Show and Tell is wasted on elementary schoolers. Join several dozen bloggers weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0. Everyone is welcome to join, even if you have never posted before and just found out about Show and Tell for the first time today. So yank out a photo of the worst bridesmaid's dress you ever wore
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Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters
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The 59th Circle Time: The Show and Tell Weekly Thread
1 Jul 2009 | 2:51 pm -
IComLeavWe: July
29 Jun 2009 | 9:59 pmThere is a new way to sign up. Please read the directions below.Welcome back to IComLeavWe. It stands for International Comment Leaving Week, but if you say it aloud, doesn't it sounds like "I come; [but] leave [as a] we"? And that's sort of the point. Blogging is a conversation and comments should be honoured and encouraged. I like to say that comments are the new hug--a way of saying hello, -
Read Along: Barren Bitches Book Tour #19
28 Jun 2009 | 6:01 pmWelcome to the nineteenth tour of the Barren Bitches Book Brigade--a book club from the comfort of your own living room. Grab a cup of coffee and start clicking away at the links below.Just to explain, this book club is entirely online and open to anyone (male or female) in the infertility/pregnancy loss/assisted conception/adoption/parenting-after-infertility world (as well as any other related -
Ferris Wheel
28 Jun 2009 | 6:00 pmchildren mentioned...They may have entered as always with their hands over their ears and they may have ducked out of a few lines after waiting in them for a few minutes, but the twins actually went on the rides at Funland (a series of carnival rides at the beach) this year and we didn't even need to ask the operators to stop them mid-ride this time around.I was that parent who was jumping up and -
Friday Blog Roundup
26 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amLast Sunday night, as I was brushing my teeth (please don't ask me why I was doing this next act while I was brushing my teeth), I was feeling my right breast and paused from completing the circular motion my periodontist taught me to explore the no-man's-land between arm pit and areola.I found a lump.It felt like the end of a pencil eraser. Like someone had made a tiny replica of a volcano and
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Wishing4One
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Hey
1 Jul 2009 | 11:58 amI don't have much to write now, but wanted to have a new post as opposed to that news from the other day. I thank you all for your well wishes and we are fine. Just really sad this time around, i think this has been the hardest let down, this time. I was so optimistic and really thought it was going to work out for us this time. Anyway, if it is meant for us to be parents we will, I know that. I feel I really need a break from this IVF stuff for awhile. But my the clock is ticking, thats the way I look at it. I am growing older each year and the longer I wait the older my eggs… -
Not this time...
27 Jun 2009 | 2:42 pmBeta was just 2.5 . -
Beta #2 in progress
27 Jun 2009 | 5:22 amDid another test this morning, results will be ready at the usual 11:00pm. And yes i do physically go there to pick up report, i know its crazy, the times doctors/labs work here. They are 5 miunutes from my house so its all good.Anyway, i am prepared for the worst, am hoping for the best, but "sort of ready" if the numbers didn't do their magic.After 7 attempts at this the excitement level is dwindling. I still long and hope for that BFP with good numbers don't get me wrong, but i think after so many letdowns, maybe its just normal to be bummed but prepared at the same time to deal with it. I… -
Don't Know
24 Jun 2009 | 1:41 pmBeta came in at just 24.Called my doctor and he told me, the references for pregnancy depend on the lab, i.e. this lab references pregnancies like this:1 week: 5-50 mIU/ml1-2 weeks: 50-500 mIU/ml2-3 weeks: 100 - 5000 mIU/ml and on and on.My numbers should be at least in the 1-2 week range I think. I am 13 days post transfer.Anyway doctor said he has seen successful pregnancies at my stage with first beta from 7 - 25. Thanks Dr. K, i feel better. He means well really.I am not giving up hope though, not quite yet.I will retest on Saturday, Friday if the lab is open. ( Fridays here are like a… -
Beta values
24 Jun 2009 | 10:19 amOne of my favorite bloggers, good friend and mother to beautiful Lizzy, Fiddle1 over at It's Stork Season and I've Bagged My Limit sent me two of THE most valuable links regarding Beta values online. These are definite bookmarks! Beta Values Main Chart and Master Beta Break Down List (this one lists examples based on days past transfer) Thanks a million Fiddle you are soooo awesome! Its now 8:20PM here in Cairo, so just 2 hours and 40 minutes to go until I pick up my Beta results....
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ScienceDaily: Fertility News
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Bioethicists Call For Public Debates On Future Uses Of Stem Cells
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmMore than 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and science journal editors are calling on their colleagues, policy makers and the public to begin developing guidelines for the research and reproductive use of stem cell-derived eggs and sperm, even though such use may be a decade or more away. -
Chromosomal Problems Affect Nearly All Human Embryos: Discovery May Explain Low Fertility Rates In Humans
1 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmFor the first time, scientists have shown that chromosomal abnormalities are present in more than 90 percent of IVF embryos, even those produced by young, fertile couples. -
Daily Sex Helps Reduce Sperm DNA Damage And Improve Fertility
1 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amDaily sex (or ejaculating daily) for seven days improves men’s sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage, according to a new study. Until now there has been no evidence-based consensus amongst fertility specialists as to whether or not men should refrain from sex for a few days before attempting to conceive with their partner, either spontaneously or via assisted reproduction. -
Cancer Survivors At Greater Risk Of Birth Complications; Special Monitoring Needed
30 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pmSurvivors of childhood cancer run particular risks when pregnant and should be closely monitored, say researchers. Although such women may have conceived spontaneously and considered themselves to be perfectly healthy, their deliveries should always take place in a hospital, experts urge. -
Women With Endometriosis Need Special Care During Pregnancy To Avoid Risk Of Premature Birth
30 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pmThe largest study of endometriosis in pregnant women has found that the condition is a major risk factor for premature birth, the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard on July 1. Researchers found that women with endometriosis also had a higher risk of other pregnancy complications and were more likely to give birth through Caesarean section.
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Fertility News From Medical News Today
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Evidence Challenges Effectiveness Of Embryo Screening For Older Women
2 Jul 2009 | 4:00 amThere is growing evidence that a procedure for identifying chromosomal abnormalities in embryos prior to in vitro fertilization is ineffective at helping older women become pregnant, the Wall Street Journal reports. The procedure -- known as pre-implantation genetic screening, or PGS -- is performed in dozen of U.S. -
Cook Medical Introduces The Guardia™ Pro Protective Embryo Transfer Catheter
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amThe Guardia Pro Protective Embryo Transfer Catheteris uniquely engineered to protect and guide embryos through cervical mucus and blood and to eliminate the need for cervical flushing or aspiration prior to transfer. The Guardia Pro's outer sheath protects the embryo through entry and then opens in petals to further advance the inner transfer catheter allowing placement of the embryo in the uterine cavity. -
Will IVF Work For A Particular Patient? The Answer May Be Found In Her Blood
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amFor the first time, researchers have been able to identify genetic predictors of the potential success or failure of IVF treatment in blood. Dr. Cathy Allen, from the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, told the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday 1 July) that her research would help understand why IVF works for some patients but not for others. -
Chromosomal Problems Affect Nearly All Human Embryos; Discovery May Explain Low Fertility Rates In Humans
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amFor the first time, scientists have shown that chromosomal abnormalities are present in more than 90% of IVF embryos, even those produced by young, fertile couples. -
Availability Of IVF Treatment In UK Still Poor Compared With Rest Of Europe
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amCommenting on the news announced today by ESHRE's European IVF monitoring consortium on the improvements in the quality, safety and efficacy of ART, Clare Lewis-Jones MBE, Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK said "We are angry that although the UK pioneered infertility treatment, we are still among the lowest providers in Europe of NHS treatment, and these figures show that availability in the UK is less than one third of that in Denmark.
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Infertility News
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Availability Of IVF Treatment In UK Still Poor Compared With Rest Of Europe
2 Jul 2009 | 4:41 amCommenting on the news announced today by ESHRE's European IVF monitoring consortium on the improvements in the quality, safety and efficacy of ART, Clare Lewis-Jones MBE, Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK said "We are angry that although the UK pioneered infertility treatment, we are still among the lowest providers in Europe of NHS ... -
Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group (PREG) is awarded United...
1 Jul 2009 | 8:27 pmOur practice, Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group , is excited to announce that we have been selected as the United Healthcare Fertility Center of Excellence for our region! PREG was awarded this distinction based on our merits of being the infertility practice with the best pregnancy rates, best care, and lower than average multiple rates ... -
New Data Supports Significant Economic and Clinical Value of Menopur in IVF
30 Jun 2009 | 8:19 pmNew data from an economic analysis presented today at this year's European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology congress showed that, within the parameters of the simulation model used, the in vitro fertilisation treatment MENOPUR offered considerable cost-savings over recombinant follicle stimulating hormone .[1] The cost-effectiveness of ... -
Accelerated Fertility Treatment Can Offer Shorter Time To Pregnancy
30 Jun 2009 | 1:52 pmA major new trial recently published in the journal Fertility and Sterility shows that for couples beginning infertility treatments, an accelerated path to in-vitro fertilization can offer a shorter time to pregnancy, cost savings of nearly $10,000, and a lowered risk of multiple births. -
More Young Couples Face Infertility
29 Jun 2009 | 7:47 pmAn increasing number of young married couples are looking at fertility problems.
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Fertility News From Medical News Today
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Evidence Challenges Effectiveness Of Embryo Screening For Older Women
2 Jul 2009 | 4:00 amThere is growing evidence that a procedure for identifying chromosomal abnormalities in embryos prior to in vitro fertilization is ineffective at helping older women become pregnant, the Wall Street Journal reports. The procedure -- known as pre-implantation genetic screening, or PGS -- is performed in dozen of U.S. -
Cook Medical Introduces The Guardia™ Pro Protective Embryo Transfer Catheter
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amThe Guardia Pro Protective Embryo Transfer Catheteris uniquely engineered to protect and guide embryos through cervical mucus and blood and to eliminate the need for cervical flushing or aspiration prior to transfer. The Guardia Pro's outer sheath protects the embryo through entry and then opens in petals to further advance the inner transfer catheter allowing placement of the embryo in the uterine cavity. -
Will IVF Work For A Particular Patient? The Answer May Be Found In Her Blood
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amFor the first time, researchers have been able to identify genetic predictors of the potential success or failure of IVF treatment in blood. Dr. Cathy Allen, from the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, told the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday 1 July) that her research would help understand why IVF works for some patients but not for others. -
Chromosomal Problems Affect Nearly All Human Embryos; Discovery May Explain Low Fertility Rates In Humans
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amFor the first time, scientists have shown that chromosomal abnormalities are present in more than 90% of IVF embryos, even those produced by young, fertile couples. -
Availability Of IVF Treatment In UK Still Poor Compared With Rest Of Europe
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amCommenting on the news announced today by ESHRE's European IVF monitoring consortium on the improvements in the quality, safety and efficacy of ART, Clare Lewis-Jones MBE, Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK said "We are angry that although the UK pioneered infertility treatment, we are still among the lowest providers in Europe of NHS treatment, and these figures show that availability in the UK is less than one third of that in Denmark.
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Creating Motherhood
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Let me shove my middle finger up inside this hold music
2 Jul 2009 | 1:56 pmSo there is a bit of a continuing saga regarding the air conditioner in my room. To explain (as I am not sure I really have before), my bedroom suite is upstairs. Above the garage. It is a room that is sometimes referred to as a “bonus” room, and in some southern states a FROG (full room over garage). I live in Florida. It is hot here. This hotness necessitates that a separate A/C unit be employed for the upstairs living quarters. And when that unit dies (where was the CNN coverage on that, Anderson Cooper?!) things get beyond just hot. They get funky and steamy and you can pretty… -
Sometimes saying it doesn’t make it so
2 Jul 2009 | 6:19 amI ebb and flow around feelings of hope and optimism. Most days and weeks I can get my perky on and cheerfully surf the internets for possible job opportunities for our family. I can be kind and supportive of Mother. I can try and keep the house as nice and pleasant as possible. And then some days I feel crushed or empty. I feel like a fool or a failure. And I completely feel lost within my own little journey of life. I feel angry and annoyed and I look for fights. What I don’t understand is how I am supposed to make it through this time. And I get so sad and depressed watching the news… -
The great and almighty visualizer
28 Jun 2009 | 4:45 pmWe discovered something a week or so ago and up until this morning I refrained from goggling it as I was too terrified I would find out it was BAD. Couldn’t really find anything that said it was horrible, so I can now confess that the W is obsessed/in love/and in total awe of the visualizer on itunes. It also turns out that we are not the only house experiencing such extreme joy. ——————Thought Break———————— My mind is kind of jumbled at the moment. Still recovering from the news of the nonjob. I really… -
Still life with resumes
26 Jun 2009 | 3:20 pmOver 200 resumes and cover letters ready for the post. Nobody puts Mother in the corner… -
Did you enter?
26 Jun 2009 | 7:20 amDid you enter the giveaway here? Check to see who the winner is AND a cool bonus. I had a lot of fun on the most recent project that I have been writing about in my review blog. It was nice to have a different space that was totally dedicated to, well, dishing about a product. And while the name of the review blog is 3 Women and a Blog- I would like to open it up to all of you guys. This summer let’s get dishy with our reviews. So here is where I ask all of you to guest post. What does that mean? Well it means if you have just watched a movie and have an opinion with a capital O I want…
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Giant Speed Bump
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ivf update
28 Jun 2009 | 4:33 pmI realize I’ve all but abandoned this blog, and I realize few if any people stop by to read it anymore…but while I’m not active here, I’m still HERE, and life continues to whiz by with horrendous speed…while I race against time to reach the elusive victory I’ve yearned for…well, for many years now. It almost hurts to say it’s been seven years. Anyhow, I thought I’d post an update to share we’ve opted for ivf #4 and today marks day one of injections. I’m on a flare protocol, which, honestly, means nothing to my stubborn,… -
father’s day, belated
22 Jun 2009 | 4:10 pmThere are some posts that render me unable to write…because they say it all for me. -
why i need to drink
17 Apr 2009 | 4:33 pmHow was your Friday? Want to know how MINE went? GOOD! I was greeted by (and treated to) my 23 (ish) year old, single (as in, no boyfriend) coworker’s news….”So, I’m pregnant”. Want to know what the worst part was? I couldn’t – no matter how hard I tried – I couldn’t even feign excitement. Here’s the converstation after her proclamation: Me: Holy SHIT! What?? Her: I’m pregnant. Yeah, for real. Yup. Me: Oh my god. What does that MEAN? Her: Well, it means I’m going to have a baby, I guess (*shrugs*) Me:… -
ivf #4
9 Apr 2009 | 12:20 pmYesterday we went back to the clinic to review my chart, have a few laughs over the drama that was my recovery saga and talk about what course we wanted to take, given that I now have a cleaned up, single ovary: try IUI/COH or take the plunge and go right back to IVF. We talked for over an hour. Because I am a poor responder, it was clear the docs – two of them – would not take the responsibility of leading us down one path or the other. Plenty of women have gotten pregnant with COH, they said. We’ve never tried it, so we might see sucesses, they agreed. We… -
woe is me…a syndrome?
7 Apr 2009 | 9:09 amI have one of those customized Google home pages. It’s filled with some useful things like news headlines and weather conditions, but also with some trivial stuff like my horoscope (silly, I know) and the “How To of the Day”. It’s interesting that one of today’s how-to headlines spoke directly to something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately: ”How to Overcome Martyr Syndrome”. Which leads me to a bit of a confession. I believe I may suffer from a bit of martyrdom at times. If I am being honest, I rather enjoy milking this week off…
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I'm a Smart One
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Blogging, Twitter-style
2 Jul 2009 | 8:49 amHave groovy news, but I ain't tellin' yet. We're taking the kiddies to the pool. Send cookie ? to SmartOneKym@gmail.comThat is all for now. -
OxyMORONic Show and Tell
1 Jul 2009 | 1:19 pmThe following is completely uncompensated, although, Powers that Be at EA Sports and Nintendo, should you happen upon this post and feel the need to grace me with gifts, I will not be opposed. For our anniversary, Frank gifted me with the EA Active Personal Trainer Fitness game for the Wii (which henceforth will be referred to as simply the Wii Active). Before you think that from this gesture he was saying, "I love you, but DAYUM you've gotten fat through our 13 years of marriage, so here - you might want to do something about that," let me tell you that I've been asking… -
Shout
29 Jun 2009 | 6:46 pmKaelyn. Yes, you. I'm talking to you, you little shit. You are three. And you are just so, so...so much more three than any of your siblings were. When I started writing in this here blog 18 months ago, I described you thusly:Kaelyn - aka the Youngest - in the throes of les Deux Terribles - singing, twirling, bossy, flipping, bouncing, bubbly, cheeky, ball of toddler fire. It is said that the youngest are often the loudest because they must shout to be heard over everyone else. I believe this to be true, because when Kaelyn yells, EVERYONE stops to listen, even if only to laugh at this… -
You bring the cheese; I have the whine
27 Jun 2009 | 8:35 amFirst of all, thanks for all of your comments on Kyra's room makeover. She absolutely loves it. To use her words, she says that she feels like she's in a "spa boutique." I don't know where she got the girly-girl from, but it certainly isn't me. I'm not really a girly-girl, but it's fun having one, especially one like Kyra who is as much dirt and wrestling as she is frills and lace. One minute she's painting her nails and having tea parties and the next minute she's dropkicking the boys in the playroom. Now for the real topic of this post(and I… -
Show and Tell: Kyra's new room
25 Jun 2009 | 4:36 pmAs promised, before and after pictures of Kyra's new room: This is the fourth time in the 5.5 years since we built the house and signed our names on the line that the room has been painted/remodeled. THE FOURTH. The first incarnation was a horrid splatter of a mess, as it was the first paint job that Frank and I had EVER done in our entire lives. About a year later we repainted and went all out with the decor, resulting in this room which we all loved: A couple of years later TJ came to live with us. Before then, the 4th bedroom was the playroom. We relocated the playroom to the empty…
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It's Either Sadness or Euphoria
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We are all gaining weight
25 Jun 2009 | 5:14 pmBefore I update you on my OB checkup today, I want to say a huge THANKS to all our Resolve advocates, who were on Capitol Hill today lobbying on our behalf. They have each been through a lot or they wouldn’t be there, yet they somehow are able to dig down and find the strength to speak up and speak out. It’s an amzing thing and I am proud of all of them. Especially close to me are Sunshine, who was there despite her recent tragic loss, and Riri, who has also been through hell and back. Now travle home safely, ladies. LOVE YOU!! Ok, now we can go back to me me me OB today was good. -
8 weeks to go
17 Jun 2009 | 4:27 pmStarting to get excited, and nervous.Yesterday We hit the 30 week mark, and assuming no one has any ideas of coming early, we have eight weeks until Baby Day. (Girls, Mom here. While you know we cannot wait to meet you, do NOT come early! That is an order. If you come early, you WILL be grounded!) Cardiology appointment today was happy. The doctor looked almost giddy. A’s heart rhythm was pretty much normal! Waa-hoo! Heart function scored 9/10. Doc can’t really explain it, but thinks maybe there was never any real heart block in there. There’s no way to know, but it… -
10/10/10
5 Jun 2009 | 5:30 pmIt’s been a dicey couple of weeks here around Twincubator Central. But things are looking up. Last week at our cardiology checkup, things had taken another turn for the worse. Fluid around Baby A’s heart was present, which is a sign of heart failure. Also, her heart was borderline enlarged, also not good. Her heat function, which had been measuring perfectly despite the problems, was down to 8/10. Her heart rhythm was actually looking a bit better, so the mixed signals were confusing. Concerned about a rapid buildup of fluid, they had me come back in two days instead of the usual… -
I’m back!
19 May 2009 | 6:08 pmBig thanks to Sunshine for keeping you all in the loop for me. I should’ve asked her to do that sooner! Sorry to go AWOL for a while. I just needed to hibernate for a while; things were happening but I had just NO energy to talk/write about it. Just getting through the day was hard enough. Sunshine explained things pretty well. We’ll now be monitored by the fetal cardiologist weekly and hoping for no more blockage to occur. We had some good news today, at last, that I wanted to share. Just a simple OB appt. and fetal growth scan. In a month, both babies gained one pound, one ounce… -
Blog update from Kate’s friend, Sunshine24
18 May 2009 | 7:49 amHi everyone! I know how frustrating it is when you love reading a blog but there hasn’t been an update in awhile, so I offered to update on Kate’s behalf. (Also, to put who I am in context: I am the one who lives in NY that Kate stayed with, and we both did our DE Cornell cycles at the same time. I’m also the one who unfortunately lost our 20 week son, D.I.J. and Kate so amazingly wrote about it on her blog and I was taken aback by all of your comments, so since I have the “floor” here, I’d really like to thank each and everyone one of you for your comments and thoughts. I read…
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The Baby Chase
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“Seeking Healthy White Male for Baby-Making Threesome—No Smokers, No Slackers, No Fatties!”
1 Jul 2009 | 12:40 pmI’ve dealt with a lot of strange, unnatural shit in four years of baby chasing, like fist-sized ovaries, daily embryo-status reports, and keepsake embryo photos from transfer-day. IVF is bizarre; an unholy alienation of nature from conception.But nothing compares to the strangeness of sitting in front of a computer with your husband, trying to pick a sperm donor.It must be kind of like putting out an ad for the guest star in a threesome: “Seeking anonymous healthy white male to fulfill lifetime fantasy of loving couple to conceive child. Must be handsome, fit, tall, healthy, smart, but… -
The Rat-Bastard HMO Giveth; the Rat-Bastard HMO Taketh Away
29 Jun 2009 | 3:02 pmYou know how there’s never a bank error in your favor? Not so for the HMOs! On Friday, J informed me that he had spent $240 out of my account, and that it was going to make me very happy. Couldn’t really imagine what he had bought me (with my money, not that matters, but you know what I mean). He kept asking me to guess. I hate that game. And then he told me.$240 just bought my ENTIRE DRUG PURCHASE for this cycle. A drug purchase that was supposed to cost almost $2,400. Let’s savor this moment, shall we? My asshole, shitbag, rat-bastard HMO—the same HMO that refused to cover J’s… -
This Just Sucks
24 Jun 2009 | 1:59 pmI’ve had a strange week, and every time I think I’m ready to write about it something new happens and I don’t know where to start.The bottom line is that I’m definitely NOT in control of my life right now.As much as I thought I could handle whatever was thrown at me this time, I was wrong. Friday was horrible.Since Monday I had been handling the hormone rush of the pill and the oncoming unknown of a new IVF cycle with considerable grace—I was focused on my work, cheerful, and feeling at peace. So when Friday came along I thought I had it in the bag.I had packed up my work the… -
A Funny Moment
15 Jun 2009 | 7:32 pmA Funny Moment Last night, J and I were watching the finale of the second-to-the-last season Star Trek Deep Space Nine (the crème de la crème of all Star Treks). So Dax (a Trill) and Worf (a Klingon) are trying to have a baby, but interspecies fertility is tricky, and they’re having no luck.Worf is about to go off to battle, and Dax tells him that the doctor has found a way to make it possible. “We’re going to have to get to work on it as soon as you get back,” she teases. In the stilted manner that amounts to Klingon flirting, Warf replies, “I do not consider that . . -
IVF Cycle #5, Freakout #1
12 Jun 2009 | 12:25 pmI’m exactly 24 hours into IVF Cycle #5, and already have jumped headfirst into Freakout #1. Not a promising sign for things to come.My RE wants me to do a long suppression cycle using Lupron. I sent her an e-mail asking if it really was necessary—I’ve gotten by just fine with a short (2-3 week) suppression cycle on the pill before, haven’t I? (Though I guess it depends on your definition of success, given that I’m still not preggers.) She wrote back and told me that we definitely could discuss this, but that she’d given it a lot of thought and decided to try the Lupron because in…
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Who Shot My Stork?
