Jan 21

Why you shouldn’t be too hard on the New Mom who’s disappointed in her baby’s gender reveal…

Why you shouldn’t be too hard on the New Mom who’s disappointed in her baby’s gender reveal…

Originally Published: October 29, 2015

I miscarried my first pregnancy, it left me feeling like I was destined not to have kids, but I finally got pregnant again more than a year later. I feared every moment of that pregnancy that I would lose my little turtle. Our first ultrasound the baby looked just like I was carrying a turtle. Five little white blurs on a black background. I had strong feelings it was a boy. In all of my dreams, our child was a beautifully funny little boy. My husband already had a daughter, and he is the last man of his line. I wanted so very badly to give him a son. Growing up a tomboy I didn’t think I had what it took to raise a daughter.

On our four month appointment, the ultrasound tech revealed merrily “It’s a girl!” I asked if she was sure and then huge tears started rolling down my face. After I got dressed she came back in the room and blew up at me telling me I should be thankful for what I got some women couldn’t have children period! What she couldn’t possibly know, in that moment, when I was told I was having a girl, my dreams for my son were crushed. All of my hopes for his future instantly vanishing, playing ball with his daddy, football games, chasing frogs, fishing, hunting, camo jackets and blue jeans, all of it. The beautiful funny little boy in my dreams was taken away from me all in that instant. I already loved the child I was so strongly convinced I was carrying. It was almost like having another miscarriage emotionally.

Skipping forward to today 10 years later… I miscarried another time or two over the years until my body decided to grow a mass the size of a small baby. The night I went to the ER and found out about the mass I wasn’t sure that I wasn’t in labor. I was having so much pain and pressure. It resulted in a major cancer scare and me losing my womb at 30.

I’ll never hold a son in my arms. Those dreams are forever lost now. Though I wouldn’t trade my little girl, I always thought there would be more time for more babies, and I’d have my little girl one day. When you’re young you can dream your life out to be anything you want it to be. I wanted the “American Dream” my 2.5 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. I wanted my daughter to have an older brother to look out for her. I was the oldest of my family and often had to take on the role of the “older brother” saving my siblings from things they got themselves into. I wanted my daughter to have the security I never had of having an older stronger sibling to watch out for her. God had different plans for my little family though.

God knew… He knew she’d be my one and only. He knew I’d connect with her in ways I couldn’t with a little boy. He knew I needed her. I wouldn’t trade her for anything she is my reason for getting out of bed every morning. She is the love of my life. I’ve enjoyed every moment of pigtails, dresses, and hairbows and I needed those things in my life. But I still surprised myself even today crying while I told you this story of a disappointing gender reveal, and for the son I never got to meet.

Sometimes you only get a glimpse of the anger or disappointment on the surface of someone else… You can’t ever truly know the mind, heart, and soul of another. One of my favorite sayings growing up was “Be kind to others, they may be fighting a harder battle than you know about.” I’m sure our ultrasound tech had her reasons for losing her cool on me, maybe she struggled with fertility herself, maybe she’d had to tell her previous patient, “I’m sorry I can’t find a heartbeat” Who knows what her reasoning was that day. What I do know is that she compounded my grief by belittling it in that moment.

All of that said… You are allowed to explore things you don’t understand about others’ processes and the why. If you offend it happens, but do try to understand when someone is upset, be kind above all. Some people really don’t have a why… But some people didn’t go through the struggle and don’t realize how lucky they are and for that they don’t realize the need to be thankful for the mundane.

*steps off my soapbox*

This post was originally written in October of 2015. A few days ago I was in the car listening to Lex & Terry and they had Ericka Boussarhane on and she was talking to a gentleman who had lost multiple infants if I remember right. She mentioned to him that the dreams he had of his children were them coming to him and letting him know they were ok. This has changed my perspective at this time in my life of those dreams I had while I was pregnant with my daughter. The child I miscarried was coming to play with me in my dreams while I waited on the birth of his sister. I genuinely believe Little Cole waits for his mommy in heaven while hanging out with his grandparents and one day I’ll get to hold him in my arms finally.

