Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. At this moment, many families are remembering their little loved ones that they only shared moments with, but those moments changed their lives forever. My husband and I are one of those families. We walked through a very painful journey of infertility due to my diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and having blocked and damaged fallopian tubes. In the almost 5 years of us trying to start a family, we have grieved the loss of 3 pregnancies. This, however, was not the end of our story…
Tag: polycystic ovarian syndrome
#NationalGirlfriendsDay
Since I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) in 2012, it has been part of my life’s mission to help women become empowered to take care of their health by using preventative measures, like working out and eating healthily, and becoming the biggest advocate for themselves.
National Girlfriends’ Day {August 1st} is a day to celebrate friendship and to support one another as women to stay safe and to live a healthy life. Below, you’ll see an infographic from Oscar Health Insurance Company that provides a helpful guideline of preventative measures that we can take to protect ourselves through routine screenings and possible early detection. Oscar has many tools and services that allow making these appointments easy and stress-free with their tech-based health insurance in NJ and NY.
Along with the suggested routine screenings, I also want to personally encourage you to get tested for PCOS if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Menstrual irregularities:
- No menstrual periods—called amenorrhea (pronounced ey-men-uh-REE-uh)
- Frequently missed periods—called oligomenorrhea (pronounced ol-i-goh-men-uh-REE-uh)
- Very heavy periods
- Bleeding but no ovulation—called anovulatory periods
- Infertility
- Excess hair growth on the face, chest, belly, or upper thighs—a condition called hirsutism (pronounced HUR-soo-tiz-uhm)
- Severe, late-onset, or persistent acne that does not respond well to usual treatments
- Obesity, weight gain, or trouble losing weight, especially around the waist
- Pelvic pain
- Oily skin
- Patches of thickened, dark, velvety skin—a condition called acanthosis nigricans (pronounced ay-kan-THOE-sis NY-grih-kanz)
PCOS can lead to many serious medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and gynecological cancers if left untreated. To find out more information about PCOS testing and diagnosis, check out this article from the US National Library of Medicine.
When it comes to our health, the last thing we should want to do is put out fires. Preventative health is key to living a healthy life. For National Girlfriends’ Day, encourage your girlfriends to stay healthy by working out together, eating good nutritious foods together, and empower one another to advocate for their health through listening to their bodies and getting routine screenings to both prevent illness and/or detect potential illness early.
For more information about PCOS, check out www.pcosaa.org.
Maternity Style: 5 Tips for Dressing Your Baby Bump {First Trimester Edition}
‘They’ say it’s pretty easy to hide your pregnancy during the first trimester but if you’re anything like me, you might’ve been super bloated with difficulty buttoning your pants. I’m not ashamed. It is what it is. If you are looking for some ideas as to what to wear during your first trimester, here are a few options and things to keep in mind.
1. Consider the season that you’re first trimester is in. You’ll have a much easier time hiding any growth, whether it be baby or bloat, in the cooler months since you’ll be able to wear scarves, jackets, and other loose fitting yet figure flattering items.
2. This particular suggestion may work for some of you which is why I’m mentioning this, but it didn’t work for me. Those belly bands. Girl, no. Even if my pant couldn’t buckle, I simply cannot wear this belly band and leave my zipper unzipped for the world to see. The one I got was from Target and It didn’t do a great job of holding everything up and together. I’ve tried both sizes and even the smallest wasn’t small enough to do the job. Another option is the hair tie through the button look trick, as seen below.
3. Wear loose but flattering tops. If you’re going through your first trimester in the warmer months, throw on a maxi dress (those will come in handy later on). If you’re going through your first trimester in the cooler months, throw on a tunic and some leggings.
4. This tip is sort of a continuation from #3. Leggings. In the cool months, leggings will be your BFF. It doesn’t hug to tightly and it has stretch to accommodate your growing parts. In the cooler months, you can easily throw on some leggings + a tunic, leggings + a dress, leggings + and an oversized sweater; do you get the picture?
5. Maxi dresses. Mid-length dresses. Dresses. These can pretty much work year round. In the warmer months, throw on a maxi dress and you’re good to go. In the cooler months, throw on your maxi dress with…..leggings. Yep, you got it! You can wear dresses with boots and leggings. Add your jacket and a scarf and not only will you be warm and cozy, but you’ll be comfortable to.
For many women, the first trimester can come with much tiredness, nausea, and other really fun stuff so be gentle with yourself and make the process of getting dressed simple. Trust me, it’ll be a lot more fun when you’re really showing!
Starting ‘Over’ Story
In my last post, you read about my very good news. Recently, I was informed of a company called Compass that is currently based in NY and DC that uses people’s personality and interests in order to help them find a place called Home. They have a series called Starter Stories where people have been sharing the journey of their starter home. I thought I’d share where I am in my journey as well.
In 2009, my husband and I started over by moving a thousand miles from home after a very challenging period in our lives. A few years after moving, we decided to put down roots and buy our home. I can definitely say that it was a bit of a nerve-racking experience. We looked at places for months. We put in offers, fell in love with other houses, until we got to the one that we live in now. When I walked in, it was completely empty. I wasn’t very sure about the house yet and it wasn’t love at first sight for me. I walked through the living room, then the dining room, through the kitchen, and eventually ended up at a large empty room. When I saw it, I knew this was the house for us. Now, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, right now.
The other ‘start’ that is adding to the joy and love of our home is our sweet little baby that we tried for 4 1/2 years to conceive. With a baby due to arrive in 4 months, I’ve been nesting pretty hard. We’ve been setting up the nursery, painting walls, doing gardens, and purging. It’s funny how we are getting around to a lot of the things that we’ve always wanted to get around to. Knowing that we have a little one on the way has put a rush on a lot of the procrastination, so we’ve been doing amazingly with our timeline of organizing our home. There’s still so much to do but I think every homeowner realizes that once you change something, you’ll notice all the other things you want to change.
Our home has been a place filled with many new beginnings. We started a new life in a new city, adopted our sweet little dog Milo, and we are starting the journey of parenthood. We couldn’t have asked for better firsts.
You don’t have to be perfect to start. If you fail, don’t be afraid to start again. xoxo
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