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Floored
30 Jun 2009 | 4:04 pmWhat the hell is wrong with me? My brain is clearly wired wrong. You know how women are supposed to forget how bad labor was or something so they'll want to have more kids? I think that part of my brain got rerouted to the home improvement portion of my brain.A_ went out of town on Friday. He's been planning to have a "man weekend" for over a year. It was supposed to be a celebration of finishing law school/passing the bar. Yeah.So he finally went off to have it. He drove down to Nashville and a friend of his drove up from Florida and they played golf and went out to a pub and all that… -
Testing
26 Jun 2009 | 9:18 amTrying to see if this mobile blog thing will work. One good thing did happen yesterday - we got our new mattress delivered. For months we had been saying that the first thing we would buy when we had money would be a new mattress. Our old one was four years old and was quite nice for the first year or so. (This came right after the horrible terrible awful disgusting bed bug period of our lives. I now carefully check my bed everywhere I go.)So this new bed is a memory foam and I think it will take some getting used to but my back already feels better. It's firm and you can't really… -
Fuckshitballs
25 Jun 2009 | 4:09 pmOne of my really good friends just called and told me she has cancer. Non hodgkins lymphoma. She doesn't know anything yet, just that she has it. She goes in to find out what's next tomorrow morning.We talked for about an hour and the entire time I tried to stay upbeat because she said it was really hard on her when the people she had told so far got emotional and told her she would be okay. So I tried to let her know I was here for her and joked and talked about her boyfriend (who has suddenly decided that he's not sure he can handle being with her and I swear to GOD I might drive to fucking… -
Remember me?
24 Jun 2009 | 4:49 pmI was at a garage sale and bought a motherfucking bumbo seat.For those of you that are not aware, a bumbo seat is this nifty little seat for zee babies.I saw this seat in its pristine condition and it was a great deal and the people threw in a really cute dog collar for me to give Charlie's best buddy. My mom asked me why I was buying it and I lied. I told her I had a friend that was looking for one. (And no, I'm not coming back to blogging to tell you that I got knocked up and just haven't told my mom yet.) I just wanted one.I'm sure there is some psychology term for being in denial and… -
My liver is happy to be back
20 Apr 2009 | 4:20 pmThank you ALL so much for your comments about A passing the bar. It's a big step.Tomorrow I am going to read through and try and comment on all five million posts I missed while I was gone...tonight I am too tired to do much of anything including type up all the excitement. I will just say that I averaged five hours of sleep a night, drank too goddamn much, and the favorite person I met was the driver for the G*bson bus.Here are some pictures until my brain is capable of forming words.On the red carpet with fellow juror Joe and art*stic d*rector BrianThe red carpet in morning before they set…
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Baby on Bored
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Isn't This Rich?
30 Jun 2009 | 6:00 pmSadie got weighed today and although still a feather weight, she came in at 19 lbs. 2 oz. Okay, fine, maybe she was 19 lbs 1 and 1/2 oz but let's not split hairs okay? Let's just call it 2 oz and not try to ruin the rest of my day. Jesus! Anyway, as I was saying the kid is closing in on 20 lbs. which will be a wonderful milestone provided she's not seven years old when it happens. Unfortunately her movement up the growth chart is more slow than a glacier so according to Patricia, it's inevitable that we will be seeing an endocrinolgist in the not so distant future. "We have to remember that… -
Reality Roadkill
26 Jun 2009 | 6:11 pmI really like talking about reality tv, have I mentioned that in the last five minutes? Cause I really really do. The Housewives of NJ finale was pretty great and you all KNOW how much I love me some Bachelorette -which is why I recap it here. I'm just sayin'. All this not drinking has been leaving me with more time for writing which I haven't been doing. I should. I'm going to. Really. But weekends are soooo long with three kids. Have I mentioned I have three kids in the last five minutes? I know! I can't believe it either! Right now they are all three watching Jack's Big Music Show in the… -
Where Are My NYC Bloggers At?
25 Jun 2009 | 10:47 amAre you in NYC? Can you come to this? There will be champagne and white wine for those of you who are lushes and can't not drink for one goddamn Wednesday night. For the rest of you who, like me, choose to take the moral high ground, there will be Perrier.Please come and say hi to me! That didn't seem like a meaty enough blog so I decided to do some soul searching and really give you something meatier than just my appearance schedule. I'm now going to share with you a whole list of shit I just don't get: RadioheadSweet picklesShoe shoppingPeople who don't drink because they "just don't like… -
Let's Talk About Sex. Okay, How About Puke?
17 Jun 2009 | 2:15 pmI'm sitting here at my desk wearing a puke covered bathrobe - the best thing about it is that it's a white robe which is now complemented smell wise and aesthestic wise with brown splotches of vomit. Are you thinking my robe was covered with puke because I got crazy drunk and am walking around my house dazed and hung-over with the remnants of a late night Kung Pao Chinese food binge after my night of debauchery? Sorry to disappoint but no, I'm covered in chocolate Pediasure. Sadie, who recently weighed in at a plump 18 lbs. 11 1/2 oz (a month ago she was 17 lbs 10 oz), has proceeded to throw… -
Under the Microscope
12 Jun 2009 | 8:29 amI keep sitting down to write a post and then getting a bit paralyzed. Part of the problem is that when I wrote about giving up the hootch, it got a little more attention than I bargained for and now I feel like I'm under a microscope. Blogging is tricky because, to me, it doesn't feel so much like writing for a public forum as it does writing for a small community of readers whom I've come to think of as friends; so I spill my guts and assume twenty people are reading it. My husband says that I have to have some boundaries when I blog. I need to be a bit more protective of the information I…
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BigP and Me
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Nine Month Check-Up
24 Jun 2009 | 8:07 pmKatherine had her nine month check-up today. She is 19 pounds and 9 ounces (60th percentile).She is 26.5 inches long (25th percentile).Her head is 46 cm (90th percentile).The doctor was disappointed that she isn't crawling yet. Then he had her sit and then stand. Then he realized she wasn't crawling because (as he put it) she is a Princess. It isn't that she isn't physically capable - she just chooses not to. She would rather fuss and have us get her what she wants or move her where she wants to go. Her back and legs are very strong. (They have to be to hold up that huge melon head!) -
Arkansas
23 Jun 2009 | 5:42 pmOk, I had to jump on here to post these two photos we just went and took. A friend showed me this "Double Decker Bus" today and I had to go back tonight and take photos! -
Doctor Appointment
23 Jun 2009 | 3:23 pmDoc was not very happy to hear that I've not stopped bleeding completely.He offered me a D and C. I politely declined. Everyone (and I'm sure that EVERYONE isn't far off the mark by now) knows I have hormone issues. I really think this is hormonal and I really do not want to have surgery (outpatient or otherwise) unless I absolutely have to.He gave me four other options:1 - come back in four weeks for another depo shot 2- come back in four weeks and start Yaz3- have an ultrasound to see if there is anything in there causing issues4- have an endometrial biopsyEven if I wasn't going out of town… -
Anemia
20 Jun 2009 | 5:20 amNita asked me if I was taking iron since I'm losing so much blood.I have still been taking prenatal vitamins all this time and I have been eating foods that are higher in iron (greens mostly). Twice they have checked my blood and both times they said my levels were fine. Both times I should have asked what my levels were (What happened to my doctor questioning skills?) but I guess I felt too bad that I didn't care at the moment.When I Googled anemia I do have a couple of the symptoms - fatigue, headaches, and cold hands and feet. But, I've always have cold hands and feet because BigP cranks… -
Progesterone makes me evil and vile.
19 Jun 2009 | 8:40 amThe depo shot he gave me a week and a half ago is just a shot of progesterone. It is giving me major headaches and making me a royal bitch. I'm trying to be nice, really I am. But I know I still have been quite horrible to BigP. Unfortunately, he usually gets the brunt of my hormonal rages.I know the depo shot is supposed to be birth control for six months or something (not really sure of the logistics of it). But, I'm still bleeding. I'm wondering if he will let me start the Yaz back up when I go on Tuesday to see him? I just want to stop bleeding. It is much less than it was - but I still…
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Chasing A Child
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On Father's Day, a look back
21 Jun 2009 | 11:12 amLast year at this time, we were very very sad. I still get very sad from time to time, when I think back to that summer. But what a difference a year can make ... In January, we found our hands full: Since then, we've gone from this: To this: From the beginning, our boy was a chip off the old block: He wasn't too sure about the Dog at first: Now they're the best of friends: What's ahead? We can't wait to find out! -
The things people say (part 2)
14 Jun 2009 | 3:56 pmAfter I wrote my first post on this topic, I had a feeling it was going to become an ongoing series. And the world did not disappoint! I'm going to continue the numbering of the questions as a single list so that some day I can pull them all out into the grand master list of Things That Come Out of Random Strangers' Mouths When A Child Doesn't Look Like His/Her Parents.8(a). Whose baby is that?This gem came to us from the young female clerk at the grocery store this morning. She was pretty clearly an airhead who spoke whatever came into her mind without any… -
Re-thinking openness
10 Jun 2009 | 5:40 pmHeather has convened the first Open Adoption Roundtable and asked us to write on this question: What one thing about open adoption would you tell your past self, if you could? Quick answer: Just because you want an open adoption doesn't mean that your child's first mom will want the same thing.When I wrote about meeting our little Squeaker, I was purposely short on the details of his birthmom's situation. I'll flesh that out just a bit more here, although I'm trying not to invade her privacy any more than absolutely necessary to answer the question. For a variety of very… -
Yessir, that's my baby!
7 Jun 2009 | 11:52 amIn my last post, I said: We don't think about this as raising somebody else's child. Squeaker is our child just as much as if I'd given birth to him. Mei Ling added this excellent comment: The problem with that sort of comeback is that it expands the myth that adoption is "as if" one gave birth to a child, which can get rather misleading. I know what the original intention is, and some people will absolutely insist that adoption IS - in fact - just like giving birth, as IF they have indeed been yours since infancy (sans the womb). But I believe it's misleading and… -
The things people say ...
22 May 2009 | 11:11 am1. Is he from Ethiopia? We get asked this pretty much any time we take Squeaker out in public. It seems that Ethiopia is the trendyplace to adopt from all of a sudden, which is probably why people name that country rather than another African country. Anyway, for whatever reasons, when white people in the PNW see a black baby with a white couple (this question only comes from white folks, so far), they think "Aha! Ethiopia!" -- as if white folks only raise black babies when the black babies come from another country. Maybe…
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Child Bearing Hips
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Slept all night!
2 Jul 2009 | 6:52 amFor the first time in weeks, Hulk slept all night. High levels of excitement here! Now, to see if it continues through the weekend, when I'm flying (semi) solo. I will have Hulk's godmother here with me, but I doubt she'll be involved in night time wake ups!The rain doesn't appear that it is EVER planning on ending. I'm so glad that Hulk isn't older, as some of my friends with super active 2 or 3 years olds are getting ready to jump off a bridge at this point, I'm sure.This weekend I'm really hoping to make a large amount of progress on cleaning out my yarn room. The shelving is out and ready… -
Yet another ear infection
30 Jun 2009 | 6:53 amYesterday, on a whim, I decided to call my doctor about Hulk's coughing/cold. I was thinking that I would talk to the nurse to see if there was anything else I could do about making him more comfortable, so he could sleep better. When I got on the phone with her, and explained he had this awful cold/cough for 3 weeks, and maybe I was being an over-anxious first time mom - she said 'He's been coughing for 3 weeks and this is the first you've called? You aren't over-anxious'. Lol.She said I should bring him in so they could have a listen to his lungs. I'm glad I did (even after waiting over an… -
16 weeks, still raining, still sick, and a bit of CIO
29 Jun 2009 | 6:09 amWell. This mornings 16 week checkup wasn't very eventful - I'm down 2 pounds, blood pressure is fine, and he found the babies heartbeats with no issue. He agreed that the Nantucket trip at 29 weeks probably wasn't the best idea, and explained a little bit more about my 19 week ultrasound (July 20th!). I asked about it because it includes an appointment with a perinotoligist - and I wasn't sure what that entailed. He explained that they feel that a 32 year old that is pregnant with twins should be treated the same way as a 35 year old with a singleton (I'll be 34 at time of delivery with our… -
Nursery Progress
26 Jun 2009 | 7:22 amThis weekend, I have big plans to make some major progress on the nursery for the twins. Such a difference from my pregnancy with Hulk! Didn't want to even start doing anything until I had the Level 2 ultrasound (just to be 'safe'). That thinking kind of backfired on me - with the whole crib delivery crisis. Also - Hulk's room was 'ready to go'. When we bought this house, it had nasty wall to wall carpeting everywhere and each room had it's own version of 70's wallpaper (the living room had 'tree bark', Hulk's room had sailboats, the dining room had apple blossoms, our bathroom had metallic… -
Blah.
25 Jun 2009 | 7:24 amIn bullet point because I feel blah:Hulk is recovered from the cold, his mom? Not so much.I just found out that I get a floating holiday for the 4th of July. So I'm going to work from home instead of taking the day. Goodie.Have I mentioned that Aaron is going for a Guy's Weekend on the 4th? All the way to CA, leaving Friday the 3rd and returning on the 7th. No worries, I have a friend staying over for the weekend - so I will be having a Girl's Weekend.A Girl's Weekend in which I organize my craft room so we can get started on the nursery, but a Girl's Weekend nonetheless.I joined my local…
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Got Embryo's?
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Super Dryer!!!
25 Jun 2009 | 4:54 amWhen I bought my $14 hair dryer I had now idea what a life saver it would be. It drys my hair, cools my hot spots and clams the baby.I discovered the wonderful tool when I was trying to get a shower. If I put him in his bouncer (life saver in itself) and place the hair dryer beside him on the floor he fails right to sleep.For the past few nights I've charmed him to sleep with it too. The only down side is up at 3 in the morning it wakes up hubby.I can't complain too much, because he does sleep for about 4hrs straight during the night. Then Help sleep another 2 after he eats.We are fighting a… -
3wks already!!!!
29 May 2009 | 7:58 amIt feels like its been one long day. Especially since I wear the same thing everyday. The c-section limits me to jogging pants (sexy). It is getting better.We’ve had lots of fun these past 3wks. He loves to eat, poop and sleep. So do I! At night when I’m rocking him to sleep he makes all kinds of cute faces. He even laughs and smiles. It’s real funny. He’ll be half asleep while getting a big smile on his face and laugh.Breastfeeding has gone good too. I was worried we would have a hard time. Now don’t get me wrong it is challenging. Those 3am feedings are a little rocky. But all in… -
Got a minute
26 May 2009 | 7:20 amHe's resting in my lap while I type with one hand.Our days are going pretty good. He breastfeeds every 3hrs and naps about 3x's a day. Don't even ask me how many times I change his diaper.He hates bath time and LOVES that darn pacifier.Night time is getting better. We have a routine of about 2 feedings a night. Hubby gets up with me and changes his diaper. It's a real big help.On the Mommy front, my c-section is healing nicely. The only problem is my right hand has been numb. It started about a week ago along with swollen feet. The feet have gone back to normal. No such luck with the hand.He… -
I'm in love with a boy.....
20 May 2009 | 7:16 am2 am May 11th my water broke and we were off to the hospital. 10:18 am he was born by c-section due to cord around neck 4x's.No other problems.He is perfect! 6lbs 6oz20" longBlonde HairBlue eyes Meet William James Nelson -
Waiting.....
8 May 2009 | 5:40 amNothing to report-yet. It's been raining A LOT here this week so we've been a little lazy during the day. Here's a look into what my furbabies do on rainy days.
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Helping Make Sense
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Time to shop!
24 Jun 2009 | 11:33 amI was introduced to the doppler at the OB this morning. Can't say I liked it very much. First of all, I like my ultrasounds because I want to see the baby! Second, the ultrasound is conclusive - there's the baby, there's the heartbeat. The doctor today could not find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler.Now, amazingly, I did not panic. I don't know why. I just somehow knew that everything was OK. So, off to the ultrasound room we went, where, yes, the baby still has a beating heart. I was disappointed that she didn't measure the baby, but, I'll assume, at this point, that a beating heart,… -
June 19th
19 Jun 2009 | 10:09 amJune 19, 2005 - As I write this, four years ago, right now, Glenn and I and the people who stood up for us were lining up, waiting to be announced into our wedding reception! It took me until my mid-30's to meet the man that I hoped to spend the rest of my life with and, as we began this wonderful day in our lives, I did so with such hopes and dreams for the future that this would only be the first of so many momentous occasions.Earlier in the week, as I dropped some things off at the reception hall, I saw that they were setting up for a very large bris the next day. I thought about the bris'… -
One big test down
12 Jun 2009 | 10:10 amYesterday was my 1st tri screening and nuchal. My appointment was at 9:30 and they said to drink 24 oz of water 30 minutes before the appointment time, which I dutifully did. Then I got there and saw other women drinking there - boy, I was the dumb one!First we met with the genetic counselor. I was prepared. I brought the genetic family breakdown we already had on our donor, so, we were ahead of the game. We went through Glenn's family, which we'd also already done, and discussed a few more tests for Glenn (they've added tests to the Jewish panel since we did it in 2006).Then we went in for… -
Listening Skills
8 Jun 2009 | 6:41 amI don't know how else to say it other than to just come out and say it, so, here goes....Life is really good right now......really good.There, I said it. I'm looking above me and there is no big shoe waiting to fall on my head. I'm looking around and there are no ninjas waiting to attack me.As a result, I feel kind of boring. Who wants to talk about good things all the time, lol? But, that's what I have. We've moved into our new house. The painting was finished last week and looks great! We're having fun furniture shopping and decorating. I had a rough couple weeks of work, culminating in an… -
All's Quiet on the Southern Front
1 Jun 2009 | 12:25 pmWow, it's been a long time since I've written. I don't really have much in the way of an update and work has been kicking my butt so I haven't had time to "think" really about anything else that might turn into a blog post. I'm really just keeping my head above the water. In fact, I have no business even spending 10 minutes writing this post as it's going to be a VERY long night of work. Good thing that Wednesday-Friday Glenn has a CPA convention in Atlantic City and I'm going down for some much needed R&R!As I said, no real update. I did see the OB again last week and everything was fine…
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Infertility Licks!
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Camping Pics
2 Jul 2009 | 2:14 pmThis is DH & I at the top of the best rapid on this section of the river - the Golden DawnThis is us almost through the rapid... taking on water at every wave.This is the point where I wondered if I was going to float out of the boat before we got to shore.Look at all that water! We so need a better canoe. MG before her first ever canoe trip, which was also on the river. Hopefully there will be some pics from shore - I'm just waiting. She wasn't too sure of it.Such a cutie! Don't you just want to give her a big hug?Fishing with daddy.Daddy & MGMG insisting that her baby dolls could… -
We're Home
1 Jul 2009 | 9:51 pmWe spent 3 days whitewater paddling up a storm and then a couple days just exploring the area and camping in a new spot. All in all, 5 days was plenty of time to see that MG enjoys camping and I can hardly wait to go again this summer for a few short weekend trips.We put MG in the canoe - her first ever ride - and took her down a short section of the river. Don't fret - we know that section well and I had paddled it earlier that day so I knew every wave to avoid. She was sketchy at first and as much as she had been asking to go in the "anu" all day, when push came to shove she had a jammer. -
See ya!
26 Jun 2009 | 6:15 pmHeading out of town for a bit. Camping & paddling, here we come!Ciao! -
Who's Choice is it Anyway?
26 Jun 2009 | 9:30 amI have a tough time with some of the arguments for and against adoption. A lot of the blogs I read on the internet are people who have experienced adoption in the US, which seems to have such a variety of rules depending on which state you happen to be in. I experienced part of that but the beginning of our journey started her in Canada, with Canadian rules. Canadian adoption rules, best as I can tell, are country wide with a few exceptions to each Province. What we encountered is a non-profit system set up to, in my view, assist women facing an unexpected pregnancy first and facilitate an… -
Is It Just Me?
22 Jun 2009 | 9:58 pmI try not to judge people I see doing what appears to be silly. I try not to make assumptions. But this... this I gotta judge.I'm coming out of the grocery store the other day after an epic shop with MG. As those of you who have ever shopped with an energetic toddler know, it's not the easiest task to complete with a short list. Taking the time to fill the cart - that can be darn right painful. But I digress. I was coming out of the store when I spotted a lady heading towards the car beside mine. She had the funky kids cart - the one that has a car on the front so 2 small children can sit in…
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It's Stork Season...And I've Bagged My Limit
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Bittersweet
2 Jul 2009 | 10:07 amIt's official. My employing agency is advertising my position. The position closes on July 13.I have been expecting this all along. Up until now, I've been assigned to leave without pay and have been working part-time on some reports at home, all at my request, of course. I've enjoyed the 50 or so hours I've put in..my mind getting back into the swing of all things science. The plan is to transfer me to an intermittent position, without benefits, so that I can keep my status as "employed" and continue to work on environmental reports and documents as needed and as my time permits. It's really… -
The Purple Hulls are Purple
28 Jun 2009 | 4:03 amLots of things are happening this weekend at Chez Fiddle. See for yourself.G is expanding his shop:The garden is giving us some good eats:Lizzy approves:Fiddle learns how to preserve. These are canned roma tomatoes and cucumber marmalade:But, at the same time, my heart is heavy with sadness for Wishing4One, who had an early miscarriage on her 7th attempt at IVF. I love you, friend, and I'm so sorry. -
Given the Bad Economy, You Might Have To Catch Your Food
22 Jun 2009 | 6:26 pmPay attention, Lizzy. Your dad wants to use his "Survivorman" skills to show you how to catch a big bass.1. Stock feed-trained fish.2. Turn on near-by fish feeder.3. Immediately cast a beetle-spin.4. Reel her in! (G informed me that it was a female fish).P.S. Why would I dress my daughter in leg warmers in an Alabama June, you ask? Because I was terrified the mosquitoes would get her. Inside her mosquito net. Because, you know, mosquitoes can slip through the tiny mesh and all. Yep. Another glorious mothering decision on my part. I think she was at a much greater risk of suffering from… -
To the provider of the X
21 Jun 2009 | 8:12 amDear G,The title of this post could not be more ironic. For you have provided far, far more than just an X chromosome.Little Chipmunk did well when choosing you for a father. In fact, I'm sure that's what drew her to us as parents in the first place. If she had any hesitation in choosing me as a mom, the fact that you -- along with your silly-noise sound effects, your popping step, your loud, scare-you-out-of-your-seat laugh, your energetic morning whistle, your penchant for imitating people and animal noises startlingly well, your ability to juggle apples and oranges and tennis balls and not… -
This is your brain on enough sleep and enough Prevacid
8 Jun 2009 | 1:04 pmOn a different note, I am sending all of my prayers to Neila, Wishing4One, and Natalie. June just has to be theirmonth.
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Joyce's Blog
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Home Improvement time
2 Jul 2009 | 8:35 amApparently we have a gas leak. Somewhere. Jay has already crawled under the house with ALL of my dish soap to try to find it and cannot. We know there must be a leak because a) we smell gas when the stove is on and b) the gas man said there was a leak. So, Jay thinks a tree we have is causing problems in the gas line. It also has made a crack in the garage concrete (the only part of the house that isn’t pier and beam) and it’s just not a necessary tree. Don’t you love how Jay just makes work for himself? Whatever keeps him out of my hair and off the streets. -
It’s July!
