Living with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, PMDD, and Dysautonomia has meant spending a lot of time becoming an expert on my own body. By necessity, those of us with chronic illness and disability become skilled at recognizing and reading the signs and symptoms that many doctors overlook or dismiss. That process can be exhausting, and it also has given me a deep sense of ownership and respect for my body.

When it was time to choose a non-hormonal birth control option that wouldn’t exacerbate my conditions, the symptothermal fertility awareness method was a natural fit. But FAM gave me more than birth control. It gave me real-time insight into my body’s inner workings (like a monthly report card) that helped me navigate life with chronic illness.

Then I wanted to have a child. And when I tried to picture what that would actually look like (e.g. parenting on a high-pain day, carrying a baby when my joints won’t cooperate, getting through a first trimester when my capacity is already stretched) I kept coming back to a big blank. The existing resources for pregnancy and parenthood weren’t written for my life. So I built what I needed from the ground up: a COVID-cautious, accessible path to parenthood, in an ableist healthcare system, with a body that requires careful management.

And I came out the other side a parent. And I get to delight in both my child and the creative accommodations I’ve figured out along the way!

The learning didn’t stop at birth. Understanding what was actually happening in my brain during pregnancy and early parenthood was as clarifying as anything I’d learned about my body before. And then came infant sleep, navigating it with a chronically ill body when my own stress system and rest needed attention, which led me deeper into the neuroscience of nurture and responsive caregiving. All of that work, rooted in the research and teachings of Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum and Dr. Rocío Zunini, now informs how I support new and expectant parents alongside everything else.

I’m a Certified Fertility Awareness Educator, National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, ICF Associate Certified Coach, Nurture Neuroscience trained parental brain educator, and a disabled, neurodivergent parent who has walked this path and will walk it with you.

And if you’re curious, I live in New York with my family and love big belly laughs around the kitchen table more than anything else in the whole world.