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5 Ways Moms Can Make the Most of their Free Time

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For moms, free time is as precious as gold. After all, between raising a child, maintaining a career, and keeping up with social obligations, mothers tend not to have a lot of time to themselves. Yet, it’s important for hard-working moms to give themselves a break every once in a while. Everyone needs time to relax and unwind, and if you don’t look after yourself, no one will. With that in mind, today we’ll look at five ways moms can make the most of their free time so they can come back refreshed and energized:

Find a Trustworthy Sitter

Sometimes moms are lucky to have a support group of friends and family members who are more than happy to step in and babysit when they need a night off. However, other parents aren’t so fortunate. Regardless, it’s imperative to find a certified care centre through platforms like Toddle, or enlist a babysitter who you can trust to handle any situation. The last thing you want to do with your precious time off is to spend it worrying or constantly checking in on your little one.

Catch up With Old Friends

One unfortunate reality of parenthood is that moms may not get to spend as much time with their friends as they used to. This is particularly true for friends and acquaintances who don’t have kids. As such, one of the best ways moms can enjoy their time off is to catch up with old friends. Head to a bar, see an R-rated movie, and indulge in the company of other adults.

Turn Down the Volume

Motherhood is plagued by noise pollution. Tantrums, blaring TVs, mind-numbing children’s songs –– they all can work to get on the nerves of stressed-out parents. What better way to unwind, then, than by taking in some much-deserved quiet time. Spending a few hours in your local library, for instance, will let you take it easy in peaceful silence.

Prepare for the Future

Have a big family trip on the horizon? Or are you thinking about making a career change? If you’ve got a pressing event coming up soon, taking a day to yourself to weigh your options and prepare for the future can be hugely beneficial.

Chill Out!

Life in general –– and motherhood specifically –– is often tumultuous and frustrating. So do your best to chill out and relax how you see fit when you manage to wrangle some free time. Hit your local skin care clinic, get a massage, visit a spa, or just kick back on the couch. Remember, this day is all about you and what you want.

4 Things Most Expecting Mothers Don’t Know –– But Should

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Motherhood is many things. It’s a blessing, a burden, a challenge, a joy, and a monumentally life-changing experience. However, because pregnancy, childbirth, and child care are such nuanced and complicated subjects, it’s fairly easy for expecting mothers to miss out on some crucial information along the way. Indeed, there are a number of issues that moms might not be aware of –– but really ought to know about. Thankfully, today we’ll list four of those items so that you can be better prepared for the rigors of motherhood. Check them out here:

You May not Get Pregnancy Cravings

We’ll come back to this theme a lot here, so it’s important to note that no two pregnancies are the same. To wit, one surprising factoid about pregnancy relates to the wacky food cravings that accompany it. Except, not all women have pregnancy cravings. Similarly, not all women experience morning sickness. And those that do, don’t necessarily experience it in the “morning.”

Gestation Periods are Not Exact

Everyone knows that pregnancy lasts nine months. However, that number is really quite unscientific. Sure, nine months is a decent guideline, but the reality is that the “typical” pregnancy length falls within a span of 37 days. That’s over a month of variance. The takeaway here is not to get too nervous or stressed about your delivery date if it’s a little earlier –– or later –– than what you might’ve anticipated.

Exercise During Pregnancy is Beneficial

It’s easy to see why expecting mothers might feel hesitant about exercising during pregnancy. Yet, the reality is that most women can and should exercise during their pregnancy. Light workouts, yoga, swimming, and other forms of exercise can ease joint pain and improve mood. It is worth noting though, that some forms of exercise –– like heavy lifting or particularly strenuous activity –– are not recommended for pregnant women. Lastly, doctors may advise some women to refrain from most or all forms of exercise due to increased risk of complications.

You Need to Get Tested –– Early & Often

Pregnant women need to visit with their doctor a lot. It’s not unreasonable for a pregnant woman to visit her M.D. 6-10 times during her term. Plus, there are a number of tests that doctors may need to perform to ensure that pregnant women and their children are healthy. Medical professionals may use tools like blood collection sets to conduct tests for potentially infectious diseases, for example.

Conclusion

As we’ve mentioned above, it’s very difficult to predict what a “normal” pregnancy will look like. Thankfully, educating yourself now can help you roll with the punches and prepare yourself for the birth of your baby. So keep this page handy moving forward.

Surrogacy in Ukraine. Cost of surrogacy and Law

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IVF (in vitro fertilization) along with surrogacy allows many couples to become happy parents. Those innovative medical techniques are great solutions for many families experiencing problems with conceiving and carrying a baby until birth in the traditional way. Also, some couples prefer to use certain medical methods due to extensive busyness and other reasons unrelated to the health condition.

Currently, American surrogacy in Ukraine is getting more and more popular because it is possible to use high-quality medical services at reasonable prices. More information on this topic is provided in this article.

Is Surrogacy Legal in Ukraine?

All fertility treatments in this country are regulated by a range of Ukrainian laws, such as The Law on Health Fundamentals of Ukraine as well as the Family and Civil Codes. Generally, surrogacy in Ukraine is allowed by law, which means that couples from the USA can find a surrogate mother in this country and use the services of professional medical centers, such as IVF group. This is one of the reasons, which makes this country attractive for international residents. Also, Ukraine is a large country with many women matching the main requirements:

  • being between 25 and 35 years old;
  • being healthy physically and mentally;
  • having at least one child;
  • having no contradictions for pregnancy.

This means that it will not be difficult to find a surrogate mother.

