Natural/Organic Lifestyle?

The Background Story

Ive never really been the type to try and do things "the natural way".  I've always believed that if there was a medical problem, you better get to the Dr so they can prescribe the pills to make you all better. I've never really been one to pay any attention the ingredients in products and foods. I never paid much attention to the organic things, i just thought they were probably a marketing scheme to get people to pay more money for something. 

I have PCOS, which in itself causes many other health issues like, hormonal imbalances, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, infertility, skin problems, mood imbalances, weight gain, diabetes/insulin problems, and more severely it can lead to heart disease and severe diabetes and any other complications that you can get from being severely overweight. I have all but heart disease and diabetes although i am now insulin resistant and have pre diabetes.

Having PCOS and the weight issues i believe is what caused me to have all the complications in my pregnancy. Gestational diabetes, Preeclampsia, HELLP, which all ended with a premature delivery at 35 weeks, not too early but still too early. Jace did have some complications afterwards.

Since having Preeclampsia/HELLP i have issues with swelling/pitting edema, Blood pressure is elevated, just recently the loss of my cycles as well. On top of that or because of that i FEEL incredibly unhealthy, sluggish, and miserable and sometimes my anxiety is the worst that its ever been.

I have Severe generalized anxiety disorder.
I am currently taking Zoloft for anxiety and do have a prescription for Metformin and Birth Control pills for the pcos , but at this time i am not taking either of those.

Fertilaid
As i said in a previous post, i took Fertilaid when i got pregnant with Jace, again, its a multivitamin along with other herbal supplements that are supposed to balance and regulate hormones. Heres a list of whats in them...

This was pretty much my first all natural experience and IT WORKED. Lately i have been thinking about everything and have seen so many people swear by organic and all natural products for different things. Ive read things about cinnamon and green tea, coconut water, coconut oil, lemons and cucumbers all doing amazing things so i have decided that im going to give it all a go. 

Coconut Oil

There seems to be so many benefits from coconut oil that i personally could benefit from such as, skin care, hair care, baby bottom care, eye make up remover, can help increase metabolism, helps with daily energy, the list goes on and on, so i got some today and will put this stuff to the test. 

Coconut Water

A few months back i decided to try coconut water to see what the hype was about and i thought that it tasted nasty on its own. I never drank it since then. But like the coconut oil it is said to have some great purposes that would be beneficial to me personally like, High in potassium, helps cardiovascular health, increases metabolic rate, boosts energy, its a great diuretic, helps control and avoid bloating, aids in weight loss, helps control diabetes, helps with skin hydration, and again, the list goes on and on. Since i cant stand the way that it tastes on its own, i will be using it in smoothies. 

Lemons/Lemon Water

Another miracle liquid? Ive used lemon water once a day before and i do have to say i know this one helps, especially with water retention. There are many benefits to this one too like High in potassium, cleans out you system, freshens breath, helps you lose weight, etc. 

Green Tea

Green tea is said to have very powerful health benefits. Aids in weight loss, helps prevent cancer, helps with cardiovascular health. Its also said to help with diabetes, arthritis , cholesterol, and apparently its great for the skin too! 

Yogi Detox Tea

Im not even gonna lie, this stuff doesnt taste good, well i guess it does if you like pepper but! after i drink it i do feel better and i know it helps with water retention. Its main purpose is to promote healthy kidney and liver function. Heres a list of ingredients - Indian sarsaparilla root, cinnamon bark, ginger root, licorice root, burdock root, dandelion root, cardamom seed, clove bud, black pepper, long pepper berry, chinese amur cork tree bark, japanese honeysuckle flower, forsythia fruit, gardenia fruit, chinese goldenthread root, rhubarb root, winter melon seed, juniper berry extract. There is a berry detox and a peach detox tea i didnt know about that i am sure taste much better than this one, so i will have to try them too! 

So there we have it, my first go at all this natural stuff. In addition to these things i will also be cutting out any cakes, ice creams, cookies etc. I also will be limiting caffeine intake and upper the water intake. Ill be sure to keep on posting about all of this! 

Look for these future posts

Healthy snacks I enjoy

A review on The Honest Company products

Products I Love

Informational Links

Lemon Water

Coconut Oil

Coconut Water

Green Tea

Fertilaid

Yogi Detox Tea

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Feedback is much appreciated, It lets me know your interested!

