LaShay's Story

Sedgwick County > Health Department > Healthy Babies > Lashay's Story

In my junior year of high school I decided I wanted to drop out. Regardless of what the school counselors said or what my mother said, I stopped going. My life was at an all time low. I was dating a guy who was taking advantage of me. My mother was working her life away and I was barely seeing my father. I had lost all ambition and hope for my life. It felt like everything was moving very slowly and there was no point. I then met Alex, my current husband and best friend.

Somehow, this relationship began instilling hope into my life. I decided to return to school and four months after being in the relationship, I found out I was pregnant at only 17 years old. One day while I was at home, I received a call from a nurse, Marissa, who asked me if I wanted to be in the Healthy Babies Program. Marissa said the school nurse thought I could benefit from the services and had made a referral. I agreed to meet her the next week and was enrolled in the program in May of 2001. After a few visits, I realized that there was more to having a baby then just having this cute little person to take care of. My Healthy Babies Nurse taught me the true meaning of bonding with my baby and the importance of breastfeeding. She stressed the importance of attending prenatal visits and she always checked up on the next visit to make sure I followed through. She took the time to sit down and prepare me for a birth experience that I was so fearful of. She used several handouts and videos to share educational material with me. Marissa spent numerous hours encouraging me to finish high school and pursue college. She assisted me in realizing my dream of becoming a nurse. In fact, she always scheduled me as her last visit of the day so that I would be able to express anything I had on my mind without a worry of a time limit. I was surprised at my connection with her since my trust in people was very small. She also spent time counseling me about the issues I was having with my family and with my boyfriend. I was never pressured into making the decisions she wanted me to because she always allowed me to make an “educated decision.”

With all of this help and education, in January of 2002, I delivered a healthy 7 lb. 8 oz. baby boy named Isaiah. Marissa provided me with a few baby items I needed, but also referred me to many outside community agencies that could help. Home visits from my Nurse Home Visitor were filled with support, basic infant care information, developmental screenings, breastfeeding information, and reminders to attend well-baby check ups on time. The Nurse Home Visitor shared multiple types of positive parenting techniques that I could continue to use as Isaiah grew up. With Marissa’s continued support and frequent home visits for assistance I was able to graduate on time from high school with a 3.5 GPA and also breastfeed my baby for an entire year. I immediately began college the summer after graduation.

I graduated from the Healthy Babies Program in January of 2004 and married Alex that same year. Through monthly Healthy Babies consortium meetings, community events, and on-going supportive phone calls with various Healthy Babies staff members, I was able to maintain contact with the program and my Healthy Babies nurse.

In January of 2005, with continued encouragement from my Nurse Home Visitor, I started nursing school at Wichita State University. During my third semester in nursing school, Alex and I became pregnant with our second child. I was very busy with school while Alex was attending the Police Academy. Our busy schedules put extra pressure on our relationship so we were barely seeing each other. With the healthy relationship skills learned from my Nurse Home Visitor, we were able to overcome this very difficult time.

In December of 2006, I graduated from WSU with a Baccalaureate in the Science of Nursing and Alex graduated from the Police Academy. Despite all odds and downfalls, we were able to reach our dreams goals that we had set in place while in the Healthy Babies program. Healthy Babies was like a platform that allowed us to lay down seeds to grow from. I now work for the Healthy Babies Program as a Nurse Home Visitor.

We recently had our third child who is a wonderful addition. Alex is working as an officer for the Wichita Police Department. As we approach our four-year wedding anniversary, we realize the impact the Healthy Babies program has made on our family. Alex and I both are products of what programs like Healthy Babies are capable of. This program can and DOES work magic. I don’t know where I would be now without this program in my life and when I’m out in the field with my clients, I never forget this. I have been blessed to have Healthy Babies in my life. I am now able to utilize the wide array of information that I have learned from my Nurse Home Visitor as well as other staff members from Healthy Babies to encourage my clients to make life-changing decisions. I am able to stretch my clients to new lengths that they thought never existed and create new success stories. After all, everyone is capable of success....it just takes a little help and encouragement from others.....and that is what Healthy Babies does. I was once in a very lonely and hopeless position, but I have now grown into a Healthy Mommy. I have my feet on the ground, my head up, and three Healthy Babies.