I got married at 32 and had Brendan at 34 and Jack at 36 years of age.  With both pregnancies I started out fine- though I was very nauseated…until about the beginning of the third-trimester when my blood pressure rose and I developed preeclampsia resulting in premature c-section deliveries for both boys. They were born about six weeks early (weighed about 4.5 #s each) and spent at least three weeks in the NICU.

Me and Brendan in 2004.

Jack and Daddy in 2006.

According to an article I read in my February 2012 edition of Women’s Day magazine, having had pre-eclampsia  my risk for heart disease could be raised 100% for that alone.

The article went through a list of additional factors that can raise your risk of heart disease such as if one of your parents have had a heart attack, spending most of the day sitting down, being overwhelmed and overscheduled, being tired all the time, spending a lot of time around smokers, high blood pressure- even at the prehypertension level of 120/80 to 140/90, high cholestrol, diabetes, and being overweight.

The article gave the % of possible raised risk for each of these and some of the numbers ought to scare you.

Being a blogger/working from home hasn’t helped keep me in shape. At last check my BMI was 24 I think and though I may not officially be “overweight” – I’ve been on the high end of “ideal weight”.

I’ve known that I need to exercise again and I’ve started. I bought a Gold’s Gym Mini Trampoline from Walmart for less than $30 and its been great to have.. Its much more flexible to use than having a big treadmill (like I use to have). My house is small and we sold the treadmill. With the trampoline I can move it easily from room to room and even the boys enjoy using it and I really like using it (and thats what really matters!).

I’ve only had the trampoline for a short time and already have noticed a difference in how I feel. I try to jump for around 20 minutes at a time. I could go longer but I do have kids at home. It will take some purposeful effort but I’m thinking about trying to do three 20 minute intervals throughout the day to get in one hour of working out. We’ll see. Its not the energy to do it I’m doubting…its finding three convenient 20 minute periods to work-out that has me hesitating on that goal.

I’m also working on finding ways to make my family’s diet healthier.

Its your turn! Do you have a story to share?

I’d love to have you link it up below. It can be an older post you’ve written, it doesn’t have to be something new. I just ask that you keep it family-friendly and that you link back to my blog. And come back every Friday to share another story.