The amazing Ashley Krupnik with her children Jadon (8), Lilly (6.5), Matthew (4.5) and Elizabeth (14 months). Ashley and her husband were high school sweethearts. They got married a year out of school and just after their honeymoon she found she was expecting their first child. When her doctor called to tell her she was pregnant she immediately asked what she was going to do about it and later admitted she thought that because she was so young with her whole life ahead of her, she should terminate the pregnancy. While the pregnancy was unplanned Ashley and her husband decided they may as well start their family. She was able to have a pretty healthy first pregnancy though she had some preterm labor scares. She carried to term and Jadon was born healthy. Ashley had an early miscarriage after Jadon's birth which was understandably difficult. Her pregnancy with Lilly went pretty well but she was born 3 weeks early and had trouble breathing. They eventually found that one of her lungs hadn't opened up but after a week in the NICU she was fine and hasn't had any health issues since. Michael's pregnancy came with more preterm labor scares but a healthy delivery after induction. Prior to her pregnancy with Elizabeth she started to learn about natural birthing methods and though she had previously been all about the epidural decided she wanted to try another way. She found a midwife she liked and hoped to labor and deliver at home. Things were going well during her pregnancy but her iron levels were low and she had a hard time getting them back up. She wasn't allowed to deliver at home if they were too low in case she needed a transfusion so she decided to find a midwife with hospital privileges and proceed with a natural birth. Ashley is a sexual assault survivor and her PTSD was triggered during a procedure and she wasn't able to talk or move for two hours. Her midwife was able to counsel her and suggested that perhaps an epidural would relax her enough to allow labor comfortably. She decided to consent and from there was able to have a very peaceful, positive birth. The lights were low, the focus was on her and her daughter's birth was able to provide a healing experience even though it wasn't what she had originally desired. Elizabeth is also her only child that she's been able to have a successful breastfeeding relationship with and she's still nursing at 14 months.