A Christmas Gift Guide for Women in Waiting

December 1, 2016 By: Jessi2 Comments

Today I want to share with you some Christmas gift ideas that are perfect for encouraging women in waiting. Many of these items are created by women who have experienced their own wait as well, each with their own beautiful story to tell. These gifts are perfect for various seasons of waiting, including:

The woman waiting for the miracle of pregnancy in the midst of infertility.

The woman waiting to be chosen by a birth mother for adoption.

The woman waiting for that dream job to come through.

The single woman waiting for her future spouse.

The woman waiting for a new home because she is ready for a change.

The woman who feels stagnant in life and is waiting for something new and exciting to happen.

You may know a woman who is struggling through one of these seasons right now, and you may have been looking for that perfect thoughtful gift. You may be the woman in waiting who wants to support others who are in waiting as well. I fall into both categories, and I have been the blessed recipient of a thoughtful gift such as one of these, and I have been the one to give gifts like these. I hope this little gift guide helps you with your shopping endeavors, or your wish list for Santa. 😉

In Due Time Devotional

This lovely devotional was written by Caroline Harries, author and blogger over at In-Due-Time. What I loved about the book is that Caroline was incredibly thoughtful in how she pulled it together. While her season of waiting involves infertility, this book isn’t just for women wading through the sea of infertility. It eloquently covers so many areas of waiting, and will lift up and encourage women who are in any season. Caroline also has some insanely cute notebooks to go along with the study, available separately or as a bundle. I recommend going with the bundle, because I don’t know about you all, but I love a cute notebook to journal in when I do my quiet time. Pair it with these journaling pens for the perfect gift set!

Buy It Here, and use the code lifeabundant10 for 10% off plus a free bookmark! Thanks, Caroline!

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5 Reasons Why You Need At Least 1 Pair of LuLaRoe Leggings If You Are Battling Infertility

November 28, 2016 By: Jessi2 Comments

Disclaimer: I received a free pair of LuLaRoe leggings in exchange for this honest review. However, this review is just that: honest. All opinions are my own and not influenced one way or the other.

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Before I ever held a pair of LuLaRoe leggings in my hand, my opinion was mixed. I had seen many women sporting them, swearing they were the best things ever. I’ve never been a big fan of printed leggings on myself. I think they look fine on other people, but they just weren’t for me. The only LuLaRoe leggings I ever saw were loud prints, so that was automatically a deterrent to me. I was also thinking this whole LuLaRoe craze was just that – a craze – just another trend that would come and go, and surely was only popular because everyone wouldn’t quit talking about it. I was intrigued and wanted to try them, but wasn’t sure I wanted to spend $25 on a pair of leggings I may not like, so I just held back. I thought I was happy with my $7 Walmart leggings and $12 Target leggings. I thought we were friends.

Then my sweet friend Melinda asked me if I had ever tried LuLaRoe and if I’d be willing to do a review on them in exchange for a pair. I was excited about this opportunity, but let her know that I really would prefer a solid color or a very muted print so that I could give them a truly honest review. I also knew I’d want a pair that I could wear all the time in the fall. ‘Tis the season for leggings and boots, right?! She picked out a lovely pair for me, and the rest is history. The second I pulled them up, my first thought was: “Oh, how I wish I had these when I was taking Follistim.” Thus, the birth of this review:

5 Reasons Why You Need At Least 1 Pair of LuLaRoe Leggings If You Are Battling Infertility

1. Crazy Stretchy for Fluctuating Weight and Bloat

Whether or not you are going through infertility treatment, conditions that cause infertility often come with bloat and abdominal discomfort. If you are going through treatment, it’s inevitable that you will experience bloat. Clomid and Follistim made me retain a lot of extra fluid in my abdomen as my ovaries swelled, and at the time I was stuck buying maxi skirts at Target because jeans were no longer an option. If only I had these leggings back then. Having PCOS means that I don’t ovulate regularly like normal women, but when I do, it’s a big deal… not just excitement, but my body really hurts and bloats as much as 5 lbs. These leggings make those days much more manageable.

