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When Life Changes Directions

We were set to move in early August 2018. Our stuff was packed and shipped to Germany. It started on a Friday, my husband started to feel sick. I thought it was going to go away like any normal cold. However, it turned out to be much worse.

Tuesday, August 7th my husband started to feel worse. What’s worse, I was driving to Los Angeles to drop off one of our cars to ship it to Germany. Therefore, I was not able to be with my husband when he went to the ER again and was told he was having a heart attack. Fear filled my bones. How can this be possible? He is only 28!! He has many more years to live.

This cannot be possible!!! It was. He ended up getting surgery to see what was wrong with his heart and seeing how much damage was done. LUCKILY, it turned out to not be a heart attack. Still shocking and overwhelmed with what was going on, he had to be in the hospital for a week.

We did not get answers right away, his temperature was not going down until about the 5th day in the hospital. We were getting antsy, we wanted to know what caused this. It turned out to be a viral infection that caused a fluid collection in the pericardial sac around his heart.

Now that we knew the cause we were able to get him medication to feel better. Pericarditis is what the doctors said my husband had. This is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

Quick back story, this is the second time in 8 years of marriage my husband has been to the doctors, he doesn’t go very often. He doesn’t need to. Therefore, this has scared him. I don’t blame him for being scared. If you have had nurses and doctors tell you that you could have died, it is very serious.

But back to the story. “Pericarditis refers to inflammation of the pericardium, two thin layers of a sac-like tissue that surround the heart, hold it in place, and help it work. A small amount of fluid keeps the layers separate so that there’s no friction between them” (American Heart Association, 2018).

This experience has made me realize we cannot take things (family, loved ones, friends, careers… ext) for granted. I am and will from this day forward taking family days and breaks from social media. I want to spend time with my loved ones!

Thank you for reading this and I hope it has helped you be informed about Pericarditis. If you believe you may have Pericarditis please see your doctor or head to the ER right away.

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My First Pregnancy

The moment I found out I was pregnant, the first time, I cried. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be or not. Like every pregnancy I had my ups and downs. I did not find out what we were having until I was seven month pregnant. The moment I found out I was having a girl… I cried again, in the doctors office. It was horrible. I had a dream. My first child was going to be a boy then a girl.

I realized how silly that was. WHY WOULD YOU BE SAD YOURE HAVING A HEALTHY BABY?  I got over it. I went shopping, got cute baby girl clothes and I was thrilled to be having our first baby girl!!

When I had my 39 week check up, something wasn’t right. I was losing amniotic fluid. It was a scary moment for me. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to have my water break and have her all natural.

I ended up at the hospital on December 21st at 6PM for them to start inducing me with pitocin. By the next day, at 6PM, I was barely dilated to 1cm. It was the worst 24 hours of my life. Small contractions with nothing to show for it.

I was able to get a break during the night and by mid morning contractions started by themselves, sadly they stopped within two hours. They started me on pitocin again. The contractions started to pick up and I was in so much pain. I asked for my epidural and had the worst nurse in the world tell me I couldn’t be in that much pain. She said, “you’re not even in real labor!”  Now, I’m emotional, I hurt and that was the straw that broke the camels back… I broke down and bawled my eyes out.

Sooooo I hate pain, I have ZERO pain tolerance. I then requested that that nurse never come into my room again. I felt better with that. However, she was MY nurse and she was responsible for me. Therefore, she apologized and I got my epidural.

Now I was at 4cm and was able to finally get some sleep (at this rate I hadn’t slept in over 18 hours). I was uncomfortable and will have been for a few hours more. My water was broken around noon and around 5PM I was at 5cm. It felt like my gorgeous babygirl was never coming out of me.

But just then I turn to my right side and BAM, I was at 10 cm and my baby girl was ready to come out. While the nurses prepped my room my doctor was being notified. She left the hospital to get gas in her car. FREAKING LEFT THE HOSPITAL!!!  She had made her way back and was in my room at 545PM.

The doctor was assisting me getting into position to deliver my sweet baby. Just ONE TWO THREE pushes and my baby was here on December 23rd at 556PM! It was the happiest moment of my life (and my husbands)! It took until midnight for the epidural to wear off. FINALLY we are in the family room where I can hold my precious baby girl! She is PERFECT!!! That was the start of our beautiful family of three!

The Reason I Started Working Out with BBG

Before I can answer why I started to work out, you must know my past. I had gained over 60 pounds with each of my pregnancies. I felt huge. I had stretch marks and the scale was rising to numbers I thought I’d never see.

I was 38 weeks pregnant with my second child (14 August 2013), it was the last day I would be pregnant and 196 lbs. I lost about 30 lbs the first week after my daughter was born. I worked full time and never got back into fitness.

It wasn’t until July 2015, that I found Kayla Itsines BBG program. If you haven’t heard of it yet, it stands for Bikini Body Guide. Her guides are a 12-week program consisting of high-intensity 28-minute workouts to be completed three times a week. I completed my first round by September 2015. I had lost about 20lbs and gained a bit more confidence.

It wasn’t until after January 2016 that I started to really get into weight lifting. Every day after work I would spend 1.5 hours at the gym. I was lifting weights and doing things I never thought my body would do. At this point, I was working out twice a day. Doing BBG in the morning and lifting weights or yoga in the evenings. It felt amazing. My results seemed unreal. I was shedding weight and gaining muscle.

I hit a few bumps in the road, it wasn’t always easy. I overate or I didn’t eat. I would “punish” myself for eating a treat. I wasn’t confident in myself that I could bake the cake and eat it too. It took all of 2016 and half of 2017 until I gained more confidence. I had weighed in at the lowest 128 lbs and I felt fabulous. 

I had joined Kayla’s SWEAT program for the first 12 weeks of the new year and had felt the leanest I’d ever felt. I was in love with my exterior. I finally got the body I had worked so hard to achieve. Yet, something was missing. I may have looked amazing but I didn’t feel amazing. I worked so hard, twice a day, to achieve this body. Gallons of water to drink and nothing but healthy food for 12 weeks.

It wasn’t until late 2017 that I realized I am happiest when I have self-love. I needed to love myself from the inside. It is a LOT harder to do than it is to say. I realized that looking lean wasn’t making me happy. I became happy when I found self-love and body positivity. It wasn’t until I found self-love that I realized I can eat guilt-free. I can definitely make my cake and eat it too. I never over-indulged but I did treat myself once or twice a week to some cookies or pizza. I gained a few lbs back but I never let that stop me.

April 1, 2018, Kayla Itsines had shared my transformation on her Instagram. This was an amazing experience for me. That over 9 million other ladies get to see what her guides did for me. This was after about 9 months of self-love and eating freely.

Working out has changed my life. I am happy, healthy, and have gained confidence in a bikini, dress or even naked. I thoroughly enjoy what I look like on the outside and I love how I feel on the inside.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/610448924487089343/

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