As I had written before, I knew that this week was going to be a difficult one because of my dad's birthday on Wednesday. Here are some of the ways that I've coped with the mourning that surrounded the day:

I gave Chris and the kids and my clients and friends a heads up about what the week would be like for me. Knowing in advance that I was going to be sad and somewhat unpredictable and unavailable, I knew that Chris would need a concrete reminder that things might be a little to a lot off. I left him the same sticky note on his keys every morning that said,... more

I'm in a waiting game with myself this week. Kind of dealing with my grief in all areas again as my dad's birthday is on Wednesday and it is hitting me pretty hard. I know that this will take an upward swing again, but waiting for the upward pull while experiencing the downward pull is slow going. I decided to look into ways to help with the wait and came across this page of adivice from Resolve. Although I'm not waiting for results from IVF, the suggestions sound pretty wise to me.

Emotional Coping Strategies

Limit the number of people you tell about your cycle and let them know how... more

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had ordered the Healing Grief Cd from healingjourneys.com. As I was researching which CD to order, I searched the archives and found a letter about grief that I felt Belleruth answered with the utmost caring and wisdom. I will be posting a little more about the actual CD later on and my experience with it. I felt that everyone dealing with grief could benefit from reading the letter. Here it is:

Most of the trite sayings about loss are true, so if I sound sickeningly prosaic, please bear with me. First of all, if you can identify all these feelings of disbelief,... more

I was over on Tertia's blog today and she posted the following article:

Wine-drinking women are more fertile - report

September 18 2003 at 11:30AM Copenhagen - Women who drink moderate quantities of wine become pregnant more easily than their teetotal or beer-supping sisters, a Danish medical review reported Thursday.

According to Dagens Medecin a study of 30,000 women showed that those who chose a glass of wine over beer or spirits were most likely to conceive. The least... more

A good friend of mine forwarded this site to me. It is hilarious. People write in and tell what they used to believe when they were children. For use in this blog, they have sections on sex and pregnancy. Here are some examples:

I used to believe that boys had boy babies, and girls had girl babies.

That was when I was 3-7. I'm 15 now.

Stefanie Michelle

I used to believe that if a pregnant woman had a bump out the front she would have only one child. Twins meant bumps out both sides. Side bumps and a front bump was... more

Here is an example of a fertility related article from www.happynews.com.

Reported in this article is that the painting "Roots" by Frida Kahlo set the record as the highest price for the sale of a piece of Latin American art. It also set a high for the artist as well. Here is part of the background behind the painting.

The 1943 oil-on-metal shows the artist reclining in a bright orange dress with leafy... more

In this very early morning, Ivy woke up and was talking to me, not really awake, but not asleep either at 3 a.m. As she was falling back to sleep she told me, "Mama, my piggies hurt." I went over and looked at her toes and didn't find anything wrong. I asked her if she wanted me to give them a magic kiss. She said, "No, prolly it needs a band aid to be all better." I went to the cupboard and got her a large band aid that I put on top of her foot. She touched it, sighed, and went to sleep.

When Chris woke up I told him this cute story and we laughed.... more

If you are like me and have put off watching the last episodes of the series "Sex and the City" for years, don't continue reading this post because I will blow the ending for you.

Chris and I lead a sparse life as far as cable goes. We have the most basic package available and for the most part, think that we have a great fit. Not having HBO though was difficult, as I had to get my SATC fixes when the seasons would come out on video, or later, on DVD. I love to imagine a life like Carrie's life, especially the fashions. This woman knows... more

Still wading through my found New York Times that was buried in a tote in my kitchen, I read the oddest article while on the treadmill. Titled,"And Next to the Bearded Lady, Premature Babies" by Michael Brick. What?!!

It seems that from 1903 to the 1940, Dr. Martin A. Couney used preemies as a freak attraction in incubators, just like the other participants like the bearded lady and such. Here is the intro:

The babies were lined up under heaters and they breathed filtered air. Few of them weighed more than three pounds. They... more

While I was deeply desiring a baby, I couldn't get enough of anything baby-related. I was a closet reader of magazines like Parents, loved catalogs by Hannah Anderson and adored baby pictures of children known and unknown to me. This was at the height of the Anne Geddes craze, so I was able to get a baby pic fix pretty readily. I never did buy any of her stuff though. Especially her last coffee table book which freaked me out with those women wearing sheer dresses with babies tucked underneath. Ick.

Last night I was groping through piles of old... more