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Conceivable: My Experience Using This Natural Alternative to Infertility Treatment for PCOS

November 21, 2016 By: Jessicomment

Disclaimer: I received a free, 4-month trial subscription to Conceivable, and as a response, am writing this completely honest review. All opinions are my own and were not influenced by the free subscription in any way. In fact, my review is very mixed… so how’s that for honesty? This is kind of long and detailed, so please grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable… it’s going to be a minute.

What is Conceivable?

Conceivable is a more natural approach to preparing your body for a baby and includes a series of herbs in tincture form as well as meal plans, suggestions on how to relax and be more mindful of your stress levels, and one-on-one care. According to Conceivable.com: “Conceivable looks past the standard diagnoses of infertility toward the underlying health factors and disease states that may be causing them. By identifying why you aren’t getting pregnant, we can help you make progress, naturally.” It is backed by a Medical Advisory Board and led by a specialist in Oriental Reproductive Medicine.

My Experience with Conceivable

Cycle 1

Perfect 29-day cycle (ovulated on day 15 with a 14-day luteal phase). Nearly tri-phastic temps, pregnancy suspected (but didn’t happen), period was less clotty, overall very happy with the response.

Cycle 2

Almost perfect 29-day cycle (ovulated on day 18 with an 11-day luteal phase). Lower luteal phase temps, very jagged temperatures, lots of hot flashes. My response was less than desirable on cycle #2… I was pleased with the length of the cycle, but not the later ovulation or short luteal phase. I was grateful to ovulate, but it felt like it was in vain. I also felt like my concerns with my short luteal phase and jagged temps were dismissed during this cycle. Was told to get more sleep and exercise less.

Cycle 3

33-day cycle, ovulated around day 21 with an 12-day luteal phase. Had seven days of fertile cervical mucus from days 13-19, so my body sure was trying but seemed to be failing to produce a decent quality egg. Low luteal phase temps suggesting poor egg quality and low progesterone. Cycle mirrored some of my old Clomid cycles.

Cycle 4

29-day cycle, ovulated on day 16, 13-day luteal phase. Low luteal phase temps suggesting poor egg quality and low progesterone. Again, felt like my concerns with my jagged temps were dismissed during this cycle. Was told to get more sleep, exercise less, drink less water, and try to eat “warming foods”.

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The Countdown to Thanksgiving: My 21-Day Fix Meal Plan with Grab-and-Go Options!

November 16, 2016 By: Jessicomment

Disclaimer: This post is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Beach Body or 21-Day Fix. I am not a coach, but I can sure hook you up with a few. Also, there are some Amazon affiliate links in here, and I do receive a small commission off anything purchased. Just bein’ real.

On November 1, I started a new 21-Day Fix meal plan AKA COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING!

I decided that I really want to enjoy the holidays, but I can’t completely enjoy them until I do some resetting with my body. What a better time than now? I decided I could handle 3 weeks of no fall treats before the explosion of culinary glory happens during my favorite time of year. I knew a 21-Day Fix meal plan would help with that.

Yesterday started Week #3, and this will be my last aggressive 21-Day Fix meal plan for 2016. I completed 3 rounds of 21-Day Fix (this makes #4) and 2 rounds of 21-Day Fix EXTREME this year. The first 3 rounds were consecutive, and then I took a tiny break before 2 back-to-back rounds of EXTREME. 25 lbs were down for the count! After the last round of EXTREME, I continued to eat well on an 80/20 balance for a while, but somewhere in there, the scale tipped a bit, I lost motivation, and I started on a 50/50 balance. It wasn’t quite working out for me. I didn’t feel as well and started fighting off 5 lbs of bloat. Before the holidays hit and I feel completely miserable (and in an effort to NOT undo all the hard work I did this year), I figured it is time for one last round for the books. Then I’ll enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas full-force!

I have to admit, December is off limits. I love Christmas time, and I have no shame in the baking and cooking that will happen during that month… but that’s what January is for, right? 😉 Work hard now, play later… then work hard again to kick off 2017. It’s only logical. I will still exercise in December, just not as aggressively or as consistently. I’m talking 3-4x/week instead of 6-7x/week. I think it’s fair! Like I said, I have no shame in admitting what I’m about to consume in December.

