Posts from — January 2010

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, giving comfort, leaving congratulations.

Here is the vital information, pure and simple (a more detailed set of rules follows below the list):

• The list opens the 1st of every month. It remains open until the 21st. You can add yourself at any point. The list is open to everyone in the blogosphere–blog writers and/or blog readers.
• Add yourself to the list by filling out this form: the list is now closed.  The March list will open on 2/28.
  
• Click here to cut-and-paste this bit of code to add to your sidebar (if you have the old code from another month, remove it and replace it with this one). You need to add the icon or a link to the current list on your blog (see below) and will not be added until it’s up.
• Commenting kicks off every month on the 21st. Please mark it somewhere (calendar, post-it note taped to your computer…), though I will be sending out an email reminder on the 20th. Commenting week runs from the 21st to the 28th. Every day, leave 5 comments and return 1 comment for a total of 6 comments. You are highly encouraged to choose the blogs you comment on from the participants list below, but this is not required.
• I will send a second email on the 28th to remind you to remove the icon from your blog.
• Read below if you want to find out about Iron Commenters.
• The commenting ends on the 28th. We catch our breath and the whole thing starts again the next month on the 1st. Drop in and out according to what is happening in your life between the 21st and the 28th.

1. Stirrup Queens (twins, books, writing)
2. ErnieGirl is TTC (undiagnosed infertility condition)
3. The Bushey Life (ttc, life, infertility)
4. Baby On Mind (TTC#1, IVF, unexplained)
5. The Weekly Zeke (infertility, ttc, family)
6. Conceive This! (MFI, FET, pregnant)
7. Waiting for Sunflower (pregnancy, infertility, life)
8. The Infertile Mind (humor, comics, life)
9. Weebles Wobblog (open adoption, mindfulness, perfect moments)
10. Don’t Scare Easy (hysterectomy, cat, sci fi)
11. PandaBox33’s Blog (love, life, gratefulness)
12. Our Journey, but Not Our Plan… (IUI, IVF, FET)
13. Heeeeere Storkey, Storkey! (twins, life, ttc #3)
14. We got hitched. We bought the 4 bedroom house. Now what??? (IVF, pregnancy, recurrent loss)
15. The Impatient Optimist (infertility, pcos, impatience)
16. The Egg Drop Post (infertility, adoption, spirituality)
17. Paisley Blooms (someday) (infertility, ttc, yoga)
18. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (ttc after losses, books, cooking)
19. Infertili- T & A (IVF break, foster parenting, sass)
20. Fertility Foibles (infertility, humor, china)
21. Tenaciously TTC (FET, miscarriage, infertility)
22. AnxiousMummy (iui, ttc, loss)
23. In Due Time (life, infertility, pcos)
24. Musings of a Fat Chick (smc, infertility, life)
25. Dreaming of Quiet Places (emotional abuse recovery, ponderings, my cute dog)
26. Melissa’s Thoughts and Realizations (TTC, MFI, IVF)
27. A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, parenting after 40)
28. Through The Eyes Of A Stranger (infertility, adoption, family)
29. Sippy Cups Are Not For Starbucks (parenting, sarcasm, ttc)
30. All Grown Up (domestic infant adoption, waiting, random)
31. Such A Good Egg (IUI#1, midwest, hopeful)
32. The Babbling Bitter (infertile) Bitch (infertility, loss, thoughts)
33. Your GreatLife (fertility coaching, women, self-belief)
34. The Truth Is Out There (borderline premature ovarian failure, IUI #2, optimism)
35. Junebugs Musings (TTC, life, fun)
36. Infertility And Me (male factor infertility)
