IComLeavWe: May 2011

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 June list will open on 5/30.
• 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. Trying to conceive (IVF, MFI, waiting)
3. Here We Go Again (dead baby, parenting, random)
4. As Good As It Gets (infertility, parenting, adoption)
5. My Pathway to Motherhood (SMC, parenthood, life)
6. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
7. Navigating Cyberloss (online loss, grief, coping)
8. Tippy & Tidy’s Tumultuous Trip To Toddlers (TTC#1, IVF, unexplained)
9. Everyone else but me (parenting after IVF, feelings, ectopic pregnancy project)
10. Sticky Feet (parenting, twins, recipes)
11. Write Mind Open Heart (open adoption, mindfulness, perfect moments)
12. Our Twisty Turny Journey (infertility, donor egg, cancer)
13. My Hormonacoaster (FET, soap-making, staying positive)
14. Bio Girl (parenting, family, FET for #2)
15. I’m a Smart One (parenthood after infertility, surrogacy)
16. Chasing Our Stork: Our Journey with Infertility (ivf, hypothyroidism/unexplained infertility, graduate school)
17. Life in Finland – Elämä Suomessa (infertility, life, randomness)
18. Lifeslurper (ivf, over 45, donor eggs)
19. for all the things we hope for (unexplained infertility, nursing school, miscarriage)
20. The 2 Week Wait (humor, ttc, ivf)
21. SurlyMama (SMC, IUI, 2ww)
22. My Seriously Broken Oven (recurrent pregnancy loss, adoption)
23. Ready for my baby bump (trying to conceive)
24. Singular Desire (SMC, miscarriage, over 40)
25. My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands (simplifying life, culture, Netherlands)
26. A Year On… Our New Beginning {hopefully} (stillbirth, infertility, IVF)
27. The Ladies in Waiting Book Club (book club, support, friendship)
28. The Pursuit of Pregnancy (RPL, DOR, clotting disorder)
29. Failed Genetics (adoption, infertility, life)
30. Motherhood Meets Me (internat’l adoption, parenting)
31. Compromised Fertility (PCOS, life & leisure, IUI)
32. Someday (mfi, first trimester, emotions)
33. Planet hausfrau (kids, crafts, gardening)
34. Created Family (unexplained infertility, pregnancy, graduate school)
35. Trying for a baby (TTC, FET/IVF, endometriosis)
36. A Page In My Book (IF grad, parenting, everyday life)
37. MissConception (pcos, ivf, ttc#1)
38. Project Happily Ever After (family, life, infertility)
39. The Road Less Traveled (pregnancy after loss, embryo donation)
40. all i ever wished for (if, fet, 2WW)
41. Mommy Odyssey (repeated miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, trying to be funny about it)
42. Olive You (sarcasm, infertility, marriage)
43. The Inadequate Conception (infertility, humor, new book)
44. My Lady of the Lantern (neonatal loss, recovering, TTC again)
45. Feeling Beachie (life, humor, family)
46. Zygotta is Getting Pregnant (pcos, treatment, fiction)
47. Wistfulgirl’s World (life, infertility, weight loss)
48. Modern Medicine Miracle (infertility, IUI, donor sperm)
49. The Long Way Around (trying to conceive, miscarriage, pcos)
50. The Birds and The Bees (ivf #4, immature eggs, fet)
51. Meier Madness (fertility weightloss life)
52. Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed (infertility, advocacy, hope)
53. Lissie’s Luck (PCOS, IVF, life)
54. Because Two People Fell In Love (love, life, family)
55. The One In Eight Couple (TTC #1, infertility, hope)
56. A Peek into our Journey (PCOS, first IVF)
57. Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage (TTC#1, TCM, hope)
58. No Suzy Homemaker (IVF, RPL, stillbirth)
59. Exploring Chaos (IVF, TWW, parenting)
60. Poor Lucky Me (neonatal loss, trying again)
61. MommyForward (motherhood, self-improvement, adoption)
62. Creating a Family (infertility, adoption, adoptive parenting)
63. My Infertile Confessions (pregnant with twins after IVF)
64. The Stork Drop Zone (humor, infertility, positivity)
65. I Believe In Miracles (parenting, infertility, adoption)
66. For We Are Bound by Symmetry (ttc#1, unexplained infertility, ivf?)
67. Barrenista (infertility, adoption, fancy cupcakes)
68. I Want to be a Daddy (male infertility experience)
69. Whitney & Erick (RPL, last IVF try, adoption?)
70. It Is What It Is (Or Is It?) (domestic adoption, adoptee, life)
71. I’m Very Far Away (infertility, IUI, asia)
72. The Pitter-Patter (pregnancy, loss, marrakech)
73. Did I Eat? (pregnancy, twins, high risk)
74. Embracing the Rain (mfi, dor, rpl)
75. A Toddler, A Triathlete and an Entrepreneur (secondary infertility, failed IVF, running)
