Author: cvegnad

April 10, 2015

The Journey to Pregnancy: Patience, Forgiveness and a Little Bit of Science with #TheStork Conception Aid

As many of you may know I am the Mother to two beautiful young boys. I have also suffered with PCOS, survived four miscarriages and seven years of failing to conceive. This has never been an easy topic for me to discuss because of all the pain and frustration that goes along with miscarriage and failing to conceive. But the truth is, we are not alone. 1 in 5 couples will have difficulties conceiving. Many of my female readers reading this post will have lived through a miscarriage or infertility. We can each take a positive step at this very moment with patience and forgiveness. The Stork wants to help take care of the science part (because let’s face it if you have been dealing with fertility issues you understand that becoming pregnant comes down to science) with their home conception aid.

My journey started over eight years ago after the birth of my first son. I have always loved children and wanted a large family but this was not meant for me as we soon found out after I miscarried three times in one year. The pain of these miscarriages was awful and haunted me for months afterwards. I kept thinking what would my child have been like? Following these miscarriages came the worst six years of my life. I could not conceive at all. I was barely having monthly menstrual cycles. I saw an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, a homeopath and finally a fertility clinic. I put myself through rounds of vitamins and medications that made me so sick I couldn’t leave the house at times. I also knew that I could not afford the fertility treatments that I wanted so badly. That hurt even more.

Here are some tools to help you on your journey to pregnancy and parenthood:

Be Patient.

Pregnancy does not just happen right away so be kind to yourself and be patient. These little miracles can take time to happen. Some couples can even take up to a year to conceive!

Be Forgiving.

Do not be hard on yourself. It is not your fault that becoming pregnant is not happening right away. Don’t blame yourself or your partner. Learn to be kind to yourself.

Try to focus on the positive.

While it can seem impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel, it will come. In the meantime focus on the positives in your life. Focus on de-stressing, eating right and getting enough exercise. Take time out for you even if it means reading a book in the bath! These little things help.

Speak With Your Doctor

Take the first steps to talk with your doctor. They may want to order blood work to rule out any causes for infertility. They may order other tests but it is always a good idea to keep your family health care team informed of your concerns and what is going on with your health.

Try a Home Based Conception Aid

The Stork has invented a safe and private way to help couples conceive at home. Dealing with fertility treatments can be personal and most of the time we crave our privacy (I was one of those individuals – it hurt to sit in the waiting room at the fertility clinics and it hurt to see others in the middle of their pregnancies). I was hurting and wanted to be able to take control of the situation more.

So how does the Stork Home Conception Aid work?

The Stork home conception aid uses a cervical cap insemination method. The Stork uses a condom like sheath that collects the sperm and a tampon like applicator to deliver the sperm close to the cervical opening. This helps to increase the chance of pregnancy (the success rate of this method is 20% which is comparable to the 16-21% success rates of IUIs). The Stork home conception kit is drug free, safe and a cost efficient first step on your pregnancy journey. The Stork provides a first step in fertility treatment for couples that are experiencing low sperm count, sperm mobility issues, unfavourable vaginal environments and ovulation timing.

Here is how it works:

The best part:

The Stork and Working Mommy Journal want to give you the chance to win your own Stork home conception aid!

Canadian residents can enter via the rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you are looking for more chances to win check out Influence Central’s The Stork Social Engagement Contest (with a grand prize of a $500 Visa gift card!!). You can enter here.

Disclosure: I am part of The Stork at-home conception aid campaign with Influence Central and I receive special parks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

April 9, 2015

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron | New Book Plus a Book-Inspired Giveaway

Bound together across time, two women will discover a powerful connection in Kristy Cambron‘s new book, A Sparrow in Terezin. Connecting across a century through one little girl, a Holocaust survivor with a foot in each world, two women will discover a kinship that springs even in the darkest of times. In this tale of hope and survival, Sera and Kája must cling to the faith that sustains and fight to protect all they hold dear—even if it means placing their own futures on the line.

Kristy is celebrating by giving away a basket filled with goodies inspired by her new book!

One grand prize winner will receive:

A set of poppy notecards
A poppy pin
A copy of I Never Saw Another Butterfly
A copy of the Mrs. Miniver DVD
Literary tea bags
Tumbler
A copy of A Sparrow in Terezin

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 28th. Winner will be announced April 29th on Kristy’s blog.

{NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.}

April 9, 2015

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron #review

Two women are bound together in time through another’s powerful story of hope and survival during the midst of war in Kristy Cambron’s A Sparrow in Terezin.

About A Sparrow in Terezin

Present day: With the grand opening of her new art gallery and the upcoming wedding to the man of her dreams, Sera feels as though she has stepped into a charmed life. Until her husband is mixed up in a brutal court battle that threatens to destroy the future they have planned. William faces time in prison for a crime he did not commit and Sera must battle the accusations in order to maintain any hope for the future.

1942: Kaja narrowly escapes Prague in 1939 when she was forced to leave her family behind. Kaja’s father is Jewish and her blended family threatened to see her harmed and instead of seeing this happen her parents send her away. Now she is a reporter in England who discovers the awful and ugly truth that is happening throughout Europe. Kaja can not rest knowing this truth and returns to her birth place in order to find her family to help smuggle them out of the country to safety.

