Things I learned from my Grammy

If anyone has ever met my Grammy you would know that she loved shopping. These are a few things I have learned about life through her love of shopping.

My earliest memory of my grandma is trying to keep up with her at the mall going shopping. I remember distinctly saying, "Grammy, I can't keep up with you. Don't walk so fast." And her reply was that when you want something you shouldn't waste any time, get it done. And so I have lived my life that thought, don't waste time dilly dallying when you want something, just get it done.

As soon as I was wearing makeup, she would give me her Clinique sample with purchase. And 90% of my makeup to this day is small sample sized Clinique. She was always looking for ways to give to others. I never thought that it was a sacrifice to give them to me until I one day I was opening one up and say something and my mom said she was wanting to try that for a while. She could have kept it, and I would have been just fine. But that's not who she is. She taught me to give no matter what.

Even in her last days she wanted to go shopping online. She was hardly able to walk and eat, but she wasn't going to let that get in the way of her passion. And this taught me to not let things get in my way of my passions. If I want something it's up to me to figure out a way to make it happen.

Grammy is minutes to hours away from taking her last breath. It has been an honor for me to be able to take care of her during these final moments. I love you Grammy!!

Quiet moments

Quiet moments are few and far between In my life. Between two kids, two dogs, a job and a husband somedays I don't have a single quiet moment. I am starting to learn to make quiet moments, moments where I don't have to move, all I have to do is breath in and out. 

   This weekend I planned a quiet weekend for me and my husband. After nine years marriage I figured we deserved one quiet weekend. I arranged a short camping trip, two night and one full day to be responsibility free. I made time for my husband to fish. I made time for me to read a book. I made time for us to watch movies. I made time for us to make love.

   Quiet moment give us time to reflect on who we are. They give us time to appreciate what we have. Quiet moment give us a chance to recharge ourselfs for the next crazy moment of life

    For me and my crazy loud life I have to make these moment happen. I encourage you to stop and find a quiet moment today. Watch it rain, listen to yourself breath, count your heart beats, do something for yourself. You'll be amazed at how much better your day will be.

The staycation

   This week like Avery I'm typing this blog from vacation. We have been in park city, utah almost a week and we are unfortunately leaving tomorrow.  I call it a staycation because we are far enough away from home to call it being away,but it only took us a little over an hour to get here so it took a lot of the travel stresses away.
  As most of you know traveling with kids especially young ones like I have make a 8 hour trip turn into 12 exe... So this 1 hour trip was so nice! It also allows us more time to be where we want to be and less time in the car! Yay! Win win for everyone!
  The weather has been fantastic not too hot not too cold. We have been hiking, swimming, hot tubing,walking and the best part hot air ballooning. Another great plus is we are sharing a condo with my parents so we are able to leave the kids and go do things as a couple if we want.  This condo also has a kitchen so we are cooking a lot of our meals and actually spending less money then we would at home because taking turns doing meals! This has allowed us to be able to spend money on activities without too much guilt. :)
  When my husband and I got married we made it a priority that at least once a year we will take a vacation. This allows us before we had kids and with our kids to spend time with each other get to explore new and beautiful places and learn about cultures. We just save a little each month and also use some of our tax return to travel. We always drive where ever we travel to save money but shooting out 12 hrs in each direction from utah can get you to some magical and beautiful places.
   Even if it's just a weekend find a deal somewhere and make a weekend getaway. I think vacation is very important. We all need time to getaway and stretch our legs so to speak. Some look at vacation as stressful and I'll admit packing for it and like I said traveling there it can be. I like to take it easy on vacations and not overbook your days. Or I'll do busy day then relax pool day exe.. To rotate so you don't get worn out! It's also important if possible to have a day off when you get back before you go back to work. Sometimes you need a day to re cooperate from vacation.:)
  Take a breathe relax and enjoy the views and time with your family. Building memories is truly what it's all about!

  

Autumn Chili

Fun Furlong Friday:

This week I'm on vacation with my little family. (Our first one since having our children! So excited!) So I'm just going to quickly share my very favorite recipe for chili. This is my mom's recipe and it is absolutely PERFECT for the colder seasons. It's cheap, it's quick, it's easy, it makes a lot, and it tastes amazing! Mom calls it our family's version of "fast food."