1 Jul 2009 | 7:50 pmand it’s kinda late. So, this will be a quick post. Last night, Spencer and Cooper never woke up. As in, they SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! I guess they figured, “we’re old now, we oughta be sleeping longer stretches.” And they did! I kept waking up to look at the monitor to try to head ‘em off the crying path but they never did start fussing or crying or anything! It was amazing. Spencer woke up, peacefully, around 7:30am. The only reason I grabbed him out of bed was because he had worked himself to where his knees were right by Cooper’s head and… -
Come on back to my crib
30 Jun 2009 | 7:56 amFor nearly two weeks now (it was a Thursday night, June 18th), the boys have been sleeping in their own room! Exciting stuff. The nighttime routine: We feed them for the last time of the night around 8ish and then when they’re done eating, we take them to their room, strip their clothes off, change the diapers, put on socks, swaddle ‘em and put them into the crib. Then they sleep til about 3am/5am (never the 4 o’clock hour, isn’t that strange?), wake up for a bottle, then go back to sleep and wake again for the day around 9am/10am. This is how we put them in… -
Classing up the joint.
29 Jun 2009 | 8:51 amThe TV cabinet that Jay and Dale built is FINALLY (3 months later) done! Voila, I present to you..the TV cabinet! Isn’t it nice? It has a ton of storage. The top left cabinet is storing, of all things, our suitcases. Jay did not want them in the garage, I guess it messes up his nice work space. The top right cabinet has all our tax junk that Jay insists we save for the requisite 7 years. There’s other stuff in that one, but I’m not quite sure what. The bottom left has the playmats for the boys as well as the diaper bag and a few blankets. Then the one on the… -
Of all the things!
28 Jun 2009 | 12:02 pmOf all the recent celeb deaths lately, I think this one hits me the hardest: Billy Mays has died. I can’t believe it! How in the world will people know what to buy from infomercials? Like I’ve said before, I would buy anything Billy Mays pitched. It was the excitement he had about each and every product. He was loud and boisterous. He believed in his product and I believed in Billy Mays. The As Seen On TV world will never be the same. Aloha, Billy Mays. Rest in Peace big guy.
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life from here: musings from the edge
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4 weeks and 13 years
29 Jun 2009 | 5:39 pmTomorrow we will celebrate 13 years of marriage. Yesterday we celebrated 4 weeks of life of this little bundle of light and joy. This year for our anniversary, there will be no lost weekends in Vegas, no European getaways, no fancy dinners out, and no other planned distractions from our ever long six year quest to become parents. There will only be a lot of attention to this little being — which is just what we’ve wanted for a very long time. Lucky 13, eh? -
6 months and 3 weeks later…
21 Jun 2009 | 4:46 pmWow. Thank you all for your extremely kind and generous thoughts, words and good wishes. I seriously can’t thank you enough for every single comment and email over the past few weeks. It took me a while to get through them… The past three weeks have been quite a whirlwind. I’ve been wanting to update to let you know that all is well and we’ve been adjusting to each other and to our new (lack of) sleep pattern. I really don’t know where to begin with just a few minutes to spare. I thought I was an efficient multitasker, but it turns out I’m not. I’ve… -
new home…
4 Jun 2009 | 11:30 am -
words escape me…
1 Jun 2009 | 8:28 pmAn absolutely perfectly beautiful baby girl arrived as the sun rose yesterday morning, surrounded by loved ones and just in time for her due date… We are nearly speechless at what a profoundly moving experience this has been. Let me just say that K is a warrior goddess. I am awed and humbled by how precious this tiny being is. We are still contemplating how much our lives have changed overnight…. Story still to come, when there is time (will there ever be time again?)… Deepest thanks to you all for your incredible support throughout this continuing journey. Stay tuned… -
40 years and 40 weeks
25 May 2009 | 9:44 amThat’s right. A few momentous occasions this week… K finally reached her 40th week of pregnancy! 39w1d today, and her actual due date is Sunday. To say she is beyond ready would be an understatement. We are also as ready as we’re ever going to be. Our bags are packed and we are on standby. Whenever we see K, we talk to Baby, telling Baby how excited we are to meet him/her. K’s joke is that there is much more room on the outside, so come on out! We think (and hope for K’s sake) it could be soon. Really hoping K doesn’t go late. It’s not just that we…
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Maybe If You Just Relax
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Reflux Redux
30 Jun 2009 | 8:00 amAfter my last post, Olivia slept through the night again two nights in a row.Then last night? Our entire house was up at 11:30, 12:40-2, and 4:10. So that was fun.I really do have a point, and it is that I am reaaaaaly tired. And so if this post doesn't make sense, or takes a turn for the bizarre, or ends abruptly? You know why.Milk and/or Soy Protein IntoleranceOlivia has Milk Soy Protein -
Reflux for Dummies
26 Jun 2009 | 10:06 amI had heart burn almost the entire time I was pregnant. It started at 6.5 weeks. I was on vacation, and really thought that I may have caught some sort of Mexican fire breathing disease while on our cruise. After that? I started sleeping in the big comfy chair in our living room. Sitting up like the elephant man. For the next thirty weeks. No amount of Tums Smoothies could tame the fire breathing -
Daycare, Because She Asked So Very Nicely.
23 Jun 2009 | 9:36 amI'm not sure if many of you know this, and maybe this will knock your sox off, but I had a baby and then went back to work 9 weeks later!Crazy!Since this blog has taken a turn toward the Mommy Blog category, it does seem kind of unusual that I didn't post about my return to the land of the gainfully employed. Do you know why?Because it all went down without incident. That's why.But someone asked -
Need Sleep Advice
17 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amWarning: this post will suck and only serves the purpose of me asking for advice for Back Sleep Bootcamp starting tomorrow. I could have posted it earlier, but I am a busy whore.Olivia is on Prevacid and hasn't had any reflux pain episodes in two weeks (YAY!). She is not comfortable in her car seat anymore - this morning I went in her room to find that she scooted her head all the way down by the -
The Happiest Baby on the Block
12 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amThis book could also be called: The Most Sane Mommy on the BlockSeriously? This book should be required reading before you are allowed to leave the hospital with a baby.I'm pretty sure that I was vaguely aware that babies cried sometimes. That is, babies other than mine. My baybee was never going to cry. And if she did? I would need to just pick her up and that would calm her. Other people's
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No Regrets
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Shutting Down and Moving
9 Jun 2009 | 1:04 pmGood Bye, No Regrets.So life has felt slightly extremely out of sorts lately and I need to pull things in a bit to gain some sense of control.I decided it was time to close this blog down and move to a place where I can password protect posts that I'm just not comfortable throwing out to the whole world wide web.I know this kind of stuff is such a pain in the ass, but it's just where I am at today.My new blog is called Shades of Grey and it will be my space to work through my extremely honest, often fragile, and very raw thoughts and emotions. Please be warned that it may not be a feel-good…
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Not like I thought it would be
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bp meeting
24 Jun 2009 | 8:30 amI have been super busy at work and apologize for taking so long to get this post up. I usually blog during down-time at work (bad I know, like you don't do it!). The meeting last week with the BPs went really well. BM and her mom and BF all came. We met in a room at the agency and stayed for about 3 hours. I think everyone enjoyed it.BM and her mom got there and waited with the post adoption case worker, who counseled them about the visit. We got there and got set up in the room, then they were brought down. D0n0 was sitting on a blanket on the floor and we were setting up some snacks we had… -
the boy
17 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pmI have some other posts brewing, but haven't had time to write them.D0n0van started crawling this weekend. That morning he figured out how to go from his belly to sitting and I knew it was only a matter of time. He had been rocking on his knees for a while. His crawling started out pretty awkward and difficult. Three days later he is crawling much farther and faster and less awkward. I figure by the time the week is out, he'll be cruising across the floor like nobody's business.He was a good roller before and could get to what he wanted, but now, he sees what he wants and makes a bee-line for… -
adoption is a verb
4 Jun 2009 | 2:17 pmI can't remember where I read this to give them appropriate credit, but it's been running through my head and I thought I'd put it on here. I once read something talking about using the word "adopted" as a verb rather than an adjective. I think that makes all kind of sense. It's the difference in saying "we adopted our son" instead of "our son is adopted." One phrase is a purposeful action, while the other is a label. I will strive to always use the first.If you're reading this and you know where this idea came from, please remind me. I think it is so relevant and important.Peace! -
quickie
1 Jun 2009 | 9:42 amThank you for your kind comments on my last post. A few of you had questions. You can email me a hope548 at gmail dot com and I'd be happy to answer them.Also, we went to a birthday party this weekend for a friend of a friend. All these people were there with their kids. It's the exact kind of party we wouldn't have attended before we became parents, and it's surreal to attend those types of things now and feel comfortable. The funny thing is that I ended up in a room talking to two other women who have done fertility treatments. They were having this conversation and fertile women in the… -
the bps now
29 May 2009 | 11:25 amI mentioned I would post on our relationship with D0n0's birthparents and how it's changed since placement. I wrote this post yesterday, then hesitated to post it because it is so personal and such a private subject. After I re-read it, I decided it is general and anonymous enough, and I will share it because I trust the people who read and comment on this blog. It's a long one.D0n0's birthparents have the same first initial, so I'll just abbreviate with BM and BF.When we first met, we hit it off really well. We had an easy-going, friendly relationship. They were both about to be high school…
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The Averitt Family
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We're Moving!!
4 Jun 2009 | 8:14 pmWell, I'm sure you are thinking this blog looks the exact same. One of the changes that we decided to make is our blog address. I reserved this new address, months ago. I thought that once we were pregnant, it would be a good time to switch from averittbabyjourney to theaverittfam.blogspot.com. Well the baby is on the way, so it's time to move!! :) I still have some blog buddy addresses to add and things like that, but all in all, we're moved in and ready for you to take a tour!There are a couple of pains with switching to a new blog address. One being...for all of you that have subscribed… -
Change is a-comin'...
2 Jun 2009 | 1:43 pmI had a doctor's appointment today. I am 15w3d. I went ahead and had my yearly while I was there. I didn't realize they still did this when you were pregnant. I don't know why I thought they didn't, just surprised me. Anywho, got that over with and then we moved on to the fun stuff...like hearing our baby's heartbeat! The nurse came in with the doppler. I told her that we had ordered one, so she showed me how to use it properly. The baby's heartbeat went from 144-156 the entire time. She said that was good. I thought it would be fun to put a poll on the blog. Alex and I have our guesses, but… -
Fresh Flowers...
1 Jun 2009 | 3:01 pmToday I blog about something that I love. FLOWERS! Alex was always very thoughtful about sending flowers to my work. He would do it just to surprise me. It was usually for no reason at all that I would receive them and it always made my day! :) Now that I don't work outside of the home, I try and keep them around the house. Especially this time of year. They don't have to be expensive. I actually buy mine at Sam's. My sister finds the prettiest daisies at her Walmart and for practically nothing! Here are a few tips at helping your flowers last longer.1. Check your water level/Change out the… -
ABC's of Me!
31 May 2009 | 3:00 pmFound this on my friend, Faith's blog and just assumed you guys wanted to know a few things about me. :)A - Age: 32B - Bed size: Queen...Alex doesn't like King, he feels like we're sleeping in separate beds. LOLC - Chore you hate: Dusting and cleaning the shower. D - Dog's name: DieselE - Essential start your day item: Cup of coffee w/creamF - Favorite color: Have a few...yellow, tiffany blue, brown, pinkG - Gold or Silver or Platinum: I wear both, but really like silverH - Height: 5'9"I - Instruments you play: None, unfortunately.J - Job title: Housewife, soon to be Mommy!K - Kid(s): The bun… -
Baby Bump...
29 May 2009 | 7:39 pmSo I'm finally posting a baby bump pic. I have been dreading this day. Many have asked me to post one. I guess I've put it off as long as I can. So here you go. When I look at other women that are expecting around the same time as me, they look so much smaller! My stomach never went down after the transfer...it continues to grow and I'm trying my best to embrace that. Alex absolutely loves it. He constantly reminds me that we prayed for this belly, for many years. When I think about that and get over myself and my vanity, I find myself loving it as well. I also think that once I start laying…
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Twice As Nice
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Brag About Friday
19 Jun 2009 | 12:14 pmProfessional Picture time!! Oh.My.Lord. have mercy!! It was the biggest beating of all time. Gary and I were literally sweating when it was over. Tears and bows flew everywhere the whole time. They would not keep bows in! Ugh! But we were pleasantly surprised at the shots that came from the circus that was the session.This is the best one of both of them togetherI then wanted to get them for the back with no clothes on. I think these turned out as good as they could for how the day went.Then I wanted some of them as individuals in different outfits and everything. First of all, Olivia… -
Makes My Monday
15 Jun 2009 | 8:02 amTexas is always a hot spot for tornado weather and other thunderstorms during the Spring and Summer months. Last week we had major rain and thunderstorms with 75 mile per hour winds at one point. A little scary...The fence in between us and the neighbor blew down.The girl's slide went tumbling around the yard.The place where the girl's little pool used to be.Gary says it's in Oz now.The fence across the way from us.Notice how every other one is down.Hmm...strangeSeveral of my herbs were spilled and brokenZachary was kind enough to say, "It's a good thing they were already dead."Dying, Dear. -
Brag About Friday
13 Jun 2009 | 6:30 amI swear I blinked and it's Friday again. We are preparing for the girl's b-day party in a few weeks. We really want a few things to be done before everyone ascends on us. I started painting the entryway and need to finish it. I also painted some samples on the wall in the stairway and need to decide which one to go with, preferably before the party.We are cleaning out Zachary's room and minimizing toys and clothes that are too small. Lord, I am raising a boy that gets emotionally attached to things. Bad? Oh yes. After my divorce I would buy things for Zachary to try to make up for his lack of… -
Giveaway!
6 Jun 2009 | 4:06 pm“Bring Nature to your backyard… win a Nature Station Playhouse ($249.99) at http://www.mommasreview.com and http://www.aordinarylife.com”P.S. Check below for cute videos on Brag About Friday -
Brag About Friday
5 Jun 2009 | 7:34 amYep, it's actually on time this week. I know, a shocker, right?I LOVE this age the girls are in. Love love love it! They are so so much fun to be around and play with. They are starting to understand what we say.Olivia is within a few days of walking. She has taken a few steps on her own, but then falls down. She thinks she can walk now, though. She will just take off and then fall. She is SO close to being able to.When she does try to walk she dances and then falls. She loves music and dances anytime she gets a chance. She puts her hands up and looks like she is doing the twist. I am trying…
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Two Years and Counting
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20 weeks
28 Jun 2009 | 4:30 pmIt’s a girl! We had our 20 week appt on Thursday and found out the news. I have to admit, right when she said “it’s a girl!” my first thought was, “Huh?” I didn’t realize it until right then, but I think I was expecting a boy. But I’ve pretty much settled into the idea of a girl. We’ve told many of our friends and my husband’s parents, but we’re not telling my parents until next weekend when we see them in person. It’s SO hard to talk to my mom on the phone and not tell her! I’ve had to lie through my teeth, telling… -
17 weeks
8 Jun 2009 | 1:27 pmI see I haven’t updated here in a while. Every time I’m on the computer and I think about updating, I wonder what I’ll write about. I think it’s partly the fact that I started this blog as a place to vent frustrations about infertility and connect with others going through the same thing (which proved to be so valuable to me), and now that I’m pregnant, I’m wondering what to write about without making anyone uncomfortable and/or sad…and partly because maybe I’m afraid I’ll jinx all this if I talk about it too much! Seriously, I know how… -
11 weeks
28 Apr 2009 | 6:45 amWe had our first appt with my regular OB on Thursday, and it went really well. I had gotten a bit nervous about the appt, of course, so I was pretty anxious to get there and get the ultrasound. At first, the nurse tried doing it on my belly and couldn’t find anything at all! So she did it vag.inally (I thought I was finished with those!) and found the baby that way. She said my uterus may be tilted back a bit and that’s why it took her a minute to find it (although the nurses at the fert. clinic never had a problem finding it.) Pretty quickly we saw the baby wiggling around, then… -
Pregnancy After Infertility Issues
18 Apr 2009 | 1:01 pmI’ve discovered over the last several weeks as friends have announced their pregnancies that I’m a bit resentful towards those who “just get pregnant.” I’m going to have to start being careful to not let that resentment color how I treat them or think about them. It’s an ugly thing, really, but it pops up when I least expect it. It seems that we hear of someone from our church or someone in our larger circle of people getting pregnant almost every week. When we were struggling to get pregnant, those announcements stung, of course. I figured that stinging… -
9 weeks
9 Apr 2009 | 9:07 amThings are going well here. I had my 9 week appt this morning for an ultrasound and bloodwork. It was actually my last visit to the clinic, and I have mixed feelings about it. I’m excited to be close to being considered “normal” but I’ve gotten very used to the faces I’ve been seeing at the clinic for the last year, especially these last couple of months when I’ve been there a lot. Everyone has told me to prepare myself for very few ultrasounds with the regular obgyn, so I’m savoring what I saw this morning and am looking forward to our 10 week appt…
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Weebles Wobblog
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Readers' favorite posts
6 Jul 2009 | 8:00 amThis post will remain at the top until July 6. See below for recent posts.For my 2 year blogoversary, my readers gave me the most meaningful presents imaginable. They told me which of my posts have made an impression on them.Here are some readers' favorites.Reunion in Open Adoption SeriesPart 1: Considering JoePart 2: Telling TessaPart 3: The horrible waitPart 4: The meetingPart 5: CrashPart 6: -
Show & Tell: Christmas in July?
1 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pmMy Christmas Cactus seems to be chronologically confused...Can Santa be far behind?Maybe botanists have misclassified this specimen. Perhaps it's really the Independence Day Cactus.To see the showings and tellings of the rest of the class, visit Mel's Show & Tell.***Another day, another chance to vote for Weebles Wobblog. Please click on the blue button, scroll down to the Most Inspiring -
Perfect Moment Monday: Squeals
29 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amPerfect Moment Monday is more about noticing a perfect moment than about creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.We gather here once a week to engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Details on how to participate are at the bottom of this post, complete with bloggy bling.Please visit the links of -
Book Tour: The Land of IF
28 Jun 2009 | 7:00 pmLike so many others, I am excited to have read and to discuss Navigating the Land of IF: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options as this selection of the Barren Bi+ches Book Brigade.Why? Two reasons. One: the author is my friend Melissa Ford; and Two: it's a damn good book. My exile on the island of Infertility and my odyssey back to the mainland would have been much more bearable -
Guest post: JJ on Sibling Revelry
26 Jun 2009 | 6:00 am"Real" work calls (the kind that pays, as opposed to blogging) and I'm running a couple of conferences this summer. But to keep my seat warm in my absence, I bring you some of my favorite guest bloggers on Fridays through July. Maybe you already know these amazing writers, and maybe you will find someone new to follow, but either way you are in for a treat.A dash of IUI, peppered with IVF, add a
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Our Family Beginnings
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Vacation, like most days except with sand in your diaper
26 Jun 2009 | 5:38 pmThe last vacation that Mr. Badger and I took was to Aruba in February of last year. We decided not quite last minute to go away, and not Florida. Florida’s easy since my folks inherited the condo at what is basically Del Boca Vista from my mom’s parents. He and I have been down there a few times, and it’s safe, old hat. Don’t get me wrong, we have a blast down there. One of these days I’ll tell you the story of Scoresby, the railer than rail scotch. It’s aged a whopping 90 days! Now that we have Baby Badger, travel takes on a whole new… -
Show & Tell: She Bangs
24 Jun 2009 | 3:52 pmAccording to Mel via Entertainment Weekly or some other tabloid, buns are out, ponytails are 5 minutes ago, and braids are in. As I mentioned on Monday, I decided to give myself bangs. You see, V has taken to pulling my hair, and as such, I’m inclined to just throw it back into a bun. However, when all my hair is off my face, I don’t feel very pretty. For a girl with very curly hair, bangs are a very dicey proposition. Too short, and you get these little curls that are…well…unflattering, and right at the scalp when wet. Too many and you risk, as my mom called it when I… -
Wordless Wednesday: Poopface.
24 Jun 2009 | 4:57 am -
Bringing Home Baby: A list for the Waiting Adoptive Parent
23 Jun 2009 | 8:24 amWhen we finished all of our adoption paperwork, the hard work began. Some may say that the forms are the biggest pain in the ass, but personally, we had no problem filling our our names and addresses a bazillion times. No no, I’m referring to the usual suspect in all of the ALI community: waiting. The difference in waiting with adoption versus pregnancy is that it could be 5 minutes, 5 months, or years before that little person comes into your life. The common struggle I’ve seen in adoption bloggers is how to prepare. It’s not like in “What to Expect…”… -
Perfect Moment Monday: Sometimes it’s the annoyances
22 Jun 2009 | 8:59 amLast week was fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it that went above and beyond the usual, but I was in a mood. No reason, but just everything got under my skin that usually rolls right off. It started with my now like-clockwork period being late. I went around cursing under my breath that I’d be a walking cliche of “See, I knew once you adopted, you’d get pregnant.” Then I GOT my period and had the shittiest cramps I have had in years, of course. I was achy and sore and tired all week in every muscle. Not period crampy, like hit by a mack truck…
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China Adopt Talk
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Review: Toys for bigger kids
2 Jul 2009 | 10:30 amBelow are toys for the Pre-K through elementary school age range. Toys that have stood the test of time in our house - meaning they still get used a great deal, and they still work. I will start with Baby Alive. This is another of those toys the kids like way more than I do. [...] -
Where we are
1 Jul 2009 | 8:16 amWe are probably getting close to the release of the next waiting child list, as we are firmly in the window, with the most likely day being Monday. We are about a week away from opening of the window for the next NSN referrals, but we are still two and a half weeks away from the [...] -
Review: Toys for little ones
30 Jun 2009 | 8:33 amToday’s post is going to be about infant and toddler and pre-k toys. We’ll talk about toys for older kids later. I’ll talk about (and point to) some of my all time favorites. Things both girls adored, and that got (and in some cases still get) a whole lot of play. The Leap Frog table made [...] -
Baby Bargains
29 Jun 2009 | 4:29 amYou’ve seen a bunch of people recommend this book, and I’ll give it a recommendation as well. My next long post is going to be on toys. I’m still working on it, though. For discussion today, let’s talk about how we feed our little ones in a restaurant. When GG was too small to eat restaurant food [...] -
Baby Gear: Car Seats
27 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amI can guarantee that whatever I say about car seats, someone is going to disagree with me on this topic. It can get pretty heated. Before I go any further, let me say that I am not a car seat tech. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a police officer. I’m not a paramedic or EMT. [...]
