Labor Negotiations

Nurture

Big news from Tertia. today and I thought I'd share. Although I had a great experience with the Renew agency, I have to admit, I find this very interest-ink...All the best to you Tertia and Melany!

The Second Annual Virtual Cookie Exchange

In honor of Jenn's Second Annual Virtual Cookie Exchange I present D's favorite Christmas cookie. These are always the first to go at his parent's holiday parties. The recipe was passed down by his maternal grandmother, and the lore is that it was clipped from the local newspaper, years ago. They aren't particularly festive looking, but even I can get on board with his family about this subject. And you have to admit, it's easy to remember. Sorry, I don't have a picture. Maybe I'll have to make some for D. Without further ado:

The "ONE" Cookie

1 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. oatmeal
1 c. coconut
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Cream butter and both sugars. Mix in egg. Blend in oil and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together, and mix into egg batter. Chill dough for at least 2 hours. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° F, until lightly browned, about 12 - 15 minutes. Cool on rack. Makes about 5 dozen.

Non-Contagious with a chance of showers

We had Alex's baby shower after all. She hightailed her ass out of that hospital bed because nothing was going to stop her from attending her very own first baby shower. Ignore her paleness, she is usually dazzling when she's not sick. Now if we can just get her well enough to go to Guatemala!

p.s. these are also sneak peak pictures of my newly finished basement...and La-Z-Boy recliners that gave me so much grief a few weeks ago!

Blindsided...

One of my best friends was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, yesterday. She's 30. She has a two year old, DS, IUI son. She has always been there for me. I'm just stunned. As infertiles, we are used to going in for, what becomes routine surgery, to correct this, or remove that. That is what we thought yesterday was going to be. She knew she was probably going to lose her ovary, it had a cyst the size of a grapefruit on it. But this was so unexpected. She sees an oncologist on Wednesday. If you are the praying type, could you say a little prayer for her and her family?

Sad news...

I just read that Liana lost her baby. She was in her second trimester. Please go over and give her some support. Unbelievably sad and unfair.

I'll try to update when I get some time. We closed on our new house, Monday, and I've been organizing bids for subcontracting and doing odd jobs like hanging towel racks, etc. Plus, my cell doesn't work at the house, so I've really been out of contact. A dead zone in the middle of the mid-county suburbs! Thanks Cingu!ar. I had better reception in the boonies. Good luck with that whole $BC, AT and T thing...

Le Grand Tour

Sorry for the long absence...busy being a real estate mogul. No time for a long post, as I'm hard at work cleaning bird poop off my deck and other fun chores to ready our house for listing on Monday. Oh, and I'm having oral surgery tomorrow. Something about cutting "flaps" in my gums, or something to expose that button they lost. Ouch! In the meantime, I thought I'd entertain you with some pictures of the house we plan to tear down, with the added bonus of seeing The Infertile Gourmet recoil in horror while having a look around. Actually, she wants to salvage light fixtures and toilets! I told her to, "Have at it!" In addition to selling our house and closing on this house, we also put an offer on a little two bedroom, one bath, updated house, to live in while our new house is being built. The thought of living with my dad for more than six months was starting to scare me a little. I think I see a new career ahead of me, flipping houses...Hope everyone has a Happy New Year! Happy Hanukkah to Alex, Thalia, Wessel, Persephone  and anyone else I may have forgotten. Also, a Happy Kwaanza to everyone observing.

Calling all knitters!

If I have any readers who are knitters and would like a challenge commission, I am looking for someone who could knit me a couple of jaunty sweaters for my shivery dachshunds. They are a very strange breed to fit. They're very barrel-chested and also very long. Store-bought sweaters never seem to fit right, and I hate to see their little hineys sticking out. Ideally, the sweater would be long, with a cuff collar, and 4 cuff/legs.The underside would have to taper a little so, pee-pee wouldn't soak into it constantly. It's especially sad to watch the smallest one shiver, even when she's inside. She has a form of alopecia, and doesn't have an undercoat. I tried to make a "sweater" out of a sweatshirt sleeve last year, but it really looks stupid. I only know how to knit a row, and even then, it always pulls and gets out of shape, and my fingers get crampy. I've even tried children's knitting books because I thought they might be easier to understand, to no avail. Please help. Any takers? Just email me, to discuss price.

Poker in the rear

I lost the bracket on my errant bicuspid, after eating contraband Cracklin' Oat Bran this a.m. Although truth be told, it could have been loosened from all the equally contraband Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Almonds I've been eating all week. So, an unexpected trip to orthotorture this afternoon for me. Second trip since Monday. Ahh, sweet Advil, I love you so.

To top off my day, I'm going to "Poker," tonight. This is a group of 13 or so women I typically see every 4th Thursday of the month. It's been a while, since I was conveniently getting my twat diddled in June and August at Le Clinique, and attended the inlaw's 50th anniversary party in September. So, I haven't seen much of them this summer. Well, July, but I was in a kind of post-BFN haze.

