got a new car
for Mother’s Day! In May, I started feeling a little nauseous here and there, but
I thought it was just my crazy hormones fluctuating. So, I ignored it. In June,
it got worse. I finally gave in and called my gynecologist on Thursday, June 16
to setup an appointment for betas. I was to go in the following Monday. I
hadn't done a pregnancy test, because I knew even if I was pregnant it wouldn't
last. It never did. Friday evening, I started getting dizzy and very nauseous.
I finally vomited. When I did, I felt a very weird sensation. The only way to
describe it is how it feels when your 5 months pregnant and the baby balls up.
It didn't really hurt, but it was very uncomfortable. I thought maybe I pulled a
muscle or something, because the vomiting was worse than I had ever had. I
decided to take a shower to see if the warm water would help. I got out and sat
down to put my shoes on. I couldn't sit down completely, it hurt too bad. I had
to sit on the side of my hip. I knew something was wrong, so I got Miguel to
take me to the ER. They thought ectopic. They did betas. My levels were 13,468!
I was so happy, and I didn't think it was an ectopic. My symptoms were not what
I had read about. I had no real pain, just horrible pressure, no shoulder pain,
nothing. They sent me for an ultrasound. No baby or even a sac was in my
uterus. I had a ruptured ectopic and my abdomen was filling with blood. I had
to have emergency surgery to save my life. I was devastated, but at the moment
I was scared to death. I didn't want to die. I kept thinking about my kids at
home. They did surgery and removed 2 pints of blood from my abdomen, and 8-week-old
fetus, and my shredded fallopian tube. Along with all of this went my chances
of every getting pregnant naturally again. The doctor said I had a lot of scar
tissue built up, and she removed that. However, it would more than likely grow
back. She said I have endometriosis. I looked back at the dates. I got pregnant
2 weeks after the gynecologist told me that I couldn’t get pregnant naturally.
Had he have not told me that, I would have tested in May. I would have more
than likely avoided surgery, because they would have given me the methotrexate
shot.
July- December
2016: I was still recuperating from my ectopic surgery, but my little sister
came to visit from Montana. I was 2 weeks’ post-op and still in a lot of pain.
We went to Stars and Strikes to spend time with the kids. Then, she wanted to
go to White Water. My incisions hadn't healed yet, so I sat on the side all
day. I was exhausted and in so much pain after that. I tried to spend as much
time with her as I could, but it was hard. November was a very sad month for
us, the person we did not need to become president won. We
We along with a million other people were devastated, how could
the people of our country vote in a person with so much hate for people who are
different from him?! The only good thing to happen in November was that Jeni's
15 dress came in!! December came, and Christmas was better this year. We did a
drawing for names for a gift exchange. We actually spent time together. We
bought a piñata, so the kids could have more fun. It ended early, but was fun.
We went to my cousin's house for New year's and had a blast.
January 2017: Jeni
turned 15!! We celebrated the day with a small party of cake and a mini regalo
sorpresa (surprise gift). Then, we went to eat at Chili’s and went to downtown
Atlanta to get on the Skyview. We didn’t in the end, the line was too long. We
ended up back at Stars and Strikes for a fun evening of playing games. It wasn’t
what she had planned, but she had fun. Her quinceanera was going to be April 8,
but with Trump winning the presidency we were considering changing it. That
just depended on what he did after he was sworn in. A week later, he was sworn
in. The following week was Miguel’s birthday and my mom left for Montana. This
week also consisted of devastating news from the White House. An executive
order was signed to not only build a wall between Mexico and the US, but to
deport the people in the US who are undocumented. Raids started in many cities
throughout the US. I am thanking God that we didn’t move to a more diverse area
last year when I wanted to. We have now postponed Jeni’s quinceanera until her
16th birthday. It will be a Quince/ Sweet Sixteen. We are scared to
do it here, and Miguel get arrested right before her party. We are planning a
move back to Mexico at the end of this year. So, I have a lot to do between now
and then. We want to build a house there before going. I also need to find a
prepa for Jeni and a good secundaria for Luis, because he was diagnosed with
ADHD last year. This is all for now. I will keep you posted on our journey the
next few months.
Luis never smiles in pictures. It is very rare that I catch a smile. Jeni loves pictures, so she always smiles!