I have fond memories of watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and eating a giant bowl of this chili. This recipe feeds my family of four, (one is still too young to eat it so Tyler eats his bowl!) and if we don't eat multiple bowls we end up with left overs. But it's so good sometimes we double it and I freeze the left overs to reheat in emergencies or on rainy days. I think it tastes even better as left overs. 

What you'll need: 

• Two cans of tomato sauce

• Two cans of beans (we do one can Pinto beans and the other can black beans) 

• 1lb. Ground beef 

• one package of Great Value Mild Chili Seasoning

Brown the hamburger and drain the fat.

Drain the juices from the cans of beans.

Then dump ALL the ingredients into a big pot. 

Turn to medium heat and stir occasionally for about 15 minutes. 

Add whatever toppings you want but it's pretty fantastic all by itself. 

See you next Friday! ENJOY!!! 

Creamsicle Cake

Creamsicle cake

My husbands favorite treat in the world is cake we have cake mixes every where (he doesn't necessarily make them a lot) So when I found this recipe I was so excited.

Its a pretty basic recipe that tastes like it took for ever (gotta love)
So to start you bake a yellow cake mix according to the 9x13 directions, when that is finished take a fork and poke holes (be sure not to poke all the way through) about 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart.
Let in cool a few minutes
Mix your orange jello as it says in the recipe and pour evenly over the cake. Let it sit in the fridge for a little bit just to set up.

 While its setting up mix your topping

Spread evenly over the cake and put in fridge a little longer

 Take a piece and enjoy

I am not a big cake person at all but this a long side vanilla ice cream was wonderful.

Here is the recipe.

CREAMSICLE CAKE

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

1 orange or yellow cake mix
1 sm. pkg. orange Jello
1 c. hot water
1/2 c. cold water
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
1 sm. instant vanilla pudding
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. orange extract

Mix orange cake mix, according to directions. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan and bake according to directions. After removing cake from oven, poke holes in the cake 1 inch apart with fork. Mix Jello with 1 cup hot water and 1/2 cup cold water. Pour evenly over cooled cake. Mix Cool Whip, instant pudding, milk, vanilla, and orange extract. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Spread evenly over cake.

The Student Mommy

When I had my first daughter almost 5 years ago (Yikes! How did that happen?!?) I thought I only had 18 credits left to get my English degree. But, at some point during the pregnancy and labor I realized I needed to be a nurse. And thus, became my journey as a student mommy. So I finished up my last 18 credits while doing my pre-requisites for nursing. I got pregnant again and graduated with my Bachelors degree and kept working towards nursing school. The day before I had my second baby I found out I got accepted into nursing school and would be starting in less then 5 weeks. Needless to say, 2 kids and 5 years later I think I am the schooling mommy professional. Here are a few tips I learned along the way....



1- Early bedtime. Seriously. But not you, your kids. I did most all my homework once my kids were asleep. If I tried when they were awake we would all just end up frustrated. But, this did mean that there were many nights I only got 3-4 hours of sleep. Hence, where the early bedtime comes into play. The earlier they sleep, the earlier you sleep.

2- Try to incorporate a break between classes. My kids went to a baby sitter or daycare while I was in school. I felt less guilty having a built in study break while I already had someone watching my kids then trying to get my classes done as fast as possible to pick up my kids then trying to figure out someone to watch them while I took a test or some last minute thing I didn't do while they were in bed the other night.

3-Breath. You will be done with school before you know it. And it will be one of your greatest accomplishments.

4-Involve your kids in what you are doing. I tried to show my daughter that school is important, and hopefully when she is older she will feel the same way. I love learning.

5-Reward yourself. After midterms were over, I took a break one night and instead of studying while they were sleeping I would take a nice long bath. DO THIS! I'm not kidding. It helped me rewind and have a stellar rest of the semester.

6-Tell your husband you love him every night. There were times I was ridiculously stressed and I tended to take it out on my sweet husband, unfortunately--especially since he picked up all my slack around the house. I could not have done it without such a supporting husband, and family.

7-Go to graduation and take lots of pictures. Graduating nursing school was one of the best days of my life.

There you go, school in 7 simple steps. ...If only it was so simple. Remember, you can do it!!

~Alicia RN :)

The moment I became a mother

B was born 5 years ago this Wednesday. The moment I met him i fell in love. I never truly knew what love was or how strong it could be until he was placed upon my chest, still covered in goo. 

My son has tested my patients to the max. He called me shell for the first three years of his life.

B used Chapstick as a crayon on the kitchen floor and  just a few days ago he helped face paint his sister using sidewalk chalk.

