A New Adventure for Mommy

 

Life can be so stressful as a new mom. Okay-life can just be stressful! We are all trying to juggle so many responsibilities-working full time, going to school to further our degree's, being a wife or husband, building a family or taking care of our kids, sports practises, doctor appointments, you name it.  It can be hard to ever find time to take care of ourselves when we are constantly worrying that everyone else in our home is being taken care of.

I'm going to share a recap of my life with you:

Growing up I was always the skinny girl. People even thought I was anorexic. But TRUST ME! I loved to eat and I NEVER made myself starve or throw up! I had finally gotten myself to a healthy weight of 120lbs my senior year but two weeks before graduating high school I dropped down to 100lbs.  We were told I was in kidney failure by my family doctor. 

I saw a kidney specialist and he wanted me to monitor a few levels in my urine every 6 months.  I gained my freshman 15 without any problems at all. And my kidney issue resolved on its on.

I met my husband when I was 19. Moved away and transferred colleges the same year. Put on my sophomore 15. Is there such a thing?!?

At 20 years old I got pregnant. Lost 10 lbs during my pregnancy. Gained 5lbs back the week I found out she had died and I would be giving birth to our stillborn daughter.

At 21 years old I graduated college and started my first "real" job as a casemanager at a foster care agency.  I was diagnosed with high cholesterol when I did my life insurance screening. At the time I weighed 125lbs.

I spent several years traveling from home to home, county to county as a case manager and home-based therapist. So lunch consisted of fried fast food.  So not good. I gained 20 lbs during those four years of eating in my car. Oh an not to mention I have a miscarriage when I was 22 so I found comfort in unhealthy food.

At 24 years old my husband and I got engaged. We also became foster parents.  To a 16 year old girl!Yea....talk about stressful. But I had a temporary work-out partner to get me wedding dress ready and lost several inches and 5lbs from doing the Curves circuit. 

 

At 25 years old the lenses in my eyes detached. I had 5 eye surgeries within one year. I was diagnosed with a rare metabolic syndrome called Homocystinuria. I haven't been able to metablize protein since I was born. If I continue to eat moderate-large amounts of protein I could die.  I had to restrict my protein intake to 20grams a day-which is nothing really.  I basically could eat vegatables, but I craved carbs the most because they were the most filling. I was able to maintain my weight at 140lbs by continuing Curves up until we got married.

Once we were hitched we started to work on making a family.  5 months later we were thrilled to be expecting, but we were shocked and heartbroken when our fourth ultrasound at 11 weeks showed there was no longer a heartbeat. Our pregnancy ended with a D&C.  I had gained about 5 lbs during my pregnancy and did not lose any of it after the miscarriage.

Due to my depression and the stress of fertility and genetic testing, as well as the addition of some medications to treat issues that we thought were problematic for me, I gained another 5lbs before getting pregnant again 7 months later. 

Once again this pregnancy ended in a miscarriage/D&C and more depression and stress, adding yet again another 5lbs.

So I gained 15 lbs in one year.  You do the math to calucate my weight by the end of 2013.

The start of 2014 was a hopeful time for us, because we were recipients of a Baby Quest Foundation grant and were able to start IVF with pre-implantation genetic testing.  All the hormones that were injected into me caused me to gain another 5 lbs. When the procedure failed, there came along another 5lbs.

 

By the end of 2014 I had gone through so much testing and was taking so much medication to try to create a happy home for a baby that I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I was not worried about working out to lose the weight. I was worried about working as much as I could so we could afford our last effort of me carrying our child-our egg donor cycle.  Throughout the stressful months of preparing for our last cycle, I just kept gaining weight.

By the time we concieved our son I was at a hefty 178lbs. I was bloated from Prednisone and Progesterone. I was terrified that I would end up well over 200lbs by the end of my pregnancy and wouldn't be able to lose the weight.

 

Throughout my pregnancy with my son I only gained 14 lbs, THANK YOU GOD! Almost 8lbs of that was all Eli.  After I had Eli, I lost my baby weight almost immediately.  He was in the NICU for three weeks so the combination of worrying about him and not having time to eat because I was taking care of him caused me to get down to 165lbs before he was discharged home.

Pumping was a God send in the weight loss category, even though I really hated doing it.  Before I went back to work when Eli was 9 weeks old I got down to 157lbs. This was the skinniest I had looked for two years and I felt pretty good about my body. 

I was able to maintain this weight up until Christmas, when shit hit the fan in our house.  Due to our son having a rare congenital skin disease, which not only affects his visable skin but also his internal mucosal tissues-life can be really stressful for us.  Around Christmas Eli's skin started getting really bad again, huge blisters on his feet and extremities. He started having issues with eating because his mouth and throat were so raw and sore from blistering. We discovered he had a bacteria infection on his skin which was causing it to be unable to heal as quickly as it usually does.  Once his skin finally started improving, he came down with RSV.  After he got rid of the RSV he was doing really well for awhile and then contracted pink eye.  His skin does good some weeks and bad other weeks. We get one area looking pretty good and then another area gets destroyed.

