National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

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…

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#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.

 

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

Good Things Happen

Hello Peeps! I know it’s been such a long time since I’ve blogged and I definitely missed it. Things have been on super duper mode ’round these parts. I’m on my last 395 hours of school and I’m counting down every day. So many great things have been going on musically and creatively that I am really excited about.

The other things I’ve been crazy busy with is making a baby.

We are expecting!!!

It’s a very interesting story and nothing short of a miracle. I’ll let you in on the details later. We are so excited to share this news with you all. You have been such a great comfort to me in this journey; I could never repay you all for your kind words, messages, and encouragement.

Now that I’m out of the first trimester and a lot less exhausted, I’ll be around a little more often.

Until then,
See ya later, Alligator!