New Blog Friday- Kerri

This week on New Blog Friday I am featuring Kerri from over at Uncommon Nonsense 

Here is a message from Kerri:

Hi out there in the IF universe.  My name is Kerri and DH and I have been TTC baby #1 for 14 months, 12 cycles, and somewhere over 100 pee sticks.  The DX so far: Me = PCOS,hypothyroidism, and one very uncooperative, Arcuate/Septate uterus.  DH = close to perfect.  
 
A little about us and my blog...
I grew up in a small Long Island town, while DH is from New Delhi, India. We met as roommates, while both living in Boston, and bonded pretty quickly over our shared affection for Indian curry and my wonderful, fluff-ball of a fur baby, M (that’s us exchanging rings during our second of two wedding ceremonies – we had one Hindu and one Jewish one).  Life was joyous; all was well in the world. 
 

Then, in the winter of 2009, we gleefully tossed out the BCPs, received our clean bills of health from the doc, and started “working” towards the good old “baby makes three”.   Little did we know the journey it would become - the tears, the tests, the docs, the medical bills, and of course the steamy, timed BDing.  
 
I started this blog as a way to organize my thoughts, and of course as a way to vent my endless frustration with our ongoing inability to conceive.  I never thought it would become my therapy, my gateway to an amazing online community of incredible women, my solace, and my passion.  I am so happy to have found this community, and I am so thankful.  
 
Thanks to Aly for putting this page together, and to you for reading it, and please feel free to stop by my blog and introduce yourself.  I look forward to meeting you!
 
- Kerri 

Go show Kerri some love by commenting and/or following her blog. 

Bridge Work Blog Designs Giveaway Winner is.....

Congrats Ashley!!!
I will be emailing you soon!!

As a special thanks to all of you who supported me by entering this giveaway, I'm going to offer 25% off any Blog Design package to all of my readers if you order before Feb 3rd. That will give me enough time to finish all of my existing and new orders BEFORE egg retrieval. To get this special rate and get the process started just email me at [email protected]

Thanks again for reading/following me. 

Welcome ICLW!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Infertility Overachievers. Ok, maybe it's not all that wonderful, Infertility actually SUCKS. In case you have stumbled onto my blog through Google or some other search engine and don't know anything about Infertility, let me just take this minute to assure you that you are in the wrong place.

Here are some of the most popular keywords that people use to find my blog, yet they have nothing to do with what I actually write about.

London Money: I apologize, London is my son and he was very expensive since we had to do IVF to get pregnant with him. Actually I get a bunch of hits from people searching for pretty much anything about London. Sorry to the poor guy who wanted to find the "best restaurant in London" and some how ended up listening to me talk about my period and uterine lining. My bad, dude. MY BAD!

Decuplets: Seriously, I get about 50 hits a month from this one (and have now just guaranteed about another 100 by mentioning it again). A few months ago I had a dream that I had decuplets (10) boys. I seriously freaked out. You can read about it here if you are curious. I'm sorry to disappoint all of you stopping by to find out if I'm the next Octomom. You know trying to get pregnant via IVF just so I can have a litter of babies. Nope, that's not me at ALL!! I'm actually scared of even getting twins this time from IVF. So holding my 10 babies while being interviewed by Good Morning America is definitely NOT on my to-do list. Sorry to disappoint you.

Dating an overachiever: Ummmm, I totally understand how they found my blog by googling this. Especially since I have been talking about my "dates" for my upcoming IVF cycle recently. However let me assure you that it's not the type of "dates" you are referring to and trust me I am NOT the type of overachiever you would want to date.

So if you found my blog because you want to listen to me ramble about my infertility journey. YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!! Here is what you need to know about me.

 I have been lazy recently about blogging. I'm pretty sure my followers are going to have some kind of stroke when they see that I have written 3 posts in 3 days. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things though.

On February 6th we will be starting IVF #2 in order to make London a big brother. I'm hoping for a girl, but the main goal is just to have another baby and not decuplets. I am planning to write all about my IVF at least once a day. My very first post on this blog was when I was gearing up for IVF #1 back in June 2008. So it will be fun to be able to look back during this cycle.

