It has been over a year since my last blog post and I am excited to be writing again. I have obviously been extremely busy this past year taking care of my three little ones. Ella and Ethan recently turned three years old and we just celebrated Brayden's first birthday. This seems crazy to me because I feel like I was just pregnant not so long ago. Time still feels like it is flying by and even though my time recently has been pretty limited, I have some very exciting news to share...and no I'm not pregnant again!
Some of my friends and family know that over the last three years since being on bed rest with the twins, I have continued to help other moms on bed rest to support them through the difficult time. I have been a guest speaker at UCLA Santa Monica's weekly bed rest support group, visited moms on bed rest at the hospital, and I have maintained my private Facebook support group that I started while I was on bed rest myself. I always felt the need to give back after my bed rest journey was over because the entire experience was so incredibly isolating and difficult to go through. The best medicine for me was talking to others who had experienced bed rest first-hand, and I have done the same for other moms in order to help them through the long process. After realizing that this was such a needed service, I decided to start my own business doing what I am most passionate about. I am proud to announce that as of today, www.BedRestLifeCoach.com has officially launched!
In the master plan of life, I truly feel that I was given the gift of being on bed rest not only to save the lives of my babies, but also to use the knowledge I gained to give back and coach others. I realized very quickly when I was on bed rest, that the high amount of stress I was feeling about my situation could really take its toll on the babies and cause the pre-term labor to continue. Regardless of being on anti-contraction medication, having a cerclage put in, and lying in bed with my legs up at a 30 degree angle, I experienced how stress could overpower all of the labor-stopping methods. When I felt that stress, my contractions got stronger and more frequent and when I was relaxed and calm, so were my babies. It made so much sense! If I felt that "fight or flight" response, then the twins would too and they were already trying to "fly" way too early to begin with. I was able to recognize this early on during my own bed rest journey and make necessary adjustments in order to cause my experience to be a positive one. Now to enhance my services, I am currently becoming certified as a life coach through The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). I am very excited to start the next chapter with my new business, Bed Rest Life Coach and appreciate everyone's incredible support.
*The song "Purpose" is from the 2003 Broadway musical Avenue Q which won the Tony Award for Best Musical that year. Avenue Q was inspired by Sesame Street and uses puppets to help tell the story, but takes on a much more 'R' rated version with adult themes. The character Princeton has recently graduated from college but has no clue where his life should go. He sings about needing to find his purpose as he moves into his new apartment and meets new friends. Like Princeton, I was not sure of my life purpose until a very challenging experience turned into an incredible gift. It is important to look at all challenges as opportunities because you really never know what good can come from it. My favorite quote continues to be "life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it" because if my response during bed rest continued to be anxiety and fear, I definitely would not have ended up where I am today.
These miracle babies are the most important purpose of them all!
