Foster Parent – Our Life Thus Far with Foster Care

My Life as a Foster Parent

Foster Parent – Our Life Thus Far with the Foster Care System

While I have blogged about many topics, for some reason, this one has been much too personal.  Training to be a foster parent and taking a child into our home has been something I have kept to myself in many ways.  I have shared with my friends and family that my husband and I were embarking on this journey.  I have even shared with friends about some of our joys and struggles with fostering, but really I’ve kept so much to myself.

I internalize much of my life while sharing windows in, but they are selective.  Today, I’m opening one more window a little wider.  My hope is that you will know a little more about fostering, a little more about how God is blessing our family, and a little more about how God is faithful even in the hard places.

Training to Receive

We began our training to become a foster parent in January of 2017.  As my husband was still unsure of the process and his feelings about being a foster parent, we were planning to do the training in order to find out if fostering was a fit for our family.  I was praying the whole time that God would stir my husband’s heart toward accepting a child into our home.  In honest, our infertility has left a place that I was willing to use to bless a child who needed a home.  I sincerely wanted my pain to become a blessing rather than a curse.

Packet Mayhem

During the training, we received a packet of forms.  This thick packet was to be filled […]

Fertility Options – What I Have Tried

It is always strange to announce to the world, “I struggle with infertility!”  Yet if I don’t talk about it, I know many women are going to continue to feel alone and not have the information they need.  If you are dealing with infertility, you need me to talk about the fertility options that I have tried.  You need other women who are TTC (trying to conceive) to talk about what they are doing.  Why?  Because you don’t have to make the same mistakes and you might find that one of these options helps you skip some of the stress that we’ve endured.

You could try one of these fertility options and have it work for you in the next three months.  I would LOVE for you to find fertility options that would work for you and change your fertility journey from a long arduous journey to a quickly solved situation.

Below you will see my timeline of what fertility options I have tried throughout my seven year journey with infertility –>

Options for Infertility

Fertility Options – My Seven Year Journey TTC

Year 1

Cycle Length – 35-45 days
Weight – 155

OBGYN #1 – Said that we would need to have been trying for a year before getting checked out for infertility (we hadn’t been preventing pregnancy for over a year); I had one positive pregnancy test and then negative tests and they decided to tell me I had never been pregnant

Year 2

Cycle Length – 35-45 days
Weight – 155

General Practitioner – told us to just “do it” every day; finally referred me to the OBGYN

Weston A. Price Wise Traditions Diet – began to make bone broth, eat coconut oil, and cook traditionally; lost 15 pounds of […]

Fertility Doula Services in Mississippi

If you are struggling with infertility, you are not alone. In fact, 1 out of 8 couples are affected by infertility. It isn’t uncommon and you do not have to be alone in your infertility. Due to my own experience with secondary infertility, I began to support women as a fertility doula because no one needs to go through this alone. This post details my fertility doula services allowing you a window into what I offer and how to hire me to support you during this time.

Fertility Doula - Support on Gulf Coast

What is a Fertility Doula?

A fertility doula is a woman’s fertility helper who:

  • answers non-medical fertility questions
  • encourages women while they go through the fertility tests and treatments
  • helps women prepare fertility plans
  • prepares mothers and fathers for experiences related to fertility treatments and tests
  • attends fertility appointments to give encouragement, support, clarification, and advocacy

Fertility Doula in South Mississippi

Hire me by following the steps below or search online to find other fertility support services.

I offer fertility doula services travelling West to Diamondhead, MS, North to Wiggins, MS, and East to Ocean Springs, MS as well as providing online digital fertility doula services.  We will begin with an interview to allow you the time to ask me about my services and to ascertain our compatibility.  My fertility services are contracted per session or per hour depending on my clients needs.

Ask […]

Fibromyalgia, Infertility, and Heavy Metals – Part 1

fibromyalgia help

Why Do I Care about Fibromyalgia?

Many of you know me and know that I generally seem healthy.  I eat well.  I exercise (well, sometimes . . . ).  I am not too little, not too large.  Most days, I do not look like I am in pain.  So then, why am I concerned about fibromyalgia?

My interested in fibromyalgia began in November of 2016 at the Weston A. Price Conference in Montgomery, Alabama.  After listening to a day full of speakers, they announced the speakers who would present after dinner.  One of the people who were speaking was a lady who had struggled with fibromyalgia for eight years, struggled with infertility (for the same eight years), and had become pregnant after treating the underlying problem that caused her fibromyalgia.

My ears perked.

Many of you know that while I appear to be healthy, I am struggling with secondary infertility.  Although we have a son, we have been unable to have a successful second pregnancy.  We have been dealing with this for six years.  Stories of hope from women who recovered from a fertility imbalance are of great interest to me.

Leah’s Story of Fibromyalgia

I readily showed up at Leah McCullough’s (–> The Fibro Lady‘s) presentation and listened attentively.  She has quite a story.  For eight years, she struggled with fibromyalgia, so much so, that she could not continue to work.  Her husband took on two jobs to help to support them.  She also dealt with infertility and depression during this time.  Finally, she reached the point where she knew she had to do something different.  She reached out to a local natural practitioner who helped her to make choices that changed her life.