He has taught me to slow down and enjoy life. One day he asked me why we run from the rain, because he liked the rain. We stopped and enjoyed the rain. Now I  walking the rain.

 

My son has taught me forgiveness. No matter how much I yell or get mad or do the wrong thing he loves me. He forgives my faults over and over again. He is always excited to see me, he always knows when i need a hug, and he can make me smile on my darkest days.

I  used to sing to him each night when he was little You are my Sunshine, that is truly what he is. I wish he would stay little forever but I have loved every minute of his life!

"ON THE ROAD TO PERFECTION"

    For my calling or service I give to my church( the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints). I teach relief society a class for all women so we as sister's in the church can get together weekly and build each other up. I teach out of our church's manual from previous prophets teachings.

    The lesson this week was about keeping the commandments of the lord.This may sound odd but I related this a lot to motherhood in several ways.
  First let start with the discussion about keeping the commandments. In the bible Matthew 5:48 it says" be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." In the manual in response to this scripture Joseph Fielding Smith said

"  I believe the Lord meant just what He said, that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come all at once, but line upon line and precept upon precept, example upon example, and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be like God.

But here we lay the foundation. Here is where we are taught these simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in this probationary state, to prepare us for that perfection. It is my duty, it is yours, to be better today than I was yesterday, and for you to be better today than you were yesterday, and better tomorrow than you were today. Why? Because we are on that road, if we are keeping the commandments of the Lord, we are on that road to perfection, and that can only come through obedience and the desire in our hearts to overcome the world. …

… If we have a failing, if we have a weakness, there is where we should concentrate, with a desire to overcome, until we master and conquer. If a man feels that it is hard for him to pay his tithing, then that is the thing he should do, until he learns to pay his tithing. If it is the Word of Wisdom, that is what he should do, until he learns to love that commandment."

  So if we feel we are failing or if we have weakness then we just start by trying one thing at at a time.  Try is all we are asked to do and "perfect" one commandment at a time.  I love the commandment tithing because even though it can be difficult to give one tenth of our earnings to the lord its something we can be 100% in if we do it. The lord I know also blesses us when we are following his commandments.

 So as this relates to motherhood in my eyes is we as mothers feel like we are failing and we think i need to do this and this and this. It can get quite overwhelming but I think we can do like the lord wants to see us do in regards to Keeping the Commandments.  All you got to do as a mother is Try.... or if there is something you want to do to change work on one thing at a time.  I also know with prayer the lord can help us on this journey in raising our children. We are not meant to be perfect we are "on the road to perfection"........ 

Dollar Store Crafting Ideas

Happy Fun Furlong Friday!!!

**Follow me on Instagram @diaries_of_a_supermom to see more of the crafts that I do!**

Today I'm going to be talking about crafting on a budget and hopefully will inspire others! You don't need to spend a fortune at Hobby Lobby to be able to make fun crafts, not only for you but for your kids! 

Before I had kids I was not an artistic or crafty person. At all. That was always my sister-in-law's department. I often looked on with envy at all the fun things she did (and still does!) When we moved to Maybrooke (Maybrooke is my house... That's another story for another day!) Drew was about 7 months old. I wanted to start creating fun things like my sister-in-law always did. There was just a major problem in my way. 

We were poor. Everyone hits rough patches. We had just bought our house, Tyler was in school and working full time and because of my hard pregnancy we had medical bills to pay. My crafting budget was very small, but Tyler agreed that I needed it to help keep me positive and happy. It's such a good feeling to create something with your own two hands! 

So! After a lot of thinking, researching Pinterest, and experimenting, I have found so many fun crafts to do with just things from your local dollar store! These are just a few things I have done, and I will be posting more things as I find them. All of my crafts are usually under $5, but sometimes I will go a little over that! 

The craft I'm going to share today is probably my most popular idea. 

Styrofoam. 

At my local Dollar Tree they sell these styrofoam blocks for floral arrangements. But I use them to craft. They are SO much cheaper than wood.

 They are really fragile at first, but after a coat of white acrylic paint (.50 cents at Walmart!) they are more sturdy, and any dents can be smoothed over with sand paper. You can also cut them VERY CAREFULLY into other shapes. 

 

(I should also warn that they take forever to dry, especially the first coat of paint. It also soaks up the paint a bit so you need a little more than you'd think for that first coat. I usually do the white paint right before I go to bed and then it's all dry when I wake up so I can paint the rest.)

