Family time is so divine..

Yesterday was a simple day. We drove to my Mum and Dad's house in the morning, where we all played together in the garden and then fed Mum's massive Goldfish. In the afternoon, we went upstairs, read stories and listened to music, while Sara jumped on the bed till she could jump no more. We read Madeleine books at night and laughed as Miss Clavel ran fast and faster before I tucked her into bed with a million kisses.

I love days like yesterday, when peace and happiness flow around. I stop to wonder if it can ever get better than this, such simple perfection.

I'm going crazy for Coconuts!

I have been doing some research into creating an on-line (home based) business that I can do whilst running a household and managing a small, but hopefully soon to be, larger family.

So as per my previous post, "Do what you LOVE what you do" .. I am trying to find a path on which to travel that has something to do with health-fitness, babies and coconuts! 

Call me crazy, but I am in love with the smell of anything to do with coconut oil, lucky for me, it has some absolutely amazing health benefits... 

For example did you know?

Coconut oil is very effective against a variety of infections due to its anti fungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. According to the Coconut Research Centre, coconut oil kills viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, SARS, etc. It also kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and gonorrhoea, etc. Coconut oil is also effective on fungi and yeast that cause Candida's, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, diaper rash, etc. 

WOW.. How useful is that!!  

But, what I liked the most was its fantastic skin care benefits: 

Coconut oil is excellent massage oil for the skin as well. It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skins including dry skin. The benefit of coconut oil on the skin is comparable to that of mineral oil. Further, unlike mineral oil, there is no chance of having any adverse side effects on the skin with the application of coconut oil. Coconut oil therefore is a safe solution for preventing dryness and flaking of skin. It also delays wrinkles, and sagging of skin which normally become prominent with age. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. Therefore coconut oil forms the basic ingredient of various body care products such as soaps, lotions, creams, etc., used for skin care. 

I have two personal experiences with Coconut Oil based products; 

1. I used an "INECTO" Coconut Oil based moisturising creme & lotion whilst away in Noosa last year,
2. I found a "Beachcomber Budd's Pure Coconut Oil" whist away in Hawaii earlier this year that I used as a hot oil in my hair and in the bath to soften my skin after swimming in the ocean and basking in the sun  all day.  

I know that with both of these products my tan lasted longer, my skin had never felt softer and my hair was shinier. As I suffer from hereditary dry scaly skin anyway, (thanks to my mum), I was thrilled to find something that took away the horrid dryness.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates on my new adventure.... 

Simple quote

In my search for a home based career today I stumbled across this beautifully simple little quote... 

"Do what you LOVE what you do..."   Etsy

It's as simple as that :)

And yet my search continues ......... 

The verdict is in..

After months and months and months of heartache and disappointment, I finally know what we both need to do to have another baby. 

We've completed the obligatory and procedural tests to confirm the underlying "secondary infertility" issues and it seems that we do indeed need some help. I won't go into the finer details but needless to say, I really wish I'd called my Obstetrician, questioned our situation and begun these tests a whole lot earlier!

On January 17th our journey with Monash IVF will begin. 

This conjures up a myriad of emotions and I cant explain whether I am excited or scared, but the thought of NOT being able to have any more babies at all is absolutely devastating to me. 

At this stage I have made a choice to only tell my Mum, Dad and best friend, (who is having an IVF baby), why we are starting IVF. I can trust them implicitly to not tell any one else until we know what our chances are like. I am not at all ashamed or embarrassed about IVF, I just don't feel that my mother-in-law could keep it to herself long enough to be trusted.

What is IVF?   

IVF treatment involves the collection of eggs from the woman, sperm from the man, placing the egg with the sperm in a culture dish in a controlled environment in the laboratory, to create an embryo outside the body.  The resulting embryo is then placed back into the woman’s uterus in a procedure called the embryo transfer.

If more than 2 embryos develop, the remaining or surplus embryos can be stored by freezing for transfer in subsequent cycles. Replacing thawed embryos in subsequent cycles, therefore, is a much less demanding treatment.

The sequence of steps for an IVF Treatment Cycle:

1. Suppression of own hormones using nasal spray ( & contraceptive pill)
2. Follicle growth (stimulation by injections)
3. Ovulation timing (based on blood tests and ultrasound scan)
4. Collecting the eggs from the follicles using the ultrasound scanning machine
5. Collection and preparation of sperm
6. Insemination of eggs with sperm
7. Assessment of fertilisation
8. Embryo transfer to the uterus
9. Embryo freezing
10. Pregnancy blood test
11. If pregnancy is confirmed, further blood tests and an ultrasound will be required. 

Please, Please cross your finger and toes and pray that this works for us, as I couldn't bare not to be able to feel more mummy love from a newborn bubba!

If you are having any issues falling pregnant, contact your GP or OB ! Don't waste any time at all !!

Resources:

Melbourne IVF

Monash IVF