Mission Statement

Up until now, I have been using this blog as little more than a photo album. As I have mentioned in the past, I have grander plans for it. In our effort to build our family, Trevor and I have been through many less-than-typical experiences. We struggled with our special brand of crazy genetic-based infertility and the ensuing IVF cycles, then I developed preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome and had to be hospitalized, next were Fletcher’s extremely premature birth and three month NICU stay, and finally, our daily life dealing with Fletcher’s special needs. All of these situations are not the norm, and each can be very isolating, let alone all of those challenges in the aggregate. These are not the topics of play date banter or water-cooler discussions at the office.

So, for support and information, I frequently turn to the Internet. It has truly changed my life. Instead of feeling like I am the only person dealing with these situations, I have found communities of people (well, mostly women) who have walked the walk, so to speak. I have learned so much from these women who take the time to chronicle their special children’s successes and set-backs, as well as their own, as special moms. In fact, as I type this, Trevor, Fletcher and I are on a plane bound for Montreal, Canada to pursue a new therapy I discovered through a fellow mom blogger.

I feel like it is finally time to start giving back. I am going to try to start posting a little more in-depth about Fletcher’s challenges and the way we are addressing them. This is not an easy thing to do in such a public forum, even for a fairly open person like myself. I have no way to control who accesses and reads this blog without “going private” and restricting access to only those I invite into the readership. But going private is not an option if I want this blog to be a resource, or at least small source of comfort, to people like me who hope to learn from other people’s experiences and feel not so isolated and alone. So, I am willing to step a little outside my comfort zone and really try to open up about the realities of our daily life.