Gabby_ A Story of Courage and Hope - Alison Hanson [8]
Over that dinner in D.C., Gabby asked Kirsten how she handled having two young kids and a political career. Since Kirsten became a senator, Jonathan had taken a larger role in caring for the kids, and Gabby was intrigued by the ways in which the couple made everything seem doable. In 2008, when Kirsten was in the House, she became just the sixth woman to give birth while serving in Congress. In the year ahead, Gabby hoped to join her on that short list.
The next morning, Tuesday, January 4, we headed over to Walter Reed to meet with Mark Payson, the physician overseeing Gabby’s fertility treatments. I’d already donated sperm, which had been frozen, and on January 20, Dr. Payson planned to remove eggs from Gabby, fertilize them for a couple days in a dish containing my thawed sperm, after which he’d be implanting them back into her.
Very few people knew that we were trying to have a baby. Most of Gabby’s colleagues and staffers had no idea. We’d kept it to ourselves. But this was not the first time we’d been through this process. Once, when Gabby was going her usual thousand miles an hour for her job, she lost track of exactly when she was supposed to take the medication. After she learned the mix-up meant she would have to start all over again, she was tearful but resolute. “It’s OK,” she said. “On the next try, I’ll be more careful.”
Another time, she was in Tucson for meetings and to see constituents, and a snowstorm on the East Coast kept her from making it back to see her doctor in Washington. By the time she landed in D.C., her cycle was off. Another disappointment. She’d have to try again.
The next attempt, in August 2010, was just three months before the toughest election of Gabby’s career. Although there were no mixups in her medication, and no blizzards to delay her, doctors worried that the campaign stresses and Gabby’s lack of sleep would affect her chances. She went ahead with the surgery, but doctors weren’t able to extract as many eggs as we hoped.
Now, for this 2011 attempt, our third, Gabby was determined to get everything right. She asked Dr. Payson to carefully go over all the medicines and procedures. “So when do I take this,” she asked, “and when do I take that?” She was focused like a laser beam, the way she’d get at congressional hearings about border issues or solar energy or space exploration. She wanted to understand everything. She also made sure that, for this round, she was getting lots of sleep and exercise.
She made an appointment with Dr. Payson for six days later, Monday, January 10, at 7:00. She planned to fly home to Tucson on Friday, and then back to Washington on Sunday, so she could be sure to make it to the appointment. We were a little nervous, but the anticipation was exciting. If everything worked out, she’d soon be pregnant.
Wednesday, January 5, was a special and memorable day on a lot of fronts. Gabby was sworn in for her third term, and those of us who loved her were there to proudly cheer her on. But January 5 was also the day Gabby made a decision that would change her life forever, a decision made with the best of intentions and an open heart, but with ramifications that would impact the lives of other people in terrible ways. January 8, 2011, was the day six people were shot to death in Tucson, and thirteen people, including Gabby, were wounded. But we also can’t help but think back to January 5, the day the dominoes of that tragedy were set in motion.
That morning began with an open house in Gabby’s office in the Longworth House Office Building. Her staffers invited everyone in their Rolodexes, and as a tribute to Gabby, almost everyone wanted to come. About three hundred people showed up—Gabby’s friends, constituents, colleagues, all sorts of people she’d met over the years in Washington. Her parents were there and so were mine.
The open house is a nice