I grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon. I was active in sports, and loved soccer, cheer, and track. My love for nature and the outdoors has carried (and even grown) into adulthood. I absolutely LOVE being outside. Camping, vegetable gardening, tending to our chickens (and soon rabbits), hiking, kayaking; I can't get enough!
My love for pregnancy and birth began with my first daughter (first picture below). After delivering C safely at home (attended by a very competent and experienced midwife) in July of 2014, I knew God had saved a special place in my heart for bringing babies earthside. R and I had always talked about having 2, maybe 3 children. In February of 2018, we had yet another absolutely beautiful homebirth and welcomed another daughter, E, to our family (second picture below). With these 2 precious girls, we knew our family was complete. However, I did not feel my journey of being pregnant was over. I wasn't sure how or when, but knew He would let me know💙
After years of watching friends and family struggle with infertility, miscarriage, and other struggles to make their families whole, I started to cautiously research surrogacy. A sister of some close family friends had posted about her surrogacy journey and was kind enough to Zoom chat with me and explain the process! This is how I found AFS! I instantly knew this was my new path and applied with AFS, but I was still breastfeeding my daughter. Once E was weaned, I moved on to screening. At my pap, they found precancerous cells on my cervix that needed to be removed. This meant I had to waiting an extra 6 months for a follow up and the all clear to move forward. The month that I was due for my follow up is when the pandemic shut everything down. After a few extra months (and patience), I got the green light and I was finally able to begin my first surrogacy journey! There were a few bumps along the way, but overall it was such an amazing experience. The IPs became like extended family, and we were so over-the-moon happy when the mother was able to catch her baby boy. Witnessing them become parents after knowing their struggle and watching them anxiously await their baby's arrival was one of the most rewarding, humbling experiences of my entire life! Everything we went through together was absolutely worth it.
I pumped breastmilk for them for about 6 months, and I told myself I would not make any decisions about another journey until I weaned and had time to let my hormones "settle" a little. At 8 months postpartum, my surrogate coordinator at AFS reached out asking if I was up for another journey. She said she had an amazing couple hoping to find a surrogate, and after seeing a few pictures and reading a little about them, I knew it was the right decision. We still took a couple of days to talk and pray about it, just to have that confirmation.
J & D were sweet enough to invite us over for dinner (which was delicious!), where we spent the night chatting like longtime friends. The girls absolutely adored L, and they were so sad when it was time to leave. My uterine evaluation was later that week, and everything looked fabulous! We are now anxiously awaiting the legal phase of the journey to wrap up so we can move forward to the medication cycle. I've learned that patience is the primary lesson being taught during surrogacy journeys ;)
We are so, very grateful that this beautiful family has come into our lives, and we cannot wait to get to know them more as we help bring their next baby earthside. I am always so amazed at the strength and perseverance of intended parents, and am extremely grateful for their ability to place their trust in me as I carry their child. It truly is an honor.