Belly Full 'O Cookies and IF Friends

Some of the DC Bloggers got together today for a cookie exchange. Man oh man was it yummy. Not a single cookie was anything remotely the same, we had a wonderful variety!

As sweet as the cookies was the delivery from LJ. She couldn't be here because she's traveling for work, so here is what she sent instead:

We missed you, LJ!

Now, on to the cookies... Here are 2 pictures of them. I only have 4 of the 6 recipes so I will butcher the names of the two I don't know for sure, but you'll get the point. Unfortunately, if you weren't able to attend, you can't appreciate how much these pictures don't do the cookies justice. They were all DELICIOUS!!


Left to right they are Butter Spritz Cookies (Shelby), Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (Me), Mama's Oatmeal Lace Cookies (Sunny), and Apricot Florentines (Bean).

Here are some Almond Shortbread Cookies (Deanna) and no-bake Rice Krispie cookies with dried cherries (Meghan). These are the two I don't have recipes for, so I don't know the exact name but dang-dilly-dang-dong-ding were they delicious.

As always, the event itself and festivites contained therein were overshadowed by the good time we had just enjoying each other's company. We came up with a nice, long list of other activities we DC Stirrup Queens can do as a group to keep us busy since we get together monthly. Ideas for next month range from ice skating to a trip to Let's.Dish to a winery tour to pedicures. I'm on the hook for organizing next month's outing, so wish me luck!

Deanna was the new face in the crowd, and it was wonderful to have her join us. We hope to see you more!

Predictably, we spent most of the time laughing ourselves silly at Sunny's crazy stories and antics. Sunny, it is a damn shame that you haven't been blessed with the chance to procreate yet because we surely need more of you in this world.

Shelby was there, looking wonderful for 25 weeks pregnant. Yay!

Bean was there and in amazing spirits given the tragedy she's been enduring this last month. Bean, you are so strong and such an inspiration. I pray for you daily and hope the next cycle is the one for you.

Meghan was there, fresh off her POAS adventure yesterday. She didn't wave around a white stick full of this morning's fresh pee so I'm not sure if that means she decided against the devil stick this morning or if she just didn't want to share the results. She made us all jealous when she left to go have a big, homecooked Sunday meal at her parent's house.

We had a great time, plus shared lots of laughs and plenty of cookies. I am so grateful to have found this wonderful community online, but I'm estatic that I've been able to connect in person with so many truly amazing women that I genuinely like.

Cookies, Scans and Prayers

Geez, I really need to start posting more often. Now, my infrequent posts are not only way too long to be enjoyable, they simply aren't funny at all. That's just disappointing. I vow to work harder at posting more and cranking up the entertainment factor (or at least attempting to!).

In the meantime, here's what new with us:

1) COOKIES!

I am in the throes of preparing for the DC Metro bloggers Cookie Exchange! It's at my house tomorrow afternoon and I'm just giddy with excitement. Usually I'd be over the moon about the prospect of dozens of different cookies showing up at my house -- solely for my eating pleasure -- but I'm actually more jazzed up about getting to see my fellow local IFers. Woot!

2) NT Scan

The bloodwork from our NT scan finally came back. They said it would take 7 - 10 days. True to my (obsessive? annoying?) inquisitive nature, I started calling daily at the 7 day mark. There was a reason for my over-interest in getting the results, see item #4 below. Anyway, they finally came back on day 14 and the news was good. Here are the stats:

Downs:
Before the test, based on my age alone it was 1:111
After the test, it was 1:2,201

Trisomy 18 & 13:
Before the test, based on my age alone it was 1:201
After the test, it was 1:3,534

While we know that these numbers are just estimates, we are still encouraged by them. The genetic counselor felt the need to remind us that someone has to be the 1 on the left side of the odds. So we've vowed to beg and pray each day that we fall on the right side. This isn't quite the amazing 1 in 10,000 odds that Erin got for the WonderTwins, but we're happy with my dusty old ovaries nonetheless.

3) Latest sonogram

I had a regular OB appointment on Thursday. The fact that I'm still down 2 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight isn't really all that impressive since it's still a good 20 lbs more than I should weigh regardless. But I'm still considering it a small victory.

This visit was with my favorite OB/GYN. I just love him. He knows I'm an ultrasound junkie (or, as one of my favorite blog buddies likes to call me, a ScanWhore) so he automatically put me right into the exam room with the sonogram machine. After putting the goop on my belly . . . wait, let me digress here for a second. I think I might write an ode to the abdominal ultrasound. Not that I didn't grow fond of my thrice-weekly (or more) transvaginal probes, don't get me wrong. It's just that after years of getting the dildocam shoved up my girlie bits on an alarmingly regular basis, I forgot how nice it was to score a picture of my uterus or ovaries without feeling supremely violated. The impact that I feel this delightful little perk of IF treatments has had on my sex life is definitely the topic of another post. Suffice it to say that I don't consider this impact to be a positive one. Kevin would, no doubt agree, but he's too busy servicing himself in the shower at the moment...