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Journeywoman
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Still here
16 Jun 2009 | 6:14 pmYes. I'm alive.No, I don't really want to talk about it. Everything is coming together except it isn't and I need to take a bloggy break. See you in July. With luck I'll be a homeowner by then. -
Up--Killing me softly
6 Jun 2009 | 10:05 pmJust came back from seeing Up--Pixar's latest movie. For those who read stuff about the movie, you'll know that the reviews have been amazing. They have all waxed poetic about a four minute interlude where you meet the character of Carl and that of his wife, Ellie. It is beautiful. It hit me like a sucker punch--even though I knew it was coming. You saw it. They couldn't have kids. I bless Pixar for showing in 2 minutes all the emotion I've been dealing with for 8 years. I hate Pixar because they put my emotion out there. -
Thirteen reasons I am for gay marriage
27 May 2009 | 8:12 pmYou all heard the news about Prop 8. A mixed bag. The couples who are married can stay married but no more gay and lesbians are allowed to get married in California. I'm a straight (for the most part) woman married to a straight (for the most part) man. Here are my reasons that I support gay marriage. 1) Misery loves company. While the words are kind of jocular, I mean it. People who are in longstanding committed relationships are able to help others in those same kind of relationships. I have friends in MA who are married and the… -
Boxes packed=2
25 May 2009 | 8:06 pmSo.This weekend we did not see my mother in law. This weekend we did not go away. We were supposed to start packing this weekend and by-Gd we...did. kindasorta.Well we have 2 boxes of books packed. And we went through a hell of a lot of stuff. We now have piles. Piles of books to be given away. Piles of stuff that needs to be shredded. Piles of magazines that need to be recycled. Piles of "tax stuff" that needs to be saved because we might need it. No wonder the Britishism for constipation is piles because our… -
Thirteen people more talented than ANY American Idol
20 May 2009 | 8:24 pmSo another season of American Idol has ended. And there are people thinking that one man has been robbed. Personally, I think America has been robbed. They only look at the young and the beautiful. If anyone saw Susan Boyle--they know that those two don't always go together. Sometimes they do, and sometimes people become attractive to others because of their talent. Anyway here is my list of thirteen people more talented than any American Idol. I'm certain you know who my first four will be. 1) John Lennon2) Paul…
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The Sweet Life
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It seems luck is never on our side
2 Jul 2009 | 1:14 amMax didn't qualify for the Cancer clinical trial.Fuck. This news is so upsetting. I know there was a chance that he may end up with the placebo but at least he was in with a freakin' chance ! Now even that has been taken away.We don't know what plan B is, if there is a plan B.It sux ! It's just not fair. -
A Vent an OB and a Decision.
30 Jun 2009 | 5:26 pmWarning a vent ahead.....Why am I losing sleep over Max's dad, he is a dickhead. I shouldn't even be thinking of him but he shits me and it bothers me. Max sent him a birthday card a couple of weeks ago and after he received it he sent Max a text message back saying thank you and hopefully we can talk soon. What the F ? Why didn't he just pick up the phone there and then ? Why a text message, something so impersonal. His step mum called a few weeks prior to that and left a message on my mobile, saying "oh we haven't had any updates for a while please call us and let us know." Something along… -
Learning & Laughing
28 Jun 2009 | 12:45 amIt has been a very busy weekend. Starting with a breastfeeding class on Saturday morning. Max was a bit concerned on the drive there, he suddenly realised that he may be the only guy in the class. Partners were welcome and the program covered how partners can help out with breastfeeding. I reassured him there would be others and it didn't matter if there weren't because he was the one that was interested. We held a life size baby doll to learn different positions etc. It was so cute to see Max handling a "baby" I have never seen him hold a real baby before, no doubt it would be different for… -
Getting the word out.
25 Jun 2009 | 5:10 pmI have been looking for a fundraiser that raises funds specifically for Leiomyos@rcoma (LMS) in Australia but there is nothing specific. I thought about starting one myself but I just don't have the time nor the energy at the moment, but it maybe something I will look into in the future.I would also love to educate people on this rare form of cancer, especially in Australia. We just don't have the same information available or community like they do in the USA. They are have Sarcoma Centres in the USA that focus on Sarcomas only. Sarcomas is the name of the group of Cancers that LMS falls… -
Weight, shopping and surprises.
21 Jun 2009 | 8:01 pmI weighed myself yesterday and was pleasantly surprised I have put on 2.2 kg. At my last scan Doudou weighed 1.2kg and I am sure he has put on at least another 200 grams since then which means I have only put on approx 800grams ( that is approx 1.76 pounds for my non metric friends) So I am pretty happy to have reached almost 31 weeks and put on so little because I am already very overweight and really can't afford to put on too much excess. The truth is I just can't eat much which is a great thing ! I get very full quite quickly and if I over eat I just feel really uncomfortable and it's…
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Bee in the Bonnet
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Nederlands, the last(-minute)!
30 Jun 2009 | 10:47 pmWe catch our cab in about an hour and a half to go to the airport. Our flight leaves at noon-ish Europe time, and lands at 6:00 p.m. EST- if only the flight really were only six hours, but alas, it is more like 12 with the plane change at Dulles. So that means that we'll land somewhere around midnight Europe time and be all wonky confused about the whole "night-is-dark" thing for a while. Nevertheless, I have stories to tell on my return. I got to meet Rachel, JD and the wee fusspot yesterday evening (from Long Distance Infertility), and she is even *more* charming and funny and interesting… -
Nederlands, the first!
28 Jun 2009 | 12:28 pmWow! Twice in one day! Just a quick update to let you guys know that the first pictures are up from the Amsterdam trip, if you're curious. You can see them here: Kate's Germany Pictures. Tomorrow, we plan to go to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, and maybe take a canal tour (I'm trying to convince H to do both a regular boat tour AND a "canal bike"- aka paddleboat- tour. We'll see...). Unfortunately, I am all old and grumpy-like, and thus have no interest whatsoever in visiting a "coffee" shop. It's just not my thing. Fortunately, despite rumors to the contrary, there is a shit ton to… -
Goodbye, Germany!
28 Jun 2009 | 12:22 amIn a few hours, we leave here to go to Bentheim (the first place we went where we saw the Count's castle), where we will take the train to Amsterdam. Actually, techincally, we take the train to a tiny city in the suburbs of Amsterdam and get off there and book our remaining leg into the city center. (Apparently, everyone has to get off the train there, and our connecting train would have given us only 4 minutes between trains, which, with two people, four carryons, and four very overloaded suitcases, will not work. So, we get off, wait a bit and book our next train.)Anyhow, lest I waste my… -
The Scenario Yo
26 Jun 2009 | 7:58 amMichael Jackson is dead. Farrah Fawcett is dead. Celebrity deaths come in threes- shall we count the marriage of Jon and Kate as the third, or do we wait for a literal death? Surreal. Very surreal. Pardon my grammar/usage/spelling right now. I am under the spell of a powerful narc.otic, which I finally broke down and took this afternoon when the broken butthole got the best of me. I really need to have surgery to fix this issue. I has gotten to the point that I really can't ignore it any longer. I felt such relief this afternoon when the painkiller hit me, and I realized then how long it had… -
News from Abroad
25 Jun 2009 | 3:47 amI know, I know. You guys are all dying to hear more details about the neverending ("marathon, snail-trail, death-march" would be what my friend, M, would say. M is the most shockingly attractive, incredibly dashingly handsome man I know who also happens to be right around 5'3" tall. He's like Prince. I'd just tuck that man right in to my shirt-pocket! Mmmm. Wll, except that I'm married, that is. And M is decidedly just a friend and I haven't seen him in, like, six years now, but I digress...) Germany trip, but this morning, H got some awesome news.The tenure-track position that was, and then…
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Sarah Solitaire
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Optimism
1 Jul 2009 | 8:06 amI have this feeling that July is going to be a good month. I hope it is!My horoscope is pretty darn stellar, I've got a lottery ticket sitting in my purse that I'm putting a lot of hope in, I have been feeling fit and healthy, and I just changed my hair style (I've gone straight). And I got that appraising "look" from a guy in the supermarket the other day. You know, the "you're kind of a foxy lady and I want you to know it" type look. I haven't had that look in, like forever, so it was a bit of an ego boost. I think it was the new hairdo, as I've been walking around with a frizzy bird's nest… -
Fibro and all that jazz
26 Jun 2009 | 8:10 amSS said...Hi- I am curious about you saying you had fibromyalgia- do you no longer have it? My sisters suffer from this condition and with the limited medication available even with a good rheumatologist they've had trouble controlling it. Were you able to do this through acupuncture or diet? Did you have positive ANA titer? Just curious- good luck with the diet changes. They tried a million of those to no avail.Ah, yes, well, the fibro issue. OK, so I never got a real diagnosis from a rheumatologist or an MD. Usually I hesitate before mentioning anything about fibro because it all seems a… -
A food thing
23 Jun 2009 | 6:53 amI am all better now, by the way. It was a 24-hour bug thingie, so I was actually feeling pretty tip-top by about 5pm on Friday. Weird.Anyway, I wanted to write about food. And specifically whether it contributes to infertility. My aunt has been diagnosed with some gluten intolerance issue within the last year, and she's lately been reading a book all about it, and called me up in a lather. She said she kept thinking of me as she read how gluten intolerance could cause infertility, lead to weight gain, fibromyalgia, fatigue, etc, etc, all things that I have had. Now, personally, I think I got… -
To work or not to work?
19 Jun 2009 | 5:23 amThat is the question of the hour. It's 8.23am. I have not exercised, not showered, not dressed. Not gone to work. I am debating going to work. Endlessly it seems.Yesterday, I skipped my first school class. I started feeling very flu-ish, and thought I might be prone to throwing up as I was feeling distinctly nauseous. I'd already had a bout of diarrhea seemingly out of the blue before leaving home, and didn't like the thought of having to make a mad dash for the school bathrooms. My head felt hot, my throat was sore, and I started coughing and sniffling. There's been something going around… -
I gots da hot hands
12 Jun 2009 | 8:18 amOne of the things I have been doing since starting school is qi gong. If you don't know it, it's like tai chi - well, one of our professors says that tai chi is a form of qi gong. I did it sporadically last semester, but this semester I committed to doing it every single day, because we were told that to really reap the benefits you need to do it for 100 days (the Chinese are big on this 100 days thing - take herbs for 100 days, do qi gong for 100 days, do anything for 100 days). I just spend 5 minutes a day on 8 simple, slow exercises.And I have to say, there's something about the…
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Infertility SUCKS!
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The Return of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Girl
1 Jul 2009 | 10:22 amSo, I've been thinking a lot about this upcoming cycle lately. I don't know-call me a little crazy-but, I'm actually looking forward to it, in a sick and sort of stick-sharp-objects-in-your-body kind of way. However, there is one thing that I seriously need to do before we move forward.Lose weight. Because, OH MY GOD, I can't stand the way I look right now. And it's not going to get any better once we add meds to the mix. I've gained about 10-12 pounds in the last year, and that's not counting the fact that I was 15-20 pounds overweight to begin with. So, that means that I've gained a total… -
Potpourri
21 Jun 2009 | 8:52 pmWow, I had NO idea that I haven't updated in four months!I guess it's official-I am a total slacker when it comes to blogging lately. However, I'm discovering that "itch" to blog again, because I'm feeling a need to express myself here. I feel as if I can truly say what I feel, without having to explain why I feel that way. I don't need to make it all flowery and pretty and worry about not offending someone if I don't say it the "correct" way. Because, let's face it....that's not really me.So.....what's been going on here? Sheesh, where do I begin?School's out, as of this past Thursday. Let… -
The "All-Naturale" Approach
16 Feb 2009 | 6:10 pmSince I'm not cycling right now, it's a bit weird blogging....I mean, what is there to write about? I'm not hormonal or bloated (not counting the FAT that's accumulated around my middle again...sheesh), shooting up fertility meds or massaging the Strawberry Shortcake-bandaided-covered lumps of progesterone on my ass. Oh, wait.....not yet, at least. That fun is coming soon enoughIt makes life rather boring, in a sick, demented sort of way.So, I've been going for weekly acupuncture for almost a year now, and this time around the acu has also prescribed me some Chinese herbs to "help" things… -
Catharsis
15 Feb 2009 | 3:15 pmSo.....it's been exactly a month since I've posted.It's been a tough month.First of all, thank you all so much for your kind words. The whole ordeal with Buddy left such a void within me. It hits me at certain times-if I'm snuggled up relaxing on the couch and realizing that there's no kitty to jump into my lap, or in the mornings. Some days are easier than others, but I'm still plodding along.Sean and I hit a breaking point a few weeks ago with this whole IF bullshit. We've both felt a disconnect in our marriage for a while now, and difficulty communicating with one another, physically,… -
Goodbye, Handsome Boy
16 Jan 2009 | 7:26 pmOn Wednesday, we had to make the hardest decision that we've yet to make in our marriage.We had to let Buddy go.It was agonizing to make-but realistically, we knew that it was the best choice, that we were being selfish if we didn't go through with it. Since Saturday, he had gone downhill-he was barely eating....all he wanted was water, and would barely drink any.He was also starting to have difficulty going up and down the stairs, and was so lethargic. He urinated on the bed several times (a few times in his sleep) in the middle of the night and didn't bother to clean himself afterward.
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Forever Reaching
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Anniversaries
29 Jun 2009 | 10:08 amNYC Pride 2009 was absolutely great but man oh man I am not a fit woman. I was wasted by the end of the evening and pushed myself way too hard to the point that I became sick. At a busy street. Sorry tree. It took my back to past Prides where I spent the wee hours of the morning dehydrated, dry heaving after another night of drinking and drugging. But that’s not my life anymore. It hasn’t been since June 29 1997. 12 years ago I was taken to a meeting, dirty, hungover and began my road to a life while not perfect I would not trade for anything in the world. Saturday Mikey and I… -
When
25 Jun 2009 | 3:05 pmSomewhere around July 18th, start the prayers/thoughts/candle burning/animal sacrifices (kidding). I predict that will be my next CD1 in which I will go into Alma Mater Clinic and begin IVF the Third. And my donate buttons are still up there for any help you can give Thanks -
Decision
20 Jun 2009 | 5:42 pmI woke up this morning and as I tried to get ready to go for the bloodwork I had an epiphany: I don’t like Big Clinic the location is crap from work and home the doctor was nice but so pessimistic EPP isn’t the miracle protocol. Monday I call Alma Mater Clinic and ask them if we can start in my July cycle then I went back to sleep till 11am. -
Repost
18 Jun 2009 | 9:15 pmrepost from http://one-hoopy-frood.livejournal.com/10678.html If you are reading this right now, you have more luxury than someone in Iran could ever hope for right now. If you are watching TV or a video on youtube, updating your status on Facebook, Tweeting, or even texting your friend, you are lucky. If you are safe in your home, and were able to sleep last night without the sounds of screaming from the rooftops, you need to know and understand what is happening to people just like you in Iran right now. They are not the enemy. They are a people whose election has been stolen. For the first… -
Repost
18 Jun 2009 | 9:11 pmi realize now i do not fear death… i fear my daughter will not be free when i die - From the Twitter of an Iranian medical student “If it bothers you so much, then why don’t you stop watching?” seems to be the question of the last few days from my friends and family who know how invested I have become in the cause of the Iranian people (as I have explained in great detail here) The answer is simple: one day of caring is not enough. We must be the voice for the people of Iran who would otherwise be silenced. They are without reliable news sources, they are without…
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LesbianFamily.org
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Ch-Ch-Changes
14 Jun 2009 | 8:03 pmI have been on a tidying binge around here, starting with the more time-sensitive TTC category. Also deleted a bunch of blogs that for whatever reason, no longer existed, or hadn’t been updated since 2007. I hope wherever you are, my friends, it’s a good place. Moving from TTC - Expecting: …two wives and a boarder marker… Amy and Melissa baby toes baby.fatty Hatchling L’Dor Va Dor- From Generation to Generation My Pen Ran Out puffer and the baby fish Reproducing Genius Moving from TTC - Babies (sorry about that, ladies & congrats! ETA: Sorry that we, um… -
Pride
14 Jun 2009 | 5:34 pmP’ito tells the New York State Senate what he thinks This was the first time I have been at Pride with my kid, and it was so different. Different from going as a non-parent, different from my expectations… When we were TTC and then waiting for P’ito to come home, I watched the families with kids with pride and a hefty side dish of envy. I wanted what they had and I wanted it NOW. I had this vision of us all walking along, holding hands as a family, with the local lgbt families group… and instead it felt a little bit like herding cats. At the same time, I was free… -
“I now pronounce you spouses for life. You may kiss.”
8 Jun 2009 | 12:27 amOur gals from Hydrangeas Are Pretty, Shelli and Narda, got official in Connecticut, with mega-adorable Noah Matan getting a ringside seat. Malka is reclining on the step behind them. You know, with slight changes in the scenery, this is pretty much exactly like what unfolded for my beloved and me on the other side of the country (geographically and politically speaking) last July. Little boy child in arms, girl child blazé on the steps behind. Much love and hearty congratulations to an old couple knee-deep in kids. New additions and updates await posting here at LesbianFamily, and… -
Family love
28 May 2009 | 1:46 amSamantha O’Connell, Angie Matt, and their son Henry O’Connell, at the rally in San Francisco following the California Supreme Court’s upholding of Prop 8. Clearly, no one can vote or rule our love away. State by state, coast to coast, that’s what’s going to keep us going. -
Happy Day to You
10 May 2009 | 10:45 amLesbian mothers, lesbians with mothers, mothers with lesbians, family with lesbians or mothers in ‘em, past, current, future, and hoped-for: love to you all.
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Apron Strings for Emily
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Hips *DO* Lie
27 Jun 2009 | 5:35 pmIt’s been hot lately in Chicago. I mean, I’m not complaining. Considering how just a few months ago I was complaining how frickin’ cold it was outside. Now that Hubby’s here with me permanently, I have to admit that I’ve been using him (and our car) as my primary means to get to work. Because sometimes getting to work in a sweltery mess (when I’m supposed to be lookin’ all professional and sh*t) is not always a pleasant thing. Yeah … like I’ve always said. I don’t “glisten” like most women do. I down and out sweat. Like a… -
Emily Goes Stalkerazzi
18 Jun 2009 | 8:59 pmOh yes. The day has come. The day where Emily takes being a fan to another level. And becomes a fanatic. But d*mn, was it worth it! Let me paint the picture. As I’m busy at work earlier in the morning, preparing for a day chalk-ful of meetings and more meetings, I receive a phone call from Hubby. “I know where you need to be later tonite,” Hubby tells me. And as I question him why, he tells me, “You need to be at the AMC River East tonite.” “Because … ??” “Because it’s the premiere of ‘Public Enemies‘ and Johnny Depp and… -
Pot & Kettle? Both Black …
17 Jun 2009 | 8:32 pm… And typically both cast iron, too. Okay, I so hope that no one goes all Omarosa on me for bringing up that idiom. Which is funny, because I always found that saying rather silly. Well, until recently anyway. Last week, for lack of better words, was pure H*LL at work. It was one of those weeks where anything I tried to do seemed to backfire on me. And it all came to a head on Wednesday. Without going into too much detail, I was “disciplined” in a way that I thought was unfair and uncalled for. Given that I’ve been in the position I’ve been in for a little over 5… -
Quickly …
12 Jun 2009 | 7:36 am(Okay, so when do I ever do anything quickly.) Wednesday’s post was vague at best … and quite abrupt, given my new “zen” attitude I was supposed to take on. Let’s just say this past Tuesday and Wednesday the sh*t hit the fan at work. And without going into major details, the situation has literally forced me to question whether I should run back to Detroit with my tail between my legs. And that’s the fourth time I’ve had that thought now in the past 6 weeks. So that’s why I asked God for inner strength. But thanks to your thoughts, your prayers,… -
Spirit, Strength and Peace
10 Jun 2009 | 9:33 pmDear God, I haven’t asked much for myself over the past so many years. In fact … if I had to pinpoint a moment in time that I stopped requesting anything from You, it would be the same day I was so angry at You for not giving me the one thing in life that I prayed the hardest for. The one thing in my life that I wanted to experience the most. I stopped asking at that point, not because I didn’t believe in You. Or that I didn’t think You loved me. I stopped asking because, quite honestly, I just wanted to stop feeling disappointed in myself all the time. You see, I have…
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Maybe If You Just Relax
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Reflux Redux
30 Jun 2009 | 8:00 amAfter my last post, Olivia slept through the night again two nights in a row.Then last night? Our entire house was up at 11:30, 12:40-2, and 4:10. So that was fun.I really do have a point, and it is that I am reaaaaaly tired. And so if this post doesn't make sense, or takes a turn for the bizarre, or ends abruptly? You know why.Milk and/or Soy Protein IntoleranceOlivia has Milk Soy Protein -
Reflux for Dummies
26 Jun 2009 | 10:06 amI had heart burn almost the entire time I was pregnant. It started at 6.5 weeks. I was on vacation, and really thought that I may have caught some sort of Mexican fire breathing disease while on our cruise. After that? I started sleeping in the big comfy chair in our living room. Sitting up like the elephant man. For the next thirty weeks. No amount of Tums Smoothies could tame the fire breathing -
Daycare, Because She Asked So Very Nicely.
23 Jun 2009 | 9:36 amI'm not sure if many of you know this, and maybe this will knock your sox off, but I had a baby and then went back to work 9 weeks later!Crazy!Since this blog has taken a turn toward the Mommy Blog category, it does seem kind of unusual that I didn't post about my return to the land of the gainfully employed. Do you know why?Because it all went down without incident. That's why.But someone asked -
Need Sleep Advice
17 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amWarning: this post will suck and only serves the purpose of me asking for advice for Back Sleep Bootcamp starting tomorrow. I could have posted it earlier, but I am a busy whore.Olivia is on Prevacid and hasn't had any reflux pain episodes in two weeks (YAY!). She is not comfortable in her car seat anymore - this morning I went in her room to find that she scooted her head all the way down by the -
The Happiest Baby on the Block
12 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amThis book could also be called: The Most Sane Mommy on the BlockSeriously? This book should be required reading before you are allowed to leave the hospital with a baby.I'm pretty sure that I was vaguely aware that babies cried sometimes. That is, babies other than mine. My baybee was never going to cry. And if she did? I would need to just pick her up and that would calm her. Other people's
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glow in the woods
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tough as nails
2 Jul 2009 | 1:35 pmTwo weeks after we lost Sadie we were dealt another blow that at the time was inconceivable in the cruelty of its timing. Out of respect for my husband's privacy I won't go into detail here, but the short story involves a sudden and intense health scare that led us to believe that he had a potentially terminal illness. I am not totally sure how I got through those weeks considering my fragile state to begin with. Actually, that's a bit of a lie. My baby was dead and some wackjob doctor had just told us my husband would be next. The truth is I was higher than a kite, 99% of the time. Between… -
social quotient
25 Jun 2009 | 12:00 pmReaching Out by jmtimages If there is such a thing as social quotient, I score rather low on that. I am probably in the 5th percentile or something like that. Back in school, on the last day of the final examinations, hordes of students would surge to town, pouring into theatres to watch a movie, or combing the malls for retail therapy after weeks of study (and performance) stress. I went to the second-hand bookstore, lugged home a pile of novels, curled up and read. I have always been the rather (in)famous anti-social bird. After Ferdinand died, my social quotient plunged. Crashed. -
glow in the woods awards: spring 2009
24 Jun 2009 | 8:00 amIt's not just the life and work of this man that has us wanting to consider the unique loss of medical termination this season at Glow. It's the words of Aleina of Letters to Layla. In her post I love my baby no matter what, Aleina reminds us of the weight of what seems to be a 'decision' -- a weight that many of us NICU parents can relate to, having had to face the sudden, counter-intuitive quiet of a ventilator. But as Aleina writes, the word 'decision' tends to work best when applied to a situation with at least two, if not a variety, of choices. And when it comes to the… -
when mama cries
22 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amwww.flamingpear.com I do remember my mother crying. I don’t know whether she cried more than most women. She just seemed more comfortable doing it, less reserved, unapologetic. I do remember her crying, and I never really thought there was anything wrong with it. I think it is my mother I have to thank for the ease I have always had releasing my own tears. I do remember worrying, though, especially when her melancholy would carry on for a while. When she felt blue. When she would spend quiet time with herself, caring for the plants in our garden, rather than engaging with my sister and… -
from our side
16 Jun 2009 | 7:05 amLate for work, late to bed, dishes in the sink, beer bottles strewn through the house like a breadcrumb trail to my evening flameout is how I roll. How about you? I was ready to start complaining about how tough it was to work after being up all night with that little bugger screaming my sleep away. I was ready to become a machine calibrated only for the mom/baby show to shine. Instead, now, I'm part therapist, part rock, part disaster, part ogre. But in the end I can only do so much. No matter what, I'm still something of a spectator to the deep well of grief that my wife inhabits. She can't…
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Infertility on the Brain!
