Applicant #28: Loralei Hallet

Loralei Hallet is a mom from Seattle.

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A bit about me:

At eight years old I suffered a severe stroke, leaving me unable to walk, talk or use my right side. My parents were so worried about me. Would I be able to walk or talk again? Would we have to learn sign language just to be able to communicate? How would this affect my life, or for that matter, theirs? Being a parent now I can only imagine what they went through.

Through the years I have over come many of the negative effects of my stroke and to thrive in spite of them. I have been blessed with the opportunity to tell my story through www.differentstrokes.co.uk, and face to face. I've encouraged and inspired many stroke victims and their families with my story and a mental attitude that has learned to see the disability of stroke as a blessing in disguise. I like to view my challenges with my right side as just that, challenges. I’ve come to see my stroke as a blessing. Blessings don’t always make life easier but they always make life more fulfilling. Living through the after effects of a stroke has helped to bring out the best in me and to inspire others to live to their fullest even when times get tough.

I got married at 21 and 4 years into our marriage we decided to try for a family. Three weeks later we found out that I was already expecting! We were absolutely thrilled! We were seeing a mid-wife and following a natural child birth birthing-path. However we really wanted to know if we were having a boy or a girl, so we scheduled an ultra-sound at five months. As I settled in for the ultra sound and the technicians placed the wand on my tummy we heard her voice become a bit annoyed. “Ummm, you DID realize you're having twins...right," she said to us. I immediately broke in to laughter and told her that wasn't funny at all! However, turning our heads to view the screen, my husband and I saw two tiny heads. We were shocked beyond words. Astounded. Excited. Overjoyed. Terrified.

Shortly after the birth of our beautiful boys I was to find out I was suffering from postpartum depression. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I felt like a completely different person. Angry, tearful, depressed, anxious and completely hopeless. It took a few months of feeling this way before I was willing to admit that something was seriously wrong. And it took another 18 months of prayer, counseling, and finally finding the right medications before I was able to finally reach a place that felt like normal. Life got more joyous and easier to cope with as time passed. After our boys turned 2, I was able to get off of the medication. By that time I had finally managed to build a good support system of prayer and face-to-face helpers.

Fast forward to November 2010. We had been considering trying for another baby sometime after the new year when we found out that we were expecting again! Our hearts overflowed with joy at this unexpected blessing! We had some concern that we might have twins again so we scheduled an early ultrasound at 13 months and sure enough... TWINS AGAIN! As soon as my husband heard the word TWINS he was already bracing himself for what we had to cope with over the next few months. I too was cautious and wary when the technician told us but knew that my husband and I had done this once before and had come out the other side, so we could do it again.

At 38 weeks I had another c-section, bringing our two gorgeous girls into this world. They are now three months old and we are doing spectacularly, all SIX of us. The boys LOVE their sisters, we have lots of help. The biggest difference this time around: no postpartum. Thank God! I'm still learning day by day how to teach my children about life, love and laughter. I still struggle some days to cope with and even laugh through the hard and unexpected times. Our life is a journey, and although we have some idea what is over the next horizon, we've been surprised before! I am excited to share that journey with you and I hope you are excited to join us as we discover what life has in store through the next year.

My blog post:

With one income, four children and gas to buy for the 8 seater that we own, it's a pretty tight stretch. But I actually enjoy seeing how far one can get with how little one has. We still go places and do things, it's a matter of what you spend money on and how you choose to spend it. We don't have the nicest car or the mansion in the magazine but our house is full of love and you can tell that we all have a blast whether it's going to the park or spending a little bit of money at the zoo.

Part of what makes me an extreme Mom is that at 8 years old I had a severe stroke. This has given me very limited use of my right hand. When I found out we were having twins the first time round, it ground me to a halt. How was I to hold TWO babies at once? How was I to breastfeed and cope with TWO babies? But I'd already overcome so much, that I thought it was time for a new challenge. Somehow I learned to breastfeed two, to hold two babies in my left arm with my right supporting it. It began to get easier for me to find ways of doing things and the impossible became possible. When we found that we were pregnant with set number two, we were shocked but I wasn't as worried about those things anymore, I knew I could conquer them again and I am doing day by day.

I'm constantly being approached by Moms who are amazed and say I have my hands full or call me Super Mom. Truth be told, I'm just like every other Mom, trying to do the best for my four awesome kids, to laugh and play with them, to bring them up right, to be the best Mom I can be. In the process I'm getting the opportunity to relate to other Moms closely and encourage them that they too are wonderful. I call every Mom a Super Mom because I know how VERY hectic life can get. I know how 'pull your hair out' moments feel when your child has shoved his transformer down your toilet, (for the umpteenth time today) or dumped Pepto all over your bedroom floor and has been 'swimming' in it. But above all I know that us Moms need to link arms, share knowledge, laugh at the CRAZY moments and come together at times when we have to 'find our happy place' and believe me, I’d go crazy if it weren’t for my network of friends.

I know how to combine ideas and unite people from all walks of life. I hope to get the opportunity to share this next year with you. Adventure with me and my unique family, we'll journey together to strengthen each other and accomplish more than we ever thought we could living extreme Mommying lives.

Loralei