So, back to the scan. He put the goop on and started searching around for the baby. I swear to you that I almost pass out waiting for something to be discernable. I hold my breath, time starts to slow, and seriously I start to get tunnel vision. I can actually hear my pulse in my ears, it's a very strange feeling. But I can't help myself, I'm always scared completely shitless that they'll find something horrible has happened. I can't function until we see a heartbeat.

The baby wasn't very cooperative, we couldn't get a good look at it's heart and all we could really see was a leg. And the leg was still. Not moving. I could feel myself starting to pant, on my way to hyperventilation. Suddenly, it moved! And not a little bit. It sort of freaked out. Like a bug was crawling up it's leg or it had the jimmies or something or a hornet flew into it's underwear. All 3 of us (me, Kevin and the Dr) laughed and said, "Whoa." Then, the baby turned a bit and WOW. The Dr and I both sort of gasped and said, "Oh!" There, clear as day, was a penis. No doubt about it. I can't believe that at just shy of 15 weeks it was so obvious. But it was.
The Dr moved the probe right away because he didn't know if we wanted to know the sex or not. So I said, "Dang, are we having a boy or what?!" And he said, "Do you want to know?" I said, "Duh, YEAH!" And he said, "Yes, you are. That was an incredibly clear picture, huh?" Meanwhile, Kevin hadn't seen what we saw and he was frantically scanning the screen for some visual confirmation that he'll hopefully get relief from all the estrogen in our house. He started practically squealing, "Wha? Wha? I didn't see it!! Lemme see it!!!!" I couldn't help but laugh, he was acting like a lunatic. So the Dr moved around a bit more and, although we never got the crystal-clear picture that we did the first time, we got plenty more views of what was clearly boy parts.

Eventually the Doctor kept moving the probe around and finally found the heart. And the brain. And whatever else it was that he was looking for. I was so stunned by the clear picture of my kid's package that I had difficulty concentrating on the rest of the scan. But it was pretty quick anyway.

I know that a lot of people say they don't care if they have a boy or a girl, they just want a healthy baby. We truly, truly, truly mean it. It's exciting that it's a boy (or at least appears to be), but we would have been equally as thrilled for a girl. It is a true, genuine miracle when any baby is conceived, and let alone actually forms into a healthy fetus. I don't take that for granted one single bit. So hopefully our upcoming scan on Christmas Eve will reassure us that all of the necessary organs and items are there. After that, I plan to start telling people at work.

#4 Prayers for my friend C

A good friend of mine is pregnant with her 2nd child. Despite the fact she got pregnant with her son the 2nd month of trying, and got pregnant with this baby on THE FIRST TRY, I still love her dearly. She is a week behind me, so it's been fun to experience it together.

Her NT scan didn't go that well. She had it done at 11 weeks (11w2d to be precise) and the baby wasn't very cooperative. It took them over 1.5 hours to get something resembling a decent picture of the nuchal fold, and when they did it was larger than they were hoping. At 11 weeks, they like to see a measurement below 2.0 and hers was 2.4. They told her to come back 2 days later in the hopes they would get a better picture.

Two days later she went back again and this time they got a good picture. Despite the fact that the measurement was better -- 2.1 this time -- they were still concerned. They told her to wait and see what the bloodwork revealed. Luckily she had this test done at the hospital where we work, and is friends with the Perinatologist, so they expedited her results.

A week later, she had her results. They weren't great. The Down's risk was good, but the Trisomy 18/13 risk was elevated. With someone her age, they like to see numbers around the 1:8,000 range. Hers was 1:197. Although a true "positive" result is actually 1:150 or less, they were concerned enough that they recommended she get a CVS. She agreed and scheduled the CVS for a week later (she had to wait for the Dr to come back from Thanksgiving vacation).

In the meantime, she went to her regular OB for her 12 week appt the day before Thanksgiving and was hit with another whammy. Her initial bloodwork revealed that she's positive for Kell. I thought I knew most of what there was to know about things-to-worry-about-in-pregnancy, but I'd never heard of this. It's similar to Rh in that there are antibodies and antigens and the wrong combination is bad for the baby. But, unlike Rh, there is no Rho.gam shot. The treatment is essentially tons of monitoring, possibly multiple amnios, and multiple in-utero blood transfusions. Astoundingly, this isn't related at all to the Trisomy 18/13 results. It's just 2 bad luck things at once.

To make it even more cruel, they drew her blood again at the OB's office and ran the test one more time. She had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to get them, but this time, the results came back negative for Kell. Whew. Her OB said, "Don't worry about it, sorry for the false alarm!" So off she went the following Monday to get her CVS with the Perinatologist.