No.

Shame.

So, with all of that shamelessness said, November 1-21 is (and has been) a strict round of 21-Day Fix, and here are some of the things I’ve been eating pretty consistently:

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Fall Family Portraits

November 10, 2016 By: Jessi2 Comments

I haven’t had professional family portraits taken in two years (see those here)! Fall family portraits? Try 5 years. This is coming from the person who loves to scrapbook and preserve memories as much as possible! And fall is my absolute favorite time of year.

But, you know, life happens… and we sometimes forget to do things.

I’ve never been a fan of photo studios because they feel so forced, so fake, and never truly capture the family members’ personalities. Hiring a photographer and going to a chosen location is way more fun! And thanks to Pinterest, there are endless options for poses and inspiration.

We’re blessed to be good friends with a fantastic photographer who also happens to be very affordable, so if you’re in the Nashville area and looking for someone, check out her Facebook: Samantha C. Photography and let her know I sent you. And no, she didn’t ask me to do this. Hi Sam!

So, here are our fall family portraits for 2016! I am absolutely in love with these and feel like they completely capture who we are and the relationship we have.

All images used with permission by Samantha C. Photography.

Laying Down the Burden of Infertility

October 12, 2016 By: Jessi12 Comments

^“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

~Matthew 11:28-30 HCSB

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At church on Sunday, our pastor shared a profound message about laying our burdens down. Everyone has burdens they carry. Some burdens weigh us down more than others. I know for me personally, some of my burdens I have been able to cast aside, set healthy boundaries, and live a better life. They rear their ugly heads periodically, but I am able to say “you have no power of me” (name that movie!) and move forward. Others are harder.

Infertility, however, has been a whole different ballgame. I have been unable to cast it aside, to move forward in peace, to completely accept it. Every time I think “I’m totally fine”, it blows up. I have fought it for many years—before and after having Zoey—and it has dominated many areas of my life. Infertility has become my identity. PCOS has become who I am, even though I constantly speak out against it.

At the end of the sermon, we were asked to write our burdens down and leave them at the alter… to literally leave them at the cross, and to walk away from them. For me, it was a no brainer what I was going to write down.

After leaving my burden at the alter, I returned to my seat and started praying: “Jesus, I surrender. I officially give up my wants and desires. I accept what You have given me, and I am leaving my burdens at Your feet.” I still felt this really heavy weight on my chest. I remember thinking I wasn’t supposed to feel this heavy weight still… I felt like I was being disobedient. I felt ashamed. I totally didn’t feel the way I thought I should after just leaving my burden at the cross. Shouldn’t I feel refreshed and like a weight had been lifted?

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Vasa Previa Success Story: Karla’s Missed Diagnosis Miracle

October 7, 2016 By: Jessicomment

Today’s Vasa Previa Success Story is from Karla. I love that Karla offered to share her story because it’s never easy to process the Vasa Previa experience, much less a missed diagnosis! It can be traumatic and life changing, and it takes a great bit of vulnerability to share the details. One thing that sets Karla’s story apart from the others is that she was never diagnosed with vasa previa while pregnant. Her diagnosis was MISSED! It wasn’t until the birth that it was discovered, and while the mortality rate of missed vasa previa is as high as 90%, her baby survived!

Karla, thank you for sharing your experience. Your case is truly a miracle considering the diagnosis was missed during the pregnancy. It is an honor to host your story on this blog!

If your pregnancy has been diagnosed with Vasa Previa and you’re looking for more success stories, you can find them all here: Vasa Previa Success Stories.

All images are property of Karla Putnam and have been used with permission.

Vasa Previa Success Story: Karla’s Missed Diagnosis Miracle

My husband and I were married 22 years and had 7 pregnancies with 6 living children at the time of this story. Our first baby we lost early in the pregnancy. From that time we decided that beggars couldn’t be choosers. We wanted children and would take whatever the good Lord would give us. We practiced natural family planning, always aware that we could be blessed with another child if God saw fit.

