IComLeavWe: August

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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 for August. The list for September will open on 8/30.
• 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 (infertility, twins, books)
2. Baby Smiling In Back Seat (infertility, twin pregnancy, pottery)
3. Maybe Baby? (pcos, miscarriage, infertility)
4. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, crafts, secondary infertility)
5. Three of a working on a full house… (pregnancy, neonatal loss, parenting)
6. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (ttc break, cooking, books)
7. Barefoot and (Finally) Pregnant (pregnancy, infertility, food)
8. Don’t Scare Easy (hysterectomy, infertility, sinuses)
9. We Got Hitched… (infertility IVF miscarriage)
10. Babymaking 101 (pregnancy loss, waiting to try again on dr’s orders)
11. Woman Anyone? (TTC#1, unexplained IF, impatient)
12. Waiting On Baby Paramore (infertility, PCOS, miscarriage/premature birth)
13. Rolling Around in My Head (disability, disphobia, disablism)
14. Our Little Tongginator (china adoption, humor)
15. Trying for a Baby (TTC, endometriosis, ovary suppression)
16. In Due Time (infertility, pcos, life)
17. Mindful Meandering (RPL; IVF; infertility)
18. Everyone Else But Me (infertility, ICSI, adoption)
19. The Journey To 40 and Beyond (infertility, hope, getting older)
20. All Grown Up (domestic adoption, waiting, random)
21. Getting to Phoebe (infertility, adoption, phoebe)
22. The Yerkes Life ~ Learning to Embrace God’s Plans (ivf, life, faith)
23. Once an Infertile (journey through infertility)
24. One Little Pink Line Short of Sheer Bliss (ttc, infertility, mfi)
25. In Ancient Starlight (parenting, infertility, PCOS/male factor)
26. Becoming Whole (emotional abuse recovery, uncertain family-building future, ponderings)
27. Baby To Be (ivf, pcos, hope)
28. What IF? (infertility, pcos, acupuncture)
29. Tales of My Follies (clomid, getting pregnant, day to day)
30. Conception Deception (male-factor, luteal phase defect, beginning treatment)
31. Wandering Wonderment (mama-dom, student-dom, dumb-dom)
32. Not A Fertile Myrtle (infertility, pcos, male factor if)
33. A Little Hope (infertility, iui, ivf)
34. Wishing4One (ivf, craziness, egypt)
35. (In)fertile Myrtle (infertility, IVF, random)
36. The Mis- Adventures of a Modern Day Farmer’s Wife (infertility, acupuncture, farming)
37. Faith, Hope & Poop? (parenting, adoption, reading)
38. My journey with Endometriosis (endo, IVF, life)
39. Sell Crazy Someplace Else (dIUI, marriage, weight loss)
40. Your Great Life (fertility, support, women)
41. Melissa’s Thoughts and Realizations (infertility,
    hypothyroid, grad school)
42. IF Crossroads (IUI, infertility, endo)
43. Not The Path I Chose (secondary IF, IVF)
44. Stork Stalker (IVF#5, infertility, life)
45. I’m a Smart One (surrogacy/infertility/parenting after infertility)
46. Hope in Virginia (early pregnancy post-IVF)
47. Waiting on Life Part Two (adoption, parenting, life)
48. Baby Making Journey (waiting, azoospermia, exercising)
49. My World, My Ramblings (IUIs, IVF, MFI)
50. Life is Good (pregnancy, infertility, life)
51. Will Not Work for Baby (infertility, ivf, marriage)
52. All Things Griffin (donor IUI, 2WW, infertility)
53. Elana’s Musings (twins, parenting, randomness)
54. Hello Jello (family, life after college, animals)
55. Teddy Lifeslurper, ttc (humour, IVF, ART)
56. Fertility Foibles (infertility, humor, adoption)
57. Life Induces Thoughts, Mostly Random (grief, acceptance, family)
58. You, Me and a Petri (ivf, endometriosis, vermont)
59. Drops of Jupiter (family, life, random)
60. Last American Girl Standing (infertility (im)patience cycle)
61. Infertility and Me (male factor infertility)
62. No Oven For the Bun (gestational surrogacy, infertility, MRKH)
63. Ova-Ez (babies, love, life)
64. emilythehopeless (domestic adoption, dogs, garden)
65. Are We There Yet (IVF, Eastern Europe, vacation)
66. The Long Journey (secondary infertility, IVF)
67. The Conceivable Future (RPL, infertility, IVF)
68. The Pitter-Patter (ttc, mfi, life)
69. The Secret Life of Sass & Lex (life, ivf, weight loss)
70. Whatever He Says (life, humour, faith)