Once he heard she had tested positive for Kell, he refused to do the CVS. He explained that it's extremely rare to get a false positive and that he strongly suspected she was, in fact, Kell-positive. And if she is Kell-positive, then doing the CVS will cause her blood and the baby's blood to mix which is a bad thing. They drew more blood (she's giving the stuff up like an IFer at this point) and ran the test right away. Since she had the bloodwork done in the Lab within our hospital, we were able to look up the results in the system within a couple of hours. VERY much positive for Kell. The Perinatologist was right. The OB was wrong. And, apparently, the OB's lab simply performed the test wrong. Wrong. Holy shit is that scary.

Now she can't have the CVS and she instead has to wait to have an amnio. Fortunately, they are going to let her do it at 15 weeks so it is scheduled for a week from Monday (Dec 10th). Unfortunately, the results take 8 - 10 days to come back which is sheer torture. But at least she'll have a definitive answer on both the Kell situation and the Trisomy 18/13 situation.

There is so much more to the Kell puzzle than I can write here. If you are interested in knowing what we've learned, let me know in the comments and I'll contact you. Likewise, if you have experience with it and can share additional information, please let me know.

In the meantime, please pray for my friend C and her little baby. I hope that her NT scan scary numbers turn out to be just fine like my buddy CE, and that the baby turns out to be Kell-negative (which is still a possibility).

Thank you for making through this long post. I will post again on Monday with an update and pictures from the Cookie Exchange tomorrow. Yeah for cookies!!

The Longest Post Ever Typed

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you've had a good week. I've had a great holiday so far, despite the fact that my ENTIRE family is in town.

I can't even begin to describe the variations of crazy going on in my family. For kicks, I'll try to sum it up a little...

My Dad. He's great. He's not your typical Dad. He's not the type I'm ever going to call for advice or for money. He's not the type whose approval is so important to me that I'd lie awake wishing for it. He loves me unconditionally, is mostly a child himself still, and this is all fine with me. For the last 15 years, he has been known exclusively to all of the grandchildren as "Grandpa Goofy." He lives up to that name. When I was in high school, he used to take me and my friends out to Denny's or Friendly's and would always get us kicked out. He'd shove straws up his nose, or would "paint" on the plate glass windows with the squirt bottles of ketchup, or would make farm animal noises until the other diners complained. Perhaps in another post, I'll tell you of all the specific times he's embarrassed me so much I could crawl under a rock and die (and let me tell you, I am NOT easily embarrassed). But he's a ton of fun, he's a good person, and he loves his kids. He lives in Florida, so I usually only get to see him once a year.

My Dad's wife Pat. She's a bitch. She likes me, so I'm lucky to stay on her good side. But otherwise, she's a real bitch. I don't see her much, so it's not a big deal. They got married almost 21 years ago, so they're now approaching being married as long as my Mom and Dad were. At this point, we accept that she's sticking around for the long haul -- but that might not be so long since she's in her late 60's and smokes a couple of packs a day. It's not a real problem until she laughs hard and then she starts coughing. And coughing. And coughing. She doesn't usually stop until her eyes are watering and her face is a frightening shade of purple. She only eats red meat (pref. wrapped in bacon) and drinks copious amounts of liquor. Having said all of that, she'll probably outlive us all. My Dad is her 3rd husband. Go figure. Like my Dad, she has 4 kids (2 boys, 2 girls), but her 14 grandkids outnumber our 6 and they almost all live close by in Florida.

My Mom. She is crazy. Not a truly dangerous crazy, but most certainly crazy. She is still able to function and live on her own, but we all assume that at one point we'll have to seek help for her. She has a pretty bad memory, and tends to just make up the parts she can't recall. Then she SWEARS that it's true. Sometimes it's entertaining, but mostly it's disconcerting. She calls everyone she meets "Honey" or "Sweetie" (regardless of gender or age), assumes that everyone finds her charming and hilarious, and will talk to a complete stranger for an hour without blinking an eye. She is kind to a fault, and an incredible friend. She will dance in public, or sing at the top of her lungs and couldn't give a damn who doesn't like it. She once re-wired our entire house from gas to electric (washer, dryer, oven, stove, water heater, etc.) in a weekend, just by reading a book. Yet she can't spell about 50% of the words she writes/types correctly. Again, we don't have the classic Mother-Daughter relationship. She wouldn't judge me (although she does give some crazy-assed unsolicited advice), and I also don't work to seek her approval or pride in me. She says things like, "I don't know why you and your sister have so much trouble getting pregnant. Your father could look at me from across the room and I'd get knocked up" and doesn't understand how inappropriate that is. But she is who she is. In my finite wisdom over the years, I realized that my relationship would be better with her if I chose to focus on her good qualities instead of dwelling on all the ways she's crazy or weird or embarrassing. After getting divorced from my Dad, she married the oldest guy on the the planet named Pete. He was so damn nice. But older than dirt. And not rich at all. Just very sweet, and he loved my Mom a lot. She was his 3rd wife, and the first 2 died. Anyway, he died about 8 years ago at the ripe old age of 87 so he had a good life. I miss Pete. We used to call him Stinky Pete because . . . well, I probably shouldn't share that. My Mom lives in Indiana so I don't see her often and I only talk to her on the phone every other month or so.