37. Mindful Meandering (parenting after infertility, adoption)
38. Hopelessly TTC (MFI, azoospermia, guy’s perspective)
39. Are We There Yet (overseas IVF, fibroids, busy life)
40. Wistfulgirl’s World (PCOS, infertility, life)
41. Conception Deception (mfi, ivf, finances)
42. Holy Moly Toledo(s)! (twins after IF, life, random thoughts)
43. Three is a Magic Number (MFI, considering IVF/ICSI)
44. Wishing4One (IVF round 4, infertility, Egypt)
45. Hopes and Dreams for Us (childfree after infertility, encouragement, life)
46. The Royal Report (embryo adoption, faith, everyday life)
47. Write, Baby, Repeat (adoption, infertility, writing)
48. Inconceivable! (ttc, infertility, family)
49. Raising Miles & Making Wine (parenting after IF, baking, randomness)
50. Everyone Else But Me (ICSI, unknown, future)
52. Fertility Chick (infertility, PCOS, humour)
53. Busted Plumbing (loss, pcos, awesomeness)
54. The Road Less Traveled (infertility, IVF, books)
55. In the Name of the Father (male infertility, diui, male perspective)
56. Creating a Family (infertility, adoption, adoptive parenting)
57. Mommy In Waiting (azoospermia, infertility, ttc)
58. The Yerkes Life~Learning to Embrace God’s Plans (ivf, faith, family)
59. Destined to be an Old Woman With No Regrets (ppd, parenting after loss, life)
60. A Long And Winding Road (infertility, hobbies, faith)
61. The Subfertile Frugalista (TTC after loss, PCOS diet, frugal musings)
62. The Conceivable Future (RPL, infertility, IVF)
63. Parenthood for Me (adoption infertility coping)
64. The Pitter-Patter (infertility, MFI, marrakech)
65. Infertility Musings (TTC #1, acupuncture, RE)
66. Below Average Athlete (infertility, daily life, health)
67. Journey to the End of the Rainbow (infertility, ivf, acupuncture)
68. It Only Takes One Time…Not! (severe MFI, IVF-ICSI, pregnancy)
69. Misadventures with Andi (frenchie-stuff, food, travel)
70. Cherish This Baby (hope, faith, babies)
71. The Birds and The Bees (infertility, iui, ivf)
72. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
73. Life Happens When You’re Making Other Plans (IVF, faith, family)
74. I Will Be A Mom … Someday (infertility, hope, waiting)
75. FortheLoveofShoesandaBaby, Too (ivf, fertility, fashion)
76. Salvageable (ttc, marriage, work)
77. All Aboard the Pity Boat (infertility, exercise, life)
78. The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow (I Hope) (recurrent loss, marriage, hope)
79. The Journey Through Life (TTC #1, infertility, life)
80. Mama Bear (adoptive parent, domestic adoption)
81. Adventures of a military family of 8 (family life, depression, reviews)
82. Delinquent Eggs (miscarriage, egg quality, limbo)
83. Infertility: a Type A’s Nightmare (infertility infertility infertility)
84. Barefoot And…. (parenting, infertility, food)
85. Venting Vagina (IVF, omglolwtf, acupuncture)
86. Nicole’s Diary (natural infertility, vitamins)
87. Confessions of a Fallopian Tube (infertility, life, Puerto Rico)
88. Creating HackSpawn (PCOS, TTC, life)
89. Glass Case of Emotion (IVF, infertility, m/c)
90. The (In)fertility Diaries (trying to conceive, pregnancy loss, new IF)
91. The Road to Happily Ever After (infertility, PCOS, IUI)
92. A Greater Yes (embryo adoption, pregnancy, faith)
93. That’s My Answer (question of the day, fun, life)
94. Outside My Head (parenting, photos, movies)
95. Daria’s Blog (fun, observations, 30 something life)
96. Find Joy Now (infertility, inspiring words, humor)
97. Journey Through Infertility and TTC (pregnancy, doctor’s appointments, milestones)
98. Letters to My Unborn Child (pregnancy, family, faith)
99. Trying Not to Scream (iui, infertility, life)
