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Mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, known to fans as Douce, has died aged 47

BY Mahi

NEW YORK (AP) - Pioneering mom blogger Heather Armstrong, who exposed her struggles as a parent and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47.

Armstrong's boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, told The Associated Press that he found her at their Salt Lake City home on Tuesday night.

She had two children with her ex-husband and business partner, John Armstrong, She started Douce in 2001 and built it into a lucrative career. 

She was one of the first and most popular mommy bloggers to write openly about her children, relationships, and other challenges at a time when personal blogs were on the rise.

She chronicled her successes in the book deal with blogs, on Instagram, and elsewhere, putting out a memoir in 2009, "It Succeded and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much-Needed Margarita."

That year, Armstrong appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and was on Forbes list of the Most Influential Women in Media.

In 2012, Armstrong announced that they were separating. They divorced later that year. She started dating Ashdown, a former US Senate candidate, about six years ago. 

They lived with Armstrong's children, 19-year-old Leta and 13-year-old Marlo. He has three children from a previous marriage who also spend time at his home.

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