Pregnancy #2 & Related fears

I always have wanted to have 3 kids. The typical 3 kids, cat and a dog, house with a white fence etc. I knew from a early age that i was most likely going to have problems getting pregnant because my cycles were just so messed up. It took 4 long years to get to baby #1. The older Jace has gotten the more and more I am wanting to start trying for baby # 2 but i feel like i cant. I am scared of having Preeclampsia and or HELLP syndrome again. I am afraid that if i do get it again it will kill me. Many times i have gone back and forth with myself, with hubby about the possibility of just not having another baby. These thoughts have even gone as far as keeping me up all night with different scenarios running through my mind. These thoughts have taken up hours and hours of daily thoughts. I have decided that i will have one more. I have not started trying yet, im still very scared and i dont feel nearly healthy enough to become pregnant right now. I wish i was. I wish i didnt have to have these fears running through my mind all the time. I envy women who can get pregnant easily and have happy, healthy pregnancies. I feel cheated. As a woman i feel that its what i am meant to do and its problem after problem. Problem getting pregnant, problems during pregnancy, problems after pregnancy. 

Statistically speaking, preeclampsia is know as "the first pregnancy condition". Often times it doesnt repeat itself in later pregnancies but at the same time it often does. I guess it all depends on other factors such as, how early or late in the pregnancy you got it, how bad did you have it etc. For me, i developed it at 35/36 weeks, i do not know how severe it would have gotten had i not already been in the hospital and gone into labor. But i do know that i got it pretty late in the pregnancy and it wasnt too horribly bad. Ive read that if you get it again it usually isnt as bad and usually will occur at a later point in pregnancy so i guess those are bonus points right? 

The only thing stopping me now is me. I know i need to get health  before i can try again but sometimes i feel so defeated that i just keep putting it off. I need to get into the right mindset and out of this zone that i am in. I have just felt so unhealthy since all of this happened and im pretty sure its not all in my head. I think it really took its toll on me emotionally and physically. 

I want Jace to have someone to grow up with. He has a older brother but they are 10 years apart and i dont think they will ever share that close bond. Its time to get my ass in gear before i hit menopause lol
This will be another journey for sure, but im up for the challange!! 

Motherhood, Health and Life in general

Here i go with yet, another update blog lol But this time, its more of a general update , me, marriage, motherhood, health etc. 

Since having Jace my life has been completely different than it has ever been. To be expected, i know. Everything that i used to be, or that i thought was is now a distant memory replaced with a whole new person who lives to make her family happy. Being a mother is the most rewarding yet challenging experience ever. I am rewarded every single day by his smile, his giggles or getting to witness him learn something new. I am challenged everyday because it is my responsibility to make sure he grows up into a good person. Therefore i must be that good person i would want him to go up to be. At this age, teaching him right from wrong is a bit of a challange. Its like i know he understands but he doesnt all at the same time. I might as well put it out there, i am 100% anti-spanking. I do not believe in it what so ever so when it comes to discipline i have to find ways to teach him without resulting to hitting. I know that a lot of the time he does things just to get that reaction out of us and when he does he laughs. When he laughs it makes me wonder if he knows it was wrong and 2, it makes it hard for me to be serious and not laugh lol like i said, challenging. I know its a long road ahead!
Since having Jace my body has not been the same in any sense. My bp has remained slightly elevated. I still get swelling in my legs and despite the fact that when i left the hospital i was under my pre pregnancy weight, i have since gained a significant amount of weight. This could be caused by many factors, zoloft for anxiety, PCOS, lifestyle changes, Blood sugar issues. At this point I still do not know. For a few months i was very dedicated to cardio exercise and trying to eat healthier. In that time i lost a very little amount but sometimes even gained. It was frustrating to say the least and i guess at some point i gave up. I am now heavier than i was at the time i had Jace and heavier than i have ever been. I am not happy about it at all and am trying to find it within myself to jump back in. I know that i have to do it for me and my family and also so that i can continue to add to my family. (ill talk more about that in another blog)
Me and the hubby are doing good. we have def had our bumps in the road but as usual we always have overcome them and we always will. We are coming up on our 6 year wedding anniversary on april 25 , i cant believe how fast it has gone. Im hoping we will be able to do something special this year as i know we both need it so very much . Life has been pretty stressful at times this last couple years. But hey, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger right?
About a year ago i decided that i needed friends. LOL i really didnt have anyone local due to the fact that i was never really in a position to meet new people so i started a local moms group on facebook. Best thing i couldve done. Ive met so many wonderful friends and have had the rewarding experience of helping so many people in the process. Aside from being a stay at home mom and wife , thats what i do, I run a moms group. At this point there is somewhere around 140 members but that changes all the time. Recently i have decided to expand the group into something bigger, more of a community resource as well. I started a page which i hope will help local mothers find resources , advice and the friends that they need as well. I love helping people and one day i hope to make a big positive impact locally. I love what i do. I wouldnt change it for anything.
Now i need to get up and clean the house, a toddler tornado has totally destroyed many rooms lol. I also think he may be in the process of destroying yet another diaper as well. lol tmi much? Talk to you all later!
Brittany

