The Unspoken Grief

While tomorrow is Mother’s Day, today I would like to remind everyone that not every woman celebrates. I don’t mean the ones who sadly remember their Moms in heaven, but the ones like me, who have suffered the unspeakable loss of losing not one or two but nine ’embabies’.

What are ’embabies’? They are the result of a couple doing IVF and having live embryos implanted. They are ‘future babies’ with plans drawn up by their Moms and Dads. They already have a place in the hearts of their parents. The parents wait for two weeks, which seems like a lifetime to hopefully hear the words, ‘yes, the embryos stuck and you are still pregnant’.

Around 6 to 6 1/2 years ago, we went through three rounds of IVF. We had a total of nine live embryos implanted throughout the three rounds. We even had little personal names for them. Sadly, we lost all nine. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them in heaven. I know one day, we will see them.

I am now able to talk about this and would like to offer support for others who have gone through this. I never compare what I went through to someone who had a miscarriage or a stillbirth. But, I just wanted to allow others to know that there are those, like me, that still gets sad on Mother’s Day because we have our own grief. ❤

Gathering Momentum

Momentum leads to excitement.

Excitement leads to anticipation.

Anticipation leads to action.

Action leads to results.

Those words came to my head last night.  I know where they came from but this isn’t the blog to discuss that topic.

We’re feeling the momentum.  Business is slow at the moment.  Mainly because we seem to have a million other things clamoring for our attention.  When you have a nine to five type job it’s easy to be productive.  You have set hours.  You show up at a set time, do your work for a set number of hours then go home.

When you work from home it’s equally easy to get distracted.  Family get the idea that because you’re not at a desk in an office you’re available to them whenever they want you.  Plus you have a myriad of personal distractions competing for your time.  Self discipline is critical.  We haven’t fully acquired that, yet.  But we’re getting there.

Last night we were busy setting appointments.  The result is tomorrow we’re meeting with three separate people.  A busy day ahead.  We’re in the business of helping people.  Financially and health wise.  It feels good to be moving in that direction again.  Wish us luck for tomorrow!

We’re beginning to see that momentum.  Excitement is building, leading us to take action.

Now to go get those results!

Spring Into Action

According to the calendar, Spring starts on Thursday.  Although having just been outside it’s hard to believe we haven’t slipped back in time to the middle of January.  The average high right now is supposed to be around 50.  According to my Weatherbug it’s currently 29 degrees.  Only 21 degrees below normal.  In the middle of March.  This has been a long harsh winter.  It’s time for Old Man Winter to get his grumpy butt out of here.  It’s time for some warmth.  At least we’ve missed out on several snow chances this month.  There have been a few snowstorms around, but they’ve all been shunted to the south courtesy of the media flavor of the month, the good old Polar Vortex.  How many times have we heard about the PV this winter.  Way too many times if you ask me.  The PV can bugger off back to its polar home where it belongs.  Bring on the 60’s and 70’s. 

When it gets as cold as this, we tend to hibernate.  I have to admit, I don’t like extreme cold and I don’t like extreme heat.  Am I too fussy?  Just give me 60’s and 70’s, and if we want to head to the beach, some 80’s would be good.  Yes, I admit it, I’m a wimp.  I’m from Britain, where it rarely gets too hot or too cold.  More often than not, the temperature is just right.  Why do I suddenly feel like a character from the Goldilocks fairytale?

Anyway, I have to admit, I could stand to lose a few pounds.  As I’ve already indicated, I hibernate during the winter. And working from home makes it all to easy to hide yourself away.  Thankfully I’ll be able to take advantage of our Vitality range with our company.  We have products that help us have a good workout, that gives us plenty of fiber and products that help us lose weight.  Once we get some decent mild weather we’re going to go walking.  We have an amazing snack bar that is scientifically designed to allow our body to burn excess fat.  And it tastes great!  Bonus! 

So bring on the warm sunny days, when the girls wear fewer clothes and I can get my legs out again.  I’m ready to walk!

Taking Time For What Matters

Our lives are crazy these days. I’m sure many of you can identify with this. An elderly relative broke his hip last July and spent seven weeks in a rehab center.   We had to sort out his place, as well as visit him.  He went home, but as he was only able to get care for three hours a day for just three weeks, we had to go to his home every other day to help him out with laundry, shopping, cleaning etc.

A few months ago, he had a relapse and is now in a nursing home.  We have to prepare his place to sell it, as well as visit him as often as we can.  As well as prepare our place as we might be moving soon.  That’s a whole other story.

So, why am I telling you this?  I’ve been thinking the past few days, thank God we have this work from home business.  If we had regular jobs, either we wouldn’t be able to take the time off to give our relative the proper care he needed, or we’d have lost our jobs by now.  Let’s face it, what company in America is going to let you take so much time off to care for someone who needs you?  But as we work for ourselves, we can take all the time we need to give our relative the proper care and attention.  Family is so important, right?  They have to come first.  As it is, we both lost our jobs within three months of each other before any of this with our relative even happened.

Time.  We can never have enough of it.  Especially when we work long hours every day.  Our lives are fleeting enough as it is without spending so much time behind a desk, or wherever it is you work. Your job puts money in your bank, pays the bills, puts food on the table and keeps a roof over your head.  But it takes so much in return.  It steals so much of our time.  Time we could better spend with our family.  I work with my wife.  So we live together and we work together.  And believe it or not, it really works for us!  We get on so well.  We’re an amazing team.  As we have been so busy we haven’t been able to devote as much time as we’d like to our business.  But the check we get every month for the work we have already done keeps holding us over.

 

In Hibernation

There’s a car under there, somewhere…

We’re in hibernation.  Until spring.  I’ve blogged a couple of times now about how great working from home is, how nice it is not having to face a rough commute to work and back in the cold and snow.  And it IS great!  However, there is a flip side.  Since the storm on Monday I haven’t been outside, other than to get the mail and, of course, shovel all this delightful snow. 

I love snow.  I really do.  But enough already!  I had to shovel eight inches of slop on Monday.  Today I had to shovel another inch or so of snow that seemed to be eighty per cent water.  And we are meant to have another snowstorm this weekend.  This one could be the biggest storm of the season.  Oh well, if nothing else, at least it gives me exercise.  I just wish I could remember to eat an Access bar before going out to shovel.  At least it would give me more energy.  But roll on spring now when at least we can get out and mingle more.  But all things considered, it still beats facing those treacherous messy commutes!

So, to all of you who work from home, how do you cope with the winter hibernation  blues?

The Joys Of Working From Home!

Ahh, what bliss.  It’s a delightful, gorgeous spring day.  The sun is shining.  There isn’t a cloud in the sky.  The temperature is near 80, but there’s a nice breeze to keep you from overheating.

Absolutely perfect for moving your office outside.  So that’s what I’ve done.  I’m sitting in our backyard with my laptop open and my phone by my side ready to make a few calls.  One of the biggest benefits of working from home is being able to enjoy the nice weather when it comes.  After the chill of winter and before the heat of summer, this is my favorite time of the year.

I do feel sorry for anyone who’s stuck in an office today!