IComLeavWe: March 2012

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 April list will open 3/29
  
• 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. Lessons from an Infertile Social Worker (transracial open adotion)
3. The Quest For Little Lambies (fertility,spirituality,interventions)
4. Donating Hope (egg donor, SIF, divorce)
5. My Bum Ovaries (premature ovarian failure)
6. Bereaved and Blessed (parenting, secondary infertility, loss)
7. For We Are Bound by Symmetry (fet #2, ttc #1, loss)
8. Meier Madness (pcos, fet, crazay-zy)
9. BattleFish (pregnant after ivf w/#1, life)
10. If You Don’t Stand For Something (male factor, life, ramblings)
11. In Due Time (life, infertility, miscarriage)
12. Where Do We Go From Here? (infertility, depression, life)
13. Our Growing Gardunn (undiagnosed secondary RPL, infertility, septum removal)
14. Our Pathway to Parenthood (infertility, mfi, septate uterus)
15. Baby-Making Merry-go-Round (infertility, IVF, emotions)
16. Life and Love in the Petri Dish (pregnancy #7 or miscarriage #7? Too early to call…)
17. It Is What It Is (Or Is It?) (ttc#2, donated embryos, adult adoptee)
18. Navigating Cyberloss (grief, cyberloss, recovery)
19. Life in the Last Frontier (open adoption, parenting, infertility)
20. Infertile First Mom ((secondary) infertility, birthmotherhood, IVF)
21. Baby On Mind (infertility, IVF, adoption?)
22. I’m Polycystic Inside (pregnant, twins, omg)
23. Bread of Baby? (infertility, low carb, health)
24. Que Sera Sera (long-term infertility, teaching, emotions)
25. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (parenting after if/rpl, expecting #2, life)
26. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
27. Notes from the Ninth Circle (PGD, IVF, insurance)
28. Feeling Beachie (life, humor, family)
29. The Pussy Palace (trying to conceive)
30. Dwelling on dreams (miscarriage, rpl, childless)
31. The Stork Drop Zone (parenting, infertility, hobbies)
32. No Baby Ruth (parenting at 9 months, pcos, Spain)
33. The Infertility Voice (infertility, empowerment, donor egg)
34. CD1 Again (infertility, step parenting, starting treatments again)
35. The Long Way Around (PCOS, recurrent miscarriage, infertility)
36. Writing for Life (life after loss, infertility, uk)
37. Mommy Odyssey (RPL, stillbirth, hope!)
38. The Cornfed Feminist (pcos, oversharing, pregnant)
39. Cease and Decyst (pcos, anovulation, irreverence)
40. A Miracle in the Works (pregnant with #1 after a loss)
41. Tiny Bits of Hope (infertility, teaching, life)
42. Pregnancy 101 (infertility, anovulation, clomid)
43. I’m Just Ducky, Thanks (surrogacy, adoption, RPL)
44. These Fragments I Love (pregnancy after RPL, grief, faith)
45. MoJo Working (infertility, TTC 10+ years, FET)
46. Glitter & Rainbows (infertility, public adoption)
47. Believing in June (ttc #2, ivf, marriage)
48. Waiting For Little Feet (IVF, PCOS, irony)
49. The Redhead Files (infertility, RPL, endometriosis)
50. Bébé Suisse (miscarriage, ttc again, switzerland)
51. Schell Family Blog (parenting twins after ivf)
52. An Engineer Becomes a Mom (adoption, infertility, relationships)
53. Bring on the Babies… (pregnancy, IVF, recurrent loss)
54. Syringe Sisters (ttc #1, fet, ramblings)
55. Life As I Know It (twins, parenting, life)
56. Inconceivable! (fet, infertility, ttc)
57. Wistfulgirl’s World (foster-to-adopt, infertility, life)
58. Our New Normal (adoption, weight loss)
59. Our Long Awaited Spud (parenting, unicornuate uterus, cloth diapering)
60. Outlandish Notions (parenting after IF, finding balance, feminism)
61. The Elusive Second Line (TTC #1, PCOS, depression)