We were 48 and 44 years old respectively when I found out I was pregnant. Our youngest, who has Down Syndrome, was almost 5 years old, so I was in denial that I could be pregnant. I thought I was in peri-menopause due to my cycles being irregular. I was still cycling every month, but sometimes my cycle was either longer or shorter than normal, heavier or lighter. But in March of 2015, my period was later than normal. I took 4 pregnancy tests and all but one were positive. I knew I wasn’t pregnant (denial) because I had no symptoms, but I called my doctors office and they had me come in for a blood test. It confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. I still had no symptoms like I had with my other pregnancies. They had me come in for a vaginal ultrasound and there was a heartbeat and a large subchorionic hemorrhage. The baby’s heartbeat was very slow so they had me go on vaginal rest and come back for a repeat vaginal ultrasound in another 2 weeks. Our baby was due mid November of 2015. Now the heartbeat was in the normal range and the subchorionic hemorrhage was getting smaller. I was still told to stay on vaginal rest until I saw my midwife at 12 weeks. I had a gut feeling that I was not going to be bringing our baby home. I didn’t share it with anyone. I had the same feeling that our older son had Down Syndrome and he did. Around 6 to 8 weeks along, I started having morning sickness and it was the worse case that I have ever had. I felt like I was carrying 10 babies!

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On Infertility and Turning 32

October 4, 2016 By: Jessicomment

So, I wrote this post in the order I thought it through, and you’re going to think I’m either (a) crazy; (b) sleep deprived; or (c) that I have serious attention issues. I went back and read it when I was all done and thought “Lawd, what is wrong with me?” Bear with me… I’m keeping it as is because let’s be real, I don’t have the time or the will to reorganize it into something that makes sense. And that’s all she wrote.

Today is my 32nd birthday!

I was asked the other day how it feels to be turning 32, and it honestly doesn’t feel any different. 32 isn’t really a milestone birthday. It’s one that comes and goes, and is just kind of there.

Can I make a confession?

I don’t feel 32.

Quite often, I feel like a young girl in my 20s, hopeful for a future of babies, telling myself “you’ve got plenty of time!” When I was a 20-something, I was convinced I’d be all done popping out babies by the time I hit 30. The thought of having babies in my 30s was foreign to me and a “surely not”.

And yet here I am. I’m 32… and my family of 3 still feels like someone is missing.

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Weekly Menu for PCOS and 21-Day Fix

September 30, 2016 By: Jessicomment

I feel like I have been on a blogging hiatus the last couple of months. It’s amazing how you can go from being completely inspired to write 3x/week for months or even years, and then suddenly hit a wall. But that’s life, isn’t it? Not just in the blogging world, but real life. Whether it’s your work life, your relationship with food and exercise, your church life, your friendships… sometimes there is just a wall you hit. The last few months have been my wall. I went through a job transition (not by choice, but by the grace of God, I’m in a new position that fits me just as perfectly as my last one), I have been upset with myself for being complacent, I feel uninspired to pursue any more fertility treatment, and I’ve lost a lot of hope in growing our family. But during this time, God has also taught me a lot about myself… it’s been a ride for sure.

But I’m back (or trying to be) and I wanted to share what my meal plan has been for the week to hopefully inspire you, whether in your 21-Day Fix journey, or PCOS journey. After taking several weeks off from heavy exercise (I still ran periodically and did a 21-DF video here and there), I decided to jump back in before life catches up with me via weight gain. Those of you who have followed me this year know that I have lost roughly 25 lbs since January, and while that number fluctuates here and there (sometimes I bloat up to 5 lbs before my period and then it falls off as soon as it’s over – completely out of my control), I’m wanting to make it an even 30 lost before the holidays sneak up on me. Now is the time! I also recently went clothes shopping and everything fits me like a glove! Everything fits in such a way that allows me room to lose just a little more poundage so that I have flexibility to fluctuate, so that is my goal. I want to make sure nothing becomes tight, which it will if I don’t do something now… because once I feel discouraged in tight clothes, it’s a downward spiral of self-destruction.

Weekly Menu for PCOS and 21-Day Fix

Find other 21-Day Fix inspired meal plans here.

I didn’t get pictures of everything I ate, so bear with me… I’m trying to do better about that.

Breakfasts

On Sunday night, I whipped up 18 egg cups and they are so easy!

