I was surprised and honoured to be nominated to tell my story to the Barrie Chamber of Commerce.
In this short video I share:
Click here to watch it on Facebook
Hey there,
I know it’s been awhile since you’ve heard from me.
I’ve been surviving this pandemic thing and staying at home. I’ve been trying to figure out how to support my kids with at-home-learning, while I also try to keep the house clean, and keep going with my business.
The biggest lesson I’m still learning is I don’t have control over everything. If I let go, I’m happier.
Let go of worrying about when the pandemic will end. Let go of trying to control my kids to be “perfect students” at home. Let go of when the government will make decisions.
It’s not always easy, but it’s helpful when I can.
If you are struggling as a mom and are wondering why, download my Isolated Monster Mom – The 3 REAL Reasons You’re Losing Your Cool. It’s got some valuable tricks that you can start using right away.
In the meantime, I’m here for you.
Whitney
1 in 5 people will experience mental illness in any given year in Canada. This is truly an epidemic. It doesn’t only affect the person, their jobs, their health, it affects the people around them.
Sadly, it has a long-term negative effect on children. The ACEs study of Adverse Childhood Experiences found that children who grew up with the experience of a depressed family member in the household had an increased chance of long-term health consequences like chronic disease, mental illness, substance abuse and early death.
This is not great news. This is why it’s so important to address mom’s health when we’re talking about children’s health. They are part of the family unit. Everyone in the family affects the other.
This is why I’m passionate about working with moms.
Watch my short video about this and a small thing you can do TODAY to help both mom and child.
Talk soon,
Whitney
Thank you to Emily from Hope for Waiting Arms for contributing her knowledge and sharing with us about her fertility journey. I happily refer many of my Fertility Tranquility patients to her support group and they love the support and group of women they meet. – Dr. Whitney
My husband and I live in Minesing, we have been married for 7 years and unexplainably “infertile” for 6 of those years. We tried to conceive for a few years with no success, then my extreme impatience led us to quickly pursue adoption. We felt strongly that if we weren’t able to conceive then we would adopt. Our biggest dream was that we would become parents and it was ok with us if we weren’t biological parents. When we were “tested” after our official year of trying, we were told that everything was fine (right) but we felt strongly that we didn’t want to wait any longer without moving forward with the adoption process. If God allowed us to become pregnant, we could always stop the process. Fast forward 6 years and we have never seen two pink lines on a test. The adoption process wasn’t easy but it made me feel like I was able to move our situation forward by filling out some paper work or making a phone call.
Adoption brought us on a whole other emotional rollercoaster but in the end it was so worth it. We now have two beautiful, miracle adopted children that we were able to bring home from birth. They are now 3.5 yrs and 1.5 yrs. We also have a teenage foster daughter that recently joined our family. We gave up control of building our family a long time ago and we are grateful to receive the children that God brings to us. We have open adoptions with our children and it has opened our eyes to what a beautiful thing it can be when two families come together through their love for a child. There is a mutual gratitude for the gift that we have both received in different ways. We always prayed that through our difficult situation, we would be a blessing to someone else. We now also get to love on our birth families, who have had a broken road lead them to placing their child for adoption.
I was inspired to start Hope for Waiting Arms to provide encouragement, resources and support to women who are struggling with infertility and the family-building challenges that follow. I found that all of the specialists that we dealt with to be great in their designation but everywhere we turned seemed to be lacking in emotional support. I started to feel sorry for my husband that he was the only person I had to lean on, and that he had to see me cry SO often.
I hope this community helps to fill that need for support. We need each other when we are going through this. We need to surround ourself with people who get it, people who have been there and have persevered to build families.
I found the blog to be a great way to share the resources, our adoption experience and encouraging articles that I found on our path to parenthood. The blog is great but I still felt that there was a need for a more tangible support. I started to meet people that were also struggling in this area and thought that it would be better if we could all be there for each other and not just pass on my own experience.
Our In person support group “Waiting Arms Community” was started November 2017 and is held in Midhurst once a month. It has grown quickly in the last 6 months. We get together and share our experiences, our ups, our downs and everything we are learning along the way.
This fall we are hosting our first Fertility Wellness Retreat in Muskoka. We have an amazing weekend planned, full of fertility resources, professionals in the naturopathic and counselling industry, a fertility focused menu, workshops, coping strategies and guests who are sharing stories of hope. Its going to be incredible and there are a few spots left. If you are interested in coming, click here to visit our website for more information.
We are also launching our newest group this fall, Adoption Play Group which will be a place for adoptive families and anyone interested in adoption to share about the process, openness, raising adopted children and anything else that comes up related to adoption.
I hope that in some way Hope for Waiting Arms can support you on your journey to becoming a parent. I’m so sorry that you are here, but I’m glad you found us.
For more about my story, encouragement for you and info about our meet ups go to our website www.hopeforwaitingarms.com
Emily
Orally, bee pollen is used for general nutrition, as an appetite stimulant, to improve stamina and athletic performance, for premature aging, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), hay fever or allergic rhinitis, mouth sores, rheumatism, painful urination, prostate conditions, and radiation sickness. It is also used orally for weight loss and obesity, bleeding problems including coughing or vomiting blood, bloody diarrhea, nosebleed, cerebral hemorrhage, and menstrual problems. Bee pollen is also used for gastrointestinal (GI) problems including constipation, diarrhea, enteritis, colitis, as a general tonic, diuretic, and for alcohol intoxication.
Topically, bee pollen is used for skin care in skin softening products, and for treating eczema, pustular eruptions, and diaper rash.
Bee pollen supplements can cause serious allergic reactions in patients who are allergic to pollen. Allergic reactions can include itching, swelling, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and anaphylaxis.
Hi there,
Somewhere between week 18 and 20 pregnant women usually go for an anatomy ultrasound to check how baby is doing and maybe find out the sex of the baby.
I had mine a week ago and we found out it’s a…..drum roll please…..sorry, you’re going to have to wait a little longer before I tell you. Yes, that was mean.
My ultrasound was with a new tech who was being coached by a more experienced tech. It was a nice experience because they were chatting about this and that about my baby. So I got to see and understand a bit more about what I was seeing when I was craning my neck to watch what they were doing for an hour.
Is ultrasound safe?
It is generally believed to be safe for mom and baby, is painless, gives results quickly, and is convenient, however because “a form of energy and, as such, demonstrates effects in biological tissues it traverses (bioeffects).(1)”
50% of physicians and obstetricians polled believed ultrasounds in low-risk pregnancies should be kept to 1-3 and 70% disapprove of “keepsake/entertainment” ultrasounds (2). However, is this based on fact or generally held beliefs?
The risks of ultrasound are thermal and mechanical.
I tried to find more research about the exact mechanisms and some definitive answers for you but this was very challenging. I think this topic is a whole thesis that I could spend a lot of time on.
My general philosophy is to strive for the least amount of intervention necessary. If you need another ultrasound for medical reasons I think that’s very important. Discuss the risks and benefits with your health care provider to help you make up your own mind.
I thought I would just put this out there as food for thought.
Stay tuned for more highs and lows of pregnancy….I think my heartburn has just started and there is still so much time to go! I’m in trouble!
Talk soon,
Whitney
Sources:
1. Semin Perinatol. 2013 Oct;37(5):295-300.
2. J Ultrasound Med. 2007 Mar;26(3):319-25.