Jan 21

An Open Letter To- Consulate Health Care Pensacola, FL

An Open Letter To- Consulate Health Care Pensacola, FL

An Open Letter To Your Staff,

Today I sat down at my desk to get my day started and Facebook reminded me to wish my father a happy birthday. “Happy Birthday Daddy” my mind whispered. Tears filled my eyes and I pondered how I’d handled the last few years since he’s been gone. That’s when Facebook played a double mean trick on me with the Timehop feature. It reminded me of our last birthday together…
Daddy would be a young 60 years old today. Daddy didn’t get that chance, your staff set into motion an avalanche of pitfalls that eventually killed my father.
 August 11, 2012, my father had been in your establishment just a few weeks. Mom had taken care of dad at home after his stroke for years but she was facing cancer and I made a terrible decision and insisted that she place him in a nursing home so she could take a rest and get better herself before she went back to taking care of him. On this day My family gathered to celebrate with dad for his 56th birthday not knowing it would be his last and one of the last times we’d ever hear him speak again. Dad was a viral man before his stroke with a boisterous personality, it’s all too true that his stroke had made him depressed and a bit quieter but not on the level that I observed that day. Dad was short of breath, his color was off, I made his favorite meal and his absolute favorite dessert he barely touched his dinner and completely refused dessert.
As we wheeled him back to his room I went and got his nurse and told her, “something is wrong” She told me “He’s fine it’s just a lot of excitement” “Ma’am I know my father and something is NOT right, has he been getting his meds? What did his vitals look like? He says he’s short of breath can you check his O2 stats?” She left the room frustrated with me and came back with a pulse oximeter she put it on his finger and tried to stand in between him and I so that I couldn’t see the results. I got a quick glance, she lied to me and told me the numbers were fine, they were not. She also told me it was time for me to go and informed me that we were making a lot of noise and that if we didn’t leave she would have us removed. I realized the mistake I’d made placing him in the care of your staff and facility that night… 
I stood in the parking lot and cried for half an hour trying to decide if it was worth pressing the issue and having your staff tell me I couldn’t come back and visit my father period, or if maybe she was right and he just wasn’t feeling well that night. Dad was already short of breath and not feeling well I decided it would be better for him if I went home and didn’t cause a scene. Hindsight is 20/20 had I of known that dad’s Dilantin levels had fallen critically low and that he was about to have the worst & longest seizure of his life when he hadn’t had one in years I would have marched right back in there and continued to show my hind end and probably left with my father. You see, I know a lot more about what I can and could not do now, years later. That night I was nieve and believed I had to take your nurses word for it… I should have taken him to the ER.
Dad’s roommate claimed that dad seized for nearly an hour before someone came to tend to him. I don’t know if that’s true. I do know that the ER doctor told me my father was likely gone even though they’d managed to save his body. I sat beside his bed a cried for 3 days as he was virtually unconscious and hooked up to tons of machines. Dad eventually regained consciousness and seized several more times over the next month and had to be repeatedly intubated and eventually grew so much scar tissue that they couldn’t remove it. He did come back to us as far as his mind was concerned and then he became trapped in his own body unable to eat, unable to talk, unable to even voice his own concerns anymore.
I’ll spare you the rest of the painful details of this story because your neglect was just the first in a long string of atrocities that my daddy lived through for the next 10 or 11 months until he was found unrevivable at yet another nursing home with his trech pulled out, and no one can tell us how it happened. I need you, your staff, and anyone working in a facility like this to take away from my heartbreak, that you don’t always know the background of the person you are talking to. “You” told me my father was just excitable and brushed off my concern. I KNEW my daddy I KNEW something was wrong. I was right, and now I live with the guilt of not insisting on being heard. My mother who fought and beat cancer so that she could take my father back home and continue to live out her days with him… almost killed herself over the devastating loss. My youngest sister with 3 children who spent nearly every day with their paw paw who still ask when he’s coming home, she also deals with guilt over not being able to take on caring for both him and my mother at the same time. My daughter who’d never really gotten a chance to meet her grand-dad and missed out on having an amazing grandpa. My brother who moved away because the memories are too painful, and the middle sister who missed out on the last several years of her father’s life because she was a military spouse stationed far from home, and finally me, who still picks up the phone to call dad and ask him for his advice when a situation gets tough and then remembers… you contributed to the loss of a patriarch, a man who was loved and is now missed greatly.
You failed at your job… you aren’t the only facility failing to provide care for loved one’s who need more care than they can get at home, but YOU failed and you ultimately cost this person their life, and scarred an entire clan. My daddy should still be here… I should be making plans to take him to dinner or cook his favorite meal again today not sitting here chastising the company that failed him.
Listen to the families that care enough to spend time with their loved ones. Don’t look at them as a burden on your facility. They are your greatest ally when it comes to truly taking world-class care of your patients. Your nurse had known my dad for a few weeks, we’d cared for him for years after his stroke. We knew the signs that something was wrong. Don’t ever ignore or belittle a families concerns, and certainly don’t ever threaten to take access to a girl’s father away from her because she’s not being heard. Your threats in a small way caused me to lose my daddy permanently… so in the long run, your nurse inadvertently accomplished exactly what she threatened me with at a great cost to my father and family.
Signed,
A Girl Who Misses Her Daddy
Leave Flowers For My Daddy… Find A Grave- Howard Magee

