March 2011
0 posts
February 2011
5 posts
Clarification
I am leaving this blog up - what has been written so far. I want to be able to continue commenting on all of your blogs from here! I will occasionally give an update or two or reblog something of interest but any information about anything pertaining to our next moves with FET/IVF/Adoption will all be on the new blog.
The only way I could work it out is for you to have to give me an email...
Sad news
I am going to be leaving the tumblr community. I am going to be going to another blogging platform so that I can make this blog private. I found out today that there are some people reading that I don’t feel comfortable about.
When I make the move…..you can email me and those of you I know I will give access to the new one.
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
– Earnest Hemingway
In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway’s colleagues bet him that he couldn’t write a complete story..with a beginning, a middle and an end in just six words. This story was his response to their challenge.
Hemingway is said to have considered “Baby Shoes” his best work.
(via...
Reblog if you don't give a shit about the...
January 2011
1 post
December 2010
2 posts
slight confusion...
ithoughtilovedyouthen0717 replied to your post: My Dad
Good luck hun! Does he know u are expecting?
Do you mean.. Does he know we are doing IVF? I am surely NOT expecting anything right now other then to be doing another round of Invitro!!
November 2010
6 posts
http://heylaney.tumblr.com/post/1581580543/its-my-h... →
I LOVE THIS SOOO MUCH!!!!
heylaney:
It’s my husband’s birthday! (Happy birthday, Mike!)
Normally, I would write a long list of reasons why I LOVE him (and there are many).
But on this particular birthday, I think just one reason will do:
He is simply the most wonderful daddy-to-be.
(That’s right! We’re going to be parents! Us! Can you believe it?)
The tiny baby...
in hospital
Had emergency surgery yesterday afternoon to remove my appendix. Very scary. Can’t wait to go home.
What next? :(
2nd Opinoin
Thank you ladies so much for all the kind words and love. It really does help.
It is official - we have an appointment at Cornell when we are in NYC for Thanksgiving. Monday November 29th.
Anyone out there going to that practice? I don’t want to put the Dr’s name on the blog but would love to hear if anyone has had experience with him. If you are at Cornell, send me an email to...
YES! A MAJOR NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT BEING INFERTILE... →
in-fucking-fertility:
If only I could post it on Facebook, but I’m mostly closeted about my infertility.
Same.
ETA: not from our close friends but def wouldn’t want all my facebook friends to know.
Anonymous asked: why no more diet coke?
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of...”
– Mary Anne Radmacher (via magicallybabelicious)
I love this quote.
(via cplucked)
October 2010
8 posts
Adoption
I have been putting off writing about our day at the adoption agency this past Saturday because I am lacking the words to do justice to how I feel.
Adoption was something that has always been there in the back of our minds as an option but never have we felt so strongly that we could do this. This is MORE then an option. This might be where our baby comes from. Not from my stomach but from this...
Tonight
So I am taking Marcia’s advice and going to go on a date tonight with Gary but instead of staying at home we are going to May Street Market!
I will dress up. I will take a picture. I will/maybe post it here tomorrow. :)
Quite a few new followers over the last month or so and haven’t done this in awhile……
http://graceingray.tumblr.com/ask
Ask me anything! It is likely I will answer just about anything within reason!
““Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage...”
– Paul Newman’s letter to his wife on their wedding
Another facebook cleaning....
I just deleted 150 “friends” from facebook.
Did I speak to you 1 time in High School? DELETED
Did I have a class with you in College? DELETED
Are you a friend of one of my friends who just wants access to my page? DELETED
Have I had any interaction with you in the last 6 months? DELETED
Peace out people.
Hits home
I found this online somewhere and saved it but now I cannot remember where it came from. I did not write it and don’t want to take credit for it. If anyone else has seen it anywere - please tell me so I can give credit where credit is due.
ETA: This is from http://www.drheller.com/fertility.html
Infertility is not simply a medical problem. It is a devastating psychological problem, one...
