Midway through my first pregnancy, my obgyn announced she would be closing her practice in New Jersey and moving out west.  Lucky for me, her closing date fell just shortly after my due date.  At my 40-week visit and with just five days left before the close of her practice, we weighed our options on how to proceed with my fickle “cherub.”  At my 34-week mark, my cherub decided she wanted to appear early and sent my husband and I into a panic.  She never arrived and I was sent home.  Apparently the cherub was just testing our response time.  But I digress.

It was during this 40-week visit, that my obgyn and I shared a conversation that still resonates in my head.

With her cross-country move just days away, we talked about the city she was moving to and the practice she would be joining.  With malpractice insurance so much more affordable everywhere other than New Jersey and the breathtaking landscape that surrounded the new city she would call home, you couldn’t help but feel her excitement and joy. I mused at how I would love to pick up and move somewhere completely foreign to me.  To this she responded with the following:  “You are a jersey girl.  Most of you may leave for college, but in the end you return and never leave.”  She had an interesting point.  With legs akimbo, I mentally ran through the list of all my family and friends.  She was right.  Most of us did, in fact, leave for college only to return and start our families back in good ole New Jersey.

After some thought, I explained to her, “But it’s Jersey.  Without traffic everything is 55 minutes maybe 65 minutes away, tops!  Why leave?”    To this she laughed and agreed. [Read more...]