Life Updates & Such Part 1 - My Pregnancy after Infertility

Wow, where to even begin!? The last couple updates that i made were, hey im finally pregnant and look i had the baby! lol So, i guess ill start there. 

This Blog is more intended for my fellow Cysters and TTC community since i didnt really follow up with you all! 

I found out i was pregnant and i was ecstatic and scared. I remember being so scared that i would almost tip toe when i walked and refused to sneeze, all because i was afraid i would "dislodge" the baby! LOL It all didnt seem real to me, i mean we had tried for 4 years and i wont even lie, there were times that i doubted that i would ever get my miracle. The day that i took the test, hubby was away working, it was 7 20 in the morning. I took a digital test and it was 11 DPO , i stood there in the bathroom staring at the test waiting for the expected yet dreaded words "not pregnant".

This was the first cycle ever that i had used a ovulation kit. We used the clearblue digital test. Of course hubby was against them because they were expensive but i won the fight haha. At the same time i was using fertilaid and preseed. For about a week i would pee on that stick only to get a empty circle, no smiley face and i was getting discouraged. Then one day, IT SMILED AT ME!!! lol i ran into the kitchen and i told Geromy look, he has a face he has a face!! i was excited, this meant my body was doing something right!! lol 

Fast forward to about 9 days after the positive test. Something was up. Hubby had bought me a iced coffee and i SWORE he had dumped rum in it lol! So not logical or anything but it tasted like alcohol, i even accused him of doing it, he thought it was nuts. The next day (10 dpo) i took another ovulation test because i had heard that they could be used as pregnancy tests, no smiley. Oh well. The next morning i took my digital test and it said PREGNANT omg guys, i will NEVER forget that feeling, I was shaking sooooo bad i took a pic and sent it to Geromy. 

He didnt respond so i waited about 15 minutes and called him and told him to check his messages and call me back. He did and apparently he was so excited he hugged his co worker! lol I wish he would have been home that day but it was exciting anyways! 

I dont want to go into too much detail and bore you all to death, so i will just highlight my pregnancy (for those of you who dont already know) For those of you who already know, feel free to wait for the next blog lol 

My estimated due date was Nov 1, 2012 based on LMP but Nov 7 based on ovulation

At 6 weeks i started bleeding, went to er , turns out i had a subchorionic hemorrhage , bled off and on for a few weeks 

HCG levels rising but not doubling, 2nd time i was convinced i was losing the baby :( 

7 weeks saw the heartbeat after i thought i wouldnt! Best feeling in the world <3 

12 weeks diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes , referred to Maternal Fetal Medicine

 I had a lot of ultrasounds and regular testing . I knew i was at a high risk due to pcos , the gestational diabetes etc. 

18 weeks, its a boy!! 

Around 25 weeks i developed Polyhydramnios ( too much amniotic fluid ) Most likely was due to the gestational diabetes, more monitoring.

Around 33/34 weeks i started to not feel right. Just really sluggish and bleh.

At my 34/35 ,  week check, Oct 4th  i told the dr i thought i had been contracting, she checked me, surprise! 4 cm dilated and 90 % effaced 

October 5 Woke up with bad headache, stayed all day, checked bp , was elevated, i had been swollen for a few weeks.  Admitted to L&D for 24 hour urine collection

October 6th 5:30 in the morning, i started contracting and was in active labor, 5 cm dilated. 