I have been keeping myself busy recently by designing blogs. I started a little business called Bridge Work Blog Designs.  My hope is that this will keep me busy during IVF/pregnancy by keeping my mind off my other two loves, wine and sushi. Don't worry I have a box of oreos on standby in case designing blogs isn't enough.

Kick up your feet, become a follower, and stay for a while. Next month is bound to be an interesting one.

PS. While you are here don't forget to enter the Bridge Work Blog Designs Giveaway that I have going on right now.

New Blog Friday- Julia

This week on New Blog Friday I am featuring Julia from over at "Just Relax!"

Here is a message from Julia:

Hi everyone!  First of all, a huge thank you to Aly who graciously let me be featured on New Blog Friday! 

                

My name is Julia, and I love long walks on the beach, unexpected flowers, and Peeing on Sticks.  Not just any sticks though, THE sticks  I'm married to my wonderful husband Jon, whom I met in 2007 when I was his supervisor at a local Non-Profit for youth. We dated, and quickly got engaged in late 2007.  After quite a few months of "accidentally showing up in the same place around dinner time,"  Jon quit his job and we started dating officially (he stood me up on our first date... he blames it on me not being clear, psssh, whatever!!).  6 months later, we were engaged.

  

We married in August of 2008.    It was a lovely ceremony and very casual reception that we got raves reviews about later on. They honeymooned that following winter in Mexico by taking a cruise.  It was the best time I ever had for sure, except for open sea kayaking.  I may have cried through the whole thing.  Jon proceeded to try to get out of the marriage commitment on this honeymoon, where he "accidentally" almost lost his wedding ring on the bottom of the ocean.  He rescued it  from 30 feet down. 

Wearing a life jacket. 

With very little air. 

My Hero.

Jon and I started actively trying to start our human family in March of 2009.  We've almost reached the 2 year mark, who knew that after so many years of being careful, it would be so hard to get pregnant?  I think my 6th grade health teacher has a bit to learn about the process.

I'm rather quirky. Milk can't be over a couple of days old, regardless of the expiration date, for me to have to throw it out. I'm addicted to sleeping. I can't walk away from my car if the window wipers are across the windshield.  I will restart the car and fix it.  Every. Time.  I also have deep anxiety and fear about driving into car washes.  I have a deal going right now with a co-worker saying that she will drive my car to the car wash if I don't swear for an entire week.  So, I guess my car isn't getting washed. 

                                

I continue to hope for a new member to my family, and I know that we both will be great parents.  I know many of you are on a similar journey, and I continue to wish the best for you along the way. Thank you to my friends who aren't even experiencing the challenges that this blog surround, but surround me with love by reading my ramblings anyway.

Welcome!!

Go show Julia some love by commenting/following her at "Just Relax!"

Special Delivery!

Today, I got a very special delivery!! 

MY IVF MEDICATIONS!!!

There were definitely not as many as I expected. I had a TON more the first time I did IVF. 

There were still alot of them though.

London wanted in on the fun!

Helping mommy put them away. 

So I noticed a few things were missing this time. At the risk of sounding like a drug addict, WHERE IS MY FREAKING PERCOCET??? When I did IVF #1, I had like 10 Percocet for the 2 days after egg retrieval (aka: ER). I didn't use them all, but wow I needed them. I was hurting and basically they just helped me sleep all day. Did you gal's get some pain meds for after ER? That box contained pretty much everything, including my ONE Valium. Really ONE Valium? The first time, I had three. One for the night before the ER to help me sleep and then two for the day of the transfer. This time only ONE! Whatever.

I can already tell you, I am going to have a REALLY hard time keeping myself from comparing this cycle to the last. It's a totally different Dr this time so I know she is going to do things differently. But It's just hard for me. Dr P (my old RE) gave me London. He must have done SOMETHING right. So every time my new RE does something differently, I lose a little faith. UGH!

T minus 7 days until I start my LUPRON!!!! Hummm, I'm pretty sure Lupron does NOT deserve that many exclamations points. It actually sucks so bad I should have given it negative exclamation marks. Maybe a little something like this. Lupron (-!!!!!!!) Regardless, I'm just excited to finally be starting my new cycle! EEEKKKK!!!