 

I started this out as an email but have decided to make it public. I’m sure I’ve said this before… but if you care about your family members find a way to care for them at home… if that’s not possible show up to the care facility often, voice your concerns, don’t be worried about being seen as a trouble maker. BE A TROUBLE MAKER. Better to be a trouble maker than regret not doing all you could to make sure your loved one was properly cared for. That being said nurses have a hard job, but ratios are rarely correct, and facilities are more concerned about Profit and Loss than providing great care! The world needs a wake-up call. 

Jan 21

Maximize Your Royalties: A Comprehensive Guide on How to Set the Right Pricing for Your KDP Books on Amazon

Setting the right price for your Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) books on Amazon is crucial for maximizing your royalties and reaching a wider audience. Here are a few tips to help you determine the best pricing for your KDP books.

  1. Research your competition: Look at the prices of similar books in your genre and see what the average price range is. You don’t want to price your book too high or too low compared to your competition.
  2. Consider the length of your book: Longer books typically have a higher price point than shorter books. Keep this in mind when setting your price.
  3. Utilize KDP’s pricing tools: KDP offers a pricing tool that allows you to set a minimum and maximum price for your book, based on the length and genre of your book. This can help you determine a price that is competitive with other books in your genre.
  4. Test different prices: Try different prices for your book and see which one performs the best. You can use KDP’s pricing tools to adjust the price of your book and track how it affects your sales.
  5. Take advantage of promotions: Amazon’s KDP Select program allows you to offer your book for free for a limited time, which can be a great way to boost visibility and drive sales.
  6. Review your book’s performance: Monitor your book’s performance on a regular basis, and adjust the price accordingly. If your book is not selling as well as you had hoped, try lowering the price. If your book is selling well, consider raising the price.

By researching your competition, considering the length of your book, utilizing KDP’s pricing tools, testing different prices, taking advantage of promotions, and regularly reviewing your book’s performance, you can set the right price for your KDP book and increase your royalties.

Jan 21

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

 

Buttermilk biscuits are a staple in Southern cooking and a beloved breakfast food around the country. These fluffy, buttery pastries are simple to make and only require a few ingredients.