Another serious reason to order IVF and surrogacy in a Ukrainian medical center is relatively low costs. More information on that is provided in the section below.

How Much Does It Cost?

Many international couples find the services of IVF clinics in this country quite cheap. Although the rates depend on the medical center and program you choose, generally, the costs of IVF in Ukraine are 85% less than in the USA or other countries in Western Europe.

Usually, international couples find it much more beneficial to travel to Ukraine and cover all expenses for the procedure and living in the country than ordering the same services in the USA.

How to Find the Best Clinic?

While low prices are one of the reasons why people travel to Ukraine for an IVF procedure and surrogate mother, there are also other factors to consider for ensuring your success, including the following:

  • For how long the clinic has been operating?
  • Will it provide you with different packages to choose from?
  • Are there doctors and other medical staff speaking English?
  • Where is the clinic located?
  • What results have they achieved?
  • Do they provide any guarantees?

Conclusion

If you are looking for high-quality and affordable medical services for IVF procedures as well as surrogacy, you should definitely consider going to Ukraine. It is absolutely legal to use such services in this country, and there are reliable fertility specialists and clinics that you can choose from.

Peak Fertility and Pregnancy

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Source: Unsplash | Alexander Krivitskiy

Getting pregnant isn’t necessarily as easy as you would hope and for some people it can be a challenge that makes the efforts you go to to avoid pregnancy when it’s not wanted into a cruel irony. We also tend to see fertility as a black and white issue: either you are fertile or not. In reality, there are many graduations of fertility and even if you stand a low chance of conceiving, you can improve your odds by identifying when you’re at peak fertility in each menstrual cycle and concentrating your attempts to conceive on that period.

What is Peak Fertility?

For women, their effective fertility rises and falls over the length of their menstrual cycle. During their ‘fertile days’ or ‘fertile window’, the average lifespan of an egg after ovulation can overlap with the average lifespan of sperm after ejaculation. During this time you are at peak fertility: you stand the best chance of conceiving. If you don’t know when your fertile window is, your chances of conceiving drop dramatically.

Finding Ovulation

If you want to find your fertile day you need to find out when it’s likely you’re going to ovulate – your ‘ovulation window’.

There are two primary ways of doing this: using test strips that react with your urine in the presence of the hormone that stimulates ovulation, LH (or Luteinising Hormone). You can also chart your basal body temperature: this is the low level your body drops to overnight, during an extended rest. Minute changes at this base level can reveal when you’re going to ovulate.

Modern technology can make BBT tracking more accurate and less difficult. Automated sensors can take temperature readings overnight for more accurate data, and apps can process those into results and predictions, to reduce the risk of error.

Finding Your Fertile Window

With this information in hand, you simply need to plot it on a calendar, along with the dates your period begins. While cycles may vary between women, if yours is regular you can expect to ovulate at the same point in your cycle from month to month. Noting how long ovulation falls after your period begins in one month gives you a good indicator for when it will fall in the next and the next. This can give you the vital insight you need to improve your chances of conceiving when you want to.

How to Cope With Being a Member of the Sandwich Generation

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The sandwich generation is nothing to do with tasty savory snacks. In fact it’s a term that describes the people who are at an age where they have caring responsibilities for their children on the one hand, and their parents on the other, so they’re sandwiched between the two generations.

This scenario is becoming more and more common, especially as couples have their children later in life. Many people in their forties and fifties have children who are still at home, often very young children, while their parents are heading into their eighties and nineties, and needing help themselves.

Being a caregiver for your kids is hard work, stressful, and time-consuming, and being a caregiver for one or both of your parents likewise; so if you have both to cope with it can become somewhat overwhelming. If you’re trying to juggle working as well as your caring responsibilities, your life can become a non-stop whirl of activity and stress from the moment you wake in the morning to when you drop into bed exhausted at the end of the day.

The problem is, what choice do you have? You can’t stop caring for your kids, but most people who have loving parents that cared for them and supported them when they were growing up feel they have a duty to return that care when their folks become infirm or need assistance.

First of all, remember that you must put yourself first, and that to do so is in no way a selfish act. If you push yourself so hard that you become too exhausted or unwell to care for your kids and your parents, they’ll have to manage without you altogether, at least for a little while. Making sure you get sufficient rest and relaxation, and the opportunity to lead a healthy lifestyle that supports your own health is the best way to stay fit and well and maintain your caring roles.

There’s also plenty of support out there for you as a caregiver. For example there are some very helpful resources published online at sites like www.inhomecare.com that have valuable advice and information for about in-home care and people who are caring for their elderly parents. There’s an abundance of online resources, but you’ll find support and information that can help at doctor’s surgeries, libraries, and other community facilities as well.

You might find there are groups your parents could attend that would enrich their lives, childcare resources for the holidays, and volunteer organizations who can lend a hand when you need it. You should also make sure you’re accessing any local or national support you’re entitled to, for example, caregiver’s respite schemes. There are caregivers organizations who can help you with all these, as well as giving you some much needed personal support.

Sometimes all you need is a little extra help, so it’s worth looking at the options for in-home care for your parents, or childcare for your children. An hour a day where your kids can play at an afterschool club, or a caregiver can come in and cook your parents a meal could be invaluable in helping you to manage.

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We left our home in Sydney, Australia many moons ago in May 2012 and, other than a brief stint back in Perth for Christmas and a wedding in early 2014, we have been travelling the world nomadically ever since, running a business from our laptops and we’re here to show you how to do it!