Esperanza of Stumbling Gracefully is going to open up the week for us with her contribution to the The Monday Snapshot – an evolution of the MMM feature, meant to bring the PAIL blogroll to life by giving its members a chance to feature themselves and make new connections.
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This weekend my partner, daughter and I indulged in one last hurrah as family of three (we are expecting our second child next month). We trekked down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday and then stopped at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on our way home Sunday. Osita loved both special days and we all had a great time. This was one of my favorite shots of the weekend: Osita in awe over all the fish and–her absolute favorite–the “scuvadivers.” It’s such a wonder to see the world through a three year old’s eyes.
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Now, get to know a little more about Esperanza with her answers to the Monday Snapshot “5 Questions”:
1) How long have you been blogging and how did you get started?
I’ve been blogging for four years. I started after I suffered an ectopic, six months into TTC#1, when I realized I needed more than the FertilityFriend forums.
2) Tell us a little about your ALI journey and your family (3-4 sentences):
I grew up with my mom’s horrendous story of IF and loss (one neo-natal loss and three stillbirths) and we shared a mysterious lack of menstruation so I expected to have issues and started TTC in my late 20s. While it only took us a year (and one ectopic) to have our first child, we were diagnosed with DOR (AMH of .49) and MFI trying to conceive our second. Despite being given a 3% chance of conceiving on our own, we turned to acupuncture, a TCM diet and supplements and got pregnant with our second child, due this October.
3) What makes you unique in the blogging world? (e.g. special talent, rare diagnosis, life experience)?
I suppose I’m unique because I grew up with adoption, loss and infertility and that legacy affects my own journey greatly. My parents placed a daughter for adoption ten years before I was born, so I have an older sister I’ve never met and a younger sister whose grave I grew up visiting. I suppose it’s also rare to receive two IF diagnoses when trying for a second child.
4) One word to describe yourself:
prolix
5) What blog or website (IF or not) would you recommend to others? Why?
The Faces of ALI series by Jjiraffe at Too Many Fish to Fry because I think it’s a really important project, created to present the infinite ways infertility and loss affect this community.
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As always, we want to see your Monday Snapshot as well, so please comment below with a link to your post– and of course, go visit Esperanza of Stumbling Gracefully.
If you would like to be featured on The Monday Snapshot, please sign-up here!
PAIL Bloggers 
That is SUCH a cool picture of her!! Perfection.
It must have been the weekend for visiting things…we had our first trip to the zoo! That is an amazing infertility legacy to carry… I adore that photo. It’s perfect!
Ours is here: http://didiforget.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/the-monday-snapshot-and-gave-me-a-vegemite-sandwich/
I love this picture! You can definitely see the wonder and amazement on her face 🙂 I wish we had an aquarium close by. I really think G would enjoy it.
Beautiful picture, E! I just love it!
Love the wonder in that shot! Sounds like a great and busy weekend. My brevity is here: http://waterbelle44.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/the-monday-snapshot-accidental-good-photos/
That picture is AHHH-MAZING! I love the look of wonder on her face!
Wow!! What a beautiful photo in so many ways!