Each cup is one egg, a little bit of frozen spinach (eyeballed, not measured), diced orange bell pepper, pepper jack cheese, garlic sea salt blend and pepper. All I did was added the ingredients to 2 sprayed muffin tins, took a fork and mixed each cup so the egg would break up, and baked them on 375 for 20 minutes. I popped them all out easily after they cooled and stored them in the fridge in an airtight container. A serving is 2 egg cups! Just remove what you need (top with hot sauce! Yum!) and microwave for 30-60 seconds. Enjoy with a side of fruit. I like bananas in the morning even though they are higher on the glycemic index. I’d rather process those earlier in the day than later.

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How DHA Omega-3 is Helping Me Prepare for Pregnancy

September 12, 2016 By: Jessicomment

Disclosure: This post sponsor – life’sDHA® – educated me on the importance of nutrients – including DHA omega-3 – for all stages of life. This is a sponsored post for which I’ve received compensation, but the opinions are 100% my own. LifesDHA-IG

I started taking prenatal vitamins as soon as I got married. I was always told how important it was to get key nutrients in your body well before pregnancy so that your body is better prepared to welcome pregnancy when the time comes. I took prenatal vitamins the entire time I was trying to conceive my daughter, while I was pregnant, and have continued since.

Last fall, a good 8 years into taking prenatal vitamins, I did some major research and decided for myself that it was time for a switch to a vegetarian-sourced vitamin. I should note that I don’t live a vegetarian lifestyle. I eat lean, hormone-free meat and fish daily! But as someone who struggles with non-genetic PCOS and infertility, I worry about how sensitive my body is to artificial agents that can potentially affect hormone levels. I strive to limit exposure to synthetic vitamins, supplements, and even body care products as much as possible. As such, I felt like if I am going to take a vitamin every day and expose myself to something regularly, I should choose one that is plant-based.

Throughout most of my pregnancy with my daughter, I also took a DHA omega-3 supplement to assist with her brain and eye development. After she was born, I naively stopped taking it thinking my relationship with DHA omega-3 was done. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered how important DHA omega-3 is for growth and development throughout all of life’s stages (maternal health, infant health, children and adult health). I thought it was just mainly for the 3rd trimester of pregnancy when significant brain growth occurs!

Research shows that DHA omega-3 supports brain and eye health throughout life, and it’s also great for your heart. As someone who has been trying to conceive a second child for 4.5 years, I should have been taking a DHA omega-3 supplement this entire time. Especially now that I know that DHA omega-3 plays a possible role in helping with maintaining normal triglyceride levels and blood pressure. I often struggle with high blood pressure associated with having PCOS (163/93 is not okay). The stress of trying to conceive under infertility doesn’t help with that blood pressure.

Since I take vegetarian-sourced prenatal vitamins, I started researching plant-based DHA omega-3 after hearing about life’sDHA®. I had no idea that plant-based DHA omega-3 was even an option, to be honest. When I realized how important DHA omega-3 is for maternal nutrition before, during and after pregnancy, I knew I had to get my hands on some. And then felt kind of guilty for not taking it the last 6 years since Zoey was born, especially the last 4.5 years we’ve been trying to conceive again.

life’sDHA® is a high-quality vegetarian source of DHA omega-3 sourced from algae! Yes, algae! I never would have thought that algae was such a great, natural source of DHA omega-3. When I heard about the algae, my first thought was “oh no, this stuff is probably going to smell (and taste) like swamp thing.” I ordered a bottle to try and I was pleasantly surprised! It doesn’t smell bad at all, and it’s so easy to swallow. Additionally, I only have to take 1 life’sDHA® tab each day to get 200mg of DHA omega-3

Between my vegetarian-sourced prenatal and now my DHA omega-3, I feel better prepared for pregnancy, whenever the time comes. I want to provide the best possible environment for a baby to form and grow – between eating healthy, exercising, and taking good quality prenatal vitamins and DHA omega-3, I feel so much better about welcoming new life in my womb.

If you’re interested in learning more about vegetarian-sourced DHA omega-3 and life’sDHA®, you can find out more information on the life’sDHA website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channel.

LifesDHA-PIN

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