This is what I did for Autumn 

Everything on that mantel for Autumn is from Dollar Tree. Even the framed chalkboard, which is just a dollar store picture frame painted with chalkboard paint ($5 at Walmart). I painted the letters on the blocks with stencils from Walmart (about $3). 

And these are my Halloween blocks! 

These were made from the solid blocks. I cut the pumpkin and Frankinstein from one block. Total cost of this project: $2. 

Along with the Styrofoam blocks, Dollar tree also sells styrofoam boards that are great for flat pieces, and still cheaper than wood! You can cut out letters, numbers, shapes, or whatever you want and just peel off the paper layer, paint it and you can hang it on a wall! Or... 

A styrofoam wreath. This is a dollar tree pool noodle wrapped in my left over scraps of burlap. A friend suggested that I make the decorations with tacks on the back so I can change them out as the seasons change. I buy a board, draw the shapes that I want and use an exacto knife to cut it out. Then I paint it and use a hot glue gun to glue the tacks to the back and stick it on the wreath! 

 

The total cost of this wreath (pool noodle, styrofoam and tacks) was about $4. I had the burlap on hand. 

Happy crafting! 

•Avery 

It's ok to feel this way

So I have been thinking a lot about what to write this week. It's been one of those crazy weeks that you just pray will slow down so you can catch up for just a minute. I took 2 hours to my self and watched this movie.

Not going to lie it felt like I was watching my life in a movie. If you haven't seen it you need to so I'll try not to give to much away. It is about a mom of 3 kids who feel like what she does is never good enough, she can't seem to keep up. When Mothers Day rolls around she doesn't want to be celebrated because she doesn't feel good enough....ever.
It was like watching my self on T.V even the part of wanting to be a mommy blogger.
There is a scene in the show where she looks at her daughter and her daughter wants to be an artist (which results in paintings all over the walls) and she tells her husband. When I was growing up this is what I wanted to be. I wanted the husband, the house, the children. All I've ever wanted is to be a mom. I am living my dream......so why am I so unhappy??

STOP RIGHT THERE, That is exactly the way I have been feeling for so long! I feel like this movie gave me permission to say that and it made me feel like I am not alone.

Don't ask me why I am letting a movie get to me so much because I never have before but I'm telling you it changed my perspective on a lot of things.
I know I am not a lone in this. Some people are so afraid to talk about it. I know I feel almost guilty saying that I have felt this way more than once. But when it all comes out in the wash you know what you're doing as a mother is right because it's right for you no matter what any one says.
I might yell and have a hard time and cry...... a lot...... but that's ok. There is so much pressure on us as mothers that it's hard not to feel over whelmed or good enough 95% of the time. But that 5% when your child is sick and the only person they know will make them feel better is you or when they want you to drop everything and read them a story. That is the 5% that makes it all worth it. All the heart ache all the stress and the tears is suddenly replaced by this unconditional love you have for your child and they have for you.

You all know what I mean when I say there is nothing like it in the world. So my challenge for you is no matter what the stress or how crazy things are when that little one asks you for a story or to play for a minute drop every thing and just do it even if it is just for a minute at lease once just try it, just be with them. It took me a long time to get to that point and no I can't always drop everything but I sure do try harder to spend more time with her and I realize that I'm not going to have that time much longer and I need to appreciate it while I do.
At the end of the movie she goes to say something like.... She who rocks the cradle rules the world. I have never heard that before but I do believe it is true and that mothers are more important that we will ever realize.

Positive or negative

Our lives are defined in little moments. Moment that can change our lives istantley, moment that can slow us down, moments that can freeze us in our tracks. Like that moment a faint pink lines appears on a pregnancy test or worse when the timers goes off and there is no pink line. It's how we react that truly defines us. Were you positive? Were you negative? 

I used to be a truly positive person. It was something I strived for. Something I thought was easy and couldn't understand why others were so negative.

         

  Now, I can understand it. As life changes, as my life became a messy place to live, I changed. I find myself expecting the worst. Planning for people to let me down. Expecting myself to fail. 

  This week I had a defining moment. I had a good day, a day where I laughed, I sang, I danced, I spread happiness to others, and I can say I had joy In my life. I loved that feeling, that light, warm feeling of being happy. I want that every day!

