Fertilehealthy

More from Iowa

I got another postcard from Erin!

Looks like a beautiful city! Thanks Erin!

Can’t wait!

The first thing I did this morning was to check and see who won American Idol. And I’m overjoyed that “my” idol won!  I would definitely buy his album!

We get to see the finale and the result show tonight! Supper will be served at 6 pm and we’ll be ready by 7 pm for a marathon session… Woohoo!

Thank you all for your kinds comments to yesterday’s post. I have so much more to share with you in the weeks to come… I was going to start today, but it’s a gorgeous day outside and I’ve been lolling around in the Jacuzzi. We have to make the most of these nice days, because they are few and far between now.

Healthy Me: An Update

A while ago I realized that I was in trouble. I was spending almost every waking minute at my computer reading blogs. Which meant that I wasn’t taking care of myself.

The whole purpose of not working is for me to get healthy, fit and fertile. I wasn’t even getting close. The hours that were being frittered away every day, were the days of my life. Clearly I needed to make some changes.

So I stepped back a little and took a broader look at my life. What I saw dismayed me. I was seriously missing the point. This journey for me was never about weight loss. Yet, I was hopping on the scale every day. When we decided to go to America this June, I declared that I had 5 weeks in which to lose a chunk of weight so that my trip would be more comfortable. It was time for bootcamp! Every day I “wasted” by not pounding my body into submission made me feel more guilty and more anxious. How is that healthy?

I needed to change the way I thought and the way I spent my time. I more than halved the number of blogs that I subscribe to. That left me some time for being good to myself. And no, I didn’t start the bootcamp! I never will.

I took the time to reconnect with my goals, dreams and desires. And very importantly with myself. I reread the books that teach the principles by which I want to live. And I changed my life in a few short weeks.

Now every day is an opportunity to be kinder and more loving towards my body and spirit. I eat the foods that are good and healing and avoid the things that strain, damage and throw my body (and emotions) out of balance. Some days I’m better at it than others. It doesn’t matter. I’m no longer demanding perfection. I’m learning and improving as I go along.

And my body is loving it! The scale, when I remember to get on it, keeps going down slowly but surely. My health is improving every day. I haven’t had a skin rash in weeks. My hormones did some heroic healing task which delayed my menses for more than two weeks. I’m sleeping well. I have more energy.

And with that increased energy I’m starting to get more active. My body is demanding that I work it. Previously I looked at things that needed to be done in the garden and told myself that I couldn’t do it. Now I tell myself that while I may not be able to do it all in one go, I can do something. Sure, it’s uncomfortable to kneel or bend, but invariably I do more than what I thought I could.

I haven’t gone back to gym yet, because I want my mind to be clear about what I want to do there. I want to my work there to be healing. I don’t want to feel as if I’ve let myself down if I skip a day. The call for more activity, for stretching and toning, running and swimming is getting stronger every day. My body is starting to crave it. I like that!

I’m also taking time to meditate, breathe and just be. My spirit is healing nicely alongside my body. I’m pondering my fertility, my life-choices and my future. And a path is starting emerge. I will be sharing a lot of my thoughts and dreams with you in the near future.

But for now, I’m good! In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’m almost at goal. My goal being to live a healthy lifestyle. That has always been the goal. The weight loss and increased fertility are just byproducts of that lifestyle. I am working with my body, not against it. The scale has ceased to have any hold over me, in fact I barely even notice it anymore when I go into the bathroom.

I won’t be significantly thinner when we leave in just over two weeks’ time. And while we’re away, staying with relatives, we won’t be eating what we normally eat, so I’ll probably put on some weight and throw myself out of balance in various ways. But that’s okay! It’s a minor detour in my life journey. We know what we want and it’s not something we have to attain, but something we’re doing already. I love that!

Overjoyed!

Just because you’ve never met someone in person, doesn’t mean that you don’t get to know and love her and share in her joys and sorrows.

I’ve “known” Natalie for about 18 months when we were regulars on the fertility message boards. We’ve really been there for one another’s ups and downs on this fertility journey of ours.

Towards the end of last year Natalie and Ian started the adoption process. She began blogging to keep her friends and family informed of the progress, which proved to be agonizingly slow.

But tonight I am overcome with joy. I learned today that they will be getting an abandoned 8-month old girl in two weeks’ time. The tears just keep on coming… I am so happy for this wonderful young couple who will see their dreams come true and for this cute little girl who is going to have a good home, loving parents and a tight-knit, doting extended family.

It’s like a fairytale!

And I’m reminded of this quote by Oprah Winfrey:

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.

I wish I could be there for the baby shower!

Congratulations Nattie! You are going to be a great mom!

Those were the days?

Netjane has this wonderful meme where you have to post a music video from the year of your birth. I didn’t realize that they had music videos in those days (we didn’t even have TV in South Africa), but here it is!

I could have picked Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Bob Dylan or Marvin Gaye, but I decided to share the #1 song of that year…