Today marks a new day for me. With this blog post (and subsequent email many of you will receive from me later), I have officially kicked off a new non-profit organization called "Climb For Kids". As many of you are already aware, and if you are reading my blog, I'm sure you're aware, that my daughters Ella and Emma are survivors of a little understood fetal syndrome called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

Many of you already know the story. We first discovered that our unborn children had TTTS and we were very scared. That's when the roller coaster ride began. We were lucky enough to discover that the one of the world's best TTTS medical facilities is right here in Seattle. Whew! A proper diagnosis led to surgery, not once, not twice, but three times. Additional complications seemed to occur daily, which made life very stressful for us. Wow. We didn't think this could get any worse. All thru it all we had some of the best support anyone could ask for. I don't know which lifted our spirits more.... an in-hospital baby shower attended by half the world, a football get away, happy hour at Vortex, or just being there when we needed you.

On November 20th, which will remain one of the most memorable days of my life, Ella and Emma were brought into this world and with them came a whole new set of problems. Their status is changing daily and they continue to enrich our lives like you wouldn't believe. We spend every day with them at the hospital and either Ellen or myself try to spend every other night with the girls as well. They are by no means out of the woods (Emma still has to have surgery to fix her VSD), but things have stabilized enough that we have time to reflect.

As I reflect, I realize how incredibly fortunate our situation was. The doctors, the facilities, the successful surgeries and, most of all, the amazing amount of support provided by our family and friends. On top of all that, we were fortunate enough to have the best medical insurance in the world. Ellen and I have often wondered how other people, less fortunate than us, are able to handle this. She and I have read horror stories of doctors not properly treating TTTS and incorrectly advising mothers to terminate a pregnancy. On top of that, a lot of medical insurance won't cover the costs to simply fly to Seattle to see our doctor. It's all very heartbreaking when you think about it.

I had to do something. We were fortunate and I felt like I had to give back, so I'm doing it in the best way I know how. I've created this non-profit startup, which leverages my other passion, mountaineering, in order to raise money for various TTTS charities. Climb For Kids is hosting a climb up Mt. Rainier at the end of August (just before Burning Man) in an effort to raise awareness and funding. I've set up a partnership with Alpine Ascents to lead the climb.

How can you help? Well, its one of two ways. You can choose to join us on the climb (I've spoken to a few of our doctors who want to climb with us) or you can donate to the organization. If you donate, you may choose to donate in the name of a specific climbing participant or just donate to the organization as a whole. I've written the website to accept credit card donations via Google Checkout as well.

Ellen, Ella, Emma and I really thank you all for the support and love you've shown us these past six months. Now its time for us to give back. Will you help us? The money you donate will go towards helping those who really need it.