My oldest brother Michael. He's a spaz. He's the most competitive person you will ever meet. When he plays games with my 3 year old daughter, he PLAYS TO WIN. He must always one-up everyone in the room. He's always got something bigger, better or faster. All things are described in terms of how much more amazing they are than whatever you have. It's actually pretty sad, but he's always been like this so we are used to it. He's got a son from his first marriage who is a 23 year old loser. My nephew is finally straightening himself out, so I shouldn't call him a loser but he's a nightmare. My brother also has a 9 year old daughter from his 2nd marriage. She's a lot like her Mom (which is NOT a good thing), but luckily she lives full time with my brother so the evil effects of her Mom are somewhat minimized. He's now married to his 3rd wife who is a gift from God. We have no idea what she is doing with our brother and we have repeatedly stated that if they break up, we are keeping her and getting rid of my brother. They live in Indiana so they are in charge of taking care of my Mom for now.

My sister Maria. She is wonderful. She is smart and beautiful and loving and a great sister and a great mother. Her husband is a piece of work, as he somewhere along the line (presumably in his childhood) had a giant stick shoved up his ass which never got removed. He's uptight and judgmental and doesn't suffer fools gladly. He's dangerously smart and really has no patience for anyone who acts stupid. Um, like my ENTIRE FAMILY. So it always makes for a good time to check him out when the clan is together. Anyway, my sister is great. We live about 30 minutes away from each other and unfortunately we are both very, very busy so we don't get together nearly as much as we'd like. I don't know that I'd consider her my "best friend" but she is my sister which is a whole different, better relationship. She and my BIL adopted 2 little girls from Russia (they are sisters) over 10 years ago. My nieces are amazing people, despite the fact that they are both now teenagers and mostly evil. After 3 IVFs and 2 miscarriages (1 at 6 weeks, 1 at 14 weeks), they moved on to adoption and are a wild success story. They also are the ONLY members of my entire family -- including aunts and uncles -- who have never been divorced.

My brother Kenny. He's a character. He's had careers as a chef, a tractor-trailer driver, and for the last 10 years, he's been steadily working his way up the technical chain at Intel as a chip engineer. Now he's a product manager for some of their new technology coming. He's incredibly smart, but he's also a train wreck of sorts. He and his 1st wife (who was a raging bitch) committed dozens of crimes (I guess one might call it a "crime spree") about 18 years ago and then disappeared -- with their 1 year old daughter -- for almost a year. He's since resurfaced, gotten divorced, gotten remarried (to a different woman who was his high school sweetheart, and is very nice, but is really very crazy too), gained sole custody of his daughter, gotten divorced from wife #2, and is now dating wife #2 again. My niece Tara is 19 and a sophmore in college and is astoundingly well-adjusted. My brother Kenny is mean and selfish and the biggest smart-aleck you've ever met. But he's a good Dad and a good brother. They live in Arizona so I don't get to see them much except when we all meet up in Vegas to gamble.

I've got a whole host of crazy cousins, Aunts and Uncles that would make your toes curl. But when we get together it's always a ton of fun. At Thanksgiving this year, it was my crazy Mom, my competitive brother Michael, his 23 year old son, his 9 year old daughter, (his 3rd wife couldn't make it because she's home with pneumonia -- or perhaps she's the only smart one), my wonderful sister, her pain in the ass husband, my 2 teenage nieces, my colorful brother Kenny, my amazingly almost-normal niece Tara, me, Kevin, Megan and our family friend Cyndy. We told many stories, laughed incredibly hard, and ate too much. We realized that the last time we all were together was at my wedding over 5 years ago. Although there were a few stupid or inappropriate comments made, all in all it was very pleasant.

Today we all went bowling (plus my Dad and my Aunt Rosemary joined us) and out for pizza to celebrate my niece's 9th birthday. It was a blast! Tomorrow everyone is coming over to my house for a fancy dinner that my brother Kenny (the ex-chef) is preparing. YUM!!

Although my family is wild, and loud, and embarrassing, and unconventional, I wouldn't trade them for the world. My husband and BIL are both sort of uptight and don't see the humor in most of my family's shenanigans, but they can kiss our asses. They knew what they were getting into before they married me and my sister, so they can suck it up. We have fun, we laugh, and we usually don't hurt anyone else in the process.

To say that I am thankful for my family, for the fact that we were all able to get together this year, and for how lucky we are to truly love each other, is an enormous understatement. I didn't mean to get all sappy on you guys, but after trash talking my relatives so thoroughly above, I had to end with some happy thoughts.

