Hi! My name is Jennifer and I am mom to two amazing kiddos-twins, Lilith and Edison. My husband, Adam, and I have been married for 6 years. We tried for several years to get pregnant, struggling with infertility and other health complications. So when the day came that we were told we were pregnant—miraculously, with not just one baby, but TWO—we were elated! We chose not to find out their genders until they were born.
Read MoreOn November 27th, 2018, my husband and I went in for my 22 week ultrasound. We went in so excited because we were finally finding out the gender and were planning a gender reveal party later that night with our friends and family. The tech wrote it on a paper and the nurse called my sister in law to let her know the gender (since she was the one making our cake pops for the reveal). Once the tech had written down the gender, we met with my doctor to discuss the ultrasound. The first thing he told us was, “We need to talk.”
Read MoreOn April 9th, 2019, Sloan LouElla was born! After 9 years of marriage + fur-baby-parenting, we were adulting to our max capacity (joking, haha, does anybody actually do that?)...and we were excited for our little human-baby. We had prepared, prepared, and prepared. We started a ‘baby box’ in 2016 - just collecting little things for our future human while we were out traveling, shopping, etc - and we were ready for what we thought was going to be a very typical birth/baby experience. After an extremely intense, traumatic, beautiful, life-altering year - we’ve learned that while preparation is wonderful, some of the most amazing, life-altering experiences come from the moments you least expect.
Read More“Aw he’s so cute, look at him sticking out his tongue!”
“How come his tongue is never in this mouth?”
“He was born when?! He’s huge!”
“What’s with his tongue?”
These are just a few of the many questions we received and continue to receive about our son Owen’s appearance. He was born with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, a rare genetic syndrome that increases his risk of developing childhood cancer.
Read MoreAfter 5 1/2 years, my husband and I (mostly me) decided that we wanted to have one more baby. We already had two wonderful boys that brought us so much joy and laughter. I love being a mother!! It's what I was born to do. And I felt like they were growing up so fast and I was ready for more. After a year of trying to get pregnant and two miscarriages, we finally had our baby on the way. I could not have been more excited and terrified at the same time. Starting over again after six and a half years was a little intimidating. I was having a fairly easy pregnancy and loving the feeling of growing a little human inside me. There are no words for this.
Read MoreAt my 11-week ultrasound, the doctor ordered a blood test to check the gender and ensure everything was genetically normal. For women over the age of 35, this test was routinely recommended. I was elated! I had the opportunity to find out the gender almost 10 weeks earlier than normal, since that is typically not done until closer to the 20-week mark. The genetic part seemed like an afterthought and I wasn’t worried in the least about it. My doctor said the results would be emailed to me, and a week later as I was checking my inbox for the results, my phone rang. I was at work and completely surprised to see my doctor calling because I hadn’t expected a phone call from her. I immediately felt a sense of dread. When I answered the phone my doctor quickly asked if I had seen the results via email yet, and I told her that I had not. Without further pause she said, “Your baby has Trisomy 21”.
Read MoreI remember when the doctor so non-chalantly said, "Your baby has Spina Bifida." I promise you, I looked at my husband, with a shoulder shrug, like, “Oh, okay,” and then turned to the doctor and asked, "Well, what's that mean?" I'm not sure what we thought it meant, but we were not ready for the diagnosis we were given. He explained to us what spina bifida was, and that it would need to be surgically repaired. Instantly the tears poured out. How could this be happening again?
Read MoreIt is an indescribable feeling seeing your baby for the first time - but our joy was quickly replaced by trauma after a birth diagnosis.
Read MoreWhen Abby was born, there were no complications. For the first year of Abby’s life there was not a single concern. As time went on, things started to slow down.
Read More“Congratulations, you’re having a boy, however your test came back positive for down syndrome. I’m going to refer you to a genetics counselor.”
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