Infertility's Common Thread

This is from Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters:

Paz created a write up that people could place on blogs, bulletin boards, and email forwards: For anyone who has ever had a miscarriage, struggled with pregnancy, and all things infertile...there is a movement upon us that you might want to join.

It's rather simple actually: a discreet ribbon on your right wrist to signal to others that they are not alone in their struggles. As someone who has had 5 m/c but am currently 5 months pregnant (YEAH), I wonder who looks at my big belly with sadness because they are in the month-to-month struggle. I mentioned to a friend that I wished there was some secret nod or international sign as if to say, this belly was hardwon.

Well, she posted this quandary on her blog (http://www.stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/) and the response has been quite overwhelming...and a movement has been born! The pomegranate-colored thread holds a two-fold purpose: to identify and create community between those experiencing infertility as well as create a starting point for a conversation. Women pregnant through any means, natural or A.R.T., families created through adoption or surrogacy, or couples trying to conceive during infertility or secondary infertility can wear the thread, identifying themselves to others in this silent community.

At the same time, the string serves as a gateway to conversations about infertility when people inquire about its purpose. These conversations are imperative if we are ever to remove the social stigma attached to infertility. Tie on the thread because you’re not alone. Wear to make aware.

Join us in starting this conversation about infertility by purchasingthis pomegranate-coloured thread (#814 by DMC) at any craft, knitting, or variety store such as Walmart or Target. Tie it on your right wrist. Notice it on others. Just thought I would pass the word along!

Lastly, we have a graphic people can add to their side bars in order to get the word out (and create a link to this post or a similar one so people understand what Infertility's Common Thread is about).

Feel free to take and place on your blog or create your own in order to get the word out to others:http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4171/3241/200/Thread.2.jpg and please add a link back to this post:http://stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/2006/09/history-of-infertilitys-common-thread.html.

I am on vacation!!!!!!!

Well, starting tomorrow anyway.

I will be on vacation until Sunday, May 4th. So, when I don't blog - that is the reason.

I will update everyone on my trip when I get back!

I just realized that it has been 18 months

So after I wrote the last post, I thought to myself, "I know it was october 2006, what date was it?"

So, I looked at the side of my blog that shows my "journey" - well, wouldn't you know it......yesterday was 18 months.

18 months - that is a long time

Cruising on Friday!!!!!

I can't believe our cruise is on Friday. I have been so busy at work and busy trying to get ready for the trip that I have not had a second to blog.

It is so weird though - we booked our cruise in Oct 2006. It seems like forever ago. And guess what, we started TTC in Oct 2006. That seems like forever ago as well.

I rememeber when we first thought about the trip. It is a big family vacation, so we had to look at a lot of schedules.

When we decided on a time, the first thing that came to mind is, "Will it be fun to have a baby on the cruise?" At the time we booked it, I seriously thought I would have at least a 6 month old and I really thought I would be pregnant again.

Funny how niave I was back in Oct 2006.

So, here it is 18 months later and not only do I not have a baby, but I am not pregnant, either.

I really need this vacation, as I am sure all of us do. I just hope we have a great time.

The outside is almost done - but you can see the HUGE change already!!!!

Keep in mind that I live in a side by side - so I do not own the whole house - only the right side

DISCLAIMER: I have a crappy camera!

We still have to fix the steps, paint the porch, new gutters will be added, new storm door, etc

I just forgot I used to be pregnant

I forgot I was pregnant a few weeks back - it was just for a second, but I totally forgot.

I have a business trip in a few weeks. I am the coordinator of this trip so I speak to the travel agent a lot.

When I booked my trip, I asked for a seat close to the bathrooms. I figured I would want to be as close as possible so that if I needed to throw up it would be a close walk.

So, most of our conversations are through e-mail.

But, today I had to call her. We take care of what I needed and she says, "oh by the way, how are you feeling?"

I replied, "what do you mean? - How do I feel about the trip" Of course she says, "no, silly - your pregnancy"

I totally forgot. It was for a second, but I seriously had no idea what she was asking me.

