Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
ICLW Welcome!!
Hello to everyone from International Comment Leaving Week! First, a few introductions. My name is Christa and my husband's name is Brandon. We're a military family who has been through it all when it comes to fertility treatments (2 IUI's, 2 IVF's, 3 FET's and a partridge in a pear tree), had one miscarriage, started domestic adoption, quit domestic adoption and then got a surprise match in early November. Our daughter C was born on January 5th. We are head over heels in love with this little girl! I'm excited to see how this blog started out as an infertility blog and finally evolved into an open adoption parenting blog. I do have a private adoption blog but unfortunately it's run out of spaces for readers in the past week. It's been forever since I've participated in an ICLW so I'm really looking forward to seeing some new faces. Please make yourself at home!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Worth the Wait
It's 6 am and my "shift" has begun. For the next 6 hours or so I'll take care of C while Brandon sleeps. We've got a pretty good system worked out but we still both find ourselves exhausted by midday. Then again, she's only 5 days old so hopefully soon we'll figure things out.
This whole adoption experience has been wonderful for us. Our social workers have been responsive and supportive and our relationship with our birthmom could not be better. She thoughtfully made copies of all her ultrasound pictures as well as pictures of her family. She even wrote a letter to C for her to read when she's older. I can't wait to add these to her adoption baby book. C is loved by so many people.
C is doing wonderful. She eats well, isn't too fussy and when she's alert she simply mesmerizes us. I know this blog has been a roller coaster of emotions, of questioning whether parenthood is right for us and why the road has been so long and so hard. I can now say beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are so grateful that we chose to continue down this path. I'm sure I would have been happy traveling the world without children but that's only because I would have been oblivious to how much joy a child can bring. I say I love Brandon with all my heart and I do but that seems to pale in comparison to how much I love my little girl. I love her with all my being. One thing that frustrated me during our wait was when people would say "Keep your chin up, it's all worth it in the end." Well of course, it's easy for them to say because they have their baby in their arms! But if I were to give anyone advice who's waiting to be a parent, whether it's through fertility treatments or surrogacy or adoption, I would say the exact same thing. Because it really is. It's hard to explain but I feel like all those years of trying, those years of waiting, simply disappeared when I first met C. Of course they didn't cease to exist but now it just feels like...a past life. That's exactly how it feels. When I think of my years of trying and of traveling, it feels like I'm remembering a past life. Not a lesser life but a different one. And now that C's here I feel excited about this new life that we'll all have together as a family. It won't involve trips around the world or impulsive weekend getaways and shopping trips but instead will involve lots of snuggle time, learning and cherishing the little things in life. And everything I've been through to get to this point has been worth it.
This whole adoption experience has been wonderful for us. Our social workers have been responsive and supportive and our relationship with our birthmom could not be better. She thoughtfully made copies of all her ultrasound pictures as well as pictures of her family. She even wrote a letter to C for her to read when she's older. I can't wait to add these to her adoption baby book. C is loved by so many people.
C is doing wonderful. She eats well, isn't too fussy and when she's alert she simply mesmerizes us. I know this blog has been a roller coaster of emotions, of questioning whether parenthood is right for us and why the road has been so long and so hard. I can now say beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are so grateful that we chose to continue down this path. I'm sure I would have been happy traveling the world without children but that's only because I would have been oblivious to how much joy a child can bring. I say I love Brandon with all my heart and I do but that seems to pale in comparison to how much I love my little girl. I love her with all my being. One thing that frustrated me during our wait was when people would say "Keep your chin up, it's all worth it in the end." Well of course, it's easy for them to say because they have their baby in their arms! But if I were to give anyone advice who's waiting to be a parent, whether it's through fertility treatments or surrogacy or adoption, I would say the exact same thing. Because it really is. It's hard to explain but I feel like all those years of trying, those years of waiting, simply disappeared when I first met C. Of course they didn't cease to exist but now it just feels like...a past life. That's exactly how it feels. When I think of my years of trying and of traveling, it feels like I'm remembering a past life. Not a lesser life but a different one. And now that C's here I feel excited about this new life that we'll all have together as a family. It won't involve trips around the world or impulsive weekend getaways and shopping trips but instead will involve lots of snuggle time, learning and cherishing the little things in life. And everything I've been through to get to this point has been worth it.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Fun with Google Analytics Part Three
It's been over a year since I've done a post about Google Analytics and since I need a distraction I figured today would be a good day to have one. So let's have a laugh, shall we?