My defining moment reminded me of that quote. The definition of cultivate is to aquire or develop a quality, sentiment or skill.  We must work to be happy. We must continually try to be positive. As those little defining moments come we must make the choice to be positive even if we are sad, sacred, or even mad. If we are positive we can find joy even in the worst situations. I am now striving again to be positive, to be happy. 

Being an advocate for your child is exhausting!

Super Saturday this week has not been so super!

Today I'm discussing a challenge I have had this week. As all mothers know being a mother is wonderful but very challenging in so many ways! I'm the mother of 2 boys the "normal"child is my youngest and my first son as I mentioned before was born with many heart defects. Although his surgeries have "Fixed" his heart he has other issues as a result of two heart surgeries and other things that we go to doctors for.

One of the many these delays in my son Shane is  Torticolis ( a shortened neck muscle on one side of the neck that causes my son to tilt his head toward his left side) this is very minor and can be helped easily with physical therapy. Due to sitting in hospital beds in one position for quite a while and the way Shane was positioned in the womb as a baby he tilted his head often. We started physical therapy  when he was around 3 m old as nurses brought it to our attention in hospital. After quite a while of PT it would strength in and his head would go straight. Every time he would learn something new like walking though it would come back. Once again I take him to PT and it would go away.  We eventually got enrolled with early intervention(a school district/government program to help babies -3 yrs with special needs or delays) for Shane's speech delay and asked if we could get Shane looked out from a PT in the program. A PT came out and looked at Shane this was around April or so of this year and at this time Shane was only "tilting" when tired or really active. The PT said it wasn't sever enough to treat at that time.she also gave me some tips to help stretch that muscle a 2 1/2 year old way. Pt excercises are very easy when they are babies,but when they are bouncing 2 1/2 year olds it' gets difficult to stretch it the way you did when babies. I was appreciative of the tips and continued doing what I could to help my son. as time has gone on it has become worse than earlier in April. He tilts the majority of the time not just when he is tired.

  This is where advocating for my son comes to play... Since Shane tilt got worse I brought it up to his speech therapist again and she discussed it again with the PT. Without even coming and looking out him again the PT denies treatment and encourages us to see our pediatrician and discuss it with them. Well if I bring this to my pediatrician he will just refer me to PT.  Early intervention says that because   Shane tested at normal gross motor skills and the tilt doesn't affect his "well being" or affects his daily life then they can't treat him. Ok yes maybe this is true that he is a good natured kid and it may not affect his eating or drinking, but during his sleep study last week they said torticollis could affect why he is waking and gasping at night. In what world is walking around with a head tilt "normal"? I'm sorry I would probably have tons of  headaches and pains if I walk around like Shane does. Yes I could  take him to a PT through our insurance, but that will cost me money I don't have. That's why we have these great programs like early intervention isn't it? So kids don't suffer because of lack of money. I have wanted to cry and scream this week it's exhausting!

. I'm just a mom trying to get the best treatment for my son and it's frustrating when he gets denied because it's not "Sever" enough without even a glimpse in months! I don't know what my next step is.
I have been through way worse things with Shane and I hate to complain, but I'm just trying to do what a mom does for her child!

  This week I have learned that I will always have to probably fight for Shane his whole life or at least till he can in 17 years!:)  I fought for him as a baby too, but as he gets older and going to join the world soon in preschool and later on kindergarten he will need an advocate to help him with his delays. I keep praying for strength to get through. The Lord gave me Shane and has a plan for him or he would of already been gone from this earth and  joined his Heavenly Father. The Lord I know will give me guidance and help me lead his child that he so preciously in trusted me with his care for a reason.  Never give up the fight moms!:)

Emily

Thank you, Kate Middleton

Hey! It's Avery here with your Fun Furlong Friday Post!

As I mention in my introduction post, I had a pregnancy condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG).

Dutchess Kate Middleton announced this week that she was expecting her second child, and that she was suffering from HG like she was with her first child. My heart broke for her. I can't seem to imagine her with messy hair, lying in bed and not showering for days, with a constant IV in her arm and a puke bucket next to her. She just seems too graceful for that. But I'm very excited that HG now has a public face. 

Most of the news media is declaring that Kate has "severe morning sickness." Well I'm here to tell you that they are wrong. They are so very wrong.  

I once heard someone say that calling Hyperemesis Gravidarum "just bad morning sickness" is like calling a hurricane "just a little wind." I couldn't have said it better myself. 

