IComLeavWe: March 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 closed for March.  The April list will go up on the 30th.
• 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. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (ttc after losses, books, cooking)
3. In Due Time (infertility, pcos, life)
4. Waiting for Sunflower (pregnancy, gestational diabetes, infertility)
5. All Aboard the Pity Boat (infertility, exercise, life)
6. ErnieGirl is TTC (undiagnosed infertility condition)
7. Our Surrogacy Adventure (surrogacy, donor eggs, pcos)
8. Blogging MoRe (love, marriage, friendship)
9. Sparkly Things Distract Me (donor embryos, 40+, stuff)
10. Wishing4One (IVF, Egypt, life)
11. Baby On Mind (IVF, ttc#1, unexplained)
12. No Suzy Homemaker (family, babyloss, life)
13. Hopelessly TTC (MFI, azoospermia, guy’s perspective)
14. Everyone Else But Me (icsi, FET, hysteroscopy)
15. Your Great Life (fertility coaching, women, self-belief)
16. Infertility And Me (male factor infertility)
17. Blurbs by Jennifer (kids, work, life)
18. The Egg Drop Post (infertility, adoption, spirituality)
19. Parenthood for Me (infertility, adoption, coping)
20. Journey to the End of the Rainbow (acupuncture, IVF, infertility)
21. Journey Through Infertility and TTC (pregnancy, family, baby)
22. Holy Moly Toledo(s)! (twins, infertility, life rambles)
23. Letters to My Unborn Child (love, baby, waiting)
24. Our Journey, but Not Our Plan… (adoption, iui, m/c)
25. Paisley Blooms (someday) (infertility, ttc, life)
26. My Ordinary Miracles (parenting, twins, toddler)
27. Thoughts from A Blonde (infertility, family, life)
28. Our Incredible Journey (adoption, special needs)
29. Baby Magnesi (ttc, infertility, family)
30. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
31. Woman Anyone? (unexplained IF, primary sub-fertility, blah advice)
32. Baby Dreams (ttc #2 with pcos, infertility, life)
33. Life with Endometriosis and PCOS (pcos, endo, waiting)
34. PandaBox33’s Blog (love, life, everything)
35. Half as Many Chances (infertility, hypothalamic amenorrhea)
36. The Subfertile Frugalista (pg after loss, shopping, frugal musings)
37. The Road Less Traveled (infertility, IVF, pregnancy)
38. The Birds and the Bees (ivf, infertility, unexplained)
39. My Infertility Woes (ttc, spirituality, life)
40. Tenaciously TTC (secondary infertility, loss, FET)
41. Not The Path I Chose (RPL, IVF, pregnant with twins)
42. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop (news, books, music)
