Fun Stuff

Anyone who has struggled with infertility has inevitably been given "advice" or opinions completely unsolicited and often shockingly rude. As my husband and I discussed some of the inappropriate comments we heard when we began to tell people that we were having trouble conceiving (something we started talking about in response to the unending questions about when we were going to have children), a top ten list, of sorts, emerged. Here are the top ten things NOT to say to someone enduring infertility - just the opinion of one (admittedly often cranky) woman! 1) Just relax, or just stop trying so hard and it will happen. Believe me, I heard this one enough times to "try"… [more]

There are a couple of sites that I have been frequenting lately that have to do with making a wish. I have linked before to the absolutely incredible blog from The Town Criers called, "Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters". Along the sidebar she has a link that says, "Make a Wish" that shows a photo of her wishing stone. Here is the story: Titled, "Have a Wish on Me" Josh bought me a wishing stone this weekend at a store called Mud and Metal. I verified its powers as a wishing stone by checking with my palm pilot's Magic 8 ball prior to the purchase. I am happy to report that according to the Magic 8 ball, this is a true and working wish stone. So I'm granting everyone… [more]

I can't seem to get enough of the FertilityPlus site. In fact, it is one of the only sites that lists a page for infertility humor. FertilityPlus First of all, here is their disclaimer: These jokes may not be funny to some and they are not politically correct. If you're not in the mood please don't read . . . No offense is intended But the following was pretty tame, so I thought that you might like to read it. Although it is out of season, it is pretty cute. The 12 Days of Christmas (for the infertile) On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a sperm sample to spin and clean On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me 2 post-IUI foot rubs and a sperm sample… [more]

Trying To Conceive Slang Terms I stumbled upon this extensive list of fertility slang terms to keep in mind while reading blogs, or writing your own. Although I'm only going to reprint the ABC's the list goes all the way through Z. With a ton of terms that I hadn't ever heard of, it sure give me ideas for new posts to research! The provided list A-C ACA Anti-Cardiolipin Antibodies ACTH Adrenal Corticotropic Hormone AF Aunt Flo (Menstruation) AFNW Aunt Flo Not Wanted AH Assisted Hatching AZH Assisted Hatching AI Artificial Insemination ANA Anti-Nuclear Antibodies APA Anti-Phospholipid Antibodies APTT Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time ART Assisted Reproductive Technology ASA Anti-Sperm Antibody ASRM American Society of Reproductive Medicine ATA Anti-Thyroid Antibody AVA Anti-Ovarian Antibody BBT Basal Body Temperature BD Baby… [more]

Time for some (color) therapy In this tip from the MomSpa team, they suggest wearing pink sweats. You'll have to read the full tip to get the idea of what they are talking about and it makes a lot of sense. The part of this tip that I found most helpful is their color list and the feelings that can be invoked by seeing a certain color. Periwinkle blue is my favorite color and not listed with their suggestions, but I'm sure with a little research that I could figure out why I enjoy it so much. Here is their list: Pink Pink soothes and nurtures the wearer and those around her. It disolves anger and encourages unconditional love. Red The color red stimulates the appetite. Perhaps… [more]

How Stressed Are You? Again, with the Beliefnet! I am addicted to quizzes. But only self-awareness type quizzes that I like the results to. I really don't care to much for pop quizzes of the scholarly type, but anything about self-learning will get me to clicking away at the keyboard. This quiz is about how stressed you are. Now, there is research that suggests that being stressed isn't beneficial to becoming pregnant, so lowering our stress can only be a good thing. Let's try to get these levels down! I did notice a mistake in the wording of one of the questions though. At least I certainly hope that it is a mistake! Instead of question #22 about alcohol. Instead of the answers reading… [more]

Early Morning In The Garden I had a very busy and exciting weekend planned. I had planned a large birthday party/fundraiser for our adoption agency. I have been working and prepping for months now and the day was finally here on Saturday. The entire weekend was hectic and fun. But, being me, I kind of focused on the hectic. We set up the hall on Friday night for four and a half hours. We continued the errands and decorating for another five hours on Saturday. And then clean up, including stacking hundreds of chairs and fifteen tables. Sweeping and mopping. And hauling out bag after bag to a locked dumpster in the parking lot. How did I save… [more]

My wonderful local library ordered this book from a request put in by me! I found the original book while browsing one night at Borders and it looked like so much fun. The title is Mom Spa 75 Relaxing Ways to Pamper a Mother's MInd, Body, and Soul." Written by Jennifer "Gin" Sander and the Momspa Team. Now, back in my struggling days, I would have taken offense to a book like this, because I would have really wanted to read it, but felt like it was for "mom's only". It only took me a while to figure out that being a mom in mind and spirit is just as good as far as reading a book was concerned so I would… [more]

This is a post from Bindweed Heights. Had me laughing out loud. With the oh so familiar frustration and anger at the powers that be that regulate fertility, Wavery puts a great creative spin on her energies. Even the title of this post is so true. "Overreacting? Me? Never." A quick warning though, if you aren't into some bad words here and there, this post probably isn't for you. If you can stomach the honesty, get ready to laugh while reading about her baking experience with Violent Oatmeal Cookies. As I am in the self important, self loathing, insomniac phase of getting negative after negative while still waiting for my period with a glint of hope which, at this point, is more torture than none, I find… [more]

After tooting the horn of the benefits of dark chocolate, I thought that I would pass along a recipe that I found through www.sharffenberger.com Their company is located in San Francisco, CA and you can order their chocolate through their website. Their motto is "from bean to bar" which I thought was cute. Brownies could very well be my favorite style of chocolate. Maybe hot cocoa? Maybe Godiva chocolate liqueor? Maybe I can't decide on a favorite, but there always seems to be a pan of brownies in the kitchen. My sister commented on this once. She said, "Every time I'm here, you guys have brownies on the counter." I hadn't noticed. Our favorite boxed brownies are the Betty Crocker frosted ones. They… [more]