 

To make buttermilk biscuits, you will need:

 

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk

 

Preheat your oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in the buttermilk until a soft dough forms.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it gently a few times. Roll the dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness and use a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass to cut out rounds. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

 

Serve the biscuits warm, with butter and honey or your favorite jam. You can also split them open and use them to make sandwiches or to sop up gravy.

 

Buttermilk biscuits are a versatile and delicious treat that are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Give them a try and see how quickly they become a favorite in your household.

Jan 21

Creating and Selling Custom Printed Products Made Easy with Printify

Creating and Selling Custom Printed Products Made Easy with Printify

“Maximizing Your Online Store’s Potential: How Printify Can Help You Create and Sell Custom Printed Products Effortlessly”

Printify is an innovative online platform that enables entrepreneurs, small businesses, and individual creators to set up an online store and sell custom printed products with ease. Whether you’re looking to create unique t-shirts, mugs, phone cases, or other items, Printify offers a wide range of customization options to help you stand out in today’s competitive e-commerce market.

One of the key benefits of using Printify is that it takes care of the entire production process for you. When a customer orders a product from your store, Printify handles the production and fulfillment, so you don’t have to worry about keeping inventory or shipping products yourself. This is especially useful for small businesses or individual creators who don’t have the resources to handle production and fulfillment on their own.

Moreover, Printify offers a wide range of customization options for your products. You can choose from a variety of materials, colors, and sizes, and you can even upload your own designs or logos to be printed on the products. This allows you to create unique and personalized products that will appeal to your customers and increase your brand awareness.

Printify also has a large network of global production partners, which means that your products can be produced and shipped from locations all around the world. This allows you to offer competitive prices and fast shipping to your customers, no matter where they are located. It also means that you can expand your reach and target a global audience with your products.

In conclusion, Printify is a powerful tool for anyone looking to start an online store and sell custom printed products. It takes the hassle out of production and fulfillment, offers a wide range of customization options, and gives you access to a global network of production partners. With Printify, you can easily create and sell unique, personalized products that will help you stand out in today’s e-commerce market and maximize your online store’s potential.

Jan 21

Take Your Small Business Video Content to the Next Level with Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18: A Comprehensive Review

“Unlock the Potential of Professional Video Editing for Small Businesses with Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18”

Small business owners are always on the lookout for ways to improve their video content and make a big impact in a crowded market. One way to do this is by using professional video editing software like Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18.

This powerful software is packed with features that are perfect for small business owners who want to create high-quality videos. One of the most significant new features in DaVinci Resolve 18 is the inclusion of Fairlight audio editing capabilities. This allows you to edit and mix audio directly within the software, eliminating the need for a separate audio editing program. This feature is ideal for small business owners who want to have complete control over their audio and streamline their video editing process.

Another great feature in DaVinci Resolve 18 is the new color matching tool. This tool allows you to quickly match the colors of different shots, making it easy to create a cohesive look for your video. The color matching tool uses machine learning algorithms to analyze the colors in each shot and make adjustments to match them. This feature is perfect for small business owners who want to ensure that their videos have a consistent look and feel.

DaVinci Resolve 18 also includes a wide range of new effects and transitions, allowing you to add professional-grade visual elements to your videos. This software also includes a robust set of tools for creating motion graphics, including 3D text and particle effects. These tools will help your business create captivating and engaging videos that will grab the attention of your target audience.

One of the most impressive features in DaVinci Resolve 18 is the new AI-based auto-ducking feature. This feature uses machine learning algorithms to automatically adjust the audio levels of background music and sound effects based on the dialogue in your video. This feature is perfect for small business owners who want to ensure that the dialogue in their videos is always clear and easy to understand.

Overall, Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18 is a powerful video editing software that offers a wide range of features for small business owners looking to take their video content to the next level. With its intuitive interface and powerful tools, this software makes it easy to create professional-grade videos that will help your business stand out in a crowded market.