62. Turn Around (thank you, sign off)
63. Searching for the Missing Piece (domestic adoption, RPL, life)
64. It’s Gonna Happen (infertility, ivf, fet)
65. Hope in times of uncertainty (icsi ivf, faith, pregnancy)
66. Creating a Family (infertility, adoption, parenting)
67. Lori Does Maryland (pal, ivf, parenting)
68. 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Baby (parenting, humor, snark)
69. Mare Just Beginning (pcos, injectibles, parenting)
70. Adventures in Babywaiting (motherhood, IVF, ttc #2)
71. Whitney & Erick (surrogacy, IVF, RPL)
72. TheStorkDiaries (TTC 2 years, mid 30’s, IUI)
73. I’m Very Far Away (infertility, asia, failed treatment)
74. A little blog about the big infertility… And adoption too! (endometriosis, RPL, domestic adoption)
75. Waiting, Wishing, Hoping (life, pregnancy, infertility)
76. (In)fertility Unexplained (unexplained infertility, IVF)
77. Palm Trees & Rainy Days (ivf, pcos, childless)
78. The 2 Week Wait (infertility humor newborn)
79. Marriage 2.0 (adoption, infertility, waiting)
80. Life is Simple, It’s Just Not Easy (fet #1, post cancer, life)
81. The Perpetual Aunt (azoospermia, pcos, hcg injection)
82. Cotton Bottom Mama (eco-consciousness, family, crafts)
83. Searching for our silver lining (FET, life after loss, ttc#1)
84. Created Family (unexplained infertility, TCM, graduate school)
85. My Journey to Get Fit and Battle PCOS (IF, weightloss, life)
86. Waiting For Baby (pcos, military, infertility)
87. Holly’s narrative dream (life, secondary infertility, life)
88. The Handprints on my Heart (adoption, family, life)
89. Good Luck – Try Again (miscarriage, infertility, life)
90. A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, parenting after 40)
91. The Childless Mom (ivf-icsi, fet, pregnancy #1)
92. MissConception (baby loss, FET, PCOS)
93. My Hormonacoaster (ttc 10+ years, secondary infertility, ivf#2)
94. Unruffled Lanie (infertility, IVF, home)
95. A Change of Plans (adoption, FETs, military)
96. Wanted: Family of Three (ivf, male-factor, music)
97. 3hearts2hold1love (parenting after infertility, secondary infertility, IVF with ICSI)
98. Something Out of Nothing (infertility, mfi, limbo)
99. Hapa Hopes (IVF, relationships, life)
100. Metholic’s Blog (bfp, ttc, infertility )
101. Alexander (baby after IF, joys, emotional)
102. trying to conceive (trying to conceive, if, emotional)
103. The misadventures of missohkay (adoption, pregnancy loss)
104. A Blanket 2 Keep (IUI, life, hope)
105. Infertility Unexplained (unexplained infertility, miscarriage, fet)
106. A Year On… Our New Beginning {hopefully} (stillbirth, secondary IF, IVF)
107. Traditionally Nontraditional (infertility, pregnancy, Life)
108. ErnieGirl (constant bleeding TTC#2)
109. From Gutter to Stars (new blog, therapist, infertility & adoption)
110. Carneyexploits (first IUI, pcos, life)
111. OperationBaby2012 (lesbian parenting, ttc, donor-selection)
112. GoTeamBaby (IVF, humor, hope)
113. DogMomChasingTheStork (infertility, travel, dogs)
114. Conceptionally Challenged (my life in general)
115. Hope Delayed (infertility, ivf #2, life)
116. Inconceivable! (donor egg, family, step-parenting)
117. Who Is This Fertile Myrtle (unexplained infertility ivf)
118. Our Journey (infertility pcos diabetes)
119. Our LIFE Journey (embryo adoption, FET, faith)
120. Embracing the Rain (ivf-icsi, rpl, dor)
121. The list is now closed.  The April list will open 3/29

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 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). 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.