Where Are They Now: HHS Grad '92 O'Hora-Bergeman Blogs About Mothering Twins

Only few years ago, Herndon High ’92 alum Kerry O’Hora Bergeman and her husband Steve (HHS grad ’91) had difficulties getting pregnant. After fertility treatments, which Bergeman blogs about proudly on her site, the couple found itself not only with child, but pregnant with twins.

Once her daughters entered pre-school, Bergeman found some much-needed time to herself and decided to take a stab at writing. Bergeman’s quick wit, keen sense of humor and knowledgable advice to fellow mothers of multiples created a buzz on the web, and her site New2Two.com recently garnered a Top-25 spot on CircleofMoms.com—a hub for mothering websites, which completed its contest for the best ‘mommy’ blogs on the Internet recently.

“As a new mommy blogger, being recognized in the Top 25 mommy of multiple bloggers in the ‘Circle of Moms’ site would give me tons of new exposure,” said Bergeman days before the winners were announced. “And [it would] introduce me to so many more brilliant bloggers.”

Now that Bergeman has reached a larger audience, since coming in at No. 20 in the contest, she may gain a long lasting following of mothers and/or fathers whom she can entertain and help—something she only dreamt of when starting New2Two in October of 2011. Bergeman never imagined she would take up writing as an occupation or hobby. And it was actually her mother who, albeit indirectly, first planted the seed in her head.

“When [the girls] were a year old my mom said ‘you better be writing this stuff down,’” Bergeman said regarding why she started New2Two. “And my friend said ‘you should really start a blog.’ I looked into it and was a little intimidated because I didn’t know much about blogging. It wasn’t until last summer that I actually put a website together, came up with a name and started writing.”

Still, it took some practice but after connecting with other blogging mothers and a surge of well-earned confidence, Bergeman began scribing daily by the fall of 2011 and has not looked back. While aside from a few creative writing classes, Bergeman said she did not study writing and said she made a big mistake towards the start of New2Two.

“In the beginning I was going to all these sites (for style) and I looked at my blog and thought nothing on this represents me,” Bergeman said. Her younger sister Holly stepped in with very helpful advice, telling her, "Write to be real and to enjoy it. Don’t try to be an expert about everything."

“I calmed down, [changed it] and said ‘this feels like me,’” Bergeman said. “I can tell a good story—I think. That’s what people say. My writing is not too long or too sort. It’s just enough to capture them and give them a laugh and move on.”

New2Two tells Bergeman’s story of raising her children as it happens. She said mothers can relate to the site’s content and many respond with comments such as, "Oh my gosh. That’s me. I know exactly what you’re going through."

While much of her content is humorous, Bergeman also writes about more serious topics. The subject of infertility has almost become almost taboo to discuss publicly. But Bergeman does not believe that to be true and instead chooses to share her infertility story with the online community. Bergeman writes a column on her site every Friday called “Fertility Friday.” On her blog, she discusses her story and offers advice to other mothers who are either experiencing infertility or those who have experienced something similar to what she went through in the past.

“There are so many women out there that go through fertility problems that they [don’t need] to be scared,” Bergeman said. “Every Friday I write a post where I talk about my struggles, going through [them.] I didn’t have anybody else to talk to because you literally feel like your losing your mind because they pump you up on so many drugs. It’s just hard and tough.”

Bergeman added it took her and Steve more than two years to become pregnant, even with treatments. But they feel extremely fortunate to have had twins because Bergeman said she is not sure they could or would want to go through the mental and financial difficulty again.

The proud mommy of three-and-a-half year-old twins works from her home in Salisbury, Maryland (near Ocean City) where she and Steve have resided for 10 years. But now that they have children, Bergeman said she and her family plan to move back to Northern Virginia, as she and Steve would like their daughters to experience the kind of childhood and education they both had here in town.

“I love how much more there is to do in Herndon,” Bergeman said. “There are so many more parks, more programs set up, and so much more culturally for them to be involved in. And now that Robby (her brother) and Holly (her sister) are having kids, I’d love for them to be with them.”

Bergeman comes from a fairly large family, by today’s standards, with two sisters (one older, one younger) and an older brother. Kerry and Steve attended HHS at the same time and grew up just hundreds of yards away from one another in the Hiddenbrook neighborhood, just outside Herndon’s town limits.  Bergeman credits her mother and father for her family values and said she hopes to raise her girls in the same manner.

“No matter what we did, how we fought, or got along, my parents always made us work it out and made us believe family comes first and they showed us,” she said. “My dad forfeited these grueling hours a lot of Northern Virginia fathers do, in order to be with us. My dad and mom come down to every event that my kids have and I want to raise my kids the same way. They just did it.”