This natural practitioner […]

Fertility Health Check – How healthy are you?

Download a health check at Boholistic Mom

As I have studied and explored the world of fertility health, one thing I have realized is that many women have no idea what factors in their lives could impact their fertility.  Many times when we realize that we are having fertility difficulties, we run to the doctor to be officially diagnosed as “infertile.”  What if before the two year point, women had the opportunity to take an objective look at their fertility health and begin to intentionally make changes to their own health to improve their fertility?

This is my mini mission.

My mini mission is to help women before they have received an official diagnosis to improve their fertility by analyzing their own health and making powerful choices for their own body.

My long-term mission is to help women who have a fertility imbalance (who are often diagnosed as “infertile”) to feel empowered to make informed choices toward improving their fertility.

Fertility Resource

The resource I have today is extremely useful for both sets of women.  The Fertility Health Check will help you to think through factors that are impacting your health.  By following the instructions in the health check, you can analyze where you are at with your health and where you can work to improve your health.

Steps to Download this PDF

I cannot stand websites that force me to sign up for their e-mail list in order to download a PDF.  You may want my resource, but not desire to be signed up for yet another e-mail list.  Therefore, I simply ask that you consider following at least three steps below, but I’m leaving it up to you.  I want you to love me for me, not for my resources 😉

  1. Visit my Services […]

Fertility Journey – Begin Moving Forward Here

This may sound strange in the context of fertility, but I want to congratulate you for beginning your fertility journey.  No matter where you are in your awareness of your body and whether you have been labeled with infertility or more information on fertility, you are taking a monumental step toward reproductive health by declaring that you are in charge of your fertility.  My goal is for you to know how your body works, make informed decisions, and take the steps that you desire toward having the fertility you want.  Is it possible?  In many cases, absolutely yes.

Begin Your Fertility Journey Here --> www.boholisticmom.com/main

You are in charge of your fertility journey

There is a reason that the most popular book on fertility is titled “Taking Charge of your Fertility.”  You desperately need to be put back in charge of your fertility.  In a day and age when hospitals reign supreme and doctors are considered the be-all and end-all of your health, women have had their powers removed.  The second you question your body’s fertility, you are laid flat on your back and subject to tests and told your options.  The options provided normally consist of medical procedures and ongoing medical tests.  By putting you back in charge of your fertility, I hope to help you to own your body again.

I want you to feel like a powerful woman again.  This is the first step to fertility.

A powerful woman who can make decisions for her own body can change everything.  You are no longer desperate and without hope.  You are confident and you are deliberate.  You are no longer subject to one person’s list of options . . . you […]

6 Reasons You Need to Quit Coffee For Good – Boholistic Mom

6 Reasons to Quit Coffee For Good | Boholistic Mom

Why am I suggesting that you quit coffee?

If you know me personally, you know that I adore coffee.  I used to imbibe a cup (or two) of coffee each morning with cream and sugar.  Then I lived in Italy for three years and consumed copious amounts of cappuccino, espresso, and macchiato.  When we returned to the States, I tried my first Whole 30 . . . which worked great because it allowed you to have coffee, though it was without a sweetener.  So I gave up my honey and haven’t looked back, okay . . . well I do miss it, but now I don’t like it in my coffee.

As you can see, I have been an avid coffee drinker.

Or more honestly, a coffee addict . . .

I’m a lightweight.  While some people have to drink three of four cups a day to suffer withdrawal symptoms, I can drink one tazzo of espresso and have the same withdrawal.  Or just one cup of french press.  I feel what the coffee does to my system and I feel when its gone.

I’m starting with my history because it is important that you know I’m not some stupid tea drinker telling you to give up your coffee.  I am a coffee addict/lover who has realized that I can’t keep pretending it isn’t an addiction that is challenging my health.

Today, I’m going to share with you 6 reasons you need to quit coffee for good.  For me, this has been a long time coming and I need to get this out there so others know what I’ve learned.  Your health is worth reading this […]

The Late Cycle | Boholistic Mom

The Late Cycle

The Late Cycle | Boholistic Mom

It’s 30 days today and no visitor.

Last month, it came at 29 days.

There’s always a chance . . .

No positive.

Two months ago it came at 31 days.

It’s 32 days now . . .

I try another test.

No positive.

Another day.

Another day.

Another day.

It’s 35 days today and no visitor.

I’m bloated.

I’m so tired.

I’m too tender.

Maybe today?

No positive.

Surely, I must be.

It’s 39 days.

I haven’t waited this long in a while.

And yet, I’ve been waiting six years.

It’s 40 days.

Oh no.

A spot.

It’s 41 days.

It’s over.

No more thoughts of little booties.

No more hopes of little giggles.

My heart is rent again.

Lord,

Today, I am giving You my pain.

I am giving You my womb.

I am offering You my suffering

as a way to bring You glory.

This may not be the last disappointment,

but regardless, I will trust in You.

You will be my God.

Take this breaking heart of mine

and make it whole

like only you can.

Please, don’t think this is a plea for sympathy.  My desire is for other women to understand the emotions involved […]