About Me

Welcome to A Beautiful Day.

I'm Day.

I'm a very busy mom of three boys (including twins!), wife to a wonderful man, and desperate to find time to sew...besides family, quilting, crafting and making is my heart's passion. I love apple orchards, the mountains, farms and antiques. I love vintage dresses, uberchic restaurants, grunge music, Tim Gunn and Coen brothers movies. I love Fenway and the South End. We moved to the burbs a few years ago for the kiddles...now and then I miss my life in the city. I used to work in insurance, was a part-time chef and dabbled in art...my life now is more about mac and cheese and crayons and runny noses. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I know more than I'd like about infertility, miscarriage, preeclampsia, prematurity and c-sections gone really wrong. Since 1995 I've had PNH : a rare, life-threatening bone marrow disease for which the only cure is a bone marrow transplant. I was told I'd never have kids and would likely die within 5-10 years. After spending too much time grieving the loss of my health I decided the only way to go on was to live like I was going to live. And though it was hard - at times terrible and scary - here I am now with the family of my dreams. I am now on biweekly Soliris infusions which hold the hope of keeping me around for a long, long time and boost the quality of my life. My life, actually - though at times busy to the point of insane - is nothing short of beautiful.

For the googlers:

Infertiles:
IVF (4!) PGD, IUI, miscarriages: 5.
D&C: 2, FET: 1, OHSS, male factor. Former moderator on popular IVF support site, 3+ years to get take home baby #1. Babies #2 & 3 conceived via FET with "never gonna make it" single embryo transfer. Never say never.

Preeclampsia & prematurity:
1st born: 33 weeks via general anesthesia C-section due to pre-e. 5 weeks in NICU. Nec infection, okay now. ME: high BP, hemorrhage, ablation, 1 month in hospital.
twins: 32 weeks via general anesthesia C-section, 5 & 6 weeks in NICU - feed and grow, no issues.
ME: high BP, on mag, hemorrhage, ablation, kidney failure, ICU. Say bubbye to Ms. Uterus. C-diff. In hospital for over month. Sucked. Postpartum PTSD set in one year later - am coping well but those flashbacks are a bitch.

PNH: Symptomatic since 1995; diagnosed in 1999. No AA, no sibling match for BMT. Symptoms were black urine, abdominal pain, frequent dehydration, GERD, esophageal spasm, dizziness, fatigue. Started Soliris 2/08 and feel like a new person. Counts are low end of normal but stable and prognosis is very good for now.

I'm also damned happy about our choice of a new president.

I welcome questions at smackysblog at yahoo dot com. For a password for entry to my private site which was published 2006-2007, please send an email request.

I'm happy to have you here - Please enjoy the read!