Welcome!

Hello and welcome, everyone!

I am so excited to finally start this blog designed to share our story (as written in my book, Learning to Breathe), to empower parents traveling difficult journeys (and let's face it, parenting is tough for everyone!), and to provide a safe space for people to come together in order to support, learn, and share about all things preemie, special needs, infertility, NICU, and - well - really just about anything "life" in general.

A little introduction for my new friends here...my name is Heather Evans, and I am the 38 year old mom to 6 year old boy/girl twins. We live in a suburb of Kansas City with my husband (their amazing dad), our two cats, and our crazy Pomsky puppy. Our story is long - hence, the whole writing-a-book thing - but I'll give a short summary with more sharing of  memories as time goes by.

After four years of infertility battles, my husband and I finally became pregnant with our twins. I went into premature labor, and after ten days in the hospital battling to keep the babies inside, Hannah and Gavin were born via emergency c-section at 24 weeks, 1 day gestation. They were 1.5 pounds each and were born unable to breathe on their own, even unable to open their eyes. I describe the details in my book and will share more here over time, but we spent four months in the NICU, seven weeks on ventilators, and six months on oxygen. We battled severe intraventricular brain hemorrhages (bleeding in their brains), heart vessel surgery, infections, and a massive battle learning to eat.

BUT. Despite this being the scariest time imaginable, there was also joy. People we met who saved our twins lives over and over, no exaggeration. Friends and family that stepped in to help however they could. Therapists over the years who have cared for my children as if they were their own.

Since our time in the NICU, Gavin has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and last year, he had neurosurgery and orthopedic surgeries in St. Louis. We have had PT, OT, and speech services in our home, in school, and in outpatient clinics. The twins are now in kindergarten (!!!), and I am learning to navigate the world of homework, packing lunches, bus stops, and kids who are gaining stronger opinions each day. I also work 30 hours a week as a pelvic floor physical therapist, my other passion second only to my family.

So again - WELCOME!

I am excited to share our past and future journeys. While we have some unique situations because of how our kiddos began, we are also just a regular family, learning as we go!