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Still Nothing
30 Jun 2009 | 9:04 amOK, so I had my final ultrasound. It looked about the same as the one on Friday, big black blobby thing with a ring (yolk sac) in it. No fetal pole. I got the other doctor who took lots of measurements. None of that 10 second wanding thing the other doctor does, but I guess if you've been doing ultrasound for probably 30 or 40 years, you know an empty sac when you see one.We sat in the office and talked for a while afterwards. This was more of the instructions for miscarriage meeting, but I got some WTF meeting-type info too.I'm gonna go ahead and do the misoprostol on Friday, because I have… -
Deja Vu
26 Jun 2009 | 9:25 amNo fetal pole.R.E. is 95% sure the pregnancy will fail. Repeat ultrasound on Tuesday. Stop reading now if you don't want to hear me feel sorry for myself and vent and complain and cuss and moan. What is there to say, really? CLEARLY something is wrong with me, and I want answers. It's so fucked up that I can get this far and then EXACTLY like the last time in January, be let down. What an emotional and physical and financial toll this has been, and for FUCKING NOTHING but heartache and despair!!! I must have been some horrible, awful person in a past life to deserve this. I know that's… -
Too Soon?
22 Jun 2009 | 9:06 amI have to go back on Friday for another ultrasound. The RE says it's too soon to tell. He saw, I guess, a gestational sac and a yolk sac. I think that's what it was, the big dark blob with the white ring inside of it. But there was no definite baby or heartbeat. I asked him isn't there usually a heartbeat by now, 6w3days and he said, "more often than not, but sometimes it takes longer to show up."Seems like a repeat of January at this point, except in January he was talking misoprostol already and this time he seemed a tad more optimistic. Perhaps because he knows I've been through this… -
Dear Internets
20 Jun 2009 | 10:30 amI'm totally freaking out now! Ultrasound is on Monday. Right now, not feeling optimistic. After all of the crap I've been though, can you blame me for not believing that something good could happen from all of this?Please keep us in your prayers, thoughts, or whatever type of well wishes, good vibes, and positive thoughts you have--that there's a healthy baby in there, developing on time with a heartbeat. I think that day in January when we went in all blazin for the ultrasound and there was no heartbeat will haunt me forever. Please God, let me not have to relive that!!! -
Five More Sleeps
17 Jun 2009 | 7:54 amI. hate. waiting!!! So I will entertain myself by blogging some randomness... Now that makes you want to dive in and read, right? Sounds all juicy! (detect sarcasm)I went to get my blood drawn to check my thyroid on Monday. I got down on my hands and knees and begged for an HCG, but the nurses smacked me and said heck no! I had to go to the stupid slumfest (outsourced?) lab where I got all of my recurrent pregnancy testing done. Because, Anthem Healthkeepers insurance is cheap and evil! Not a good memory. I have my monitoring appointment with my regular endocrinologist tomorrow. I'm…
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life from here: musings from the edge
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4 weeks and 13 years
29 Jun 2009 | 5:39 pmTomorrow we will celebrate 13 years of marriage. Yesterday we celebrated 4 weeks of life of this little bundle of light and joy. This year for our anniversary, there will be no lost weekends in Vegas, no European getaways, no fancy dinners out, and no other planned distractions from our ever long six year quest to become parents. There will only be a lot of attention to this little being — which is just what we’ve wanted for a very long time. Lucky 13, eh? -
6 months and 3 weeks later…
21 Jun 2009 | 4:46 pmWow. Thank you all for your extremely kind and generous thoughts, words and good wishes. I seriously can’t thank you enough for every single comment and email over the past few weeks. It took me a while to get through them… The past three weeks have been quite a whirlwind. I’ve been wanting to update to let you know that all is well and we’ve been adjusting to each other and to our new (lack of) sleep pattern. I really don’t know where to begin with just a few minutes to spare. I thought I was an efficient multitasker, but it turns out I’m not. I’ve… -
new home…
4 Jun 2009 | 11:30 am -
words escape me…
1 Jun 2009 | 8:28 pmAn absolutely perfectly beautiful baby girl arrived as the sun rose yesterday morning, surrounded by loved ones and just in time for her due date… We are nearly speechless at what a profoundly moving experience this has been. Let me just say that K is a warrior goddess. I am awed and humbled by how precious this tiny being is. We are still contemplating how much our lives have changed overnight…. Story still to come, when there is time (will there ever be time again?)… Deepest thanks to you all for your incredible support throughout this continuing journey. Stay tuned… -
40 years and 40 weeks
25 May 2009 | 9:44 amThat’s right. A few momentous occasions this week… K finally reached her 40th week of pregnancy! 39w1d today, and her actual due date is Sunday. To say she is beyond ready would be an understatement. We are also as ready as we’re ever going to be. Our bags are packed and we are on standby. Whenever we see K, we talk to Baby, telling Baby how excited we are to meet him/her. K’s joke is that there is much more room on the outside, so come on out! We think (and hope for K’s sake) it could be soon. Really hoping K doesn’t go late. It’s not just that we…
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Miss E's Musings
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American girls
25 Jun 2009 | 7:41 amI can't believe that next weekend is the 4th. I'd better run to Old Navy and buy my foreign-made $5 T-shirt emblazoned with a flag and "2009," which means it will be hopelessly out of date next year. That's the good American way! Sarcasm aside, I do love Independence Day. When I was a kid, we always had a pool party and cook-out at my uncle's house. To me, the holiday is the feel of warm, wet concrete on bare feet; hot dogs and burgers sizzling on a grill; the echo of a basketball hitting the driveway; the blast of cold… -
7 months (just pics)
17 Jun 2009 | 3:09 pm -
Bookshelf confessionals
11 Jun 2009 | 6:58 amI have been in love 3 times. The first was in high school and was my first brush with actual requited love, backroads makeout sessions (the sheer number of deserted farm lanes is a great thing about the Midwest), and, inevitably, with heartbreak. Cue Taylor Swift's "Fifteen": "When all you wanted was to be wanted."The second was a guy in college, junior year. I met him at a party at his apartment; we traded a couple of flirty emails and talked about going to a party the next weekend; it never happened. Later I heard that he was seeing… -
7 months
5 Jun 2009 | 7:13 amTomorrow the girls will be 7 months old. It's been awhile since I wrote much about the girls' individual, unfolding personalities. The reason is that I'm unexpectedly reticent to put much of their lives on the Internet. Blogging has its consequences, one of which is the loss of privacy. I'm not sure that this next generation will thank the mommy bloggers. I've been thinking about a post Krissy wrote for How Do You Do It?, in which she asked "at what point does [blogging] cross the line?" and whether the next generation will say… -
Lovely lady lumps
3 Jun 2009 | 5:48 amYesterday I had a breast ultrasound to investigate some postpartum changes in my breast structure. The mammography and breast ultrasound department was already familiar to me, as it was right across the hall from the perinatal ultrasound department. Everything is just fine. There were no lumps, nor anything suspicious. The radiologists said that I have very dense breasts and they probably have significantly changed since giving birth (i.e., shrunk!) and so my ribs and the attaching muscles are probably more prominent. One doctor -- a very young woman, whose…
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my sanctuary
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Reproductive Jeans
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Sibling Rivalry
26 Jun 2009 | 1:37 pmToday, I have the great honor to be writing a guest post for the lovely, Lavender Luz on her blog, Weebles Wobblog .When she extended the opportunity to write on her inspiring blog, I jumped at the opportunity--and knew it was the perfect time to bring some feelings to the surface that have been boiling for a while.I'd love it if you did a hop-skip-and-a-jump over to read all about: Sibling Rivalry. -
Wordless Wednesday: Grateful
24 Jun 2009 | 6:59 amWow, so many words I could say about today's Wordless Wednesday post....being grateful. A year ago today (at approx 11:34 am) I heard the words I had been longing to hear for soooo long: "Congratulations, JJ...you are pregnant."When the call came in from my RE's office, I let it go to voice mail. I have re-saved, and re-saved that message all year long--and its still there. I will need to play it and record it somewhere else eventually, but I listen to it EVERY TIME the little prompt says: "This voice mail will be deleted if you do not resave."The lovely, kind-hearted, Suzy sent me the desk… -
Tweety Delivery!
22 Jun 2009 | 6:20 pmLast half of drive home was comical. Dog crate almost fell off roof, I almost hit someone, and Oman screamed bloddy murder. NEED COFFEE! Time for staff meeting. This should be fun... How do you prioritize when the wee-one naps? E-mail, laundry, projects, bills, exercise, shower? Still searching for good time management.Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter -
Tweety Delivery!
21 Jun 2009 | 6:20 pmHappy Father's Day to Mook-the Oman and I love you very much! Back on the road today. Home again, home again jiggity-jig... Convo topic on the car ride home: investing for Oman's future. Anyone have suggestions/ideas to share? Another pit stop at the in laws and I just saw the Harry Potter trailer...Im getting so excited!!Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter -
Tweety Delivery!
20 Jun 2009 | 6:20 pmToe is not broken, but chipped. In my opinion, it hurts and sucks just as much, cause there is nothing I can do but wait it out. Headed to the #Salty Dog Cafe! twitpic.com/7wywt - Mmm salty margarita at Salty DogAutomatically shipped by LoudTwitter
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Sell Crazy Someplace Else
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At Zero
30 Jun 2009 | 1:29 pmWent in for blood work today and beta hcg is down to zero. The blood work merely confirmed what I thought already, given that the bleeding had stopped by Saturday. We're cleared to start dIUI #2 as soon as I start my next cycle.JD and I have been working to be happy, with ourselves and each other. Our joint therapy session on Sunday was somewhat traumatic for me. I felt that both therapists were ganging up on me, either blaming me for JD's behavior or saying that I was elevating it due to the grief from the miscarriage and the pregnancy hormones, OR somehow saying that I wasn't really… -
Honest Scrap
25 Jun 2009 | 2:06 pmI've been awarded Honest Scrap by a few wonderful bloggers, but never got around to remarking on it before. In any event, thank you for this honor.Rules for the Award:1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs you find brilliant in content or design.2. Show the 7 winners' names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they have won the Honest Scrap award.3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself I'm awarding Honest Scrap to... Run Amok AmokBecoming WholeMoJo WorkingBaby BoundTales from My Dusty OvariesThe Angry InfertileNavigating the Maze Honest things about me: 1. I love… -
Unsaid
23 Jun 2009 | 1:25 pmI've tried to update several times the last few days, but found myself at a loss for words. I'm OK, I think.I was passing some small clots throughout the weekend, but didn't begin "actively miscarrying" (as I'm calling it) until Sunday night. The cramps have been very bad, but as long as I stay on top of the Advil dose, I can live through it. Very heavy flow and lots of clots. My nurse said to expect that, so I haven't been worrying.My beta is going down faster and faster. From a high of 160 to 149 (Friday) to 136 (Sunday) to 99.8 (today). Since it's moving down the way that it is supposed… -
Decreasing
19 Jun 2009 | 7:44 amJD and I made it to our appointment this morning with no incidents. The only thing that showed up on the ultrasound was a blood clot. So, we were just in a wait and see till my blood work came back.My nurse just called and said that my number has started going down on its own, from 160 on Tuesday to 149 today. I'm glad. I much preferred my body to handle this naturally rather than having to go through intervention.Given the strong cramping that I've been feeling for the past two days, it's likely that I'll begin my period soon.I'm doing OK. The tears sneak up on me every one in a while, but… -
Accomplishments
18 Jun 2009 | 6:16 amFirst, thank you so much for your comments and caring. Your notes truly get me through my days and I turn back to them again and again.I got a lot accomplished last night and this morning so I thought I'd write it down, not to brag, just to remember that I can accomplish lots when I try.Last night I:-Created a new "intention" - telling the baby "You can go if you need to go. You don't have to stay because I want you to stay. You can go if you need to go. I'm letting you go. I love you." Concentrated on my intention several times during the evening and before bed.-Cleared the table after…
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Outlandish Notions
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Squeee
28 Jun 2009 | 10:42 amManly was able to feel the baby Friday night, right after we got into bed Come on, Tuesday… Posted in brought to you by the letter "p" -
Little voice
25 Jun 2009 | 6:55 pmManly’s grandfather passed away two weekends ago. I never actually got to know him; he had Alzheimers, and it was already fairly advanced when we met. I think he spoke to me once, but I could always tell that he never really grasped who I was and why I was there. Almost all of Manly’s family came to town, and I can’t begin to describe how happy it makes all of them that I’m pregnant. They are 2nd/3rd generation Americans, and many of their values are still traditional Italian values — big families, lots of babies, lots of food, and good red wine are… -
Short and to the point.
13 Jun 2009 | 11:32 amFuck the penguins. Posted in Uncategorized -
Random bits of thoughts
9 Jun 2009 | 5:16 pmI had my “16″ week appointment last week at 17w2d. I had (at that point) gained 5 lb, my blood pressure was fine, and the baby’s heartbeat a lovely 158 bpm. I’m set for an ultrasound and my “20″ week appointment at the end of June, when I’ll actually be a little over 21 weeks. I think I’ve been feeling the baby move a little; it’s sporadic and very faint, but it’s there. Maybe. Or it may be my imagination. And I was brave enough today to call the hospital and ask about childbirth classes, although I didn’t make it… -
In non-physical news,
12 May 2009 | 7:05 pmEmotionally, the best possible word to describe this pregnancy has been “healing”. For me, dealing with the last four years of infertility has been a constant barrage on my self-esteem and my ability to trust my own body. The inability to have a child terrified me. I felt like I had been betrayed, and if I couldn’t trust myself, who could I trust? I can’t think of how many times I asked manly, “are you going to leave me because I can’t have babies?” It had gotten to the point where he would say yes. The first time he said that, I was…
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Production, Not Reproduction
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Choose Your Own Blog Adventure
1 Jul 2009 | 10:41 pmI have four blog posts that I fiddled with today and left languishing in the drafts folder. Three books that I started but set aside. Two shows I began watching but never bothered to finish. I seem to have lost my ability to bring anything to conclusion. Which, as a J on the Myers-Briggs scale, is driving me a bit batty.*I did manage to go downstairs awhile this evening. I played with Puppy (so great) and we hung out quite a bit at bedtime. Firefly smiled at me like, "Hey, you look like fun! Who are you?" Then she gave Todd a bunch of giant hugs while looking straight at me, as if to say,… -
Day 7, Wherein Our Heroine Is Driven Mad from Boredom
29 Jun 2009 | 3:20 pmI am (fingers crossed) past the hardest part of my recovery and feeling a lot more like myself again. I still have a week to go on the bedrest, which means I'm am bored out of my ever-loving mind. It turns out there is only so long one can go without being (a) sick or (b) productive without feeling like a giant sloth. I'm hoping to put some of this pent-up energy to good use over the next few days.I miss my babies. They come in to visit me, but it's not the same. -
The Confinement
25 Jun 2009 | 11:00 amWhy, hello! I'm here in day three of The Confinement. Day one, the first day after the surgery, was fantastic. I read two books, I emailed, I twittered, I talked pleasantly with people. This recovery is going to be a breeze, thought I! Then day two came and, holy frak. Day two was awful. Total nausea and the closest thing to a migraine I've ever experienced. (Maybe it was a migraine? How do you know?)A story for you:I was sent home from the hospital with a catheter. (I can't quite believe I just told you that.) This was my #2 fear, my #1 fear being that thing from Dateline where the patient… -
The First Dad
20 Jun 2009 | 11:08 amRay was the sort of bio dad I imagine agency workers love. From the beginning, he told Kelly he would go along with whatever she decided about her pregnancy, and he did, even after they stopped dating. He stuck around when her decision was parenting and he stayed when it turned into placing. He showed up for every meeting and signed whatever he needed to sign. At every step he was so agreeable and affable that I vaguely thought he wasn't all that emotionally invested in his to-be baby. We worried about what placement would be like for Kelly, but never really for Ray.The night Puppy was born,… -
Open Adoption Roundtable #2
19 Jun 2009 | 10:56 amThe Open Adoption Roundtable is a series of occasional writing prompts about open adoption. It's designed to showcase of the diversity of thought and experience in the open adoption community. You don't need to be part of the Open Adoption Bloggers list to participate, or even have a traditional open adoption. If you're thinking about openness in adoption, you have a place at the table. Publish your response during the next week--linking back here so we can all find one other--and leave a link to your post in the comments. If you don't blog, you can always leave your thoughts directly in the…
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Weebles Wobblog
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Readers' favorite posts
6 Jul 2009 | 8:00 amThis post will remain at the top until July 6. See below for recent posts.For my 2 year blogoversary, my readers gave me the most meaningful presents imaginable. They told me which of my posts have made an impression on them.Here are some readers' favorites.Reunion in Open Adoption SeriesPart 1: Considering JoePart 2: Telling TessaPart 3: The horrible waitPart 4: The meetingPart 5: CrashPart 6: -
Show & Tell: Christmas in July?
1 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pmMy Christmas Cactus seems to be chronologically confused...Can Santa be far behind?Maybe botanists have misclassified this specimen. Perhaps it's really the Independence Day Cactus.To see the showings and tellings of the rest of the class, visit Mel's Show & Tell.***Another day, another chance to vote for Weebles Wobblog. Please click on the blue button, scroll down to the Most Inspiring -
Perfect Moment Monday: Squeals
29 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amPerfect Moment Monday is more about noticing a perfect moment than about creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.We gather here once a week to engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Details on how to participate are at the bottom of this post, complete with bloggy bling.Please visit the links of -
Book Tour: The Land of IF
28 Jun 2009 | 7:00 pmLike so many others, I am excited to have read and to discuss Navigating the Land of IF: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options as this selection of the Barren Bi+ches Book Brigade.Why? Two reasons. One: the author is my friend Melissa Ford; and Two: it's a damn good book. My exile on the island of Infertility and my odyssey back to the mainland would have been much more bearable -
Guest post: JJ on Sibling Revelry
26 Jun 2009 | 6:00 am"Real" work calls (the kind that pays, as opposed to blogging) and I'm running a couple of conferences this summer. But to keep my seat warm in my absence, I bring you some of my favorite guest bloggers on Fridays through July. Maybe you already know these amazing writers, and maybe you will find someone new to follow, but either way you are in for a treat.A dash of IUI, peppered with IVF, add a
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Welcome To The Dollhouse
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Don’t Go Crossing My Boundaries
16 Jun 2009 | 11:03 amI belong to an Open Adoption Blogger webring. Some of you might find this curious since, of late, I rarely seem to blog about adoption. Sure, I’m very forthright about how our daughter joined our family and have no shame about adoption or infertility. It’s just that initially when I wrote about open adoption, and specifically our open adoption, there arose some issues with Boundary Crossers…issues that I’ve not fully resolved. Boundary Crossers exist in any area of the internet. They can range from gnat-level annoying to full on bring-da-noise trolls. Now trolls are… -
Failure To Be Green
15 Jun 2009 | 10:09 amhis was just so stupid that it was worthy of a quick post. A couple of months ago, in my quest to be more Earth-friendly (yes, it is a little quest, not a big quest, mind you…baby steps), I bought a cleaner product that was touted as being “plant-based” and more green because the refill was in such a tiny little bottle. I’m thinking to myself, self, here you are bringing in your own grocery bags and attempting to use less toxic products around the munchkin, so hey, why not try the Arm&Hammer Essentials MultiSurface Cleaner? According to the 1 Green Product Blog:… -
The Metaphor That Made My Head Explode
9 Jun 2009 | 8:43 pmometimes you find the most intriguing information on Twitter. Not too long ago (OK, it was about 2 weeks ago, but you try to find time to blog coherently with a job as nutty as mine has been lately) a tweet from Feministe popped up giving a teaser for a new posting. The title is what caught my eye: Once Again: Rape Is NOT Your Personal Metaphor. Of course with a title like that, I just had to click on the link. How could I not? The author was writing a way pissed off reply to a posting on Gawker by someone who called himself CajunBoy. I don’t know about the Cajun part, but after reading… -
Absence of Home Training
1 Jun 2009 | 12:05 pmI was going to write about my birthday, turning 46, and spending the weekend in New Haven celebrating my 25th college reunion. Unfortunately while down in the cafeteria just now grabbing lunch, I got derailed…really derailed. As I stood at the grill station waiting for my sub to be ready, I watched a guy come up on the other side of me, reach into a bowl of potato chips that was there for the grill server to add to people’s plates and put a handful into his take out container. With his bare hands. I threw up a little into my mouth. I turned to the grill server with my eyebrows… -
From Asshat to Prat in 2 f-stops
26 May 2009 | 8:13 pmt’s been kinda funny getting into a hobby when you are an old, reformed-perfectionist, Type-A nutbar recovering from chronic insecurity. On one hand, you are totally jazzed when you find that you understand another concept or (as they like to say at my job) new learning. Yet that low self-esteem, you’re really a moron incapable of any real skill part of your psyche inevitably returns to shriek loudly that all you’re doing is fooling yourself. You might have gotten a little better, but you’ll never be any good! It’s such a lovely do-si-do to experience: watching…
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Artificially Sweetened
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Plane Talk with P’ito (updated for KB)
29 Jun 2009 | 8:22 pmPili: Where is your airplane going? P’ito: (zooming airplane overhead) Guatamale! AS: Where’s that plane going? P’ito: That not a plane, that a helicopter! (puts down copter, picks up plane) This a plane, Mama! -
Ducks, Cows, Bikes, and Gender Roles
27 Jun 2009 | 6:47 amP’ito and I were reading on of our old favorites this morning – David Shannon’s Duck on a Bike – and as I read it, I started to get a queasy feeling in my stomach. For those who are not familiar with the story, a duck (male) sees a bike, climbs on it, and rides around the farmyard, interacting with various animals as he goes. When a bunch of kids come by on bikes and then leave them outside, the whole farmyard gets to join in, pedalling around with great glee and then putting the bikes back so that “no one knew that on that afternoon, there had been a cow, a… -
Empathy
25 Jun 2009 | 6:00 pmWriting this mostly for myself, to remember it, and also to remind me that there is so much more to m’ijo than his mindblowing tantrums. This morning I bumped my funny bone while walking with P’ito. He asked “You get a boo-boo on your elbow Mama?” and when I said yes, he very sweetly rubbed it and said Sana Sana all the way through. “You feel better Mama?” After school today, we went to the library. The librarian was super nice and helped us locate P’ito’s beloved Red Truck even though it was about two minutes after closing. I prompted… -
The Myth of Fingerprints
22 Jun 2009 | 7:10 amOne of the mixed blessings of biological parenthood, it seems to me, from my non-biological parent perspective, is seeing your own traits or your partner’s traits emerge in your child. Your smile, your stubborness, your depression or diabetes, your eyes, hair nose anger. Today was one of Those Mornings. Mornings (or afternoons, or evenings) that leave me worn out and weepy from a series of violent tantrums that seem impossible to predict and that frighten me with their intense physical ferocity – throwing, pinching, hitting, biting… I find myself wondering Where It Comes… -
Captive Audience
17 Jun 2009 | 7:04 amDear Mr. President, You know there’s no way in hell I am going to vote for a Republican, so you think you can take my vote for granted? Throw the gays a bone – say that you’re going to extend federal benefits to partners – but oh, DOMA says you can’t offer them health or retirement benefits. And the justice dept doesn’t have a problem with the constitutionality of DOMA? Eff you, and your little dog too. xo Art
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omegamom.com
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Catch-all
27 Jun 2009 | 5:01 pmOur (green)house is a very, very, very fine (green)house So the greenhouse is complete, except for some trim work, as of today. We happily lugged our two “baby” chickens into the greenhouse to provide a contained greeting spot for old hens and new chickens to get accustomed to each other, in preparation to migrating the new birds into the large coop. I have to say, the greenhouse is awesome. OmegaDad did a wonderful job. It’s neat, tidy, sunny, light and warm inside, roomy, has lots of beams to hang plants from, and looks like it may provide a very nice… -
The cold hand of mortality touching my neck
25 Jun 2009 | 4:43 pmPop culture icons of my childhood and early adulthood are dropping like flies. Ed (”Heeeere’s Johnny!”) McMahon, Charlie’s Angel Farrah Fawcett, and now–in a real shocker–Michael Jackson. Fawcett repositioned herself from pop-actress and B- or C-movie star to tragic figure by chronicling her death to anal cancer in a documentary that was shown this May on TV. Ed was, of course, Ed, all the way. Like many others in these uncertain economic times, he was facing foreclosure on his mansion last year, but managed to re-negotiate with help from… -
In protest
23 Jun 2009 | 1:21 amLife has been busy here, Chez OmegaFamily. I have tales of the China Camp finale, the sad tale of how Ruby the duckling died, the rockin’ and rollin’ earthquake (5.4 magnitude) we had this morning that actually caused me to duck down beneath my desk, the bunny that OmegaDotter and her neighborhood girlfriends found, and further progress on the villa/greenhouse complex. But right now, I just want to protest. Remember how I gushed about Mr. L., the elementary school music teacher who is leaving for greener pastures, and how worried I am about who will replace him? Well,… -
Ruby, the problem child
20 Jun 2009 | 1:23 amWe now have a wild duckling in the garage. It’s name is Rhubarb, Ruby for short. I arrived home late from the morning trip to Big City, having dumped the girls at China Camp, dealt with Miss Emily telling me about coping with OmegaDotter and others who were…shall we say, enthusiastic, with the kung-fu instructor, to the point of being annoying. “Enthusiastic” means climbing all over him, swooning on him, teasing him, following him–you name it; Miss Emily did not have to tell me in any detail, because I immediately knew what it was like. … -
Serendipity
19 Jun 2009 | 12:31 amSo there you are, an astronaut on the International Space Station, just motoring along, doing your job, and you get a call from Ground Control. “Say, dudes! Lissen up! There’s this Russian volcano blowing its top, and you dudes are scheduled to be somewhere nearby overhead today…can y’all take a picture for us? Dude, that would be sweet.” So as time approaches the rendezvous with this volcano, from a few miles overhead, you fish out your handy-dandy HD camera and point it out the porthole (or whatever astronauts really do when…
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PCOS Baby
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Sometimes you just need to write
30 Jun 2009 | 9:43 pmWe had a great trip to Costa Rica and I will share more about that soon, but I just need a safe place to write now. J has been out of work since early March. He closed his law firm after about 4 months of slowly shutting down, not taking new clients, etc. It was deliberate. We were both OK with it. He planned to take a break for a bit and then get a new job pretty soon, figuring that it wouldn't be too tough as a lawyer with 6 years of experience and as a small-business owner. The job situation in Atlanta isn't any better than it is anywhere else in… -
Our 10th anniversary went by without a word
23 Jun 2009 | 7:52 amOn my blog, that is. In real life...um, we didn't do anything except exchange cards. BUT that all changes tonight when we leave for Costa Rica for a few days!!! We haven't left P since he was about 2 1/2, and then it was just overnight at a hotel while my parents watched him; we've never left K at all. I'm nervous and scared about how he'll react to us leaving and not being here tomorrow morning. Or the next morning, or the one after that, or the one after that. Will it bring back feelings of abandonment, or will being in his own… -
As I sit here at the computer
15 Jun 2009 | 7:52 amWith P doing a puzzle behind me and K grinning at me from underneath the table, I am thinking: "I should really go upstairs and put on more than just this T-shirt and jeans." Because I threw on the T-shirt and jeans...and ONLY the T-shirt and jeans...when the squirrel-removing people showed up 45 minutes early and I was still in my nightclothes. Cute nightclothes. Nightclothes that I couldn't exactly wear to open the door for fear of being arrested. Oh, the week is off to a brilliant start. -
Father's Day is next week
13 Jun 2009 | 9:35 amJ and I got married on Father's Day in 1999, so Father's Day holds a special meaning for me. I will always remember my dad on Father's Day 1999: fixing his tie in the hallway of my parents' house before we went to the ceremony, seeing his expression of me in my wedding dress. I went to the ceremony in the limo with my bridesmaids, but my aunt told me that my dad spent the entire drive to the ceremony crying. My dad doesn't cry but I have pictures of him tearing up at the ceremony. I danced with my dad to "Unforgettable" on Father's… -
Some days
26 May 2009 | 5:15 pmOn some days, there is just too much testosterone around my house. A husband, two sons, two male dogs. I was never a girly-girl but sometimes, I get a little overwhelmed. 'Nuff said.