On a different note... I went shopping this morning. On black Friday. I have never done that before in my life. I was inspired by TeamWinks' enthusiasm and got bullied into it by my neighbor and good friend Lynn. It was actually a lot of fun. We got to Toys R Us at 6am (missing the rabid psychopaths that charged the doors at 5am), then went to KMart, Target, and Wal-Mart and were home before 10am. Most places were surprisingly well stocked and had plenty of employees there to help and work the registers. I can now check this off my list of things to do before I die.

Tonight, all the girls (my nieces, my sister, my Mom and I) went to the movies. We saw Enchanted. I laughed my ass off. I think I laughed sort of inappropriately hard at some stuff because Megan is so deeply entrenched in the Disney Princess phase right now that I can hardly breathe. So a well done, entertaining movie that spoofs the whole obnoxious Princess thing struck my funny bone in a particular way. I just loved it. Then we went to Johnny Rockets for dinner. When the waiters got up to sing and dance, my Mom got right up there with them. She made a total fool of herself, but she had a great time. My nieces tried to pretend like they didn't know her, but eventually ended up running out of the restaurant and part of the way down the mall once my sister and I started dancing (particularly since the waitstaff wasn't even dancing anymore). Ah, good times.

In pregnancy news, we finally told my family. We told my Mom, my Dad and my brothers the day before Thanksgiving via phone. While it would have been a real Hallmark moment to make a grand announcement over Thanksgiving dinner, it would also have been incredibly rude to my sister and BIL who are IF vets. Despite the fact that they are 10+ years on the other side of it and have 2 beautiful daughters (adopted) that complete their family, it's still not cool to make a huge production about a pregnancy announcement. Plus, I'm still a little leery of telling people anyway. Despite the fact that I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow, I still worry daily that something will go wrong. We haven't told Megan yet, or any of our friends (except the few that knew pretty early on) and I don't plan to tell anyone at work until sometime in January. Normally that wouldn't fly because I'll no doubt be showing by Christmastime, but I've got just over 2 weeks off at the end of the year, so I think I'll be able to keep it under wraps until after New Year's. Plus, by then, we'll have our 20 week ultrasound out of the way and hopefully we will be the proud owners of a healthy baby with intact, fully-formed internal organs. I think then I'll be a little more comfortable telling people. Maybe.

Good grief, this is the longest post ever typed. I guess that's what I get for not posting regularly anymore. I promise to do better. I still read faithfully every single day, and comment as much as time permits, but I just haven't made enough time to sit a type out posts on a regular basis. Not to mention, how many times do you want to hear me say, "I feel somewhat better, but I've got horrible heartburn and a raging headache." That's mostly what I have going on each day, and it's not exactly news-worthy, you know.

On a final note, I am OUT OF MY MIND EXCITED that the DC Metro bloggers will be getting together in a week for our cookie exchange! Wahoo!! I promise to post some pictures of all the treats -- too bad I don't have smell-o-vision to offer you because it's sure to be great.

A Kitten or a Puppy

Today's appointment went well. I was a wreck leading up to it, scared shitless that something was wrong. I didn't eat lunch, I snapped at people at work, it was just ugly.

Luckily, my fears were unfounded. Spidey is doing fine in there. In fact, Spidey either got into the crack cocaine or is part Mexican Jumping Bean. It was so active that even the sonogram tech was laughing. This, of course, is scary to me since I already have an over-active child at home. These are good problems to have, don't get me wrong. I was just hoping for a laid back, mellow child this time.

I'm 12w1d, and Spidey was measuring 12w5d. The nuchal fold measurement was 1.5 and they like to see it under 3.0. So that's good news. All other things they look for (brain, spine, stomach, etc.) seemed to be what they were expecting. The heartbeat was 155bpm. Now we wait for the bloodwork results as we hold our breath.

There are no words that can express my relief at passing this milestone -- Milestone #27 of about 100 of them. We still have a long, long way to go, but I'm absolutely thrilled to be here right now.

Apparently it's somewhat of a game with them at this Doctor's office to try and guess the gender. The tech and the Doctor both made a guess, and it was the same verdict. Since they were nowhere near sure, we're not putting much stock in it. My 18 week appt (where we will check for all the organs and hopefully find out the gender for sure) is on Christmas Eve. Man, oh man, I hope nothing goes wrong or that will make for one shitty Christmas.

They asked me if we wanted a boy or a girl. I replied, "I honestly don't care. It could come out as a kitten or a puppy and I would be fine with that as long as it was healthy." They thought that was hilarious, but I was only barely kidding.

Now I have to wait a whole 18 days until my next OB appointment. I usually weasel my way into a sonogram, so we'll see how that goes. My friend at work offered to lend me her doppler and I might take her up on it, just to ease my continual fears. Of course she's only 16 weeks along so I'm not sure if she really wants to give it up now, or if she was just saying that today when I was muttering under my breath about the fear of another dead baby inside of me.

