Meant To Be

There are times in life when it's hard to swallow the old adage "everything happens for a reason." When your life has been turned upside down and you're in the middle of dark days with no end in sight... "everything happens for a reason" can be the last thing you want to hear.

The story I want to share is not like that at all. This is one of the happy, gives-you-goosebumps kind of stories. An instance where it's easy to believe that everything happens for a reason.

When Isaac was born, we spent almost every waking minute (and some sleeping ones) in the hospital. Lexie wanted it that way. I couldn't believe it, in fact. I kept looking for hints or subtle cues that she wanted some alone time with Isaac, or that she was feeling resentful of our presence... nothing. She kept saying over and over that we are his parents and we should be there. Lexie even encouraged us to invite friends and family to meet Isaac. Her selflessness floored me. I know for a fact that if I were in her position, I would not be able to be as open and welcoming as she was. Anyway. I digress.

At one point, a nurse came into Lexie's room and asked us for the name of Isaac's future pediatrician. I gave her the name of a doctor with whom I had scheduled a quick "meet and greet" appointment just days ago. (The agency had suggested we find a pediatrician before baby came home, so I blindly chose a pediatric clinic and took the earliest appointment with the first available doctor. )

When I told the nurse that the doctor's name was Dr. Richardson, Lexie said, "That's funny. My pediatrician when I was little was a Dr. Richardson." Suddenly I remembered a conversation that the doctor and I had during our meet and greet. When I told him what hospital the baby would be delivered at, he lit up and sang it's praises. Dr. Richardson said he used to do rounds there when he worked at a nearby clinic. A clinic in a town an hour away from where we live and where he currently practices medicine.

A clinic in the town that Lexie grew up in.

Later that day, Lexie asked her mom if she remembered Dr, Richardson's first name. It's an uncommon one, so she did remember it. Sure enough, Lexie's childhood doctor and the pediatrician we randomly chose for Isaac are one and the same.

Does everything happen for a reason? I don't know. Did the road of infertility lead us to a little boy that is obviously meant to be a part of our family? Sure did.