“Dear America, when you tell gay Americans that they can’t serve their country...”
– Sarah Silverman (via e-pic)
Negative
I am not pregnant.
IVF #2 did not work.
I can’t say I am surprised. I knew this was going to be the outcome. So how come it hurts this much?
I have had enough. I am so angry and sick of all of this shit.
Stupid people who can’t and don’t want to take care of their children have babies everyday. Turn on MTV and watch an episode of Teen mom. They get to have children and Gary...
September 2010
9 posts
1 tag
Progesterone
Progesterone is evil with all its side effects mimicking pregnancy symptoms.
Boobs hurt. Check
Bloated. Check
Shooting pains in your uterus. Check
Hey you get to feel like you are pregnant but you might not be!
2 more days……
2 tags
We are on!
I will trigger tonight at 9:45 and will have my eggs retrieved on Saturday morning at 9:45am. The transfer will more than likely be on Tuesday morning and my pregnancy test will be on October 1st.
I can’t believe it is finally here. I am trying to put how I feel into words and cannot. I am feeling the weirdest mix of hope, fear, anxiety, excitement, etc….
I really hope and pray that...
2 tags
Crap
Well, looks like I am at risk for OHSSagain. Seriously I keep overstimming so much that they can’t risk keeping the eggs in long enough to allow them to mature. I am really frustrated right now. The Dr. is going to try to push me as long as they can but things are looking a little shaky right now. It is not as bad as last time where they were threatening to cancel me so I guess that is a...
Moving right along...
I had my first monitoring appointment on Saturday morning. My E2 was 452. Just for comparison sake, let me tell you what it was last cycle on that day…….1,800.
Went in again today and my E2 was 1,400 which is right where it should be and I have about 16 follicles. Last cycle at this stage my E2 was 3,000 and I had close to 35 follicles.
To say this cycle is going MUCH better is an...
L'shana tova or Happy New Year
pleaseexcusethemess:
graceingray:
May your New Year be healthy and sweet and as my husbands grandfather always said…… Here is to additions and no subtractions.
for my tumblrfriend Amy and my IRL friend Dana - here’s to additions this year!
Thank you!!! I am rooting for your friend Dana as well - please let me know how it goes!
xo
L'shana tova or Happy New Year
May your New Year be healthy and sweet and as my husbands grandfather always said…… Here is to additions and no subtractions.
For those following along at home....
Started Birth Control 8/14/10 - DONE
Start Lupron injections 8/28/10- ON GOING
Start FSH Injections 9/7/10 – ON GOING
Ultrasound and Blood draws 9/7/10, 9/11/10, 9/13/10, 9/14/10, 9/15/10
Tentative Ovidrel Injection 9/16-17/10
Oral antibiotics
Tentative Egg Retrieval surgery 9/18-19/10
Embryo transfer 3-5 days later
Tentative Progesterone Injections intramuscular 9//10 – to 8 weeks of...
2 tags
yuk
I started the follicle stimulating injections last night. I am used to doing the lupron injections with tiny needles and the follistim injections from last time that came in the pen but neither prepared me for the needle that was used for the menopur shot last night. It pretty much is the same needle used for progesterone. Here’s the thing, I don’t see the progesterone shot going in....
August 2010
9 posts
Not getting political on here...
I will just put it out there and say that I did not love our last administration.
I did however read something Laura Bush wrote about dealing with infertility and it really hit home for me.
The English language lacks the words to mourn an absence. For the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend, we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful some not. Still we are...
Timeline
Here is the new timeline for IVF2
8/21/10 - Started Birth Control
8/28/10 - Start Lupron injections
9/7/10 - Baseline ultrasound - take Lupron down to 5IU and start Menopur (am only doing this and not follistim - anyone have experience with this med???)
9/17-9/21 - Tentitive dates for Retrevial and Transfer
October - Find out if it worked.
A laugh...
