About Me

Welcome to my blog!

I was born and raised in Northern California (just outside of Sacramento), where I lived until 1999, when I married the love of my life, T., and moved to San Diego.

I taught Spanish to 7th and 8th graders until our first son (affectionately nicknamed the Shookie) was born in February of 2002. He was born 5 weeks prematurely when I developed HELLP Syndrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Count, Low Platelets)

2004-2006: In February 2004, we moved to the NYC area for my husband to pursue his Ph.D in History. We fell totally in love with our neighborhood (Park Slope), and NYC in general. Who knew two kids born and raised in the 'burbs could feel so at home in the City? We were also part of a church planting team for a new local church at that time, one of the most exciting and fulfilling things we have ever been involved with.

In the spring of 2004, we also started TTC LB#2. We were VERY excited when, after just a few months, we conceived in June. Unfortunately, I miscarried at just over 5 weeks.

I had hoped that that sad event would not repeat itself, but unfortunately, we miscarried again (sort of) at the end of February 2005, only to find out that I had a blighted ovum. After a very long month of many ultrasounds confirming and re-confirming that there was indeed NO BABY, I finally started to finish miscarrying, only to end up needing a D&C. That miscarriage turned out to be much more difficult than the first time, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

After waiting a few months to start trying again, we got back on the TTC bandwagon, but following a spring and summer full of incredibly irregular cycles and no +HPTs, my DH, OB and I agreed it was time to move on to an RE.

We were incredibly blessed to find a fertility specialist who took excellent care of us within walking distance of our home. It was through the process of fertility testing that we learned I have thrombophilia, a serious and surprisingly common clotting disorder that caused the Shookie's premature birth, our two miscarriages and difficulty conceiving. We were literally waiting for my next cycle to start so that we could begin fertility treatments when we received the shock of our lives ... I was pregnant again! With the help of daily injections of blood thinners and MUCH prayer, we welcomed our second son, Ronan, in December of 2006. He was born exactly at term, with no complications. Truly, he is our miracle baby.

Since then, our lives have been joyfully crazy. Six months after Ronan's birth, we packed up our things and moved to Maryland, for my husband to go through a pastors college affiliated with the family of churches we are a part of. Our lives have been completely redirected and it has become clear that my husband has a call to ministry on his life. We hope to move to San Francisco in January and start a new church there in the summer of '09. Exciting, crazy times!