In conclusion, small business owners looking to improve their video content should consider using Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18. With its advanced audio and color editing tools, motion graphics capabilities, and AI-based features, it makes it easy to create high-quality videos that will grab the attention of your target audience. This software is definitely worth checking out for small business looking to up their video game.

Jan 21

Maximize Efficiency and Streamline PDF Management for Small Businesses with ILovePDF

As a small business owner, you know that every minute counts when it comes to managing your time and resources. One of the most common tasks that can take up a lot of time and effort is working with PDFs. Whether you need to merge multiple PDFs into one document, split a PDF into individual pages, or compress a PDF to reduce its file size, it can be a tedious process. But what if we tell you that there is a solution to streamline this process?

ILovePDF is a web-based service that allows small business owners to manipulate PDF files with ease. Its user-friendly interface and clear instructions make it accessible to users of all skill levels. The platform offers a variety of tools to help you manage your PDFs, including the ability to merge, split, and compress PDFs, as well as more advanced features such as editing, rotating pages, and filling out forms.

One of the standout features of ILovePDF is its batch processing capability. This allows small business owners to process multiple PDFs at once, saving a lot of time and effort compared to processing them individually. This is especially useful for small business owners who need to manipulate large numbers of PDFs on a regular basis.

With ILovePDF, small business owners can maximize efficiency and streamline their PDF management. It is a reliable and convenient tool that can help you save time and focus on running your business. So, if you’re looking for a way to simplify your PDF management, give ILovePDF a try.

Jan 21

Streamline Your Small Business Operations with Zapier: A Comprehensive Guide

Small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations and improve productivity. One powerful tool that can help with this is Zapier.

Zapier is an automation tool that allows you to connect various web applications, creating “zaps” that automate repetitive tasks and transfer data between apps. This can save small business owners a significant amount of time, allowing them to focus on more important work.

One of the key benefits of using Zapier is its user-friendliness. It has a simple interface that makes it easy for small business owners to set up zaps in just a few clicks. Additionally, Zapier offers a wide range of integrations, with over 2,000 different apps available, including popular ones like Google Sheets, Trello, and Slack. This means small business owners can create zaps that connect any app they use on a regular basis.

Small business owners who need to connect niche apps or create custom automation solutions will also appreciate Zapier’s custom integration capabilities. This feature allows for the creation of custom integrations, connecting apps that are not natively supported by Zapier.

In conclusion, Zapier is a valuable tool for small business owners looking to streamline their operations and improve productivity. Its wide range of integrations and custom integration capabilities make it a versatile tool that can be used in a variety of different contexts.

Jan 21

Unleash Your Publishing Potential: A Beginner’s Guide to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Its Benefits

Are you an author or publisher looking to self-publish your book on Amazon? Look no further than Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – a platform that allows you to easily publish and distribute your book to millions of readers worldwide.

Getting started with KDP is simple. First, create an account on the KDP website. Then, upload your manuscript in one of the accepted file formats (such as .doc or .pdf) and add a book title, description, and cover image. You can also set your book’s price, choose the countries where you want it to be available, and select any applicable categories or keywords to help readers discover your book.

Once your book is live, it will be available for purchase on Amazon and can be read on Kindle devices or the free Kindle app. Additionally, KDP offers various tools to help promote your book, such as the ability to run a free book promotion or create a paperback version of your book.

One of the major benefits of using KDP is that it gives you control over the publishing process and allows you to reach a global audience. You also have the flexibility to make changes to your book at any time, and receive royalties up to 70% on eligible sales.

Another benefit is the ability to use Kindle’s Matchbook program, which allows you to offer discounted or free Kindle versions of your books to customers who have purchased the paper version. This can be a great way to increase sales and reach new readers.

In conclusion, Amazon KDP is a powerful tool for self-publishing authors and publishers. It’s easy to use, offers a wide range of features, and provides access to a massive audience. By taking advantage of KDP, you can take control of your publishing journey and bring your book to the world.