Talking like that freaks her out, and I wish I could filter it better, but I've seen too many tragedies at my own ultrasounds not to be constantly preparing for the worst. What's crazy is that she's the 40 year old who got pregnant on her first IUI (surely you remember me bitterly bitching about her before) so I'm not sure why she's so calm and nonplussed all the time. It baffles my mind. And it makes me sad that I've been so changed, so scarred by this entire babymaking process.

Thank you for all of your kind words and your prayers. They are working! Now go see Erin to wish her luck at her appointment on Wednesday. Yea for the Wonder Twins!

With a little help from our friends - Updated

In an effort to distract myself from my current hobbies -- puking, posting about puking, and trying to pretend like I'm not completely freaked out about the possibility of them finding no heartbeat at Monday's upcoming nuchal translucency scan -- I'm going to let you know what's going on with my buddies.

Below is a partial listing of my friends in the IF blogsphere. I just didn't have the physical or mental stamina to include EVERYONE that I read, so please please please don't feel slighted or the least bit unloved if I didn't include you here. These are just some of the ladies who have noteworthy things going on and I wanted to encourage you to go visit someone new to offer whatever type of support you're up for giving.

I'm sorry to lead off with something so sad, but it would be a crime to bury this in the middle of the big list. There is absolutely nothing that I can say about the tragedy being experienced by Ann right now. Please go leave her a hug, a warm thought, or a prayer.

When I originally began this never-ending post, there was still time left to vote for Mel. However, now that I've finally finished my post which might contain the most links of all time, the polls have closed. With over 20% of the vote, she came in 2nd. It would have been a HUGE score for the IF community if she had won, but hopefully at least a few more people are now a bit more educated about our world. Mel, you already know I think you are the cat's pajamas!

TeamWinks has some great looking follies so she will trigger tomorrow and have her IUI on Friday. Go wish her lots of luck!

Farah is enjoying a smooth beginning (minus a doofus receptionist at her new OB's office) to her BFP! If you haven't yet gone over to congratulate her, now's a good time.

Artblog is almost halfway through her pregnancy, and since I think she's one of the sweetest people on Earth, I can't say congratulations to her enough.

Kate, who is 23 weeks pregnant, is having a tough time dealing with some aspects of her Mom's (and Dad's) behavior and could use a little support.

Lara is gearing up for another DE FET. Transfer should be in less than a week (if her lining cooperates) so go cheer her on!

LJ is still having some rough times (but some good ones too) after her recent IVF. I have had the distinct pleasure of getting to know her in real life and I think she's one of the most wonderful people I know, so please go give her a virtual hug.

Becks is on her way with IVF attempt #3. Go leave her some third-time's-the-charm vibes.

Tam recently learned the results of her FET but -- to drive us all completely insane -- she didn't post them before she went on vacation!!! Feel free to go over there (assuming you have the password) and stalk her like I do every day, looking for an update. Update: Unfortunately, it wasn't good news for Tam and Frank this time. This is just heartbreaking, so please go offer some support.

JJ is enduring a particularly painful AF right now could use a little sunshine. I just love her so please head over and say something nice.

Delenn is struggling with weight gain. At 15 weeks along, I don't think it's that bad but apparently her OB feels otherwise. Go tell her that she looks mah-velous.

Cibele just posted a cute little baby bump belly shot, so good ooh and aah over it.

Mands is going through a rough time right now, with dropping betas. Please go show her some love.

Erin, my true cyclesista, is shopping for a new home to raise the Wonder Twins when they arrive next year. They didn't get the house they were recently interested in, but will continue looking.

Gabby had a great 8.5 week ultrasound on Friday. Go look at the nifty sonogram pictures of her little gummy bear.

Kami is currently 9 weeks along after a DE cycle. She's another one of my favorite people in the whole blogsphere, so go over and say Hi.

Baby Step is in the middle of an IVF cycle and just had a bomb dropped on her by her husband. (He's not leaving her or anything, it's just that he's not all that supportive because he believes she brought all the IVF-cycle-nastiness on herself since -- unbeknownst to her -- he never wanted to do it anyway.) WTF? Go give her some support, please. Make sure she knows that she is NOT alone.

Imogen is in the 2WW following FET #3. Go wish her luck!

DMarie has started the 30 Day Get Healthy Challenge. Go cheer her on!! And while you are there, get your pomegranate thread Infertility Awareness bracelet while you are at it. Unfortunately the first 100 free ones are all gone, but you can still get one with a modest donation to a great cause.

Portia, my partner in the over-the-hill-ovary club, is gearing up for IVF/ICSI #4. Go send her lots of good vibes.