100. Trying to Get Knocked up by Another Man (DE-IVF, life, military)
101. Hoping for Another Little One (IUI?, ttc #2, family)
102. Sparkly Things Distract Me (old eggs, donor embryos, work)
103. On Tap for Today (life, humor, boston)
104. Inconceivable?! (life, DIUI, NOA)
105. Wanna Be Momma (infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, coping)
106. A Tale (of the Trials and Tribulations) ot Trying (pregnancy anxiety pregnancy-loss)
107. The Daily Doings of Mr Silly and Little Miss Trouble (twins, parenting after infertility, atheism)
108. In the Middle With You (infertility, loss, faith)
109. My Infertility Woes (infertility, spirituality, ttc)
110. Wheresmy2lines (repeated ivf, coping, male and female factors)
111. A Space of My Own (my son, ttc #2, life)
112. It’s Called a Varico-what? (IVF, male factor, life)
113. Communique (life, infertility, ivf)
114. Blogging MoRe (life, marriage, everything)
115. My Basic World (infertility, miscarriage, IUI)
116. My Life’s Journey (IVF, infertility, miscarriage)
117. Newly Pregnant in NYC (pregnancy after IF, PCOS, hope)
118. Circus Children (life, love, FET)
119. Exploring Chaos (baby after IF, life, change)
120. Romancing the Stone (IVF, pregnancy, career girl)
121. Endo-a-go-go (donor egg IVF)
122. Happy High Heels (infertility, ivf, twin pregnancy)
123. Wandering Wonderment (mama-dom, student-dom, dumb-dom)
124. Except For Mondays (IUI, project 365, awesomeness)
125. Donor Eggs Journey (donor eggs, pregnancy)
126. The Calm After the Storm (life, nutrition, pregnancy)
127. Anna’s Joy (foster care, humor, life)
128. Back Into the Fire (infertility, foster care, adoption)
129. An Unexpected Life (adoption, infertility, future)
130. Determined to Have Joy (encouragement, life, infertility)
131. Oven Seeking Bun (pcos, ttc#1, follistim)
132. Lily in the Valley (infertility, marriage, stepparenting)
133. Room For More 9private domestic adoption)
134. Just For You (parenting after infertility)
135. Our Someday Family (pregnancy, second trimester, random)
136. The Long Journey (fet, secondary infertility, pregnancy)
137. The Subfertile Frugalista (ttc after loss, pcos, shopaholic)
138. The Gal Who Wants to be Anywhere But Where She Is (life after ttc)
139. The Consequences of Marriage (rawness of marriage)
140. The Road Worth Traveling (pregnancy, life, fitness)
141. oh sanity, wherefore art thou? (life, parenting after IF& loss, randomness)
142. Our Surrogacy Adventure (surrogacy, donor eggs, pcos)
143. Body Diaries by Lucy (pregnancy, PCOS, IVF)
144. Marla’z Austin Journey (unexplained IF, life, Chiari Malformation)
145. Last American Girl Standing (IVF, TWW, hope)
146. No Suzy Homemaker (family, babyloss, myself)
147. Hope is Ours (azoospermia, IVF, PCOS)
148. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop (news, books, music)
149. Twists of Fate (pregnancy after loss)
150. Baby Dreams (ttc #2, infertility, life)
151. Living With PCOS (pcos, ttc, secondary infertility)
152. IF In Big Sky Country (infertility, pregnancy, life)
153. No Oven For the Bun (first IVF, surrogacy, MRKH)
154. Life with Endometriosis and PCOS (pcos, endo, waiting)
155. You Call Me a Bitch Like It’s a Bad Thing (PGD, IVF, life)
156. Baby Hungry (multiple miscarriage, clomid, if)
157. Lifeslurper (DE, over 40, IVF)
158. Teddy Lifeslurper, ttc (humour, IVF, ttc)
159. Tales of My Follies (waiting, random thoughts, Femara/Follitism)
160. The Barreness’s Blog (parenting after infertility)
161. A Dallas Girl’s Journey to Mommyhood (IVF, infertility, life)
162. IVF Rollercoaster (IVF, college, retinoblastoma)
163. the list is now closed.  The March list will open on 2/28.