"infertile women and their grudge on pregnant women" If you have to Google this then it tells me that you're probably the pregnant woman who was a bit insensitive to your infertile friend who probably didn't react "appropriately" (or what you think it appropriate) to your joyous pregnancy. Not all women cry with joy when hearing a pregnancy announcement. It is what it is.
"constipation after IVF egg retrieval" You won't believe how many people find my blog by Googling IVF, enema, constipation, or things along those lines. Yes, IVF will make you constipated. No, mag citrate and stool softeners didn't work for me. Yes, I sought relief with an enema, and if you're Googling this stuff then you probably will too. Maybe you'll even blog about it like I did. Who knows.
"infertile and miserable" and "6 years of infertility is miserable" I have yet to have someone Google "infertile and happy" so it's safe to say that pretty much every woman that's infertile is also just a teensy bit miserable too.
"how do you pronounce ballynahinch" I've been getting quite a few Googles on this. Ballynahinch was the castle we stayed at in Ireland and it's pronounced just as it's spelled, only you sort of say it fast and run all the syllables together. Bally-NA-hinch. Now faster. No, faster than that. Okay you've got it.
"blew my nose hard after egg transfer" And this is Google-worthy because....?
"conjunction junction what's your function taking in sperm and spitting out babies" Ahh, this search brings back wonderful memories of a 2010 post about School House Rock and Brandon's humorously incorrect version of the Conjunction Junction lesson.
"estrace pill up the hoo ha" Why yes, that's where the pill goes. Up your hoo ha. Good for you for figuring that out...and Googling it too.
"i took an hcg shot an ive been dr.inking sm.oking we.ed an doing powd.er will tha affect my chances of getting pregnant" I put those period marks in the sentence so people wouldn't actually find my blog by searching this but it's a little appalling that women are TRYING to get pregnant while doing this crap. Just boggles my mind.
"if i was in harry potter i would engorgio my boobs" And my life is fuller (no pun intended) knowing that you would do that.
"maid mixing urine in food of the family she works for espanol" WTF?!?! Did this actually happen?? And how did my blog show up in the Google search results? Interesting.
"where the fuck is my adoption tax credit" Honey, I don't know where your adoption tax credit is but I'm pretty sure Google isn't going to find it for you.
"wtf i'm lactating" WTF indeed.
"infertile women and their grudge on pregnant women" If you have to Google this then it tells me that you're probably the pregnant woman who was a bit insensitive to your infertile friend who probably didn't react "appropriately" (or what you think it appropriate) to your joyous pregnancy. Not all women cry with joy when hearing a pregnancy announcement. It is what it is.
"constipation after IVF egg retrieval" You won't believe how many people find my blog by Googling IVF, enema, constipation, or things along those lines. Yes, IVF will make you constipated. No, mag citrate and stool softeners didn't work for me. Yes, I sought relief with an enema, and if you're Googling this stuff then you probably will too. Maybe you'll even blog about it like I did. Who knows.
"infertile and miserable" and "6 years of infertility is miserable" I have yet to have someone Google "infertile and happy" so it's safe to say that pretty much every woman that's infertile is also just a teensy bit miserable too.
"how do you pronounce ballynahinch" I've been getting quite a few Googles on this. Ballynahinch was the castle we stayed at in Ireland and it's pronounced just as it's spelled, only you sort of say it fast and run all the syllables together. Bally-NA-hinch. Now faster. No, faster than that. Okay you've got it.
"blew my nose hard after egg transfer" And this is Google-worthy because....?
"conjunction junction what's your function taking in sperm and spitting out babies" Ahh, this search brings back wonderful memories of a 2010 post about School House Rock and Brandon's humorously incorrect version of the Conjunction Junction lesson.
"estrace pill up the hoo ha" Why yes, that's where the pill goes. Up your hoo ha. Good for you for figuring that out...and Googling it too.
"i took an hcg shot an ive been dr.inking sm.oking we.ed an doing powd.er will tha affect my chances of getting pregnant" I put those period marks in the sentence so people wouldn't actually find my blog by searching this but it's a little appalling that women are TRYING to get pregnant while doing this crap. Just boggles my mind.
"if i was in harry potter i would engorgio my boobs" And my life is fuller (no pun intended) knowing that you would do that.
"maid mixing urine in food of the family she works for espanol" WTF?!?! Did this actually happen?? And how did my blog show up in the Google search results? Interesting.
"where the fuck is my adoption tax credit" Honey, I don't know where your adoption tax credit is but I'm pretty sure Google isn't going to find it for you.
"wtf i'm lactating" WTF indeed.
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