With my first son, I kind of knew what to expect. My mom had HG with her pregnancies. (So did five of her sisters.) I can still remember going to the hospital to visit her. Daddy would take us to the hospital gift shop and we would buy a beanie baby and go see mom while she munched her ice chips and then threw them up. 

I remember the home healthcare nurses coming to clean her PICC line. They always let me push her saline flush and watch them start her IV. I remember buckets and bags everywhere. For throwing up.

Then it was my turn. It started out just throwing up in the morning before breakfast. But then it gradually became more and more persistant. I tried eating and snacking every two hours. It never stayed down. I tried ginger (yes, I know the HG sister are cringing at that), I tried crackers, I tried peppermint, I tried those sickness bands, I tried preggo pops.... Nothing was helping. My doctor proscribed zofran. It seemed to lengthen the time between vomiting. Instead of 1-2 times every hour it was 1-2 times every 2-3 hours. I started to throw up stomach acid, or bile, which is the worse taste in the entire world. I remember lying on the bathroom floor and just crying and crying. Then I started to throw up blood too. I threw that up often.

I lost weight. I started my pregnancy at 120 pounds. I dropped about 19 pounds that first trimester.

(This is me in the hospital getting my first IV. I was so thrilled. But I felt a lot better afterwards.) 

Think that was bad? My second baby made this first pregnancy look easy. At 8 weeks I threw up flaky chunks, along with a good amount of blood. The chunks freaked me out because I hadn't been able to eat in over 24 hours or drink in a little over 48 hours. I had tried and unisom and B6, phenegran, zofran, and all the other pregnancy tips. I had a killer headache and hadn't needed to use the restroom in over 24 hours. When I saw those flakes, I called my doctor. Within an hour I was admitted to Davis Hospital for severe dehydration and I learned that those flakes were the inner lining of my esophagus and stomach. I was throwing up my own guts.

They monitored my fluid intake and out put, no food for 24 hours to give my stomach a rest, and I received vitamins and medication through an IV.

My mom brought my 7 month old son to see me. But first, she took him to the gift shop to buy a Beanie Baby. 

I was put on a very bland diet to be reintroduced to food. This all happened the day before my 20th birthday. 

I was finally released and put on home healthcare. I had strict orders to get IV fluids every single night after work. Tyler was In School and working full time. I had to work and care for my son the best I could but it is NOT easy caring for a baby and being hooked up to an IV pole. 

Despite the IV fluids, my weight was still dropping (over 25 pounds) and I was still throwing up and showing signs of dehydration. Finally my doctor ordered for me to get a PICC line. That PICC saved my life. I received IV fluids, medication and TPN through it. I went to work with my little backpack full of TPN and a pump to pump it in me while I worked. 

(Andrew helping me mix my vitamins into the TPN.) 

(My PICC line while I was at work.) 

The TPN helped me get my weight up, so we had my PICC removed. I was 20 weeks and still wearing my pre pregnancy clothes. In fact, between my two kids I've never owned a pair of maternity jeans.  

(20 weeks pregnant with boy #2!) 

I still got IVs weekly until 35 weeks when I went into preterm labor due to dehydration (still severely vomiting) and was put on bedrest until delivery. 

When I told people about my condition, I got several reactions. A lot of moms said, "I had that! It's normal!" Sorry, but there is nothing normal about throwing up blood and hulk-green stomach acid every hour. 

Some thought I was faking it or just being dramatic. (How do you fake needing a PICC line?) but most were just curious because they had never heard of it before. That's the problem. So many women have lost their babies because they had no idea that what others told them was "normal" made them so malnourished that their baby didn't make it. Before modern medicine and IVs, HG was the number one cause of death in early pregnancy. For mom and baby. 

HG has bad after affects too. Don't even ask about my teeth. And we are constantly watching for signs of origin failure, which is common in severe HG cases like my last pregnancy. I hate being pregnant. And it's enough that we are hesitant to have more because of how bad my second pregnancy was. Which breaks my heart because I love babies and have always wanted a big family. 

I love my tougHGuys. They were so worth it, but we don't know how many times I can do it again. Definitely one more though.

So thank you, Kate Middleton, for bringing HG into the public eye, and giving us a chance to raise awareness so that moms can get the proper treatment. Thank you for being our voice. I hope with all of my heart she makes it. It sounds like her palace doctors have her well taken care of though. 

If you have questions, feel free to message me or visit HelpHER.org for more information!