Listen Up! Don't Let the Fear of "1-in-8" Steal Your Hope (NIAW 2017)

Resolve's theme for National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) this year is "Listen Up!" What a great time to be able to share something that has been on my heart regarding infertility for the past several months :-)

1 in 8 (the rate of infertility in the US) is SCARY! It's a flippin' SCARY number! It's 12.5%!  I get that! 

But guys, gals, please. Don't let it terrify you. Don't let that fear rule your life. It's not as scary as it sounds. Stick with me...

Of This Much I'm Sure: A Memoir - By Nadine Kenney Johnstone (Book Review)

From time to time, I'm asked to review books on my blog... occasionally, I agree, more often I do not. [This post does contain affiliate links - if you click the link and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting Always, Katie!] When the email about Of This Much I'm Sure: A Memoir by Nadine Kenney Johnstone came across my "desk," I was intrigued by the summary her agent sent me.

At twenty-two, Chicagoan Nadine Kenney meets her future husband, Jamie, while vacationing in Florida. She soon uproots from her home and family to join Jamie in suburban Massachusetts. Once married, the couple begins trying for a baby.   

Yet neither of them suspect just how tumultuous the path to parenthood will be.

Unable to conceive naturally, Nadine embarks upon a series of infertility treatments that wreak havoc with her health, her emotions and her marriage -- and threaten her life.  From uncommunicative doctors and internal bleeding following an IVF procedure to emergency surgery that leaves her with a six inch scar instead of a baby bump, Nadine endures nearly every trial and tribulation that infertility treatments often bring. All the while, she’s astounded that few if any doctors or couples dare discuss these.

In what seems like a miracle, she eventually becomes pregnant naturally. But the horrors are not over: her unborn son is diagnosed with potentially terminal kidney complications. For the duration of the pregnancy, Nadine and Jamie must live with a profoundly troubling uncertainty about whether and how long their child will survive.

Ultimately, Nadine is forced to come to terms with the stark differences between reality and the notion of “happily ever after” she once harbored, and to recognize that amid great unpredictability the only thing she can be sure of is the healing power of hope and love.

The summary read almost like the summary of the newest, hottest novel... National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) was coming up, and I didn't have any labor-intensive collaborative posts on the horizon, so I eagerly sank my teeth into the book.

10 Cool Items to Put in a Long-Distance Easter Basket (+ a neat way to jazz up your packaging!)

Do you have a long distance friend or family member that you enjoy sending holiday gifts? When I send Christmas gifts to my friends and family out of state, I always wrap the outside of the box in Christmas wrapping paper, then reinforce it with contact paper to protect the wrapping paper from rough handling in transit. 

But I decided to do something a little bit different with my friend's Easter gift this year - I wanted to make it look like an Easter basket full of grass. I used some bright green wrapping paper (got it on clearance after Christmas one year, but it's "neutral" enough for any occasion!) and wrapped the INSIDE of the box! Here's how...