43. Creating a Family (adoption, infertility, adoptive parenting)
44. The Barreness’s Blog (parenting after infertility)
45. The Bushey Life (ttc, life, infertility)
46. Exploring Chaos (baby after IF, weightloss, life)
47. Write, Baby, Repeat (adoption, infertility, writing)
48. My Life’s Journey (infertility, miscarriage, loss)
49. All My Peccadilloes (recovery, loss, waiting)
50. Infertile Myrtle (parenting after infertility)
51. A Half Baked Life (food, workingmomhood, infertility)
52. Oh Sanity, Wherefore art Thou? (parenting after IF/loss, life, random)
53. Mindful Meandering (adoption, infertility, parenting)
54. Communique (life, infertility, ivf)
55. The Babbling Bitter Bitch (humor, clomid, secondary infertility)
56. Hopes and Dreams for Us (childfree living, life, cooking)
57. For the Love of Shoes…and a Baby, Too (ivf, infertility, everyday life)
58. My Lovely Lady Bump (ttc, charting, pregnancy)
59. Wheresmy2lines (repeat ivf’s, pcos, life)
60. Return to Innocence (PPD, IF, recovery)
61. Infertility: The (Type A) Nightmare (infertility, taking a break, IUI)
62. Inconceivable! (ttc, infertility, family)
63. The (In)fertility Diaries (new IF, TTC, life)
64. A Greater Yes (infertility, embryo adoption, pregnancy)
65. Putting the Fun in Infertility (cancer, ivf, icsi)
66. It Only Takes One Time…Not! (MFI, IVF-ICSI, pregnancy)
67. Not a Fertile Myrtle (mfi, pcos, endometriosis)
68. Wistfulgirl’s World (PCOS, ttc, life)
69. Determined to have joy (infertility, inspiration, life)
70. We Got Hitched. We bought the 4 bedroom house. Now what??? (twin pregnancy, recurrent loss, randomness)
71. Riding the IVF Roller Coaster (ivf, stress, miscarriage)
72. Fertility Chick (infertility, humour, pcos)
73. In The Name of the Father (male infertility, humour, male perspective)
74. And Baby Would Make 3! (ttc, pcos, clomid)
75. AnxiousMummy (IUI, TTC, ectopic)
76. A + B, Waiting for C (IUI, waiting, distractions)
77. Through The Eyes Of a Stranger (infertility, anything, adoption)
78. Find Joy Now (humor, life, what now?)
79. Such A Good Egg (1st-time-IUIer, distractions, excited)
80. fickleinpink, the dark side (relationship meme life)
81. My Walking Path (nature, writing, photos)
82. The Yerkes Life~Learning to Embrace God’s Plans (ivf, faith, family)
83. Are We There Yet (fibroid free, IVF abroad, Hungary)
84. Evolutionary Dead End? (ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, ttc after loss)
85. Praying for a Family (pcos, bitterness, fostering)
86. Once an Infertile (septated uterus, endo, IF struggles)
87. Wait, What? (unexplained, IVF, pop-culture)
88. Big Belly or Bust (miscarriage, TTC, exercise)
89. The Pregnant Yuppy (infertility, ttc, miscarriage)
90. Venting Vagina (FET, acupuncture, LOL)
91. Raising Miles (parenting after IF, baking, randomness)
92. Cape Girl’s Journey (stillbirth, inferility, IVF)
93. chrissy (infertility, adoption, openness)
94. Raining Raining (fost/adopt, life, fertility)
95. The Fiegels (life, infant son, toddler son)
96. Knock Me Up, Doc (fertility shots, infertility)
97. A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, parenting after 40)
98. On Tap for Today (life, humor, Boston)
99. Living With PCOS (ttc, secondary infertility, pcos)
100. The Gal Who Wants to be Anywhere But Where She Is (longterm infertility loss)
101. Impatiently Waiting for a Baby (ivf, condo, injections)
102. Tammy’s Journey (donor embryos, Christian, family)
103. The Pitter-Patter (pregnancy, marrakech, life)
104. My Basic World (miscarriage, unexplained, IVF#1)
105. Hope for Healing (endometriosis, pcos, chronic pelvic pain)
106. Adventures in Glass (twin pregnancy after IVF, life)
107. Trying Not to Scream (iui, infertility, life)
108. Alex’s Adventures (infertility, decisions, hope)
109. In the Middle with You (infertility, loss, life)
110. Being Joyful Always (infertility, weight loss, healthy eating)
111. I Will Be A Mom … Someday (infertility, faith, hope)
112. That’s My Answer (question of the day, fun, life)
113. Outside My Head (life, motherhood, photos)
114. Pollination Chronicles (MFI, fertilization defect, ICSI)
115. My Glass Case of Emotion (infertility, loss, IVF)
116. Busted Plumbing (pcos, ttc, awesomeness)
117. Houston, We Have a Problem (secondary infertility, life)
118. Oven Seeking Bun (pcos, follistim, yoga)
119. Junebug’s Musings (IF, angst, hodgepodge)
120. Hope in Virginia (pregnancy after IVF)
121. Her Womb, Our Hearts (domestic infant adoption, army wife, faith)
122. My Infertility Diaries (infertility marriage grief)
123. The Conceivable Future (RPL, infertility, IVF)
124. The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow (I Hope) (recurrent loss, hope, marriage)
125. Overcoming Obstickles (infertility, acupuncture, clomid)
126. A Tale (of the Trials and Tribulations) of Trying (pregnancy, anxiety and depression, pregnancy loss)
127. Fearlessly Infertile (IVF, miscarriage, military)
128. CD1 Again (clomid, infertility, life)
129. Romancing the Stone (pregnancy, love, ivf after 40)
130. Hoping For Another Little One (ttc#2, iui, family)
131. Twists of Fate (pregnancy after loss)
132. Mommy In Waiting (azoospermia, infertility, ttc)
133. Ready To Be A Mom (infertility, ivf, hope)
134. My So-Called Life (mthfr, pcos, chemistry)
135. My Elusive Baby (infertility, treatments, uncertainty)
136. Hope in Briarrose (pregnancy, life in general, gestational diabetes)
137. IF In Big Sky Country (pregnancy, infertility, life)
138. Body Diaries by Lucy (pregnancy, pcos, if)
139. Off to See the Wizard (secondary IF, IVF, ectopic)
140. Random Thoughts from Angie (ttc, life, family)
141. My Stories: An IFer’s blog (IUI #3, unexplained infertility, life)
142. Inconceivable?! (IVF, NOA, life)
143. The Unfair Struggle (male-factor, life, speedskating)
144. Partners In Crime (twins, humour, life)
145. The Road Worth Traveling (pregnancy, fitness, life)
146. Heeeeere Storkey, Storkey! (twins, life, ttc #3)
147. The Journey of Life (pregnancy, infertility, life)
148. The Adventures of a New Mom (baby, recipes, stories)
149. Life and Love in the Petri Dish (humor, hope (after 5 miscarriages), IVF #6 (in progress))
150. Our Journey (life, ttc, hardship)
151. The Turning Of Paige (infertility, teaching, weight loss)
152. The Buonanno Family (children, life, family)
153. The list is closed for March.  The April list will go up on the 30th.

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 green, the next month it will be yellow, 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.