Why This Just Got Real

It’s been quite some time since I last blogged. I think when I knew that I was going to be transitioning out of the workforce into being a stay-at-home Mom, I still felt some kind of need to “work,” to be significant in the eyes of others. So this blog was born. I had ambitious plans to blog frequently and learn how to make money off of it. As much as I love writing and knowing that others are benefiting from my writing, it just isn’t a practical “job” for me right now. That said, I will blog when I can. 🙂

The last several months have been tiring, joyous, frustrating, exciting, and worrisome all at once. In the midst of all of the house selling/buying chaos, I continued to focus on my health and repairing my adrenals and balancing my endocrine system. In March, I started seeing some light at the end of tunnel, and it was so wonderful to see my hard work paying off!….and then, I got pregnant. I was surprised, yet so excited! Never before had I experienced the hope you have for the little life growing inside of you, dreaming about the person they would become. But before I even got a positive pregnancy test, I lost the baby. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t feel the need to grieve much. I hadn’t been trying to get pregnant, I was only pregnant a couple of weeks, it still seemed pretty unreal, and I wasn’t in the place I had hoped to be with my health before having children. I was disappointed, but trusted that there would be no fertility issues the next time. After all, I know miscarriages are fairly common, especially the first time around.

The miscarriage really set me back with my adrenals, but it wasn’t long before I felt like I was back on track and moving forward again. Then, in May, I had another unexpected pregnancy end in miscarriage. Woah. This just got real. Now my healthy lifestyle wasn’t just about getting to a place where I “feel” better, it has become more about truly healing my body, balancing my systems, reversing infertility, and creating a place where the next baby can grow and thrive. I have a motivation I’ve never had before: the lives and wellbeing of my future children.

This last miscarriage brought more grieving than the first, more fear and worry for future pregnancies. But I keep holding onto two truths: 1) God created me, as a woman, to reproduce and bring forth fruit. The enemy may try to prevent this in any way he can, but truth is truth. I am clinging to the promises of the Lord and believing for my future children! 2) God created my body to heal itself, given the right nutrients. This is where my part comes in. Will I feed my body what it needs to restore? Or will I choose to eat Jack n the Box for breakfast because it is more convenient that particular morning? For years, I’ve had my feet in both worlds, spending money on supplements and organic foods and then finding myself the next day in the drive thru at In-n-Out Burger. But no more. My choices today decide my future tomorrow… and my children’s futures.

Sadly, I know that I am far from alone in having experienced multiple miscarriages or infertility issues. A huge resource for me has been www.natural-fertility-info.com. If you are going through similar griefs, I challenge you to learn as much as you can from this website and join me in their 21 Day Fertility Diet Challenge. The funny thing about the diet is that it is really how we ALL should be eating on a daily basis, not just those of us hoping to conceive and carry healthy babies in the near future.

The challenge is this. Add the following 5 items to your already healthy diet daily:

1) Start the morning by drinking a quart of water (add lemon, if you’d like) before eating anything for breakfast. Each day has gotten easier and easier, and I try to spread it out instead of drinking it all at once.

2) Consume one smoothie a day. I eat mine for breakfast and pack it full of delicious, healthy stuff. I get so stuffed from it!

3) Eat one BIG salad every day. Again, I load mine up with all kinds of goodies…veggies, sprouts, homemade dressing. I’ve never been much of a salad eater, but having this every day for lunch (or dinner) has been no big deal. Again, it leaves me so full afterwards! I guess when your lunch is so packed with nutrients, you don’t need as much to get full.

4) Eat a nice serving of a leafy green veggie everyday. This can be broccoli with your dinner, or it can be included in your salad or juice (see below). I don’t have to intentionally get this one checked off my list everyday because I use spinach as the base of my salads, and I include beet greens in my daily juice.

5) Have a fresh “green” veggie juice once a day. This has become my favorite treat of the day! I love juicing with beets, because not only are they super healthy, but they make my juice a bright red…it makes it seem more like a treat to me instead of a green juice, lol. But do what makes you happy! I’ve been juicing beets, beet greens, carrots, apples, celery, ginger root, and turmeric root. Delicious!

I top these off at the end of the day with a healthy dinner cooked for the whole family to enjoy, and I am more intentional with including vegetables, knowing that others in the family (my husband, bless his heart) aren’t eating all of the nutrient-dense foods I’m getting earlier in the day. The best part about this 21 Day Challenge is that these 5 things are “in addition” to your diet. I can still sneak in some dark chocolate or stuff some pepperoni (uncured, of course!) in my mouth while preparing my daughter’s lunch and not feel guilty. The second best part, is that most of this is food that even my 4-year-old daughter will eat! I make an extra large smoothie at breakfast for her too, and I even got her eating salads and drinking beet juice (with carrot and apple) in the afternoons! Praise the Lord! Who doesn’t want their entire family eating healthy?

For all the info on the 21 Day Challenge, check out the pdf version at this link (I own no rights to this):
21 Day Fertility Diet Challenge

If any of you decide to do the challenge, let me know, and we can hold each other accountable. Like I said, I’ve never been more motivated, and I’m believing for a precious little addition to our family sooner than I know it.

(If you are struggling to overcome the emotions of infertility or miscarriage, I encourage you to find help and healing. There are amazing counselors that can help you through it. So often we go through this alone. At the very least, find a friend who will grieve with you and believe with you for a hopeful future. If that person might be me, please contact me via facebook. It would be an honor to walk through this with you.)

(Edit: I realize that for those who don’t personally know me, it may seem confusing that I talk about my daughter, first time pregnancy, hoping for children, etc. My daughter, Marley, is fully 100% my daughter 🙂 just not biologically!)