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Life in the Soupbowl
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We're going on a Camel Hunt.....
1 Jul 2009 | 10:19 amLast Friday, up in Duluth, Papa took Keifer on a walk to look for the "Camels" we had seen in our backyard. The camels? In Duluth? Yeah, they were actually 2 Mama Deer and their twins (each one had twin babies with them). Keifer loved them, so they went looking for them. (*Camels? Bwhaaaaa haa haa*). "We're Going on a Camel Hunt, we're not afraid, no way!" Instead, they got back to our house and found Uncle Danny (Keifer's GREAT Uncle) had stopped by, with his 1 year old Yorkie puppy, Jay (Jay bird to us!). She LOVED Jay! So did Nana Dian and myself, as we had a Yorkie for 15 years (RIP, dear… -
Wordless Wednesday: Little & Big
1 Jul 2009 | 9:14 am**Do you think Pampers would give us a free case of diapers for advertising we use them - and a LOT of them - around here? *smiles** *I should add: Kyla is just out of P-S size Swaddlers- the Preemie ones! Into Newborns, now...and Keifer is in Size 6! Size 6, people!* -
She's gaining on us
29 Jun 2009 | 11:21 amKyla had a weigh check this past Thursday, before we headed up North to visit our family. Our girl was up to 8 lbs, 1 ounce! Whoo hoo-she's gaining! Please continue prayers- they are working! Our girl is a hungry, eating machine these days! -
A swimmin' singin' good time
29 Jun 2009 | 11:20 amThe girls and I have been up at Papa Dale & Nana Dian's house since last Thursday, so more to come soon...lots of pictures and stories to post! Until then, here is our little fishie, doing what she does best: hamming it up in front of the camera :) Enjoy! And thanks to Papa for purchasing this awesome pool for our fishie to swim in while we were there! Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing -
Kyla's First Movie
24 Jun 2009 | 10:30 pmYesterday, mama took Kyla to her favorite place: the movie theater! Yep, I figured, she sleeps through racket all the time, and what better place to enjoy lying on mama's chest, sleeping away while Mama enjoys a new movie she wants to see? Kyla did great! She only squawked a few times at first, but then slept through the whole movie- The Proposal. And, the movie was great! A great romantic comedy, that was hilarious. Betty White and Oscar Nunez (from The Office) were total scene stealers. YAY! Maybe Kyla will have a love of movie theaters some day, too? Perhaps?
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No swimmers in the tubes, no bun in the oven
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Wednesday night Q&A with noswimmers
30 Jun 2009 | 7:13 amDoes B really wipe your ass?LOL, nope...but had I gone full-term with the girls it was a strong possibility. I mean seriously...how could I reach...either diretion? Then again, I like Io's suggestion of washing up with a garden hose. Can you imagine looking out your kitchen window to see the enormously pregnant neighbor lady washing her ass with a garden hose? Yeah...I kinda like that idea.How are you doing with the move, etc.?We're doing great! That's cause we haven't done a damned thing. I had a couple of moving companies come out for a quote, and we settled on one that will pack… -
Third Trimester
29 Jun 2009 | 6:27 pmWoah. So freakin' weird writing that. I'm there. Third trimester today...can you believe it? Mr. Sherbie is still hangin' in there!It doesn't feel quite real yet. I keep expecting to have this 'Holy Shit I'm gonna have a baby' moment, but it hasn't hit quite yet. Probably won't until I'm feet-in-stirrups screaming my freakin' head off. Or when I'm holding little Sherbs. In the meantime he's keeping me quite entertained, kicking and/or punching all the time (I can't quite tell the difference yet). It's amazing. He managed to give me a couple of good ones...I can't imagine what the full-force… -
Sherbie pics - 26w4d
26 Jun 2009 | 9:20 pmWe had our second 3D ultrasound tonight. We bought a package that included 2 ultrasounds, so this was the last one! :( I didn't think it was possible to be any more in love with this little guy, but WOW...seeing his face makes it all so real. He's really chubbed out since the 17 week ultrasound. He even has little rolls in places--eek!And yeah...I'm pretty sure he was giving us the finger in the last pic. Teehee. -
Sending love...
25 Jun 2009 | 8:19 pmPlease stop by my friend LaLa's blog, she needs some love right now. -
Slow down? Who, me??
22 Jun 2009 | 7:26 pmI got a bit of a reality check Saturday night. Ya see, I have a little bit of a problem. I'm not willing/able to slow down. I've never been one to ask for much help...if I want something done, I just do it! Whether its build a dog house & porch, re-seed the lawn, or move a desk, I just go ahead and do it.I haven't really slowed down much since Sherbie implanted himself in my ute. Sure it took me a bit longer than it normally would have to tear up the brown patches in the front lawn by hand and re-seed it, but I did it! Same goes for all the painting, cleaning, and general sell-the-house…
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So Blessed I Could Scream
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It's Like They Can See Into My Soul
30 Jun 2009 | 11:01 pmSomething about this pic from lolcats made me giggle. It would be like me to take a small white kitten somewhere dangerous for protection. It's sort of how I roll. "Alright, Dramalish- you are off to battle the Beast of Blarzog. You can take the Galatic Super-Ray Atomic Blaster... the impregnable Force-Shield.... or, the small white kitten."Hmmm... that's a tough one. But I think I'll play it safe and takeTHE KITTEN.Yep. That's how I roll. -
Exactly, Kierkegaard***
26 Jun 2009 | 11:20 pmI don't want to update too much about the maybe-could-be possibility until I communicate more with the donors, but no doors have been shut, and each day I think this maybe-could-possibly happen without The Universe smacking me over the head with a big stick is a victory in my book.I know you want more information. So let's say....68%My confidence level is right at 68%...with a good possibility of rising. More updates soon, I promise (*and not Dramalish "soon," the real kind of "soon" that almost everyone else in the world operates under) just as soon as I talk more with our (possible!)… -
Lessons Learned
19 Jun 2009 | 12:08 amThings I've learned this week:If given the opportunity, I will sleep in until 9:30am. My daughter wakes up by 9. Please don't ask me what she does in the interim; all I know is that when I wake up, she's staring at me expectantly, as if she's been waiting. You know how they say employers wait to till Friday to lay people off? Gives people the weekend to cool off and whathaveyou. Well, schools wait for the summer to pile on the bad ju ju as well. (My job is fine, by the way.. I wish I could say more about the bad ju ju- but ya know, Dooce, etc.)I'm constantly surprised by my husband. He puts… -
Something Positive
15 Jun 2009 | 10:37 pmSo.. uh. Yeah.That thing that didn't work out sort of led to something that *might* work out.And it's all because of the interwebs. Oh, interwebs, how I love thee. There's still all those scary unknowns, of course. How will we pay for this? Can I handle doing treatment, and teaching high school, and running a show in the fall? Can we do a cycle *before* fall comes? What if this works?? What if it DOESN'T? Who will scoop me out of the gutter and convince me that it is better to have loved and lost than to never have spent several thousand dollars at all?Breathing.I'll type it because it's like… -
Can I use that shoulder for like... 45 seconds?
4 Jun 2009 | 7:29 pmIt's the end of the school year and a lot is going on- hence the lack of posting.But.I just have to say.It sucks to know your kid is bored and wish that you were enough, but KNOW that she would rather being playing with other little ones. It sucks to watch your daughter play with her little buddies, and know, just KNOW, that she would be the awesome-est of sisters. That she deserves that. That only through sheer crappy luck in parentage, she lacks it.Damn it, it sucks and I wish to God it would STOP SUCKING.She's just such a great kid, you know? I wish-Nah. That's enough for now. Something…
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a little pregnant
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Hardcover, I tell you. Full price!
29 Jun 2009 | 8:55 amDear Liza Mundy, I am a fan. Let me tell you how big a fan I am: I bought your book in hardcover. I think it's fantastic — provocative but not gratuitously so, balanced, well researched, and humane. It's rare... -
Father's Day
21 Jun 2009 | 4:02 amI'm sorry; I'm just a bit goopy today. I'm missing my dad, like always. The last time I saw him was Father's Day weekend in 2007, so he's very much on my mind. (Nothing out of the ordinary, that visit,... -
Are you there, Internet? It's me, Margaret
17 Jun 2009 | 7:37 amAttention! Attention! I am about to talk about my period! I warn you so that if frank talk of menstruation unnerves you, you may hastily click away, because I'm about to gross even myself out. I am having a little... -
To the distinguished gentleman in the Pharaonic headdress
11 Jun 2009 | 9:56 amDear Composite Member of Congress Totally Not Based on Anyone in Particular: Hey, how's it hanging? I mean, of course, the fate of this great nation, which you hold in your powerful hands. I was in no way referring, in... -
Bleeding Kansas
1 Jun 2009 | 6:44 amI don't care how incongruous it might seem for me — at last and gratefully a mother — to rage at the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining doctors in the U.S. to perform late-term abortions....
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Barren Mare
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Small but annoying potatoes
25 Jun 2009 | 2:12 pmI was going to tell the Tale of the Ring, as promised, but I confess I am not having the best of weeks and am not in a great frame of mind. It seems petulant to complain about the relatively... -
Because it's always fun to rearrange the furniture anyway!
18 Jun 2009 | 1:12 pmTraps O'Death were already being deployed at the time of the writing of that last post. That is, the serious no-more-messing-around-you-little-bastards-neck snappers and the poison snacks were deposited at strategic mouse-favoured locations. Well out of the reach of even the... -
Mousefestation
12 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIt appears you are all too scared of catching my computer cooties to comment. Never mind. I think (I hope) my clever father may have fixed it. Or at least he ripped out the system's guts, performed emergency surgery and... -
The rot within
9 Jun 2009 | 1:28 pmOver the last week, my computer has developed some horrendous virus. The result is a machine tottering around like a deranged zombie, lurching uninvited into suspect websites before crashing out without warning midway through attempts at corrective navigation or experimental... -
If you give a Botany a pancake
28 May 2009 | 12:55 pmTwo excellent things are to happen next week. The first is that, after several months of badgering the human resources department, Knox finally goes on to his new part-time working pattern; it will mean quite a hit (hopefully temporary, at...
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Barren Mare
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Small but annoying potatoes
25 Jun 2009 | 2:12 pmI was going to tell the Tale of the Ring, as promised, but I confess I am not having the best of weeks and am not in a great frame of mind. It seems petulant to complain about the relatively... -
Because it's always fun to rearrange the furniture anyway!
18 Jun 2009 | 1:12 pmTraps O'Death were already being deployed at the time of the writing of that last post. That is, the serious no-more-messing-around-you-little-bastards-neck snappers and the poison snacks were deposited at strategic mouse-favoured locations. Well out of the reach of even the... -
Mousefestation
12 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIt appears you are all too scared of catching my computer cooties to comment. Never mind. I think (I hope) my clever father may have fixed it. Or at least he ripped out the system's guts, performed emergency surgery and... -
The rot within
9 Jun 2009 | 1:28 pmOver the last week, my computer has developed some horrendous virus. The result is a machine tottering around like a deranged zombie, lurching uninvited into suspect websites before crashing out without warning midway through attempts at corrective navigation or experimental... -
If you give a Botany a pancake
28 May 2009 | 12:55 pmTwo excellent things are to happen next week. The first is that, after several months of badgering the human resources department, Knox finally goes on to his new part-time working pattern; it will mean quite a hit (hopefully temporary, at...
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Flotsam
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“My Rat Terrier is Fat”
29 Jun 2009 | 7:30 pmIn what may become a weekly feature, lethargy permitting, I have once again gathered my tracking data to see what sometimes-literally-burning questions have brought visitors to my humble website. Having, for the first time, a full seven days worth of results, I was able to see some patterns emerging. For instance, In the past week, 11 people have found their way here by googling i was born in a wagon of a travelling show, my mamma use to dance for the money they throw? We covered this precise query last week, and that is an awful lot of gypsies, tramps, etc. looking at Simone’s pictures. It… -
Sunday.
28 Jun 2009 | 3:58 pmNow, if this were REALLY a representative Sunday picture it would be of the urgent care waiting room I sat in for two hours this morning, or maybe a sort of still life of used tissues and my complementary prescriptions for amoxicillin and diflucan. Better yet, of the honest to god dreadlock that seems to be forming in the back of my hair. But I thought you would prefer a baby. In case anyone needs me, I’ll be in the kitchen, sticking the kettle spout up my nostril. I’m waterboarding myself with a salt-water-filled teapot on doctor’s orders. And no, you can’t have a… -
Launched.
27 Jun 2009 | 5:28 pmI am sick with some sort of flu. Just in case it is swine related, this morning I ate a rasher of bacon as spitefully as I know how. I usually feel better each successive day of an illness—save for the first two—but this time it is quite the opposite, and I have a sinking feeling that I may have my first sinus infection. Well, it’s not so much a sinking feeling as it is an “awl-in-the-nose” sort of feeling, but I would like to avoid antibiotics, so I will give it another day. Which is how long I figure I have before death if this downward trend continues. I am spending most… -
Grey Area.
26 Jun 2009 | 3:48 pmAs requested earlier this week, allow me to present my brain, a scientific rendering: Here is a link to a larger version. I hope this has been instructive. -
RIP PYT.
25 Jun 2009 | 4:24 pmWell, I was going to post something else—a scintillating diagram of my brain, actually—but I have just heard the news about Michael Jackson. I don’t know if I have told you this, but at one time…oh, about 25 years ago, it was my intent to marry him. I had a Michael Jackson doll (Barbie VASTLY preferred him to the insipid Ken), and the day I received him we danced around the room together, all romantic-like. I also had the Thriller picture disk, and it, along with my Jackson 5 45, were the most-played records I owned, and the first. I couldn’t have been more than four or so when…
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Julia
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Unexceptional
29 Jun 2009 | 2:07 pmEven before Patrick became a subject for whispered medical consultation I had lobbied to forego the big kid-filled birthday party this year. He was supposed to be at invention camp last week (missed the whole thing, poor pumpkin) so I suggested we have our good friends over for cake and pizza after camp on the actual day and then he could pick a friend to do something Fun (waterpark, amusement park, Science museum, whatever he wanted) that weekend. He decided that he wanted to go ride roller coasters at the mall of America and we realized that doing so on a Monday was infinitely smarter than… -
Magnificent Seven
25 Jun 2009 | 1:23 pmI had to swear on a stack of Captain Underpants books (the library cart stopped outside the hospital room. Patrick took one look at the string of Words We Do Not Say on the cover said, "Well THIS looks interesting") that I would wake Patrick up at midnight and four am and get him to ingest a combined 17.3 ml of clindamycin/cefdanir (the "a" in clinda? it's for ASS) and I would take his temperature every four hours and I would bring him back to the hospital if he was anything less than 115% perfect at any time; but the attending physician agreed to release him last… -
Admittedly
23 Jun 2009 | 7:53 amPatrick was admitted to Children's last night with a bacterial infection of unknown origin and location.Good thoughts appreciated. -
Lo Que Se Llama Cerveza
19 Jun 2009 | 6:51 pmHow are you feeling, Patrick?And when your temperature goes above 103 again?We are on day six seven of Patrick's plague and... everything is mildly awful. I took these pictures of him after we returned from the doctor as it was the first time all week he had been out of pajamas and I wanted to mark the occasion. Other than the clinic trips, he has fallen into a routine: 5 am - climbs into bed with me complaining about the fact that he is hothothot5:01 am - falls into a deep sleep after kicking the blankets off both of us and stealing my pillow9 am - wakes up and wanders into the living…
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Serenity Now!
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Wordless Wednesday: Him and me. And no one else.
1 Jul 2009 | 4:56 amClick here for more wordless wednesday images. -
Some cheese with that whine, perhaps?
30 Jun 2009 | 10:07 amAt some point during my life, my mother*, when I had exasperated her to the point of exhaustion, said to me: “I hope that when you have kids they’re just like you.” When I was pregnant with Baby O, and wondering what sort of personality he’d have, I often thought to that comment. Because a kid like me? I could totally handle. I’m self aware enough to know what would have worked for me, parenting-wise anyway. Like, for example. Standing in a corner? Was the worst punishment. EVER. Being “grounded?” Not so much. But see, now. Baby O? Well, let’s… -
Luck.
25 Jun 2009 | 3:25 amI usually do my Thursday morning run in the early morning, at home, instead of at the gym. Because running outside is much different than running a treadmill. At the end of my runs, I go inside to stretch and cool down. I listen to my iPod the whole time. And there’s this one song that plays at the end of my stretch. Whenever I listen to this song, it takes me back to a T ride I had. After a failed IVF and two failed FETs. After two surgeries. Where Dr. HIT and I met discuss the results of the second surgery. The septum. The removal of said septum. Our chances of an IVF cycle working… -
Understanding.
23 Jun 2009 | 6:14 amFor so many years, I held such ANGER at my parents over my upbringing. Over how they tried to control me. Over the yelling, the hitting, the anger in our house. Over the fact that I never really ever felt LOVED by them when I was a kid. And in every one of my dreams which featured them, I was yelling at my mother. I never wanted to call them. I would get stressed out before a visit with them. And no matter HOW much I intellectualized that they were young, they were poor, they had three kids, it was the seventies, etc – I just couldn’t let it go. So ultimately, the reason why… -
Houses have lots of edges.
19 Jun 2009 | 6:38 amSo Baby O is addicted to walking. Because, really. Why bother playing with a toy when you can walk in circles around the house? Unfortunately he is still honing his mad walking skillz, so he lurches and weaves and looks a LITTLE like a sailor who is trying to get his land legs. But we’re discovering the HARD way that our house has a LOT of edges. And hard places. Like yesterday. He was walking into the dining room. And he tripped and fell MOUTH-FIRST onto the wood window seat. That hurt his mouth, of course, so he THREW himself back and smacked his head on the dining room leg. I was a…
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So Close
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Too scared to Google
2 Jul 2009 | 1:01 pmI am a big Googler. I Googled my way all through my infertility. In fact, I obtained my Doctorate in Infertility through the University of Google. There isn't an ailment or affliction I haven't Googled. My whole family knows that if they need to know the answer to any medical question, just ask me - because I will have Googled the answer before they have even asked the question.Until now.My brother asked me what the risks are for my father's bypass surgery and I told him I am too scared to look it up. I don't want to know. That's how scared I am.And now I am… -
May you live in interesting times
1 Jul 2009 | 12:04 pmWell, it has been interesting times indeed. First my mom's cancer diagnosis in December*, and then on Sunday my father suffered a heart attack. Luckily for all of us, he is as tough as old leather (or tungsten as he likes to say), and he survived it but he now has to go for a bypass operation on Friday. His second. He had a triple bypass 20 years ago. For a more detailed account of what a stubborn old fartbag my teenage** dad is, go have a look at my sister's blog. Needless to say, my already over stretched and absent mind has been somewhat occupied of late. Hence the… -
To Infinity, and Beyond!