PS: Don't forget to enter my Bridge Work Blog Designs Giveaway where you can win a new custom blog design! You can't win if you don't enter!

Bridge Work Blog Designs Giveaway!

 It was only a matter of time before I hosted a Bridge Work Blog Designs giveaway here on Infertility Overachievers. I mean, who better to sponsor a giveaway on my blog than...MYSELF!!! As a budding new blog designer, I have been extremely lucky to have so much support and business. I have all of you to thank for that. In the short 5 weeks since I opened BridgeWork,  I have done 15 blog designs. Ehem, I must repeat myself... 15!!!!!!! AMAZING! That is 14 more than I ever expected to get this early. I want to say a BIG thanks to all my Infertility Overachiever readers for supporting me while I start this new path in life. It has been so much fun thus far and I look forward to continuing with it for as long as I can. With IVF #2 right around the corner, I couldn't ask for anything better to do while on bed rest. ;-)

Soooooooooooooooo, I have decided to do a giveaway for all of my awesome readers who support in me everything that I do. In the beginning you supported me through infertility, then pregnancy, then motherhood, and most recently we are back to infertility with a little blog design thrown into the mix. Consider this my way of making up for neglecting this blog over the past 5 weeks. It's just so hard to juggle it all. Ok, so now lets get to the fun part of this already super BORING post.

WHAT CAN YOU WIN??? 

One of my lucky readers will win a
Custom Blog Design Package

This includes:

-A 2 or 3 column blog layout

-Custom Background

-Custom Header
-Navigation Bar

-Custom Button w/ grab box

-Your choice of font(s)

-Post divider

-Signature

(Value: $45)

How to enter:

Leaving me a comment on this post letting me know that you:
(please leave separate comment for each entry)

1) Follow or Become a follower of me here at Infertility Overachievers 

2) Follow or Become a follower of me at Bridge Work Blog Designs

3) Tweet or Blog about this giveaway 

(Please leave link for verification)

Giveaway will end on 1/26/2011 at 11pm EST. Winner will be drawn using random.org and announced on 1/27/2011.

That's IT!!!

 Good Luck!

New Blog Friday- AP

NewFirst off....I want to say a HUGE apology to AP for not posting this last week. I had a bit of a issue with the auto post feature. Apparently you have to set it to auto post on the correct day. Shocker, I know!

This week on New Blog Friday is AP from over at My Dusty Uterus.

Here is a message from AP:

Hi Everyone!  I’m thrilled to be Aly’s featured New Blog Friday!  Thank you, Aly for helping the newbies out.  You are my personal Carlisle, guiding me through the newborn blogging phase.  You rock!
My blog name is AP.  I keep my true identity hidden lest someone random from my real life, like Creepy Produce Guy or Saturday Morning Spin Instructor stumble upon this and blow my cover.  AP is short for “Annie Pie” which is my husband’s sickeningly sweet nickname for me.  Not wanting readers to gag upon reading my name, I made the executive decision to go with AP.  

This is me with big sunglasses, still masking my identity.

My husband and I dated for four years before getting married in 2006.  We were married in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York on a gorgeous September day. 

 With a Golden Retriever added to the mix, we settled into married life. 

Our monster, Teak

Kids were the last thing on my mind.  During my teenage years I decided I could live without them and never looked back.  On my 30th birthday I snuck a glance in the rearview mirror and reconsidered.  Just before my 31st birthday I told my husband my position had changed.  After a little convincing that my “zero-child” clause was non-binding, he was all in.
A basket of nerves forsaking my old self, I threw away my pills in June.  YIKES!  And of course, I was late.  Then later, and finally late enough to share my fear with my husband: I was pregnant.  With the stick shaking in my hand, I took the test and calculated my due date as sometime in April.  
Furies be damned!  It was negative!  I grabbed another Michelob Ultra and assumed my body just needed time to get over 10 years on the pill.  129 days later, when a progesterone-induced period finally arrived, I knew the ugly truth:  my ovaries are in lockdown mode.  No egg can escape.  
“PCOS?” you ask.  Nope, even better.  My doctor told me I exercise too much.  I laughed out loud when she told me that, but she didn’t think it was funny.  I’ve indulged her theory and slowed down.  I used to be a crazy marathon runner but since a back injury left me on the sidelines, I’ve been biding my time at the gym.  Maybe too much time. 