So, I had to tell her about the m/c and then there was the silence.

I guess have a seat in the near the bathroom will still be good, at least I will be able to see if it is available.

No post since Monday!!

I did not even realize that I had not posted since Monday. I have been so busy at work and at home that I have not even had time to really check my e-mail.

We are going away next Friday so I have been trying to tie up loose ends at work. Right after I get back from vacation, I am only home for about a week and then I go away on business.

Crazy time that is for sure.

For those that want a post D&C update, here it is............there is no update. I still have not goten my period, not pregnant, beta down to 13 (as of last week).

You know with my luck, I will get my period on the day we leave for vacation. Lucky for me the vacation is 10 days. So even if I do get my period, it will not ruin the trip.

For those that want an update on my house........well there is an update. My contractor thinks he might be done before we go away. Yesterday they were almost finished with siding and then they just have a bunch of little things inside the house.

It sucks though because once he is finished, we still have SOOOOOO much to do in the house (filling holes, painting, sanding the floors, cleaning, etc)

Maybe I will be able to post some more pictures of the outside tonight.

Bathroom is DONE!

Only the cosmetic stuff (shower curtain, towel rod, etc) are left.

I am sure you all remember the before so I won't post the pink plastic tiles again.

But, here is the after pics

Can't find my stash....

OK - I admit it. I love to POAS.

So, I always have tons of OPKs and HPTs in the house. I buy the cheapie ones on the internet so I don't feel bad about using them.

So, since we are working on the house, everything has been moved around.

I know when I got pregnant I still had a "Stash" of tests in the house. Well, now I CAN NOT find them. I am sure they are around somewhere. But, I looked everywhere for them and I seriously can not find them.

Originally I just wanted to test out. This way I would know if I got a neg (a lot of them) and then got a positive that it would be a new pregnancy - not left over HcG from my previous pregnancy.

But, I also wanted the tests to use for TI since I will probably be away from CD 10-20.

So, I just ordered some more tests. I am sure I will find them on the day that the tests arrive. But - hey you can never have too many tests.

Genetic Results from the D&C

XP from my other blog

We had the tissues tested after the D&C. I really wanted to find out if it was a just a fluke of nature. I also knew there was a possiblility that they would not be able to determine the cause though.

So, I met with the doctor today and he said the miscarriage was due to Trisomy 22 (complete). Although rare, it is the second highest chromosone reason for miscarriage. He also said that this in deed was a fluke of nature and the chance of it happening again is less than 1%

Here is a site I found using a Google Search (however, most of what I found seem to be just a C&P from other sites)

http://www.nt.net/~a815/fullt22.htm

I know this is going to sound STRANGE - but, I was actually HAPPY that they found something. Of course I would never WANT this to happen, and I am of course sad that it DID happen. But knowing that it was just a fluke of nature thing really makes me feel better about any other pregnancy in the future.

Plus it make me feel like it was not something I did that caused my m/c (drinking in the 2ww, painting, lifting a semi-heavy box, etc)

The doctor also said that he knew the sex - but I decided I did not want to know.

So, it feels good to have an answer.

Backsplash

OK - My blue/green backsplash got shot down. So, we think we are going to go with a slate backsplash.

This is our first choice:

It is Indian Autumn colored slate (who knew slate came in so many colors???)

The colors are great with our cabinets and I think look pretty good with the countertop. I also think it adds a punch of color but is still kind of neutral.

The only things that I don't like is:

1 - the price - not too expensive; but we have more than 30 sq ft so that will add up quick.

2 - it is special order from Home Depot - they say 7-10 days; but we all know how that goes.

So, I am going to go to a local tile shop (which may still need to order it) and see what else I can find.

So much done today!!!!!

The granite in the kitchen and the upstairs bath were installed today. Plus the decorative moldings were added to the dining room!!!!

Keep in mind that my camera sucks so the colors on the wall are a little off. Also, the house is not "done" - so please excuse the mess, unfinished molding, cardboard on the floor, no backsplash, etc

Follow-up Appointment and beta level

Cross-posted from my other blog.