Connecting across time through one little girl, a Holocaust survivor with a foot in each world, these two women will discover a kinship that springs even in the darkest of times.

My Thoughts

I love Kristy Cambron’s writing – she draws you in and leaves you wanting more. Her newest book is no exception – it met and exceeded all of my expectations from her first book, The Butterfly and the Violin.

She cleverly and uniquely connects two young women living in different time periods. The connection is only discovered over time and this connection only exists through the kindness and sacrifice in another.

Kristy showcases faith, hope and strength in A Sparrow in Terezin. She had me crying at times and praying for those who were stuck in the camp set up by the Germans. You feel as though you are there with them and yet at the same time can not even begin to imagine the suffering that occurred during this time period. Even in this dark place, we find moments of peace, love and forgiveness.

You will not want to miss out on this book! You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page here. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Kristy fancies life as a vintage story-teller. Her debut historical novel, The Butterfly and the Violin, was named to Library Journal Reviews Best Books of 2014. Kristy holds a degree in Art History and has nearly fifteen years experience in instructional design and communication. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons.

April 7, 2015

Purify Your Air in Style with Lampe Berger Paris #giveaway

Let’s face it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try your home seems to take on the unwanted scents we try so hard to mask. Wet dog – yup. Dirty and sweaty soccer shoes – yup. Dinner cooking (or burning!) – yup that too!

We spend a lot of money and time purchasing products to help hide the smells that can naturally build up in our homes. It isn’t as easy with all this cold weather to just open a window and let the wind do its work. Lampe Berger Paris provides a simple and effective method to remove unwanted odours, emit long-lasting fragrances and purify your air. Not too bad for a stylish and portable lamp!

The Lampe Berger was designed in 1897 by Maurice Berger and is the oldest worldwide manufacture of fragrance lamps (pretty awesome, right?!). The technology behind the Lampe Berger is that the burner attracts and eliminates the bad-smelling molecules. The cooler temperature of the lamp allows the fragrance inside to be emitted slowly versus a candle where the smell starts off strong but quickly burns off.

Setting up your lamp is simple with easy to read instructions included in the box set. To start-up the lamp just light the burner, leave the flame for two minutes and then blow it out. Add on the protective cap (shown above) and allow the lamp to purify your air for roughly twenty minutes. After the twenty minutes are up, carefully remove the protective cap (it will be warm so be careful!) and add the stopper to shut the lamp off.

My favourite features of the lamp are:

The low start-up and maintenance cost versus purchasing candles or home plug-ins over time.
Maintains the fragrance for the complete twenty minutes and longer. Have you ever been excited to put a plug-in in the wall only to have the smell disappear just as fast as you plugged it in? Not in this case! With its unique design and lower temperatures the pleasant fragrance you love is present the entire time.
I love how portable the lamp is! Because you do not require electricity you are not limited to only certain areas of the home. This frees you up to display your lamp prominently and proudly. Now to add a couple more in the home!
The unique designs of the lamps means you can be true to your style and taste! Match your lamp to your decor and no one will even guess that it is a lamp fragrance.
Safely diffuses fragrance without a flame – no flame is necessary to keep the fragrance going.
Wide variety of home fragrances including neutral fragrances for sensitive noses.

Our Lampe Berger lamp has become a must have item in our home and I even had to save it from going to my husband’s work (the nerve!). I have teamed up with Lampe Berger to bring you the opportunity to win your Lampe Berger starter kit which includes: lamp, burner, 180ml of neutral and 180ml of fragrance. Canadian residents can enter via the Rafflecopter below – Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am a #LampeBergerCanada Brand Ambassador and received the above mentioned products free of charger. All opinions expressed are my own.

April 2, 2015

Button Easter Egg Crafts

We decided for one of our Easter crafts this year, the boys and I would follow up on some of the Pinterest pins we had been pinning together and create a button Easter egg to place above the television in our living room.

This was one of the few Easter crafts that I had seen that looked not only simple (and it was!) but brightens up the room on a smaller budget. You can pick up all of the items needed at the Dollar Store (except for the glue gun) for all under five dollars! This was the perfect craft for us to do this week in preparation for Easter.

For this craft you will need:

buttons in your desired colour (I wanted to create a two tone egg so I chose pink and cream – definitely not the boy’s first choice in colours but Mom won this one!)
glue gun
white canvas board

Directions:

Design your egg on the canvas. I started by placing the buttons on the board in a design that I wanted. I originally wanted to create an egg that had a linear pattern alternating the pink and white buttons. I realized after putting the buttons on the canvas (or attempting to) that that was not going to work! So instead I decided to create an egg that was pink on one half and cream on the other.

After creating a design that you are happy with, it is time to start gluing! Carefully place some of the glue from the hot glue gun on the back of the button and apply it to the canvas board. Be careful to not get any glue on your fingers (my skill in this area has definitely not improved over time).

I loved how our Easter egg turned out in the end. What I realized after I finished gluing on the buttons was that the cream coloured buttons blended in to the canvas board too much. I wish I had painted the canvas board a dark black prior to gluing on the buttons. It was a lesson well learned though!

What kind of Easter crafts are you up to this week?