28 Jun 2009 | 5:46 amAdam doing his Buzz Lightyear move:(on his couch, in his TV room. Just in case you think I let them jump on the furniture reserved for guests and In Laws) I just realized I owe you some new house pics. I will see if I can persuade Marko to take some pics, he is a better photographer than I am.
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Tales from My Dusty Ovaries
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This is the picture...
1 Jul 2009 | 5:30 pm...I've been dreaming of taking since we started talking about having children. The one of my husband and 2 kids at the beach. (I know it's supposed to be "wordless" Wednesday, but I don't think I'm capable of being wordless. Sorry!) -
31 days of love, sweat and typing
30 Jun 2009 | 12:06 pmYou're never going to believe it. I'm so dedicated about posting every day that I've made up a freaking schedule. A SCHEDULE OF POSTS, PEOPLE. That's a lot of pressure. I don't know if I can do it. But I'll try. [insert dramatic wiping of brow here]In medically-related news, I am doing great. I worked for 5 hours yesterday and will work my full 9 hours today. Today is the first day that I'm simultaneously itch-free, pain-free, and drug-free. Go me! Let's just say that the allergic nastiness got muuuuuuuuuuuch worse before it got better (okay, it hasn't actually gotten better looking yet, but… -
I am one itchy bitchy
26 Jun 2009 | 4:55 pmI'm alive, and doing well. Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. :-)The surgery went fine. When I woke up, I was in much more pain than I expected. After 2 hits of morphine and a couple of percocet, I was at least able to converse without gritting my teeth, clawing the bedrails, and whimpering.I stayed on a steady, every 6 hour diet of 800mg ibuprofen and percocet until today. As of today, I went down to just the ibuprofen and since I slept right through my midday dose, I've just had it at 6am and 6pm. So far, so good. I definitely feel a little more sore today without the "good"… -
Way, way, way TMI
22 Jun 2009 | 8:28 pmOn this, The Eve of my Surgery, I'm feeling fine. As long as I eat only lettuce and air. What follows for the rest of this post is a lot of talk about poop and whatnot so if you aren't into that sort of thing, then go ahead and click over to TLC so you can read that -- shocker! -- Jon.and.Kate are getting divorced. Gasp! Whoda thunk? Anyway...Since discovering my Gallbladder Issues, I've had to severely restrict my dietary intake of fat. Therefore, I ate 2 cans of fat free Pringles over vacation and I am here to tell you that it will go down in history as one of the Worst Ideas Ever. -
Flying Horses?
21 Jun 2009 | 7:02 amI've decided to post every day in July. I don't know why. I think I feel a little guilty reading the gazillions of blogs that I read, knowing that those people have just as much (or as little) time as I do, yet they still make the space in their day to post. So I've made up a calendar of what I'll post each day. I'm jumping on the bandwagon for a few staple days each week (Perfect Moment Monday, Wordless Wednesday, Mel's Show and Tell). I'll also do a couple of memes floating out there. To really milk it, I'm going to split E's interview questions for me (from about 100 years ago) into 6…
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Thalia's fertility journey: hopefully more comedy than tragedy
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Junior is here
2 Jul 2009 | 9:12 am1036 am GMT 3520 grammes (I think approx 7lb12oz) Seems very long (too long for newborn sleepsuit) but they don't measure length here Does not look much like Pob did although same colouring Long fingers and lovely nails Lots of dark hair although v high forehead Does not like being moved. When he is settled he'd like to stay there, wherever it is, thank you very much. Currently crashed out and not interested in feeding, having done about 2 hours on the boob once we were in recovery. He is gorgeous. +=========================================================+ This message may contain… -
Junior - 48 hours to go
30 Jun 2009 | 1:21 amI have three big posts I want to write, but I'm lying on my side trying not to moan too much from the haemorrhoid pain. I had really not appreciated before how agonising they were, but I think the minor experiences I have had were in a different place. These are, well, not. I'll spare you the fine details and since this is pretty much the only bad thing that's happened so far in this pregnancy, I cannot complain. But it hurts! Today is my 'get prepped' day where I am going to get my legs (and other bits) waxed,... -
Colourful Pob
10 Jun 2009 | 8:53 pmWe've been talking to Pob about colours for a while. Just when I think she's getting it she indicates that it's all pretty random. If she's asked what colour something is, she tends to say: "BLUE!" or alternatively "Pink-purple". If she's told no it's not, she rotates through other colours, usually 'ello', 'orange' 'een' in that order. Last night I asked her what colour her pyjamas were. They're checked, white and red. She said 'BLUE!' and I said no they were red, and she pointed at the white bit and said, "No!" Which indicated that she had at least some... -
General incompetence
9 Jun 2009 | 10:23 pmI've reached the awkward, tiring, uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. And indeed the stage of general incompetence. I can't remember words. I'm so bunged up that I can't breathe by about 5am and so wake up and cant' go back to sleep. I'm exhausted in the evenings and can't make conversation with H. And, oh yes, I fell flat on my face while simply walking along the pavement on Sunday, and now have an impressive scar running down my nose, and another on my chin, which makes me look like a very depressing kind of victim. I can see people eyeing... -
Ok I've watched it now.
27 May 2009 | 3:04 pmKris. Seriously, Kris? 100 million people and you get Kris? Someone please explain.
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Uppercase Woman
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Things I've Been Meaning To Mention That Are Of No Particular Importance
2 Jul 2009 | 10:31 am1. Tori has gotten much, much better. We're not sure if it's the attitude adjustment on our part (which has been a biggy) or that she's had a major breakthrough developmentally related to language. Dudes, this kid can TALK. One night on vacation as I lay in bed with her trying to get her to sleep she did -- literally -- an hour long lecture on everything from what happened that day to a variety of stories about her stuffed animals. She's been talking, and well, for ages, but now she can really speak AT LENGTH. And how.2. Sarah has another show. It's already been up for a month or so but it's… -
Farrah and Women on Television
1 Jul 2009 | 8:29 amWhen Charlie's Angels was on television the first time, I didn't watch it. Our TV died when I was about five years old (in my memory, it was smack in the middle of an Easter Bunny special too), and my mother chose to not replace it. I think this was mostly good for me, because it turned me into a big time reader (which I still am today). The only issue I have with it was that I always, always lost at TV Tag (did you play that as a kid? You had to shout out the name of a television show when the person that was "it" tried to get you and then you froze and were "safe"), and now as an adult I… -
Food, Health, and why YES I'm still in a good fucking mood
30 Jun 2009 | 12:21 pmTomorrow at the ungodly hour of 7:30 am Charlie is getting an ultrasound of his gall bladder. Why? Well, he had a handful of super painful abdominal "attacks" that may be related to gall stones. (Or, as he likes to point out, pancreatic cancer.) While we've been waiting for the test, one of the ways he's been trying to treat the problem is by following a low-fat diet for the first time in his life. It's worked very well and he hasn't had an attack since he started keeping his fat content down to about 40-50 grams a day.That might seem like a lot of fat, but in truth, we had developed some… -
Depression: Flipping The Switch (and 23andMe contest winner, at the end)
29 Jun 2009 | 8:56 amSo, as of today, I have been taking a low-dose of antidepressants for 29 days. And dudes, it’s like someone flipped a switch in the last few days. It's unfuckingbelievable.A bit of this is also related to vacation, of course. Unplugging from the internet is a really fucking good idea; I don’t think I quite knew how much time I was spending on it. Since I’ve been home (we got home Friday afternoon), I’ve closed the laptop quite often and turned my attention to other things. So there’s that. When Charlie and I went hiking alone (well, with the dog, but sans Tori) on Wednesday, that… -
It Turns Out Tori Really IS a Princess
29 Jun 2009 | 6:59 amSo I have good news and bad news, but your personal perspective is going to determine which of the two things I'll mention now is which. Heh.This is my last post for 23andMe *sob!*. I've loved working for them, and I've learned so much about not only DNA and science and stuff, but also about problogging and how to do it right. So I'm grateful that I had this opportunity.The other news is this: remember all you folks that desperately wished you could take the 23andMe spit test and learn all the cool stuff that it's in your DNA? Now's your chance! I am excited to announce that 23andMe is…
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Busted Babymaker
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Sorry
26 Jun 2009 | 7:05 pmI've received MANY emails re: the private blog and haven't had time to respond to them all. I promise I will try to answer a few a day but don't worry if you haven't heard from me (or still don't for a while), just working my way through all of them when I have the spare time.In the meantime, kitties?Look, mommy, I'm cuter than the baby!I don't even know what this position is but it can't be comfortable.Of course she waited till the detergent was in... -
Toodle Gifts!!!
21 Jun 2009 | 3:51 pmToodle is certainly loved, and we're so grateful for how excited everyone was/is for his arrival and the gifts they've sent.Forever Loves sent a Target gift card which we used towards Toodle's bookcase in his room. Here's a pic of said bookcase with his stuffed animals in it (and one unstuffed animal atop it...Puddin' rocks).Fertilized sent the cutest little rattle, called the "Toodles" rattle (you can see on the tag):Funsize sent these adorable monkey changing accesories (wiper holder and changing pad). They match my diaper bag too (it's cream and black with red accents).In addition to these… -
Another quick note...
20 Jun 2009 | 1:04 pmThings are going well - little man is sleeping now, and the cats have reacted amusingly to him. Puddin' LOVES him - hangs out constantly, meows sympathetically when he cries, and considers him just another "activity" in which to participate. Stoli is utterly unimpressed, mostly refuses to acknowledge anything is different. Mister, however is uber-agitated. We haven't seen much of him since we came home...he doesn't like noises, change, et cetera. Hopefully he'll come around.Re: the private blog - to the person who doesn't understand the reason we would go private now and not before, it is… -
Thank You (and private blog info)
18 Jun 2009 | 7:51 amThanks to everyone who has commented and welcomed our little man. DH still refers to him as "Toodle" sometimes, very cute. He's cuter by the second...I've noticed a lot of comments and emails re: the private blog, so I'm reposting the criteria for access (which I took down before after the response became overwhelming). I've created a private blog where I'll post pics and Toodle's name and more info because I wasn't comfortable having all of that public. To gain access, I prefer that you be somewhat "traceable" or that I "know" you, meaning either (a) I know you from one of my online groups… -
Toodle is Here!!!!
17 Jun 2009 | 6:07 pmThe induction went smoothly and he was born today at 2:17 pm, weighing 6 lbs 7 oz and measuring 21.5 inches. Thanks SO much for all the comments and apologies for turning them off. Here's a pic of me holding him for the first time:Also, thanks to all for remembering our sweet Doodles during this exciting time.More details (including a name) on the private blog!
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Chez Perky
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How Our Phone Conversations Sound These Days
21 Jun 2009 | 8:04 amSeth went to give platelets early this morning. While he was gone, I got J's daily medication taken care of, got the babies out of their cribs, changed them, and made everybody pancakes. All four kids were eating their pancakes when Seth called to say he was on his way home. Our conversation went something like this: Seth: Good news! I'm on my way home. Me: Great! Happy Father's Day! I've got pancakes waiting for you - J! Do not drink off the chair! Turn around, sit properly, and drink appropriately! Sorry, honey. So, um, I'll see you soon? Seth: Yeah, I'm… -
Broken
16 Jun 2009 | 11:43 amWe had an appointment with Ye Olde Developmental Pediatrician this morning, ostensibly to talk about the status of the J-man's medications. I kind of left you hanging on that one. Well, we had a great couple weeks, actually. We were giving him Focalin in the cream of Oreos, of all things, and that worked GREAT. For 13 days. The thing is, he's a "fast metabolizer", and since he refuses to take any extended release medications, that meant he was eating 7 Oreos a day. Even a kid can get sick of Oreos after a while. And so, the Oreos were doomed from the start. … -
"The Duct Tape is in the Linen Closet"
25 May 2009 | 7:39 pmMy husband is (jokingly, I hope) writing a parenting series entitled "The Merciless Discipline Guide to Parenting." Book One is to be entitled "Duct Tape: The Only Parenting Tool You'll Ever Need"... well, I don't know that it's the only tool that we'll ever need with four little monsters ruling our roost, but we're certainly finding more uses for duct tape every day, that's for sure. Ellie, for example, has taken to removing her pajamas after we've put her to bed. And hey, once you've removed your pajamas, well, you may as… -
Just a Spoonful of Sugar...
15 May 2009 | 4:40 pmJust a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go downIn a most delightful way Growing up, Mary Poppins was one of my favorite movies to watch, over and over again. I loved the magic Mary Poppins could spin, the order she created from chaos, the cheer she instilled in the gloomiest of gloomies. Chief among my favorite songs in the film was "A Spoonful of Sugar." In ev'ry job that must be done There is an element of fun You find the fun and snap! The job's a game I loved the idea that something so simple, a spoonful of sugar, could make something so yucky (medicine),… -
Family Ties
11 May 2009 | 9:35 pmOne thing I can tell you about our families is that we're very consistent - we're all certifiable. And those of us who claim not to be? We're either in denial, or we just haven't fallen off the cliff yet. One of the reasons I always craved a large family was because my own family was very small, and very dysfunctional. My mother is an only child, her mother was an only child, her father had one brother. My father has one brother, with whom he does not speak. His father had two brothers, one who died in the Second World War, and the other with whom he was…
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The Twinkies
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3 Years This Week: A Visual History
1 Jul 2009 | 6:15 pm3 years ago I was hugely pregnant, up every night with false labor and eating a lot of salsa to try to bring it on. I was looking through old pictures and it amazes me how quickly they have gone from itty bitty sleep deprivers to experienced and canny sleep deprivers. -
First Pedicures
1 Jul 2009 | 1:30 pmIt’s that kind of day. Fiona is painting quietly in the other room while I sit in a beaten heap. Really, life with toddlers is rather like bailing a leaky boat with one hand while rowing towards shore with the other. You don’t make any noticeable progress but you can’t slow down [...] -
Twins on Vacation
29 Jun 2009 | 11:08 pmI already wrote it once. http://www.stacieturnerphotography.com/2009/twins-on-vacation/ -
Fiona’s New Question
16 Jun 2009 | 6:05 pmWhatcha talkin’ about, guys? or What are you guys talkin’ about? -
Art by “Yames” and “Fona”
16 Jun 2009 | 6:03 pmJames: Fiona:
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soulbliss
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oh....
1 Jul 2009 | 7:52 pmHappy Canada Day!!!!!!!We had a great first Canada Day and our town put on a fantastic and huge fireworks display. -
8 week stats...
29 Jun 2009 | 3:08 pmweight 10lbs 7.5 oz or 4.76 KgLength 24 inches or 60cm0ver 3 pounds in 8 weeksshe finally passed what Bliss weighed at birth -
tidbits...
25 Jun 2009 | 3:57 amA few random things.Bliss loved the show "Get Ed" on Jetix back home. We can no longer find it anywhere and our saved shows on our old DVR do not exist anymore. I also cannot find anywhere you can get the series on DVD so I am putting it out to the blogiverse. Does anyone have a DVD of "Get Ed" or know where we can get one or any way to purchase one.It was actually a show I enjoyed as well.I wish I had a movie of what we had to do two nights ago. Soul naps in arms still so she is either in my arms, or if I have to unpack some part of the house, or pay bills or make calls Lu will also hold her… -
a good time was had by all...
21 Jun 2009 | 7:37 pmI had a great birthday. Bliss is unaware of this but I have a tradition of going out on my birthday and getting him a gift. It is a sweet fun thing now but him having an expectation of it would get annoying when he hits his teens I am sure.Anyhow we went and got him his first bike. We had no where to ride back home that was safe so he was never interested but we went to a local bike thing this week in our town here and now he has a bike. He was excited and I put on training wheels when we got home.His cheeks look so adorable in that helmet it is so cute!!OK and this one just because… -
new pics...
18 Jun 2009 | 12:26 pmI let these upload over 4 hours when we went out for the day. It is my new genius idea for posting pics.I adore this one, it reminds me a lot of her birth photo somehow, and no not because she is naked.Bliss, the girls, and Lu getting the mail. I love this pic!!Her eye color is so amazing yet undecided.This makes me melt.Here is a smile. She has smiled since day one, honestly. Bliss did as well. Cheeky grins in response to me. I finally captured a good one here while she did dome sunbathing in the window for vitamin D goodness.First a porcupine and now this. Guess what was outside our house…
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dead baby jokes
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northward bound
2 Jul 2009 | 8:02 amTomorrow morning, we'll be heading north. First stop: a little town with a huge, over-the-top Fourth of July celebration, including an all-day parade, fireworks on the waterfront, a pie-eating contest and a fireman's muster. Next, I'll get on the ferry and head a bit further north to spend a few days by the Bay of Fundy with my friend, Hortensia. Hortensia is not only as black-hearted as I am, but is also one of the few people who still calls me by my college nickname -- Evilla. Don't ask. Please don't ask. -
stay tuned
1 Jul 2009 | 4:31 amThough it's usually held on the first Friday of the month, due to the fact that this upcoming Friday is the Fourth of July,* the July edition of anonymous people on the internets revealing their innermost secrets has been postponed until next Friday. Until then, why not peruse the previous iterations of Niobe's True Confessions™ A few of which are actually Niobe's own personal confessions. See if you can guess which ones.*That is, the Fourth of July (observed). Because, as the astute observers among you will have already noticed, actually, Friday is the third of July. -
subtraction
30 Jun 2009 | 5:19 amThose who've lost children usually count differently than other people. I have no children, one child, two, three, four, five children, they say, leaving space for the one who isn't there.But, for me, even now, one of the few things that can still make me have to remember to breathe is when people, trying to be kind, refer to Cole as my fourth child. I have two children, no more, no less.The twins are . . . lost, gone, vanished, stolen, disappeared, absolutely elsewhere. But they are not my children. And they never were. -
with one string
28 Jun 2009 | 4:39 pmI've been avoiding writing about it or even thinking about it, but it looks like we're going to do another IVF cycle with the help of our wonderful surrogate, Trish. Check out her blog if you want more details. (eta: if you stop by Trish's blog, please leave her a comment -- even if it's just to say hello or good luck. Being a surrogate can be such a difficult and often misunderstood role and I know that your support would mean a lot to her.)I'm not feeling exactly optimistic (I know you're shocked), but, as Saskia reminds me, "There's always hope." I hear it's somewhere in Arkansas. Or… -
something new
26 Jun 2009 | 8:32 pmAnd -- if, like me, you tend to thoughtlessly succumb to the patriarchal gender role stereotyping that permeates, pervades and perfuses our society -- something blue. M has had her long awaited baby boy and both M and her little one are doing very, very well. I won't tell her story, because it's, well, her story, but it's been a long and painful road and M has experienced just about every imaginable obstacle and more sorrow than anyone should ever have to endure. Honestly, I can't begin to tell you how happy I am for M and her new son.M's blog is password protected, so no link, but if anyone…
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I Won't Fear Love
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Advanced
29 Jun 2009 | 8:01 pmSo the weather didn't screw us too badly, the food and the booze were good and plentiful, there was occasional dancing, and my husband conspired with my sister to produce sinfully gorgeous deserts from our favorite place in the general area, including a cake decorated with a nod to his and mine ancient history together. We even had an unexpected, wasn't-on-the-guest-list guest drop by. I am officially a year older. 35. The age that gets one that coveted designation at the OB's, the kind all the cool girls are after. Advanced maternal age. Yeah, baby. I am actually mostly joshing there. I sort… -
Free Your Goat Fridays: Hectic
26 Jun 2009 | 1:41 pmIt's been that kind of week. It's not over yet. But I did attempt bling, using the image that came with this quaint little British tidbit. Whatdayathink? And be honest, I can take it. So I will be back with my own tales of goats gotten and freed, later. My goats:Goat-getter the First, or You would cry too...My birthday party is tomorrow. Because, you know, it's my birthday tomorrow. One of those big deal ones, divisible by five. I didn't get a birthday party last year (because of all the fun with PTL). Two years ago I cleverly attached JD's and another friend's birthdays to mine,… -
Devil's Dozen
23 Jun 2009 | 8:50 pmIn the Old Country, baker's dozen, 13, is known as devil's dozen, in keeping with the number's status as bad luck of course. I have to say I was never on board with castigating 13. In fact, I am rather a fan. A devil's dozen years ago, the party was still going pretty good. The ceremony was supposed to be at 3 (invitations said 2:30, to account for Jewish Standard Time), but ended up being slightly later. With the pictures and the cocktail hour, the party didn't get started until close to 6, but six hours later there was our band, playing way past the hour of contractual obligation. The band… -
Free Your Goat Fridays: Still Blingless
19 Jun 2009 | 10:25 amYes, it's that day of the week again, the day, I know, you've all been waiting for. We'll let the uninitiated think that the excitement is all about the weekend ahead, the laundry piling up in anticipation of all the copious free time you think you will have during said weekend, or all of your planned outside activities, that, if you live in my city, are sure to be rained out. Unlike the uninitiated, though, we know the truth-- the excitement is all about the impending arrival of the second installment of Free Your Goat Fridays. And what do you know-- it's not impending anymore-- it has… -
Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Bodies in Motion
17 Jun 2009 | 9:28 amThis was Sunday-- Monkey's end of year gymnastics show. Her last year as a "civilian." It's Level 4 in the fall, complete with team leotards, matching warm-up suits, and, and this is the key, actual trophy-awarding competitions. It also comes with nine hours of practice a week, starting in September, and twelve a week July and August. She couldn't be more thrilled. JD couldn't be more ambivalent-- it's a lifestyle, admittedly, and he's not looking forward to being sucked into it. I am deeply philosophical. She's been waiting for this, working for this, for years now. She's having a ball, and…
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Mrs. Spit Spouts Off
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$187 CAD
1 Jul 2009 | 7:22 pmCanada Day Stash. Don't look at me like that. It was on sale. On Sale. At it's for already established projects. (well, mostly, except for the stuff that isn't. Why do you have to be like this anyway?)Toby doesn't care about the stash either. -
The Maple Leaf Forever
1 Jul 2009 | 7:13 amHappy Canada Day -
Ravelry
30 Jun 2009 | 6:00 amI'm fully "on" Ravelry. I have catalogued my stash, I have a list of my wip's, and I have photo's. See all the photo's of stash organizing? (There are no photo's of stash organizing, blogger kept breaking every time I tried to load them. Which is probably just as well. Those of my dear readers that don't knit, wouldn't understand. Neither, for that matter, would Mr. Spit) It's just,I have no -
Monday Miscellany
29 Jun 2009 | 4:30 amI was walking through Chapters(1) on Saturday, looking for something for a friend, when I saw it:A ball of elastics. You know, like you put together in your first job when you were bored out of your skull, and couldn't think of a single thing to do? Possibly you even spent days working at this, but all you had were the ugly, boring beige elastics, because your company was to cheap to get coloured -
The Yellow House in Calder
26 Jun 2009 | 4:00 amI think one of the best things about getting to know people is that you learn to know not just them, but their families. Their stories, who they are, what they are a part of, become part of your life.I have "known" Brown Owl's family for a while. Her mother, who had been so vibrant, until the ALS came, and then was vibrant in that secret place inside of her, until reaching heaven. And Brown Owl's
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Our Own Creation
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In between naps
2 Jul 2009 | 12:42 pmwent as smoothly as it could. two doses of morphine before I left, reassured them I’d be fine without a third. Just slept off the first two hours of my first dose of vicodin. Almost no cramping, very light bleeding. Just extremely heart-sore. Should have the chromosomal testing results in 2-3 [...] -
Planning ahead
1 Jul 2009 | 11:44 amOk, so we hit the grocery store yesterday. Today, I’m getting the bread dough made and doing as much prep work for Thursday and Friday’s dinners as I can so that all Shannon has to do is actually bake the bread and either bring the stew to a simmer or broil the salmon filets. [...] -
The morning after
30 Jun 2009 | 8:53 amWe’re both still here and standing. It’s probably more from sheer will power and stubbornness than anything else, but it’s all we’ve got. I appreciate the great howl at the universe. Maybe this time it will get through because, honestly? I’ve finally snapped. I didn’t say it last year. [...] -
third sono
29 Jun 2009 | 4:14 pmNo heartbeat. No growth since last week. D&C scheduled for Thursday. Personally, I’d like whomever is in charge of this fucking circus that is my life to go shove it up their ass. No sympathy please. I’m not in the mood for kind thoughts. Cussing is allowed. -
just killing time
29 Jun 2009 | 7:49 amToday’s sono appointment is at 4:15 so we have a few hours to wait. I was fine all week, but suddenly I’m feeling anxious and antsy for this afternoon to get here.