Changing Expectations is almost halfway through her pregnancy (17 weeks!) following a DE cycle. She's struggling with the reality of telling family and friends the news, so please go give my buddy some support.

Buggsmommy had her baby girl 2 months ago. Head over to check out some adorable Halloween pictures of Maggie and her brother Bugg.

Alexa, currently 12.5 weeks pregnant with twins after IVF, is experiencing horrible migraines. It's a damn shame, not only because it sucks so much for her, but because it's causing her always-outrageously-hilarious posts to be shorter than normal. Seriously, if you've never read her blog, go read as many entries as you possibly can right now. I guarantee you will laugh out loud.

Rachel is 6 days past dIUI #4. Go tell her jokes and anything else you can think of to distract her while she suffers through the hell of the 2ww. And, for the love of Pete, please PRAY that it has worked this time!

In and Out of Luck is almost 8 weeks pregnant following an IUI. Go celebrate with her!

Chris is trying to figure out what to do next following an unsuccessful IVF. Please go lend some support.

Grad3 is amazing. After 5 heartbreaking miscarriages, she is 14 weeks pregnant. Go be encouraged by her resilience.

Karen is doing a kick-ass job with her triplets now that they are home -- including breastfeeding! Go over and be impressed that she still actually finds the time to blog.

Sunny is planning another IUI in December. Go give her your own version of a pep rally. I have met her in real life and lemme tell you that I am crazy about her.

Rho, my IRL friend of many years, just learned that they will have IVF coverage in December. Wahoo! Go over and wish her luck on IVF #2 (or #3 if you count the frustrating cancelled one last year).

Lea Bee is in the 2ww following her 4th IUI. Go drop off some good luck to her.

Mary Ellen is 7 weeks pregnant with triplets!! following IVF #5. They have been through the ringer (including 3 dIUIs), so this is amazing, fantastical news that you can go share in.

Serenity is 18 weeks pregnant. After 2 IVFs and 3 FETs, it's thrilling that IVF #3 was the charm. Go check out her cute belly pic.

Samantha could use a hug. After 3 IVFs and 4 FETs, they are done with ART. While they struggle trying to determine what to do next, please go show her some love.

Kristen is finishing up another round of Clomid in preparation for her trigger shot. Go wish her luck!

Sticky Bun is 19 weeks pregnant with twins after IVF. Go celebrate!

Carlynn is 16 weeks pregnant after 6 IUIs, an IVF and 3 FETs. Passing the 19 week mark is important for her (based on prior circumstances), so go lend some support to carry her through.

Christina has been mulling over nearly every imaginable avenue for building her family (IVF, adoption, DE IVF). Go help her sort through the choices and emotions.

Amy is starting her Last Amy Egg Cycle. After 10 (is that the right number?) IUIs and an IVF, they are embarking on their final attempt IVF. Please go sprinkle babydust, leave flower petals, do a chicken dance, whatever you can think of in the hopes of helping this cycle work.

Bean could use some support. After 4 IVFs, she was surprised with a natural conception. At the moment, though, her betas aren't rising as they would like and she's feeling uncertain. Her first ultrasound is tomorrow. Please go give her a nice, warm hug.

I hope you find some time to visit at least a few of my friends above and lend your moral support. I pray for each and every one of you daily, I only hope you know how much you are cared for.

Rough

That's how things have been in our house lately. Let me explain...


Tuesday through Sunday of last week, Megan was sick. What started out as a cold turned into an ear infection, then a sore throat, then a cough, then croup. By Thursday, Kevin had a cold with a nasty sinus infection too. True to his wussy male nature, although Megan was at least 5 times sicker than Kevin, he acted about 10 times sicker than her.

On Friday night, Megan had a coughing fit in the middle of the night. It culminated in much throwing up (by her) into my cupped hands. (Don't ask.) Once I realized it was going to overflow the confines of my meager receptacles, I handily placed the puke in the middle of her bed (hey, she's got a waterproof mattress pad, it's all good) and took her to the bathroom. At this point, she had vomit all down the front of her pajamas, I had vomit all down the front of my pajamas, it was not pretty. I got her to hang her head over the toilet -- surely a strange concept to a 3 year old -- and puke in there some more.

Let me remind you that I'm pretty pukey myself these days still. I'm far better than I was 3 or 4 weeks ago, but it's still a dicey situation at times. Sooooo . . . this is how it went. Megan puked into the toilet. Leah puked into the toilet. Megan puked into the toilet. Leah puked into the toilet. It was quite the bonding experience. Luckily she was so engrossed in her own agony that I don't even think she noticed that I was puking alongside her.

We all got cleaned up and actually got a few hours of decent sleep that night. No more puking for either of us.

