MÈRE Stories: Lee Anne Gilmore
“I suffered 2 miscarriages in January and April 2021 and felt dismissed by the practice I’d been going to since I was 16.”
Baby Libby’s birth
Baby Maggie’s birth
I moved to a new practice and felt heard by a doctor for the first time.
My third pregnancy made it through the first trimester but I held my breath every step of the way until March 9, 2022, three months before my June 12 due date, I birthed our two pound baby who quickly became a precious miracle and tiny fighter.
89 days later we took her home, but had so many obstacles to navigate and overcome while going back to work. I became a different person in those 89 days and am now a fierce advocate for proper healthcare.
With Libby we knew we were in for many follow up appointments, physical therapy, MRIs, long days at CHOA, etc. but also knew we were lucky to have such wonderful healthcare right in our backyard.
Before we started trying for another baby my doctor was adamant to make a plan to get to the bottom of what happened—1 MRI, multiple visits to Emory’s incredible infertility clinic and 2 surgeries later it was considered safe for me to get pregnant again.
I had a septum resection (a growth in my uterus that had been there since birth, which meant Libby had half of a uterus to grow in before running out of space.).
While it was a perfectly healthy pregnancy I still suffered from anxiety given our history.
Maggie’s birth was an incredibly healing experience.
If you had to summarize your journey in motherhood with all its challenges, how would you describe it now? How have you found a way to reclaim your strength or identity? What have you learned?Full of gratitude. Don’t get me wrong, there are days I want to cry while a screaming toddler is refusing a bath, but I can’t believe I get to be their mother. That I was chosen as the right person to be trusted to raise them with my wonderful husband. Given what we went through to start a family I feel very good about whatever highs and lows life holds for us in the future.
What advice or words of encouragement would you give another mom walking through a similar chapter? Miscarriages and NICU stays can be so lonely. Lean on your people and take the lexapro.
How has your journey changed you, both in ways you expected and in ways you never could have imagined?I look through life and motherhood from a completely different lense than I ever could have imagined. I find myself feeling much more rooted and calm in the stormy days of motherhood, clinging to being grateful that I have these children to hold. I am also in awe of their resiliency.
— Lee Anne Gilmore
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