The painful end of my last marathon

I started blogging to keep my sanity and find humor in my padlocked ovaries.  I don’t know about you, but over-exercise tops my list of comical diagnoses.  To get a sense of how I write and what I’m all about, I recommend my first post, my favorite post, and the post that reserves my spot in hell.
My blog is organic and austere (read: bland). I am open to tips and suggestions on jazzing it up.  Heck, if I could get a picture in the header, I’d pop open the champagne!
Today is a big day for me, not only because of New Blog Friday, but also because  I’m going to make my virginal foray to Twitter.  I have no idea what kind of attack birds are waiting for me, or what I’m even doing out there, but it’s time to give it a go!
Thanks for reading! I look forward to getting to know everyone.
AP

Go show AP some love by commenting or even becoming a follower!!

I got dates...again!

Today I got my dates for IVF. I know they read them to me over the phone, but there is something so amazing about actually receiving them on a little piece of paper in the mail. So what if my Dr's office wrote them in pencil, they are still written on an actual piece of paper by someone other than me. That makes them much more official, right? Here it is hanging on my refrigerator under a leapfrog magnet game.

It's funny to me how much things have changed this time around the IVF block. When I got my schedule for IVF number one, I immediately put it in a nice neat little clear protective pouch and filed appropriately in my IVF binder. While I still have that IVF binder and have used it this go round also, I am not nearly as neurotic about it now. Right now, I am pretty sure it is on the floor board of my car with at least 3 trains and a pack of wipes resting on top of it. (And if you really know me there is also probably an empty Mcdonald's sweet tea cup down there too, DON'T JUDGE!!!)

Here are the official dates for IVF #2:

Start Lupron on 1/27/11

Stop Birth Control on 1/31/11

Start Stims on 2/6/11

Egg Retrieval on 2/17/11

Positive Beta Pregnancy Test on 3/3/11

Due Date 11/10/11

WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!

I also got a phone call about my meds today. I know I am super lucky to have insurance that covers infertility and infertility meds but when she read me that total it definitely still stung a little bit. My max out of pocket for each prescription is $50. Imagine my shock when she told me total was $567. I almost died. I made her repeat it twice, just be sure I was hearing her correctly. Upon further questioning, I found out that for some odd reason my insurance is not going to cover my progesterone in oil if I get it from them. She told me why but I can't remember. I told her not to give me that and it reduced my total to $201. Phew, that's definitely more like it! I didn't want to use POI anyway. I used the vaginal suppositories with IVF number one and obviously it worked. I'm hoping to convince my Dr to let me use them again. Fingers crossed she agrees. 

I'm sorry for not updating here more recently. I have been spending all my time doing blog designs, which I'm loving. I never expected to get so much work right away. It has been amazing. I've learned so much and am really enjoying it. Please forgive me, I promise I will update alot more when IVF gets going. I am going to try to update everyday during my cycle. I love being able to look back now at each day from IVF #1. 

I also promise to do a better job commenting on all the blogs I follow. I have also been slacking at that department.  

PAID...In Cash!!

It's ON!!! 

Today I paid, in cash, for my IVF cycle. As excited as I am about my next cycle and potentially having another baby by this time next year, it was so hard to part with all that money.

This is the very first picture of my future child. 

This was London's very picture for those of you who were not reading my blog back in June 2008 (which pretty much includes all of you except for my Mom and Mother in law.)

(Yes, that is a LOVE SEAT that my medications are covering. And yes the date on the picture is wrong. )

OMG OMG OMG!

 I'm doing IVF again. 

OMG OMG OMG!

 I could possibly be pregnant by my 30th birthday 

(February 26th, so you better start shopping NOW)!!! 

WTF? 

How am I going to handle London and being pregnant? 

Hell, how I am I going to handle London and a new baby? 

Tonight, none of that matters. 

Tonight, I am officially an IVF patient. Sure my cycle has been on the books for 7 months now, but now...

IT'S OFFICIAL!