We don't really play poker, it's just a reason to get out of the house and have adult conversation and alcohol. It is usually at a restaurant or the host of the month's house. I originally started going because a co-worker of D's (and a friend of mine) thought I might like to meet a member who had done IVF at my clinic. She had a girl and conveniently got pregnant with a "freebie" last year. As a matter of fact, there have been 7(!) babies born to this group of 13 in the last two years and two months. So you can imagine where the "adult conversation" has shifted. Anyway, I don't really look forward to it anymore. Especially seeing the 29 weeks pregnant one. I can imagine that the two or three unmarried members look forward to it even less.

On a happier note, D is coming home tonight (gone only one week this time) and we are going camping tomorrow through Sunday. I excitedly bought marshmallows and other camping accoutrement last night at Wal*Marche. We will bring the dogs and games and it will be fun. Oh, and the park is having a "haunted hayride." Fun, I tell ya, fun.

Speaking of Halloween, I found some really cool sites this week: An Old Fashioned Halloween and Traditions. I bought these fun items, among other things:

Even that crappy embryo transfer on Halloween two years ago, hasn't kept me from loving this holiday. Hell, if I let IVF keep me from enjoying holidays, I wouldn't have any left to love.

On the IVF front, K is having her mammagram today. One step closer! Although they never called about that donor a few weeks ago...looks like Nurse Ratchet will be hearing from me next week.

What's in a name?

Infertile friend has gotten her wish. Her baby girl was delivered by c-section, yesterday at 35 weeks, because of PROM. She is breathing on her own and appears healthy. I'm happy the baby is ok. This is her second child in the two and a half years that I have been acquainted with her.

Now comes the whiny part. What is making me feel like I have acid in my stomach, is that, not only am I still waiting to have my first, but she's named this baby the exact same name (first and middle) I had picked out for a baby girl. It was a combination of my dad's middle name, which was his godmother's name and a feminine variation of D's dad's name and my grandfather's name, which happens to be my mom's middle name. Including family names was really important to me because I'm already giving up family genetics. I'm not going to say she stole it from me, because I honestly can't remember if I told her. Frankly, I've been avoiding her since June, because she just doesn't get it. The coincidence is amazing to me, though. And even if it is just a coincidence, it still a reminder of how everyone is moving on with their lives and I'm still dreaming about my mine. Did I mention that a few days after that email she sent, she personally sent me an evite (that I didn't open) to her baby shower, for her 2nd child. Is that the new etiquette, by the way? Also, I live 850 miles away. Fish for gifts, much? And she's planning to leave her husband, now that she's done with his sperm.

Yesterday was also the 6th birthday of my ex's oldest child. Another reminder of all my "fertile years," wasted. I'm reminded of Tina Fey's comments on Saturday Night Live a few years ago, when "reporting" the information that women's fertility starts declining at 27:

"According to author Sylvia Hewlett, career women shouldn't wait to have babies because our fertility takes a steep drop-off after age 27. And Sylvia's right -- I definitely should've had a baby when I was 27, living in Chicago, over a biker bar, pulling down a cool 12 grand a year. That woulda worked out great."

Tina Fey gave birth to her daughter, Alice on September 10th.  I'm starting to think I should have tried sooner, crappy relationship or not. At least I'd have kids. No, wait a minute, that's crazy talk.

Anyway, I'm keeping the name. That is if I ever get the chance to use it. It's not like she's my SIL or something. God, I'm such a bitch. I think I'm going to go have a glass bottle of wine. Or whine. I feel a pity party coming on. Damn. And I was doing so well, lately.

Thank you for being a friend

Today, I would like to talk about my friend D2. She is officially 28 weeks and 1 day pregnant. It was at this point, a year and a half ago, that she was rushed into an emergency c-section due to infection and increased fetal heartrate. She was pregnant with boy-girl twins and her son's placenta had developed a leak some ten weeks earlier. She had basically been on bedrest since, the last three weeks having been spent in the hospital. She delivered her boy-girl twins. Sadly, her little boy didn't make it, and only survived about three hours. Her little girl continued to thrive, despite her ups and downs in the NICU and is now a little sprocket of a kid.

Throughout it all, D2 managed to stay strong, at least when she talked to me. I know it must have been hard for her. She probably wanted to just unload on me, but didn't feel like she could. My embryo transfer, the same week as hers, had resulted in a BFN. But I don't think she realized that I was living vicariously through her. So with every heartbreak, I was right there, feeling it. Of course, not to the same degree, I could never feel exactly the same. But I hurt for her.

Now, she is pregnant with her "miracle" boy. She was waiting around to start a FET, but her period never came. Her RE wanted to do a beta, and lo and behold, she was already pregnant! I'm so happy for her. Truly. I hope that she is able to relax a little and enjoy the rest of her pregnancy, she deserves it so much. I don't think she reads my blog much. She thinks its private, like a diary, and doesn't want to intrude. But in case she does, I wanted to thank her for being my best friend, and propping me up when she really needed propping herself.

October is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month, and I want to remember all of my friends who have suffered. There are so many.