Right around the same time that Eli started struggling with all these illnesses, I changed jobs in hopes of having a better schedule for my family.  I was working Monday-Thursday from 2p-10:30p and Fridays from 12p-8:30p at a hospital an hour from where we lived. I had been there for almost 3 years and they were like family, but I had NO time for myself and the only time I had with Eli and my husband was on weekends.  During the week I was doing Eli's 3 hour bandage change before going into work so my "Eli time" was spent listening to him scream bloody murder as I tortured the poor kid for 3 hours straight. It was the most unenjoyable "mommy moments" that I could have possibly had.  I needed days off during the week to be able to go to my own doctor appointments and to feel like I had more time with our son.  I transferred to another hospital that was even further from our house so that I could have two week days off.  But the transition has been difficult.  I went from feeling like I was apart of a family at my old hospital to feeling like I had little to no emotional support when Eli was really struggling.  I went from 50 hours a week (40 hrs work time 10 hours drive time) to 48 hours a week (36 hrs work time 12 hours drive time).  I went from getting home around Midnight 4 nights a week and around 10pm 1 night a week to getting home around 2am 3 nights a week and around Midnight 1 night a week. The ONLY benefit my current schedule has had for me is having two weekdays off (Monday & Wednesday) which are followed by two 12 hour shifts and preceded by getting home at 2am the nights before.  The stress of this transition and Eli's downward spiral made me gain back 12 lbs that I had previously lost during my maternity leave.

On my days off I can do so much more than just bandage changes now.  I can take Eli to doctor appointments, go to my own doctor appointments, see my family for dinner, run errands that need to be done, do some house cleaning, schedule in-home meetings with Eli's PT/OT and case managers, and my favorite-participate in a work out class.  I love having these days off and would love it even more if I only had to work part-time out of the home so I could do even more with Eli as he gets older.

Because I know with Eli's skin disease, life can be very limited-I want to spend as much enjoyable time with him that I can.  I don't want to waste away my days with my son doing bandage changes and listening to him scream and cry the whole time.  I want to hear his laughter, see his smile, and make positive memories with him as long as I can.  That's why when I was approached by my first grade teacher's daughter about joining her It Works Global team I decided now was as good of a time as any to take a big leap of faith and just GO FOR IT!

 

It Works Global is a world-wide company started by two christians, a husband and wife, who wanted to get out of debt and have financial freedom. They now make over $500 million dollars in sales a year! They believe in giving back to their distributors and have an amazing commission plan and bonuses that cannot compare to any other direct sales company! They make natural, plant based products to help with weight loss, muscle building, nutritional support, skin care, and overall wellness.

When I joined on February 29th, the company was offering a $1000 bonus to anyone who signed up and advanced to the Ruby level of sales by the end of their second month.  Currently they are offering a $500 bonus to anyone who joins as a distributor by April 30th and advances to the Ruby level of sales by the end of their second month with the company.  At this level of sales, the average monthly income is around $600.  I know that would pay my student loan payment for the month and given me some left over for gas.  There are so many of my team members above me who are making $2000 a month after just a few months with the company, and some that are making $6000 a month after just a year with the company. And what is even more amazing, is that some people are making $10,000 a month after less than two years! These people all also just earned bonuses this month ranging from $20,000-$100,000! It is insane how much financial freedom this company can bring to so many lives. 

 

I would like to add FOUR new people to my team THIS MONTH! I want to help these people earn an extra $600 a month and a $500 bonus! I want to help these people to be able to afford their house payments, get out of credit card debt, pay for fertility treatments, have money for diapers and formula, or be able to splurge a little on that haircut they have been wanting to get, or that workout class they couldn't manage to pay for before, or that family vacation they have been dying to go on!

I also would like to add TEN new customers to my pipeline THIS MONTH! I want to help these people achieve their health and fitness goals-whether it is to lose weight or to feel overall better inside and out!

If you are interested in joining my team or becoming a customer-please visit my website:

http://monnierlindsay.myitworks.com/

 

 

If these are products you would like to use and/or sell, please send me a message ASAP! I would love to get you started today on your very own IT WORKS ADVENTURE! I promise this will change your life for the better! You will TRIPLE your start-up investment in no time at all and be on your way to earning product credits, weekly and monthly comissions, and bonuses that will blow your socks off!

 

I am looking forward to talking with you soon! Have a fabulous weekend. And remember, your dreams are NEVER too big! With a team like mine behind you, anything is possible!