Until Monday. New scene: I'm at the airport. Currently I'm in Kansas.City until tomorrow (Wednesday) for work. In the 5 years I've worked at this company, I had to travel only 1 other time and I brought her with me. So this is sort of traumatic, being away from her for 3 days and 2 nights. It was good timing, however because I was out of my mind excited about the prospect of sleeping. By myself. In a big bed. For many hours on end. I was positively giddy about it. I was a little worried that I was going to come down with this nasty cold that everyone else in my family has, but I prayed for the best.

Anyway, I'm at the airport for my 1pm flight. I ate a quick lunch before leaving home so I didn't have to eat crappy airport food. As I was standing in line at the security checkpoint, I realized something smelled funny. I proceeded about my business, putting my laptop on the belt, taking off my shoes, etc. It was then that I realized the yucky smell was actually the man in front of me. Clearly he hadn't showered for days. He smelled riper than a banana in Hell. Like a total jackass, I didn't believe it could be a fellow human that smelled this badly, so I took a big whiff. Baaaad idea.

In a split second, I was puking. No, I'm not kidding. Right in the security line. Thankfully I was next to a stack of those gray containers that you use to put your personal belongings in which pass through the x-ray machine. So I ralphed into one of them. Nice. Even worse than that? Unbeknownst to me, I had a sympathy puker in line behind me. As soon as I started heaving, this lady behind me threw up as well. She was not so lucky, she didn't make it to the fancy gray containers. She puked right on the carpet. And her shoes.

I wish I could say I make this shit up, but I don't. After much profuse apologizing and an offer to even give the sympathy puker my shoes to wear, I staggered off to my gate. Where I enjoyed a 1 hour delay. Sweet. Luckily, I keep a travel toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse so after a trip to the ladies room, I was fresh as a daisy. More or less.

Can't get enough of puking stories? Well, read on. I swear I will post tomorrow with some other subject matter.

I made it here to Kansas.City just fine. A limo picked me and 2 other folks up from the airport to took us to the hotel. I checked into my uber fancy hotel room with my uber comfy bed and couldn't have been happier. There was a group dinner that evening, but I seriously considered just spending the night with a room service sandwich in the warm, loving embrace of this magical bedding. But, no, I am a team player. I went to dinner with the group.

It was a great dinner. Goat cheese, spinach and artichoke tart. Delicious house salad. Steak with mashed potatoes, asparagus and baby carrots. Then creme brulee for dessert. Aaaaah. I took great care to eat very, very small portions because otherwise it spells sure doom for my stomach. I still ate more than I normally would (these days), but definitely didn't go overboard.

We walked back to the hotel and I was feeling pretty good. Everyone else headed to the bar for some drinks, but that bed was calling sweetly to me, so I headed upstairs. As I was waiting for the elevator, I realized something was amiss. It felt like a tiny demon had jumped onto my torso and was wildly stabbing me in the gut with dozens of tiny daggers. I literally gasped out loud at the pain.

I thought, surely God wouldn't ruin my night of good sleep. I decided to pretend like this isn't happening and go upstairs. I will spare you the excruciating details of the rest of the night, but suffice it to say that I either had a wicked case of food poisoning or a nasty, nasty GI bug.

I managed to get exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes of sleep all night long. One full hour of that was spent on the deliciously cool marble of the bathroom floor. I puked so violently so many times that it was coming out of my nose. I had bowel pains so bad that I was honestly writhing around in my fancy, fluffy, useless bed begging no one in particular for mercy.

By the light of morning, I was fully cleaned out. Not a drop of food anywhere in my entire digestive tract. The straight hour of dry heaves ensured that, as did the potty time (picture the other bodily exit for food) which rivaled the ugliest horror flick you can imagine.

Out of the 50 or so of us at dinner last night, I did manage to find 2 other people who got sick as well. But since we all ate the same thing, I guess it wasn't food poisoning. Whatever it was, I wouldn't wish it on my worst, worst enemy in the Universe.

Today I was determined to eat. Not only did my stomach growl and echo like Luray.Caverns, this entire event is chocked full of delicious food. I ate ridiculously tiny portions, but did manage to get at least something down at each meal. Tonight's dinner was a full-on Kansas.City BBQ. I must have looked like a raving lunatic when I sat down at the table with my measely teaspoon or so of each type of food. But I don't care. Right now, I'm not puking and I'm not doubled over in pain. This is a small victory.

Once again, the bed is calling to me. I will go hopefully succumb to sweet, sweet sleep. Wish me luck, but most of all please wish me some digestive health. I'm tired of feeling like my insides have been cleaned out with battery acid and live maggots.

There is much going on in the blogsphere right now -- surprise BFPs, incredible sadness, and a need to vote for Mel. (She's pulled into 2nd place!) I will try to touch on those things tomorrow. Good night, sleep tight, and for the love of Pete, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Vote for Mel!

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Please click on this link (http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-medicalhealth-issues-blog-1.php) and vote for her.

You can vote once every 24 hours until November 8th. Go, go, go! Vote NOW! Please!