Labor Negotiations

So long, Arch-Nemesis!

Updated Again: The Dr. Br0wn's vent system and nipples/rings fit the Gerber Clear View bottles! I had taken a commenter's word for it and not tried it. But as long as you shorten the vent straw about a 1/4" the whole thing works! This is good, because my granite countertops were threatening the Evenflo glass bottles with bodily harm. Oh and I used a caulk gun spout cutter to trim the vents. Not perfect, but not as ragged as the sawing method I tried first with a serated knife.

Updated: Just went out and bought some Evenflo glass bottles and I'm happy to report. they DO work with the Dr. Br0wn's vent system, nipples and rings! Yay! The tooting and burping should slow up a bit...

I have been looking for a reason to get rid of the friggin' Dr. Br0wn's bottles since I first realized they would require hand-washing, what with all their little seven parts per bottle and tiny holes and my crappy dishwasher. I bought them on the fly, while the babies were still in the NICU, with no research involved, when I realized that my breastfeeding dream would have to be altered. The main selling point? They sold preemie nipples to go with. Bah!

Well, I've been trying to ignore the buzz about BPA (bisphenal-A) found in polycarbonate plastic, because hey, they're going to be starting sippy cups soon! I'm not wasting any more money on bottles! Then I saw a report on ABC National News, and I read a few more of these: link another link Suffice it to say, I can't wait around for the government or the JPMA to come around to banning polycarbonate bottles. If there is a question of safety, I choose the safest route I can. Crap, the toy recalls alone are enough to give me a conniption.

Goodbye Dr. Br0wn's, hello Gerber Clear View. $1.00 each (not including a silicone fast flow nipple, sold separately) It didn't hurt that D's parent company sells them (not that I buy Gerber all the time, mind you) Plus, I recently read that the Dr. Br0wn's nipples and vent systems will fit on an Evenflo glass bottle. I may have to try this, since they are equally cheap (almost). The fact that it now takes me 7 minutes to wash bottles in the morning is an added bonus. Girls, I did it for your reproductive and neurological systems. Thank me later.

IP Dream

I have three posts started, so expect a flurry here in a few days, but for now, I wanted to write down a strange, vivid dream I had last night.

I was at a Mothers of Twins Club dinner (which is funny, because I've been to two, and decided, who are these women who have time to go to dinners?) One of the members came up to me with a friend from out of town. This woman had been reading my blog and based on pictures and circumstances, thought that we might have used the same donor. She wanted to know if I would agree to a DNA test to find out. I said, "Wouldn't it be an easier start if I just told you our donor's name?" She nodded, I told her, and she started to cry, wen she realized she was right. Then she went off in a corner and continued to cry. I thought about leaving her a note with my contact information (which she probably would have had, since she found me at a MOTC dinner, but hey, I'm not always logical in my dreams) But finally, in a moment of bitchiness, with regard to her strange behavior, I walked up to her, and told her she was making a spectacle of herself, that these women didn't even know that I had used donor eggs, but thanks for outing me to them, and that I was sorry she wasn't open to letting her child know about the existence of half siblings. The End.

Weird. But I think it is because I have been spending too much time on a donor egg message board where, it seems, most of the women are in the "no tell" camp. I guess I just can't understand this. Don't they think that in this day and age, with DNA testing for disease, crime and all sorts of other things, that their children will eventually find out? Personally, I can't imagine a day like that. And don't get me started on the women who don't want to tell their pediatrician or their OB. Jeez, they have privacy laws for a reason. The people who I trust with the health of my family need to have a full picture. I think it is my children's right to know everything I can tell them about the wonderful woman who helped us create a family. It will just be a part of their story. Mommy's eggs were going bad, so this very nice lady gave mommy and daddy some of her eggs to use. I will suffer any consequences, from them, because I know that I didn't lie, at least. And hey, they wouldn't even be here, if we didn't do the donor egg cycle. Frankly, I would love a chance to meet our donor's other IPs and their children. The more the merrier! If there is one regret, its that they will probably never know them.

OK. Off my high horse, now. Sorry for the rant, or if I personally insulted you. They are always pussyfooting around the topic over there. Someone needed to at least say it.

Now, if I can figure out a way to tell the inlaws. If they weren't so gossipy and judgemental! Maybe I'll let the kids tell them some day...hee hee.

p.s. Here is a great book by Carolina Nadel, that I plan to get for our girls to help explain their conception.

Fairies...

Those who know me, know that I practically endured all of those needle pricks and vaginal probes just so I could dress my kids up for Halloween. I've been making costumes for other people's kids (and myself) for years and one of my favorite things to do, was to pick through the costume box (which I inherited) at my grandmother's when I was a kid. Now, I have something new to add to the box: the girls have their first costumes. I didn't try to make them this year. Maybe next year. I couldn't have made these for what I paid for them, anyway. I had heard that infant costumes sell out quick, so I had to make a decision. Tulip Fairy and Sugar Plum Fairy it is. I can't wait to see them all dressed up. And also eat their candy.