76. GoTeamBaby (ivf, infertility, hope)
77. Bring on the Babies… (miscarriage, ivf, infertility)
78. Everyday is a Winding Road (infertility, running, IVF)
79. His & Her Infertility (Just Like The Matching Towels) (PCOS, azoo, international adoption)
80. That’s My Answer (question of the day, life, fun)
81. The Journey to Baby G (ivf, israel, anxiety)
82. The Deep Silence of a Long-Suffering Heart (mfi, ivf, miscarriage)
83. Cinderella Wore Glass Slippers (fet, life/teaching, adoption)
84. One Wheeler’s World (infertility, healing, life)
85. Weathering the Storm (adoption, thoughts, life)
86. Not Exactly What I Had Planned (severe mfi, ivf, icsi)
87. the misadventures of missohkay (pregnancy loss, adoption)
88. Adventures of Endo in the Arctic (endometriosis IVF infertility)
89. Holly’s Narractive Dream (secondary infertility coping)
90. The Rocky Road to Motherhood (pregnancy after infertility)
91. Marriage 2.0 (ttc, miscarriage, adoption)
92. Not Just an Army Wife (infertility, pregnancy loss, iui)
93. This Hampton Life of Mine (infertility, photography, mommy)
94. Articulation (life, books, randomness)
95. IFSerenityNow (ivf, loss, pregnancy)
96. Almost All The Truth (green, parenting, change)
97. Mommy In Waiting (pregnant, twins, IVF#4)
98. A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, parenting after 40)
99. Cradles and Graves (pregnant after 2nd tri losses & infertility)
100. Diary of a Residency Widow (life in residency, PCOS, TTC)
101. One day at a time (army, torn, weight loss)
102. The Life of Miss Conception (cancer survivor, high FSH, miracle pregnancy)
103. A Summers Thoughts (parenting, cooking, family)
104. Journey To The End Of The Rainbow (ivf, success, motherhood)
105. Dealing with DOR (infertility, DOR, Creighton)
106. Searching for the Missing Piece (adoption, repeated miscarriage, creativity)
107. Wishing and Hoping and Thinking and Praying (infertility, PCOS, life)
108. Plans Change (adoption, pregnancy, infertility)
109. Bun(less) in the oven (infertility, no sperm, donor sperm)
110. Just us and the cat (fet, tubelessness, life)
111. carney exploits (infertility, unemployment, life)
112. G-d Doesn’t Make Mistakes (daughter, rpl, hope)
113. IUI to Roux-en-Y (surgery prep, weight loss, IF)
114. The Second Act (pregnant over 40, miscarriage, parenting)
115. Getting There (adoption, settling in, life)
116. We’re Making a Baby (IVF, twins, depression)
117. This is your brain on the verge of cracking (life(ish) after loss)
118. Storm in My Teacup (IVF#2 greyhound VW Bus)
119. Praying for a Little Miracle (miscarriage, coping, moving forward)
120. Our Little Family’s Journey (ttc#2, fet#1, pregnant)
121. wanna bee (adoption, loss, craftiness)
122. The Daily Miracle (secondary if, newly pregnant with # 2 thanks to IVF, humour)
123. Parenting After Infertility and Stillbirth (infertility, stillbirth, parenting)
124. Traditionally Nontraditional (infertility, TTC, life)
125. Infertility: A Diary (infertility, emotions, eggs)
126. Cats With Passports (baby after ivf, fet, autoimmune issues)
127. Bean Dreams (infertility, hope, motherhood)
128. Always Plus One (loss, pregnancy, life)
129. May I Please Have More (secondary infertility)
130. Four of a Kind (parenting, secondary infertility, loss)
131. Waiting For That Positive (IF, male factor, being positive)
132. Chois-R-Us (adoption, parenting, life)
133. Life’s Everyday Adventures! (everyday life, randomness)
134. All Aboard the Pity Boat (life, infertility, running)
135. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (parenting after RPL, cooking, life)
136. Rainbow Making 101 (miscarriage, ttc, fertility)
137. From the Heart of Alicia Marie (ttc, pcos, infertility)
138. Our Life Journey (infertility, faith, life)
139. The Lightness of Being on the Bike (biking, culture, travel)
140. The list is now closed.  The June list will open on 5/30.

Q: What if I miss a day?

A: Catch up the next day by doubling your comments–12 comments instead of 6.

Q: What if I have two blogs? Can I sign up twice, listing both blogs?

A: Yes, but you also need to double your comments. If you have two blogs listed, you should be leaving 12 comments per day.

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 yellow, the next month it will be red, 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). The list closes around 11 p.m. EST on the 21st.

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.