So I have become pretty friendly with a reader of this blog. She does not have a blog. She emailed me a few months ago and we talk multiple times a week - novel length emails about everything. She found my blog when searching for people like her going through infertility. She eventually got pregnant via IUI and is expecting a little girl!!!! :)
This girl and I have a very similar sense of humor....
1 tag
Now we begin
Thanks for all the awesome comments on G’s post below. He liked writing it and I loved reading it. In fact, I highly recommend having your husband write out a little something as to how he is feeling and how this stuff is affecting him. It will help him feel better and it is awesome to read. We are really great at communicating our feelings but seeing it in writing was different for some...
A word from the husband....
So Gary decided to write his post from his perspective. It is quite long but he want to make sure he got everything down. I hope you enjoy!
So, the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is one of those sayings that to me never really truly meant anything and was nothing more than a cliché. Now, nearly two years after Amy and I started trying to have a baby those words couldn’t ring...
I actually have not recieved my protocol yet because I haven’t called them yet to tell them I am doing the pill. I know they are switching it up so I don’t get OHSS again but I am not positive of all the details yet.
I would also like to say at this time that if they do not put me on Follistim this time, I might know someone who would be possibly willing to donate 4 unused vials to...
thepepperandherpups asked: Please take a moment to vote for our little one, it would truly mean a lot to us!:D
http://www.gerber.com/photo/?entryid=35926&/#/detail/
http://www.gerber.com/photo/?entryid=35926&/#/detail/
maybe
I floated the idea of my husband writing a “husbands perspective on IVF” guest post to him and he is going to think it over.
He is a much better writer then I. I am not a writer - I am a hormonal, depressed woman going through IVF who needs a place to word vomit. Two totally different things. Anyways, he is so sensitive, funny and positive. I think it would be a good time.
...
For the Americans living in the US →
in-fucking-fertility:
Why infertility should be covered by health insurance!
Love this article.
July 2010
12 posts
Anonymous asked: We are talking about a vacation to Chicago next year. What time of year is best? If we had about 5 days or less, what should we do?
mysocalledttclife asked: OK, here goes! What protocol did you use for your IUIs? I'm currently doing Femara/Gonal-F/Ovidrel/IUI. I ask b/c I'm crazy and seem to think if it worked/didn't work for someone else the same will happen to me. Also, may I ask what your health insurance is since it sounds like IVF is covered? Mine, unfortunately, covers NOTHING. No IUI, sperm wash, OR IVF. Sucks. :( So we're...
ok
I am bored…
Ask me anything….. within reason….:) I am pretty open though.
http://graceingray.tumblr.com/ask
mysocalledttclife asked: Hey! Love your blog. I was wondering: can you tell me what your TTC journey has been so far? How did you get to IVF?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Being realistic.
I wanted to share with you guys something I read in “The Couple’s Guide to IVF: Everything you need to know to maximize your chances of success”
I know we all struggle to maintain positivity and hope especially staring down the barrel of a year or years of not achieving a successful pregnancy.
This passage in this book really stood out to me and has given me a lot of...
Feels good...
I just did a massive facebook cleaning out and deleted about 50 people.
That combined with hiding most annoying pregnant people = awesome.
ETA: just want to clarify that I did not hide ALL pregnant people just the EXTREMELY annoying ones!
I love some of my pregnant friends updates!
Registered
I am certified and registered for IVF #2.
I will likely start the birth control pills at the start of August and will be actually going through the procedures at the start of September.
Very conflicted still as to how I feel about all this……
Only time will tell…
Top Chef Drinking Game
This is the website I found this on………http://foodpluspolitics.com/2008/06/09/all-inclusive-top-chef-drinking-game/
This is froma few seasons ago so please disregard the names and use it as a guideline…….
xoxox,
Amy
Ella’s All-Inclusive Top Chef Drinking Game
The Intro
Gimme – contestants already miss whoever went home the previous week, which was really last...