Required disclaimer: I may wear scrubs each day but I am not a medical doctor, and this is my personal experience and opinion. Every one of us is created different and your body may react differently, but this is my story….
My experience with the Mirena IUD didn’t start off bad, nor go poorly, but I always felt more bloated and like I just couldn’t lose the weight despite working out, eating right and staying healthy. Since we were not sure whether our family was complete yet, neither my husband nor I considered more permanent options and since I heard people used the Mirena for a long time, I assumed it was safe. But last year, we changed all that.
After about 5 years of having it, I started experiencing vertigo and other symptoms and tests ruled out tumors or other causes so I wasn’t sure what was causing them. Last year, around Halloween, I was experiencing these symptoms again and was the heaviest I had been since having the kids or getting married. Despite a solid work out routine, I felt unhealthy and had a huge gut. At a mere 61 inches tall, 133 lbs. is a lot to carry around and a very unhealthy BMI. I had tried giving up soda and alcohol and didn’t shred a pound. By January of 2015 I had already replaced the Mirena once, so last year, I went in and had it removed and completely changed my diet at the same time. I reduced sodium and sugar from my diet and eliminated all microwave meals which are super high in sodium. I was told by the doctor to give it one year to see if the Mirena was the culprit for my weight and symptoms.
It’s now a year later and for the past 3 months I have reintroduced Chinese food (without MSG), normal salted foods, and maintained a healthy diet and the weight is not back. But I remain true to my habits- more fruits and vegetables, smoothies, protein, and replacing soy sauce and canned foods with healthier alternatives or home-made options. My gut that was pretty prominent is gone and I feel better. Once 132-133 last year at this time, I am now 115-116. I was wearing size 10 shirts and large size t-shirts but now am back to small shirts and size 4 pants. I was wearing size 8 pants at this time last year. I even squeezed into size 2 earlier this year and was so excited- I have never worn size 2! I still don’t drink soda but I drink wine and beer in moderation and eat a balanced diet and I haven’t felt period pain and experienced spasms and cramping like I did on the Mirena.
Think about it – something that stops your periods completely over time just isn’t natural and naturally your body responds by retaining water and fluids, or other things. For me that fluid retention was very harmful and resulted in unhealthy conditions. Again, will you lose the weight and the gut I did if you break up with our IUD? I am not sure, but I do know that the Mirena IUD was simply not right for me, and now that I am hormone-free, I feel much better and more energetic. I have not done anything with my eating habits to lose weight, nor diet, and I am still keeping the weight off. There are other life stressors for me now, but going natural without hormones or any artificial things inside my body has been the smartest decision I made. I have a friend who tried Essure (two of them) and it didn’t go well either. Some others swear by it. For me, I prefer nothing inside me that is unnatural or unhealthy and do not want any more surgeries or artificial options. If you are lucky to have a husband who can shoulder the permanent birth control option, I urge you to do research, consult your doctor, and make informed choices.
We went rafting as a family for the first time. The last time my husband and I went rafting was when we were still engaged to be married, so this was truly a treat. 
Buena Vista, Colorado., and they do more than just white water rafting. WA offers full-day and half-day rafting trips, a dinner float (this one is so cool), multi-day trips, including camping or B&B stays with rafting included. You can also book zipline tours, horseback riding, and bike trips through WA. Their 
WA facilities are great! The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful. Once you arrive on-site, you can change there, buy water, and apply sunscreen (they provide this). If you do a full day rafting trip, breakfast is provided on-site too! You meet your guide and get your gear, and then receive a safety demonstration. We had Isaiah as our guide and he really hit it off with our kiddos. 
He even let my eldest row with him. She loved it!
are breathtaking on the raft, and Colorado is so scenic, so I can imagine how much more amazing it would be to have a nice dinner and a glass wine along the Arkansas river while admiring the view. We had fun rafting as a family, and I know we will return next summer, if not sooner, to take in some more of the fun. We want to try zip lining as well, and 
They are organized, and made us all feel special. They sent us information before the trip and kept us well-informed on construction in the area, best route to take, and what to leave behind in the car. All in all, our first rafting trip as a family was a huge success, and we are looking forward to a return trip very soon – thanks 
*warning: some of the images appear strange or rotated using Chrome. Sorry about that. It is a Chrome issue.
The Exhibit: The exhibition Samurai: Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection tells the iconic story of Japanese samurai through 140 objects from one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of samurai armor and accoutrements in the world.
Logistics & Information: The exhibit is family-friendly, but I recommend kids ages 5 and up will enjoy this, and not so much the younger kids. The museum provides you an audio guide at the entrance, and there is a separate number series for families versus adults to hear. For the family guide, a “tengu” speaks to you about the pieces and trains you and the kids how to be a Samurai. In folklore, the Tengu is a half bird, half man, and you meet him at the end of your audio tour. The experience was fun for my kids, and they stayed engaged throughout the exhibit. It is quite an extensive collection, and we were very impressed with how well it was displayed, explained, and laid out. The exhibit is handicap accessible, and easy to push wheelchairs and strollers throughout the museum.
Denver Art Museum does a great job with crowd control by doing timed entry for the special exhibit. This ensures everyone enjoys the exhibit without being trampled, or overcrowded. I wish other museums in the area would learn from this and follow suit. It is so pleasant to walk around, read placards and enjoy the exhibit, rather than being shoved and so crowded-in that you cannot see a thing. I absolutely love the Denver Art Museum for this reason, and this exhibit and the entire museum is enjoyable as a result.
career when we married and then had children). They see the independence in me, the can-do attitude, and they emulate that. Which is why I often wonder why I am asked to justify why I chose a career after I chose to have kids. My husband is never asked that. For me, I don’t choose either/or. I choose to have it all as long as I am able.