Q: What if I miss a day?
A: Catch up the next day by doubling your comments–12 comments instead of 6.

Q: What is an Iron Commenter?
A: Not for the faint-of-heart. People who wish to be an Iron Commenter and be entered on the Iron Commenter honour roll need to leave a comment on every blog on the participants list (exceptions are blogs that require you to have a special log-in, such as some LiveJournal accounts or other similar situations). You can spread out this commenting any way you wish over the whole week, but the final comment needs to be left by midnight on the 28th (EST). Reaching Iron Commenter status is done on an honour system. Please email me if you earn Iron Commenter status so I can add you to the wall of honour.

Q: Why do I have to add that bit of code to my sidebar?
A: The code is the latest icon (the icon changes colour every month so you know that you’re on the right list). This month, the icon is purple, the next month it will be green, etc. The reason is two-fold: (1) it enables more people to find out about IComLeavWe and (2) it gives you easy access to the current list once the commenting week actually begins and better ensures that you’ll use it. Too many times, people sign up and forget to actually do IComLeavWe and this icon gives you a daily reminder (with the dates on it) every time you open your own blog. The icon is linked back to the current list. On the 28th, remove the icon from your blog. A new one will be created for the next month.

Q: It’s the 23rd and I just saw this for the first time on my friend’s blog! I want to join the list–why can’t I?
A: Because IComLeavWe happens every month, once the list is closed, it’s closed. If you’re finding out about this on the 23rd, you can’t join the current month. But leave yourself a note to check back in a week on the 1st and you can sign up for the next month.

Q: You said the list closes on the 21st. Well, it’s still the 21st where I am. Why aren’t you moving my information onto the list?
A: All dates and times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours).

Q: What if no one comments on my blog and I have no comments to return?
A: Well, that really doesn’t happen for the most part, but in that case, simply choose another blog and add an additional comment. The goal is to hit 6 comments daily as a minimum. Going over that is fantastic and encouraged.

Q: Mel, my question wasn’t covered at all. What do I do?
A: Email me; I’m quite friendly. It helps to place “IComLeavWe” in the subject line. You could also check this post which contains the history of IComLeavWe and see if you can glean anything there.

Looking for the comment section? It has been closed on this post. Use the form in the directions to add yourself to the list.

Commander Salamander in Georgetown is closing.  I know it’s just a store, but this news broke my heart.  That used to be my treat when I was little–my dad would take us there for blue lipstick and jelly bracelets and spike collars.  I always thought that when the twins were older, I would pass along the tradition, taking them for their first bottle of Manic Panic.  Now where are we going to go?

*******

Speaking of identity–since the ability to purchase my children copious amounts of manic panic and nose rings is part of who I am–I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how I perceive myself.  More than how others perceive me since I have no idea what is happening inside your head when you see my name–I only know what happens in mine.  I see identity as somewhat different from personality.  Perhaps two overlapping circles where there are commonalities between my personality and my identity, but there are also free-standing characteristics in both categories.  Such as my past identity as a diehard steel-toed doc martin fanatic.

I think sometimes, identity is chosen for you based on personality.  And I think other times, you can guide your identity if you already have one foot on that path.  Which is a long way of saying that I’m still ruminating on two conversations–one with my sister-cousin and another with a fellow blogger–about breaking out of small boxes.  I am not a fan of categorization when it limits how others perceive you.  And while my title and subject matter point towards a single element of my being on this blog, I like to think that I am more than my wonky ovaries and clotty blood.

I have always thought of myself as a pollinator–I read something in one place and drop the ideas down in another.  I like connecting people.  I like connecting people to each other and people to ideas.  I remember everything I read and I like to pass along what I know.  This is what I’ve been ruminating on for the last few weeks.  Not how to change the blog because I think that blogs are constantly evolving just as the writers who create them are constantly evolving.  But how to best do what I like to do.  Which is what I’ve been doing (I think?) for the last 3 1/2 years.

*******

As you hopefully saw yesterday, after an almost two-year hiatus, the Secret Ode project has been resurrected thanks to Mrs. Spit’s nudge.  That sort of goes back to identity too.  I’ll post reminders from time to time, but consider it on-going from this point forward.  At an unscheduled, unannounced time, you’ll see the little lollipop icon at the top of the post and you’ll know it’s a new installment of anonymously-written gushings about blogs and bloggers.  Here is a way to anonymously admit to your blog crushes.

Whenever I get a critical mass, I post.  Hopefully, if you are mentioned in a Secret Ode, you’ll pay it forward and write one for another blogger.  I love it because it’s totally anonymous, so you can never shrug off the compliment by justifying who said it.  Since you will neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever know.

And yes, you can submit as many as you wish, but fill out the form for each individual blog.