71. Life with Endometriosis and PCOS (pcos, endo, waiting)
72. Trustee Tracks (education, parenting, special needs)
73. Adventures in Glass (FET, IVF, life)
74. Sparkly Things Distract Me (40, bad eggs, no more treatments)
75. Isn’t TTC Supposed To Be Fun?! (pregnancy, loss, IF)
76. Baby Incredible (PCOS, craziness, clomid)
77. My Infertility Journey (infertility, PCOS, male-factor)
78. Making Me Mom (mfi, iui, faith)
79. Eggcetera (IUI, infertility, life)
80. Semi-fertile (miscarriage, adoption, future)
81. Communique (life, infertility, ivf)
82. My Preconceived Notion (single mother by choice, pregnancy over 40, donor embryo)
83. Ninapintasantamaria’s Blog (life, pregnancy, snark)
84. Mommy Someday? (secondary infertility, parenting, IUI)
85. Parenthood for Me (infertility, adoption, coping)
86. Elusive BFP (FET, loss, life)
87. Human, Being (self-discovery, love, health)
88. All My Peccadilloes… (infertility, life, teaching)
89. That’s My Answer (fun, pop-culture, question of the day)
90. Outside My Head (parenting, yoga, photos)
91. Tammy’s Journey (religion, life, donor eggs/embryos)
92. Heeeeere Storkey, Storkey! (twins, pregnancy, life)
93. Exploring Chaos (pregnancy, adjusting, life )
94. PCOS SOS (frustration, infertility, life)
95. Invivo (IVF, GIFT, life)
96. Unproductively So (infertility, loss, hope)
97. Wheresmy2lines (donor eggs, pcos, life)
98. Yes, We’re Parents! (parenting after infertility, infertility, humor)
99. Chronicles of… (IVF#4; miscarriage; life)
100. little birdhouse (cooking, cats, knitting)
101. I Just Want To Be A Mom (pregnancy after IVF)
102. The Mind of ~Ifer (marriage, memories, random)
103. All Aboard the Pity Boat (infertility, running, life)
104. Run Amok Amok (infertility life marriage)
105. Baby Hungry (new to if, marriage, emotional effects of if)
106. Our Family Beginnings (adoption, child, life)
107. Learning To Let Go (infertility, marriage, depression)
108. Lifeslurper (donor, over 40, infertility)
109. Adding to the Pack (MFI, IUI, PCOS)
110. The Unfair Struggle (mfi, 4 month break, life)
111. My Own Little World (infertility, ttc, lesbian)
112. Our Someday Family… (ttc, mfi, beginning the IF journey)
113. Rottweilers Ate My Laptop (rottweilers, technology, life)
114. Scarlet Baby (life, male factor, infertility)
115. <a
     href=”http://awomanmyage.wordpress.com/”>A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, life)
116. Hello, my name is M (loss, ivf, emotional health)
117. This Time Around (secondary if, pcos, ttc#2)
118. Busted Tube: Adventures in Infertility (miscarriage, ttc, hope)
119. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop (news, food, music)
120. Chasing That Dream (endometriosis, adoption, hysterectomy)
121. GettingThere (adoption, future, endometriosis)
122. Mindful Meandering (RPL, IVF, infertility)
123. Hopes and Dreams for Us (infertility, depression, child-free living)
124. GotchaBaby (adoption, parenting, random)
125. Body Diaries by Lucy (PCOS, IVF, IF)
126. Equal Opportunity Hater (annoyances, IVF, pregnancy)
127. Donor Eggs Journey (donor eggs, ivf)
128. Infertili- T & A (ivf, waiting, bitching)
129. Along Life’s Little Journey (pregnancy, life, endometriosis)
130. Slice of Pie (ivf, second opinion, food)
131. Raining Raining (fertility, marriage, life)
132. This could be anyone story (life, love, loss)
133. Back into the Fire (infertility, foster care)
134. Chronic Pelvic Pain (undiagnosed, pain, life)
135. Hoping for our own Peanut (infertility, IVF, pregnancy)
136. Just Multiply by 2 (twins, parenting, life)
137. Salvageable (recurrent loss, marriage, life)
138. Melissa’s Life as She Knows It (infertility, books, vacation)
139. A Page In My Book (family, boys, photos)
140. Endo-A-Go-Go (donor egg IVF)
141. No Lingerie Here… (ttc-after-mc, weightloss, life)
142. Weber’s in Action (IVF #1, NOA, family)
143. ethi-hope-ia: the journey to our sweet baby boy (ethiopia, international, adoption)
144. The list is now closed for August. The list for September will open on 8/30.

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

Q: What 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 cranberry, 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).

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.