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Bloorb
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Prenatal Fitness Ambassador!?!
2 Jul 2009 | 6:36 amHoly, how things have changed...First, the fact that I'm a fitness ambassador of ANYTHING? Frack! Not something I would've put a MILLION DOLLARS on 10 years ago. Add to that the fact that I'm a PRENATAL fitness ambassador? Well holy freaking CRAP! That not only means I must be PREGNANT, but I'm also the preggo I really wanted to be when we first started all this TTC crap so long ago. And like I -
Running at 5 Months Pregnant
30 Jun 2009 | 6:57 amThe treadmill is my FREAKING HERO. I don't know if it was the hard pavement killing me, or just some odd positioning of Tiny B killing me, but all I DO know is last week my running had gone to shit. I was giving up hope. I was ALMOST ready to throw in the towel.And then I talked to a friend who ran til she was 8 months pregnant with BOTH her kids, and the two things that changed for HER mid-way -
Ultrasounds & Appointments & Third Legs - OH MY! (updated)
28 Jun 2009 | 9:03 am*Updated with pics*This week, honestly, has been awesome. In a week where the husband and I were both a little nervous again, and a week where the husband and I were both mentally preparing for whatever we might be presented with, it all REALLY couldn't have turned out better.While we were both confident going into the big ultrasound that all WAS well with Tiny B (I feel movement, he sees my gut -
B is for Boy
24 Jun 2009 | 7:44 pmLots to post about re the ultrasound appointment (will do later), but in short, all is well with Tiny B.Right now he's head-up (meaning positioned just like me, with head up top and feet down below), but all his parts are there, and are working. He's got a spine and abdomen, all four limbs and at least one foot, and a heart beating at a lovely 154 beats per minute.Oh, and there's this third leg -
19 Weeks and Counting
23 Jun 2009 | 6:12 amSo SOMEHOW, I chicklet, have reached the 19 week mark... in my PREGNANCY. Which means I'm almost FIVE MONTHS PREGNANT. And it's not like I was UNAWARE this is where getting pregnant could lead, and it's not like I can't COUNT and didn't know that 19 followed 18 which followed 17 which followed 16... It's just that I was, and still am quite OFTEN, surprised that I'm actually pregnant.I'm not just
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INFERTILITY NEWS - Google News
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Michael Jackson is the father of his kids - Examiner.com
2 Jul 2009 | 3:02 pmExaminer.comMichael Jackson is the father of his kidsExaminer.comIn a world where over 7 million couples face infertility and thousands of couples/individuals choose donor egg and sperm as an alternative to family Uganda: Where Did Michael Jackson Leave His Genes?AllAfrica.comall 2 news articles » -
Acupuncture: Natural Cure for Infertility - Alternative Health Journal
2 Jul 2009 | 11:47 amAlternative Health JournalAcupuncture: Natural Cure for InfertilityAlternative Health JournalAt least 2 million women in the United States suffer from infertility, or the inability to have children. Infertility can be an emotionally distressing and more » -
Surrogate Mothers: Womb for rent - Seattle Post Intelligencer
2 Jul 2009 | 11:06 amSeattle Post IntelligencerSurrogate Mothers: Womb for rentSeattle Post IntelligencerThe midday sun is ferociously hot outside the Akanksha Infertility Clinic, a scuffed concrete building in the small Indian city of Anand. and more » -
Damaged Sperm May Be Improved Through Frequency of Sex - HealthNews
2 Jul 2009 | 9:06 amABC NewsDamaged Sperm May Be Improved Through Frequency of SexHealthNewsResearch presented by Dr. David Greening of Sydney IVF, an Australian center for infertility and in vitro fertilization, indicates that increasing sexual Sperm healthier and more fertile with daily sexPrivate MDDaily sex reduces damaged spermABC Science OnlineDaily Sex Improves Sperm DNA Quality & Chance of ConceptionMedHeadlinesAustralian Migration News -TheMedGuru -The Ageall 378 news articles » -
The Connection of Infertility and stds - EmpowHer
2 Jul 2009 | 8:21 amThe Connection of Infertility and stdsEmpowHerIf sexually active, it is very important for men and women both to be aware of their own sexual health through annual physicals, which include blood tests and more »
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Baby or Bust
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Sonohystogram
29 Jun 2009 | 10:06 pmToday I had my sonohystogram. It was the first I’ve seen Dr. T since our IVF consultation last November, and it was definitely a welcome visit. It’s always a welcome visit. I adore Dr. T. In fact, I wish there were some way to make him my all-the-time-everything doctor because I so would. He has a bedside manner unlike any doctor I’ve ever been around. He isn’t patronizing and he doesn’t dumb down information, but he definitely makes it digestible. He makes you feel like you’re the only other patient in the entire building, and while we both know that… -
Man Surgery Explained
24 Jun 2009 | 10:56 pmShelton and I received our packet in the mail from his surgeon, the urologist, Dr. G., tonight. Inside was a stack of paperwork with instructions for the weeks and day leading up to his surgery. He can’t take anything that relieves pain, basically. No eating the night before. Abstinence for about five days prior. Pretty standard stuff. He and I both have required labs for HIV and Hepatitis that we’re taking care of on Monday. I was kind of shocked to read that the surgery could take four hours. And the following conversation took place over dinner: Me: Four hours is a long time. -
Big Box of IVF Needles and Fertility Drugs
19 Jun 2009 | 7:05 pmEarlier this week I received a phone call from pharmacy filling our fertility drug order. I confirmed all of the pertinent details and then reviewed the order. They had the Doxycycline, Ovidrel, Progesterone in oil and Gonal-F, plus needles. I referenced the list we’d received in IVF class, and everything checked out. I had to call back with some insurance information, knowing it was really a waste of time because they weren’t going to cover any of this. Once I confirmed that I was told they would process my order through insurance and call the next day with a final total. -
IVF Class and Our Big Bag of Needles
3 Jun 2009 | 9:01 pmWell, folks, we’ve decided to get a goldfish. They’re like 35 cents, don’t come with any needles, or severe hormone shifts. It wasn’t ALL that bad, but definitely overwhelming and quite sobering. After spending the past five years talking about it (and talking and talking), the whole thing slapped us in the face today. My stomach rolled over the moment we walked through the doors. During one portion while our coordinator “M” (she’s reading this… hello!) was giving her presentation, I thought I was going to have to leave. Tears started welling in… -
IVF Handbook and a Scheduling Conflict
28 May 2009 | 12:29 amI told you about receiving our IVF handbook/packet, which turned out to be an oddly emotional moment for me. I didn’t want to waste any time and so I asked Shelton to read through the entire thing with me - giving us a chance to discuss things, question things, maybe even laugh at a few things. He suggested we each read it separately, and then regroup to discuss. I suggested more strongly that we do it the way I had originally suggested. In the end, we read through it together. All 50 some pages in one evening. We scribbled notes in the margins to ask at our June 3 IVF class. We read…
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BagMomma
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Sparkly
2 Jul 2009 | 6:18 amThanks guys for hanging with me on that last post. I think the appropriate word someone used in the comments was "panic", and yes that pretty much hits the nail on the head. As much as I am excited to finally get here, the anticipation of finally being here just reminds me how close I am to the end of it all.I've been stewing on these emotions for the last two weeks, but this week it just reared it's ugly head to the forefront.So what's new? Well, I started the estrogen (in pill AND patch form), and just counting down the days for the donor to start stimming on the 10th.Man, was I EVER glad… -
The Monster in the closet
29 Jun 2009 | 10:17 amThis post has been brewing for awhile now- the draft locked in my head wanting to finally be documented to make room for other thoughts....I had a dream, not long after the drama in March after Donor#1 failed. I thought it was just the stress talking, a way for my mind to reset...In my dream I was putting together a scrapbook, all lovely pictures of me, S., and David. As I turned the page there was a blank page just begging for photos. I reached into the pile of photos that remained on my desk.The first thing that was seemed off was that each picture was black and white. I remember thinking… -
Heady Thoughts
26 Jun 2009 | 9:31 amIt's Friday, I am up to my ears in work, and the same headache I went to bed with? Yep, it's still hanging around. I'd love to blame it entirely on the medication, but it's also the witching hour before AF is due (migrane city).Double trouble as far as I am concerned.The good news today? The donor got her meds. Case closed on that drama.Hmmmmm.... this cycle is really going to happen I think. -
Rock with me
25 Jun 2009 | 6:13 pmTruth be told, I haven't thought about Michael Jackson much in the last 10-15 years. With all his oddities and dicey situations, he faded into obscurity for me (well, as much as the King of Pop can).So the news of his death was sort of a shocking/not shocking thing. Do all musical icons die young? Because it does seem that way.Anyway, when I went upstairs to remove my makeup and get into my comfy jammies, I turned on the radio.. and of course, playing on every station... an MJ marathon.I was instantly catapulted back to my youth. Each song held a vivid memory.Listening to "Rock With You" in… -
The fall of civilization
24 Jun 2009 | 8:09 amWell, I took my last BCP yesterday. Just waiting for AF to show. I'll be happy to back off the Lupron a little bit. I've been having hot flashes at night. The headaches, not so bad as long as I keep hydrated.The donor meds saga was resolved, but not without a minor freakout yesterday that all my work to date was for nothing when ONCE AGAIN a customer service person thought I was paying cash. Thank goodness for my new friend at the other specialty pharmacy who reminded me to remain calm, and then called the OTHER pharmacy to remind them of my insurance details. Ugh, such horrible communication…
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Prospective Families Blog
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RESOLVE announces both a Short-Film Competition and a local book event: Love and Infertility. You are invited to participate in both!
27 Jun 2009 | 10:44 amSometimes, with all of the focus and commitment and determination that is required of family building efforts, we lose the perspective that our journey is worth sharing and that the experiences of others struggling with infertility just may have something to offer the next Intended Parent…..and sometimes, we just need to have a little fun with this all. Below are two events that I am recommending for your consideration. The first is a film-competition, the second a women’s only book event. I share these events to remind you that you are partnered in your struggle to become a… -
$35,000. Donors Do Not Buy Family Building Success
24 Jan 2009 | 10:19 pmIn the January 25th edition of The Boston Herald, a side-bar to two articles for which I was interviewed discusses a West Coast couple advertising at MIT for a donor and offering her a compensation of $35,000.00. I am not sure where to begin my commentary on this couple’s determination to recruit a “genius Asian egg donor” with a lure $25,000.00 above industry standards for best practices as established by the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Yet my staff, my colleagues and even the donors who work with Prospective Families are well-aware… -
Let’s get connected!
26 Oct 2008 | 4:20 pmFor the many of you that are on Facebook, you may be happy to know that Prospective Families now has its own Facebook page. Our page has feeds directly from our blog, videos, news, and events. If you are on Facebook you can become a fan and stay connected. If you are not on Facebook, you can still check out our page, where they will also provide you with a link to sign up. The link to our Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wellesley-MA/Prospective-Families/27764169698?ref=ts -
I’ll ask again, are those in need of ART wandering around uneducated?
26 Oct 2008 | 7:43 amWell, my last few posts have generated quite a bit of empassioned feedback from “infertility consultants” defending the need for “professional educators” to fill the void they feel left by clinical teams, attorneys, mental health providers etal in giving patients/clients a solid understanding of alternative family building options and issues. I returned yesterday from the RESOLVE of the Bay State Annual conference where approximately 200 folks participated, through-out the day, in 40 educational events and had the great fortune of a key-note speech by Ali… -
As licensed professionals, are we meeting our obligation to educate?
22 Oct 2008 | 3:03 pmAre we meeting the needs of patients/clients to comprehensively educate or is their a void w/in which uncredentialed service providers (i.e. Independent Infertility Consultants) are now marketing (and charging for) services we, as licensed professionals should be providing? As a long-term patient advocate (beginning my career in infertility working on complex legislative matters regarding insurance coverage for patients) and as a former Chair of Education for RESOLVE New York City, I believe that clinics, mental health providers and legal counsel have an obligation to “educate”…
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The Stork Lawyer®
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Why is Farrah Fawcett’s death today relevant to infertility and family building?
25 Jun 2009 | 10:22 amFarrah Fawcett’s death today is beyond sad and traggic. The world has lost a vibrant and talented woman who influenced a generation of women and men. From her pro-feminist roles as one of Charlie’s kick-butt Angels to her performance in the Burning Bed, all combined with her bombshell good looks, she served to inspire and enlighten many people around the world for decades. What does she have to do with infertility? We’ve been talking a lot about visualization and the power of intention on this blog. It got me through my own journey to parenthood and is helping me now during… -
How did a homework assignment change my life?
11 Jun 2009 | 4:46 pmHaving faith that good things really do happen has been a really big part of my life recently. I know I recently blogged about having faith. Times are hard and it’s hard to believe it can be different. Like everyone else affected by the economy, my husband and I have had a difficult (to say the least) year. On top of employment issues we had major issues with child care which prevented me from working as much as I would have liked (and needed to) earlier this year, I missed a major conference that I wanted to attend, my kids were in a car accident, and we had flu after flu after flu. It… -
The Stork Lawyer Economic Stimulus Plan of 2009 is Here!
16 Apr 2009 | 11:13 amAs Tax Day comes and goes and so many people are struggling both with infertility and paying bills, and praying that tax refunds will help pay for treatment or adoption expenses, we’ve been asking, what can we do to help? Well, we’ve decided to extend a little economic stimulus package of our own! The Stork Lawyer Economic Stimulus Plan of 2009 is designed to make all legal services for family building more affordable for everyone! First, we’d like to remind you that we offer a free egg donation contract per fiscal quarter to qualifying individuals and families. To make this… -
What’s Wrong With This Picture (or video)?
14 Apr 2009 | 11:23 amI was re-visiting Chelsea Lately’s hysterical You Tube video on egg donation when I came across this one. I laughed at most of it, but honestly can’t tell whether it’s meant to be serious (in which case, how many things did you find wrong with the video — we can have a contest!) or a joke. Either way, I’d be interested in other people’s thoughts. Click on the hyperlink below and let me know what you think!! How To Become An Egg Donor -
The Only Honest Woman in Hollywood (so far)!
14 Apr 2009 | 11:04 amI want to express my profound appreciation and delight to see that someone in Hollywood actually admitted to suffering through infertility and going so far as to give an interview in People Magazine about it. Even better, while she acknowledged that people have a right to privacy (especially during such a profoundly challenging time in their lives) that: “I only want to say we might not have as much time as think we have [to get pregnant].” Three cheers to George Lopez star Constance Marie for her honesty about her struggle to conceive her beautiful baby girl and the impact age…
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Egg Donor & Surrogacy Consulting Blog
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Friday Legal Updates - Donor Offspring, IVF Blunder in UK, Michigan Embryo Legislation & More
26 Jun 2009 | 12:19 pmWell, another week has come and gone, but for those of us who are Americans, next week is the 4th of July, which means family celebrations for most. Today, I want to tell those who are still longing for a family of their own that there is hope. Be patient, get educated, and hang in there. Now, onto the updates: Iowa - Dead Iowan Father's Child - will his daughter receive survivor benefits. In a case similar to the one that I addressed here in California last week on my blog, her mother is trying to fight for Social Security Survivor Benefits for Byrnn, now 6, conceived… -
Egg Donor Anonymity & Privacy & the Reality of the Google World
24 Jun 2009 | 12:20 pmI spent the evening last night finally spending some time reviewing some fertility blogs and websites. I was actually surprised by some of the "promises" that were being made to egg donors in relation to their donation of their eggs to recipient parents. In fact, some claim that the information is shredded once a donation is over and/or their information is not released to other agencies or clinics. I am not really certain how that protects the privacy of the donors in all situations. I think it is important that those in this industry make certain that we… -
RESOLVE Advocacy Day June 25th : Why Me? Why Now?
22 Jun 2009 | 1:15 pmToday we are in a unique moment in US history where the future of healthcare reform is being discussed in the halls of Congress. Together we need to make sure that the leaders of this discussion hear firsthand what those touched by infertility need in our healthcare system. There's never been a time in RESOLVE's 35 year history where we need you more than we do today. Grab your spouse, partner, best-friend or mom and join us June 25 in Washington D.C. Stand up and be heard. Subscribe to my blog at: http://www.surrogacyeggdonorblog.com/subscribe.html -
Friday Legal Updates - Posthumous Conception and Social Security & Conference Reminder
19 Jun 2009 | 10:57 amWell, it is Friday again - TGIF to everyone. Not alot on the legal front this week, despite the continuous chatter about the IVF blunders over in the UK, as I commented on this week in my blog entitled Embryo Mix-Up, Resulting Abortion, and Adequate Justice?. But, I do not want to beat a dead horse, so today's singular topic is sperm donation. California - The Ninth Circuit has determined that posthumous conception DOES NOT entitle one to survivor benefits. In a case involving a 10 year old girl, her mother was trying to get Social Security Survivor Benefits for… -
The American Fertility Association & The Frozen Embryo Dilemma
17 Jun 2009 | 5:17 pmWith so much in the press these days about donor anonymity and how to handle that in the future, I wanted to post an article from the AFA that also talks about how to deal with the future issues in ART. Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts! "A Matter of Privacy, Responsibility and Choice It’s a private issue gone very public. It’s a complex web of personal philosophy, religious orientation and social conscience about which everybody, and we mean everybody, has a strong opinion. But the fact is, and should be, what you do with the frozen embryos you don’t use is…
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Quips & Tips for Couples Coping With Infertility
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6 Things That Cause Irregular Periods
2 Jul 2009 | 10:07 amIs your period too heavy, too long, too light, or nonexistent? Here are six things that cause irregular periods - plus how to regulate your menstrual cycle. “In man, the shedding of blood is always associated with injury, disease, or death,” said Dr Estelle Ramey. “Only the female half of humanity was seen to have the [...] Related posts:6 Facts About Your Period or Menstrual Cycle4 Types of Menstrual Period ProblemsHow Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Affects Fertility -
How Ovarian Transplants Work for Infertile Women
30 Jun 2009 | 2:30 pmHere’s hope for women who lost their fertility because of cancer treatments (or other reasons): doctors are practicing ovarian transplants to help with conceiving a baby. “We are in the middle of a massive global infertility epidemic, caused by the new structure of our society where women choose not to have children until they are older,” [...] Related posts:How Women Are Coping With InfertilityCoping With Infertility for Men and WomenHow Ovulation Predictor Kits Work -
5 Tips for Creating a Vision Board for Fertility
25 Jun 2009 | 2:12 pmVisualization and vision boards aren’t guaranteed to increase fertility levels - but surrounding yourself with images of the life you want may help you get pregnant! So, I’ve rounded up tips for creating a vision board for fertility…. Before the tips, a quip: “You must see your goals clearly and specifically before you can set out for them,” [...] Related posts:How Infertility Can Affect Your MarriageTips for Reducing the Stress of InfertilityTips for Couples Coping With Infertility -
5 Tips for Choosing an Infertility Clinic
23 Jun 2009 | 10:35 amIt’s overwhelming when you can’t get pregnant naturally and need to choose an infertility clinic! Here are five tips to help guide you towards the right fertility specialist… And remember: the reported numbers of successful pregnancies aren’t necessarily what they seem. Dr. John Rapisarda of the Fertility Centers of Illinois - one of the nation’s leading infertility treatment centers - explains [...] Related posts:Tips for In Vitro Fertilization – IVFThe Benefits and Drawbacks of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)Why We Think Infertility Rates Are Increasing -
Foods to Avoid for Increased Fertility Levels
18 Jun 2009 | 4:04 pmEverything you eat can increase or decrease your fertility levels - so check out these foods to avoid for increased fertility levels, especially if you’re a couple coping with infertility or trying to get pregnant! “We know that certain pollutants and chemicals in the environment can affect both male and female fertility, and there may be many more substances [...] Related posts:Foods to Avoid When You’re Trying to Get PregnantIncrease Fertility Levels by Avoiding These Toxic ChemicalsFoods That Increase Male Fertility
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Girl [Un]scripted
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Good News
30 Jun 2009 | 10:22 amThe meds are doing something… My poetry is coming back. -
Recoup
29 Jun 2009 | 6:38 pmSaturday went well. I’m both astonished and unsurprised to be able to say that. We arrived and Andrea’s parents went gaga over Monkey (Sport was still with his grandfather). It was just like walking into my own family reunion. I’m glad we went. Andrea was equal parts completely present and painfully absent. A breeze blew through, the wind chimes tinkled their salute, I watch the hair on the crown of Monkey’s head ruffle, and I know without a doubt that she was in the breeze. Monkey runs rampant in the house while I help with the meal. He repeatedly makes… -
Nine
27 Jun 2009 | 10:43 amIt was 7a.m. on an early summer morning when my mom woke me. “Did Andrea have a brother?” That was all she said. I dragged myself up out of the mental molasses that comes from being awakened with a start. “Yeah. Jason.” “How old is he?” She’s frantic now. Struggling to keep it together. It scares me. “Twenty one, I think. Why?” She hesitates. “Mom! Why?” “On the news. Just now. On the radio. They said a 16-year-old girl had been shot on the road she lives on. They said her brother shot her. A… -
Adventures In Antipsychotics
26 Jun 2009 | 11:47 amI went to my GP yesterday for my check up on my toe. The good news is that the nailbed is not infected and “looks great.” This is a lie because while it may not be infected, it does NOT look great. It looks like fucking hamburger, but whatever. To each his own. One woman’s hamburger is another man’s wonderfully healing nailbed. The bad news is that my toe is broken. The first bone in my big toe has a hairline fracture from end to end. They don’t do anything for such breaks. My knowing that it is broken is purely academic. I talked to my GP… -
Long Post
22 Jun 2009 | 7:44 pmThis post has the potential to get huge, so you might want to grab your favorite beverage and settle in for a while… So I went to therapy last Tuesday. After a TWO HOUR intake appointment, my therapist decided to label me with cyclothymia. Basically not crazy enough to be labeled bipolar, but still crazy. Yippee. I go back tomorrow for more head shrinkage. We’ll see what happens. I’m trying to remember if anything batshit crazy happened on Wednesday, but I can’t remember anything. Thursday, I decided I was going to wash and wax Mark’s truck. …