*******

The Weekly What If: returning to the idea of fame and being worshiped as either sexy or lovable, would you rather experience an intense, all-consuming brush with fame a la Kirk Cameron in the 1980s and then slide into obscurity (in other words, have a short-lived ride as an A-list celebrity and end up semi-forgotten down the road), or would you rather experience a quiet, ongoing, slow-burn fame a la Paul Simon (in other words, people love his music and you’re probably humming “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” right now, but no one has ever screamed for him as they do Robert Pattinson).  With scenario one, you’d be famous for a few weeks, months, years, but could go back to a normal life (would you miss that fame or be happy it’s gone)?  With scenario two, you’d get to enjoy the perks of fame forever, though you’d have to endure the downside to fame too.

*******

And now, the blogs…

The Babbling Bitter (Infertile) Bitch had a post on her old blog which has moved to this new space titled “Fresh.”  It is an incredibly powerful post that begins with an admittance that while the news of her work friend’s pregnancy stung, it was nothing compared to the memories of the author’s own loss that were dredged up after her friend’s miscarriage.  It is a wondering about why people don’t step in and do more when loss is more common than we wish to believe.  A great, aching post.

Forever Reaching answered the question about worth from the point of view who has been through infertility and not emerged with the golden ticket; definitely a valuable read.  It balances the knee-jerk reaction with the lessons gained and emerges with an answer that brings her peace.  I love this line: “So the easy answer can still be no but the not so easy answer is yes.”

Fertility Challenged in Florida’s letter to Babybutt will turn you into a sniveling, weepy mess.  This just about killed me: “It’s like there are two big spheres in my heart that overlap. On one side is my love for Daddy. On the other side is my love for you. In the middle is this crazy, mixed swirl of emotion tied up in the both of you.”  Go over to read the whole wonderful thing.

Lastly, You Just Never Know Where Hope Might Take Ya has a post about life after a hysterectomy and all the things lost to endometriosis.  It is about recognizing your losses not for the sake of comforting yourself, but because it’s a necessary step to enable a person to move forward.  And it’s not just the big losses; it’s counting up the small losses too as one would count every penny in their purse (and not just the quarters) if they were trying to pull together all their change.  It is a beautiful post and I hope you go over and tell her so after you’ve read it.

The roundup to the Roundup: mourning the closing of Commander Salamander.  Thinking about how to do what I like to do.  Bringing back the Secret Ode Project (submit one and make someone else’s day).  Answer the Weekly What If.  And lots of great posts to read.

Dear Mrs. Spit pointed out that it had been a long time since the last Secret Ode Day and it has–nearing on two years.  But since it is the embodiment of my kumbayaness and because I think we could all use it right now, I am hearby resurrecting the Secret Ode Project and doing a call for Odes for the 4th Secret Ode Day.

Oh, wait, you’re new and you don’t know what it is?  Well, basically, I had this neighbour growing up whose parents had a floating family holiday where they decorated this tree outside the house with lollipops in the middle of the night and part of the day was to invite all the kids in the neighbourhood to harvest them.  You never knew when the day would happen, so every child woke up each morning and ran to the window to see if the tree was decorated.  And the lollipops were that much better because they were unexpected.

A Secret Ode Day follows the same idea: odes are collected (see below) and compiled and posted here on a day when you least expect it.  And then you get to see an anonymously written note about how wonderful you or your blog is when you wake up one morning.

Oh wait, that’s the other part.  People simply don’t tell other people nice things nearly enough. We save our best words to say when the person can’t hear–I’m not just talking about after the person is gone, but how we tell good stories about others or think kind thoughts about another person, and they never know. Therefore, here is a chance to anonymously let a fellow blogger in the community hear how much their words and actions mean to you.  If you want a sense of the types of statements people submit, read through past secret ode days.

How to submit:

• Fill out this form: Secret Ode Day Form.  You may submit as many blogs as you like, but fill out the form anew for each individual blog.
• You can submit a blog that has already been blurbed in a past Secret Ode Day, but try to spread the love.
• I ask for your email address only to have a way to ask a question before I post if I have one; all blurbs are posted anonymously AND I will never reveal the identity of the blurber no matter how much the person begs.
• Whenever I have a critical mass of blurbs, I will post them on a random day.  You wake up to the lollipop icon and the possibility of kind words said about your blog.
• This is on-going: whenever a new critical mass of blurbs comes in, a new Secret Ode Day goes up.

