Who I am:

• A mom in Oregon, at home with my kids. My eldest is an adult and nonbinary. My middle child is in middle school (as of 2017) and has a rare chromosomal issue, 4q deletion syndrome. For more information on 4q deletions, please see our yahoo group, Facebook group, or this paper from Unique. My youngest is in kindergarten. I live with my husband, near my family, and in one of the most progressive places in the US. Our extended family is our mainstay and our lifeline. I spent more than twelve years of my life breastfeeding.
• A writer. I have written a number of published nonfiction articles about midwifery and parenting, as well as a number of fanfiction stories and novels. See the homepage for links.
• A queer activist and strong voice for social justice issues.
• Neurodivergent, genderqueer and bisexual.
• Disabled
• One of the cofounders of Nine In, Nine Out (NINO), a nonprofit organization dedicated to babywearing advocacy and education. I was also on the board of directors. NINO is now defunct. The current organization to promote babywearing is Babywearing International.
• An inventor of the gathered shoulder ring sling. Jamie of Sling Me Mommy also came up with the same design and construction method independently around the same time I did. We were unaware of each other’s work until several years later.
• The designer of the MamaBaby sling system, the Mama Tie, and the Upsidaisy wrap mei tai hybrid.
• Previously a consultant for a large number of babywearing companies. I have also helped with many educational products, and was involved with thebabywearer.com in its earliest days. I also contributed a page to Maria Blois’ book, Babywearing. I am not currently active in the babywearing community, but did, before I stopped being active, become a Master Babywearing Educator through BWI.
• The coordinator for the 2006 First International Babywearing Conference in Portland, Oregon.
• One of the primary editors of the Wikipedia Babywearing and Slings pages. My involvement with the pages is intermittent.
• A babywearing expert. I was first known in the babywearing community because I wrote a series of articles and reviews on babywearing products, including instructions for making basic slings and carriers. Since that time, the babywearing universe has changed, and I have not had time to update my sling pages. HOWEVER… better information is widely available online. This is a list of “jumping off points” and is not intended to be comprehensive. Here are my recommendations:
  • For general babywearing information, comprehensive reviews, articles, and a fantastic online community: The Babywearer
  • For comprehensive and excellent sewing instructions for a wide range of baby carriers: Jan Andrea’s Babywearing Crafts Page
  • For product reviews, a blog I sometimes do joint reviews on for new products: The Babywearing Blog . The mama who organized The Babywearing Blog lives in my town and runs our local babywearing group.

I am living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism and several other medical conditions that affect my life day-to-day, as well as parenting a special-needs child.

In the past:

• I have worked as a graphic designer/editor for Midwifery Today magazine.
• I was certified as a childbirth educator through ICEA, as a doula through DONA and as nursing assistant through the state of Oregon.
• I was a young, single, welfare mama to my oldest daughter.
• I was a working single mom for many years.
• I provided breastfeeding and early parenting support to dozens of families.
• I did 3-d design work in Second Life