Started pitocin, broke waters which seemed to gush forever because there was SO MUCH. i looked like i was having twins lol. 

I was doing great with contractions but kept being pushed to make a decision on epidural so i just went with it, when they put it in, my bp shot up, i couldnt stop shaking, so cold, couldnt breathe started to panic. I think at one point my bp shot up to 200 something over 110 or so, came back down quickly. 

2 p.m or so Started pushing , 4:08 pm Jace was born, he was just so perfect and i was so in love with him! 

The next morning my dr informed me that i was developing severe preeclampsia and i guess partial HELLP syndrome (ill talk more about that later.). At that point my bp was normal and i was doing fine other than the massive pain i was in. Jace and i were discharged the normal 48 hours after birth. 

I will do a 2nd update soon. Right now i need to get off my butt and clean the house!! lol 

Brittany

Hello world.

Hello everyone. Today has been a pretty decent day other than the face that im totally out of energy and cant sleep at night so i sleep all day! IDK whats going on with all of that. Hormones are also a bit off as well. Im thinking that is due to ovulation. IDK. My temp spiked up really high yesterday and then dropped way low today. From what im understanding thats called fallback rise.?? LOL im not to worried about it, i know were covering all our bases ;)

So something pretty funny happened. I was still up around two am this morning and got hungry so i went to look in the freezer and what do i find of all things? A glitter gel glue pen. LOL i was like wth! But thats how you know you have a child in the same house. It was pretty funny. It was just "one of those moments that make you smile".

So it looks like we will be moving here pretty soon and i couldnt be more excited. Usually i would be blah about it but my hubby is a professional mover and he likes people to just stay outta his way so he can do it his way. Im sooo fine with that lol, i hate moving.

I completly redeisned BC Designs recently. A lot of new things going on over there on the page. I encourage you to check it out! To all my pcos cysters there is a special discount just for you! Contact me on facebook for more information on that.

Night night everyone.

Here without you baby

"Im here without you baby, but your still on my lonely mind, i think about you baby, and i dream about you all the time, im here without you baby, but your still with me in my dreams, and tonight its only you and me"

That song gets to me everytime. But really it says it perfectly. I dream about my baby all the time, usually its a boy. He is so cute and perfect and usually looks the same everytime i dream about my baby. It may sound crazy to some people and others know exactly what i mean. When im dreaming its all so real to me and i know that one day my dream will be a reality therefore i have decided that i will never give up until its real. Im usually not one to give up anyways. So if i have to spend the next 20 years trying i will. PCOS may have been making things harder and making it feel almost impossible but i think its just there to make me really cherish a miracle when it finally happens. PCOS is making my life hell is some areas, well alot of them really. My hormones get so out of whack that i cant even think straight sometimes. I get so moody. I have constant pelvic cramps that totally suck. The hair keeps growing in in places that it shouldnt. I hardly eat and yet i still gain the weight. My face breaks out like im a hormonal teenager just hittin puberty. Ugh it just sucks. But i have decided that i will not let it take over my life or define who i am. Its just another block in the road which life is full of. Hope you all have a wonderful day, and no matter what, always stay positive :)

yay for the big "O"!

Well its been awhile since i have posted on this blog and im sorry. I went through some emotional things with this whole ttc thing. But just like i always i got back up and dusted it all off. I went to my mid-luteal appointment on weds. That went ok, they were saying just based off my ultrasound that it didnt look like i o'd but they would have to wait on my blood tests to confirm, speaking of the blood tests, that was a nightmare i have one blown vein with a very nasty bruise on my arm and 1 hole in each hand from these attempts all they needed was 3 tubes of blood and it took a good 1/2 hour to get them. lol im truly a pin cushion any more but im gettting used to it slowly. Anyways they called back later in the afternoon and told me i did infact ovulate, and not a weak ovulation a strong one! woo hoo i was soo happy. I plan on taking another test in about a week and then just waiting till my next appt Dec 8th. Then we move on to round two! All i can do is keep hoping and praying that this will all work out for us! Well thats about all the updates i have right now, i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, Goodnight.