The beauty of Secret Ode Day is that just because your blog doesn’t show up in one post doesn’t mean that there won’t be a paragraph about it during the next post. It’s just always a surprise–sort of like waking up in the morning and finding the trees decorated with lollipops.

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 and tell us the story; show off the homemade soup you cooked last night; or tell us all about the scarf you made for your first knitting project. Details on how to participate are located at the bottom of this post.

Let’s begin.

On Monday, I was supposed to get my guitar restrung, though ended up with only one replaced string, which is a long story that you will be subjected to in a moment.  The reason this fact is important is that the guitar still sounds like shit and Josh has offered to pay me not to play it.  He gave me a massage one night in exchange for a promise that I would leave it in the case.  This is a beautiful thing.

I have not played the guitar since the twins were babies and I instituted the game “band camp” which meant we sat on the living room floor and I played the same three chords over and over again and they banged on their Fisher Price instruments and I recorded it and would play it for Josh every night, asking him, “do you think we have a chance at establishing a family band?  Like the Jonas Brothers or the Von Trapps?”  See, even back then I knew how to create a little piece of torture.

The best part is that because it hasn’t been played in years, the twins have pretty much forgotten about the guitar.  I gave them a little reminder on Tuesday night.  They were up talking after bedtime, so I crept upstairs with the guitar, bumped the door open with my hip, and started serenading them with an impromptu song about how they’re in deep shit for not going to bed.   The Wolvog informed me that I had scared him with my earnest opening G-chord, but since I was up there anyway, could he try the guitar?  Band camp has been resurrected.

I’m not ashamed to admit this–I don’t know how to string a classical guitar.  I’m also not ashamed to admit this–some of my strings are 25 years old.  I have one string that is massively corroded and set to snap at any moment.  But what can I do?  I have an unnatural attachment to these original guitar strings and no desire to learn a new skill.  Actually, I would love to learn if someone wanted to teach me.  I don’t want to learn off of YouTube, which is what the woman in the store suggested.

She was unwilling to restring my guitar unless I was willing to leave it there overnight (even though, I might add, the store was empty the half hour we debated this, the phone didn’t ring once, and it took her under three minutes to change the string she did change despite the fact that she told me it would take forever to change all six strings.  Apparently, forever is currently equal to 18 minutes).  As she replaced the one string, she suggested that I learn how to take care of my guitar and told me that I have no business owning this guitar unless I do.

I know Riotgrrl was trying to get me to grow a pair of ovaries (perhaps ones that work!) by giving me a tough love speech about wo-manning up and becoming self-sufficient.  But I didn’t want tough love.  I didn’t want love at all.  I just wanted my guitar restrung so I could play my way through Rise Up Singing.  And since Josh wouldn’t buy me this at O’Hurley’s General Store in Shepherdstown last weekend, I have no choice but to use the guitar.  Corroded strings and all.

Which is just a long way of saying–does anyone want to buy me a lap harp or teach me how to string my guitar?

What are you showing today?

Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post if this is your first time joining along (Important: link to the permalink for the post, not the main url for your blog and use your blog’s name, not your name. Links not going to a Show and Tell post will be deleted). The list is open from now until late Friday night and a new one is posted every week.

Remember back in November when I was in Chicago filming a television show and I couldn’t pee on myself out of anxiety because I had used up all of my bodily fluids on tears?  Yes?  That trip?

Well, the show has started airing, at least in the Chicago area.  It started running last week on Thursday nights and my segment is coming up on this Thursday night.  When I know the dates in other cities, I’ll let you know.

Click on the picture above to be taken to the PBS site for the show and watch the segment on the Web.  My voice is doing all sorts of strange, prepubescent cracking things as I answer Paula Zahn’s questions (do you like that nervous laugh as I admit that I used to curl up on the bathroom floor and sob?).

I am about six minutes in to the second section (look below the screen on the PBS site and you’ll see the first section is called “Reproductive Plan” and the second section is called “Infertility”).  And yes, I mentioned y’all and they kept it in (perhaps my hint worked?).

Because I love you.