I met with my RE today as a mini-consult after my m/c. We talked about the possible reasons why I m/c. But, he also said that we may never know - which I am fine with.

We also talked about our next course of action. Since I will be traveling from April 25 - May 5 and then again May 14-18, it is possible that we may miss an IUI window.

So, I flat out asked him about doing Clomid on my own with timed intercourse (TI). Since there is the possibility that I would have no monitoring during the begining of the cycle I was not sure what he would say.

He said "OK"!!! He also said that I should come into the office as much as I can either before my first trip or in between the two trips. He also said that it was safe to do the Clomid and TI withoout monitoring for one cycle. Of course he does not recommend more than one cycle without monitoring. I agree with this.

He also gave me an Rx for Progesterone. My levels were over 10 at each beta - which is the minimum that they like to see. But, my levels were 11, 12, 14, etc - so not much higher than 10. Since progesterone will not hurt a pregnancy, he said might as well take it.

So, here is the plan if we are unable to do the IUI because of the timing issues:

+ wait until my first period after the D&C
+ take Clomid on days 5-9 + Start OPKs on day 10
+ TI when OPK is positive
+ Progesterone starting 3 days after the positive OPK - take until told to stop

I am so glad that he said OK to the clomid - because I was thinking about taking it anyway.

I also asked him about this "cycle". I asked him if it would be safe if I got pregnant again before I got a period after the D&C. He said it was perfectly safe and the only reason why they say to wait until you get a period after the D&C is for dating reasons. If I get pregnant before I get an actual period, they would not have a "last period" to base your due dates on. He said in that case, they would just wait until the betas are at a certain level and then do an u/s. The u/s would date the pregnancy and then your "last period" would just be calcualted for you. This date is not important in the RE world, only in the OB world.

So, I am hoping that I will be able to get pregnant before I actually get my post-D&C period, or maybe even with the clomid alone.

I know that these methods have not worked for me in the past - but I am trying to stay hopeful.

ALSO - just got my beta level back. It is only 57!!!!! That is a drop of over 800 points in one week. I never thought I would be excited to have a dropping beta. My beta was never that low. Even at 16dpiui it was in the 300s.

Granite Countertops

We canceled our order from Home Depot for our Kitchen Countertops (long story). And, we decided to go with a local granite company. So far they have been GREAT!!

We will have our countertops INSTALLED by mid next week! YAY.

We choose "Kashmir White" - here is a generic picture of what it will look like.

We are thinking of this blue / green tile for the backsplash. The walls are celery green. This picture really does not show how much green is in the tiles. We have not bought anything so it could still change. But so far this is our #1 choice.

Any opinions would be great!

Special Order is just not worth the trouble

Right now I am pissed off at Home Depot AND Lowes. We ordered "special order" countertop for the upstairs bath. There is nothing special about it. Basic black - but it is for a 60" vanity so it had to be special ordered (Lowes).

The sign next to the granite (in the bath section - not kitchen) it says "most special order counter-tops arrive in 7-10 days". Well, I guess generic black is not considered "most"

We ordered it 2.5 weeks ago and it still is not here. The contractor can not do the rest of the work in the bath until the countertop gets here. I have called Lowes several times and they keep changing the delivery time. As of 5 minutes ago, it will not be in the store until 4/4. That will be more than 3 weeks after we ordered it. Pisses me off.

Home Depot is no better. We had to wait until we had the cabninets and the appliances before we could get the countertop. We knew exactly what we wanted and paid for them a few weeks ago. We had to call them when everything was in to get the template scheduled.

Well, it does not matter that it was paid for weeks ago - nope we get put in "line" with everyone else. So, here it is a week later and we STILL have not been called to set up a template appointment.

We went with Home Depot for the counter-top (Stilestone) because we opened a Home Depot Home Improvement Loan - and paid for the countertop with that.

Now my husband is pissed off at Home Depot because we do not even have the template done. He thinks we should cancel the counter-top and just get it at a granite yard. I think it will be more expensive PLUS I still think it will take a few weeks.

UGH - all this is just so frustrating!!!!