Here are a couple links...
- Divided, by Heather
This post is a very personal one to Heather, who has gone through an agonizing time of waiting and also a recent loss.
This post also leapt out at me because a good friend and I have been talking about how for her, miscarriage marked an unexpected change in her perspective, like her life became sort of split into two timelines, before and after. It is like the world changed colour.
- The Question that Breaks My Heart, by Rachel
This one probably many of us dealing with or who have dealt with IF can connect with. I appreciate how many of these women bring the perspective back to Christ, hard hard hard as it may be. It is a good reminder for me...
Showing posts with label blog friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog friends. Show all posts
Monday, June 06, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Random Ten Things at 10am
We have a team planning day ahead so let's see if I can squeeze a post in.
4. We have started a mini prayer network, called 'IF & When' at our church for those going through infertility and/or pregnancy loss... or just lots of waiting for children in general. I am so thankful that we have been able to do this and I'm hoping and praying that it will be a good support and encouragement to women at church and maybe even those in our community later on.
It is so exciting to see how God can use these hard and painful issues to connect some of us together...
5. My blog friend Heather wrote this beautiful post the other day. It is sort of along the same lines of a post I wrote a couple weeks ago, about how we, as wives, might feel about our husbands in this time of waiting for children.
6. I'm continually humbled by the number of people who have told me that they have been praying for the husband, baby and I. It is amazing. Thank you God for how sneakily and wonderfully You work!
I guess us being fairly open about our journey has allowed the information to be 'out there' so there are people who I don't know very well who have been thinking of us and praying for us. It means so much to me finding that out!
And it teaches me a thing or two because I really struggle to pray consistently for others, yikes. But anyway. Feeling very blessed.
** Pregnancy/Baby talk **
7. Our scan! It went very well. They checked on the baby's anatomy with so much detail. You could see so much (and we only did the normal scan, not the 3D one)... things look good... so relieved!
8. A boy! Very thankful that we got to find that out, as we were hoping to. We would've loved a girl too, so either is great of course. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming it up and just have some big grapefruit stuck in there. Honestly, yes was anxious. haha...
Yay!!!!! We kinda walked around in shock for a little while after. Is this for real?
9. So on Monday I make it to 20 weeks and that will be officially halfway. Ohmygosh. I kinda want the pregnancy to hurry up, so that I can meet this baby. I want to meet you! But I know I need to treasure these days too. So it is a funny feeling.
** Over and Out **
10. I'm feeling so much better but still tired a lot! Sigh... Hope you have had a good week? I'd better start getting ready. Think this was one of the fastest posts I've done. (Sorry if sentences are a bit choppy.) GO ME! Have a great weekend guys.
1. Saturday! How are you doing? Hope you have a good weekend. Are you doing anything with your man for Valentine's Day? We're not big V-Day types around here but we are thinking we might go have ice-cream tomorrow or something.
2. Check out this blog if you are into making crafty things for Valentines Day! There are so many crazy good ideas in here.
3. If you like photos and photography, check out this guy's stuff of his kids. They are such brilliant photos! Though I'm not sure how he does them. Helps that he is a professional photographer I guess haha... Here's his blog too if you want some recent/ongoing photos of them.
It is so exciting to see how God can use these hard and painful issues to connect some of us together...
5. My blog friend Heather wrote this beautiful post the other day. It is sort of along the same lines of a post I wrote a couple weeks ago, about how we, as wives, might feel about our husbands in this time of waiting for children.
6. I'm continually humbled by the number of people who have told me that they have been praying for the husband, baby and I. It is amazing. Thank you God for how sneakily and wonderfully You work!
I guess us being fairly open about our journey has allowed the information to be 'out there' so there are people who I don't know very well who have been thinking of us and praying for us. It means so much to me finding that out!
And it teaches me a thing or two because I really struggle to pray consistently for others, yikes. But anyway. Feeling very blessed.
** Pregnancy/Baby talk **
7. Our scan! It went very well. They checked on the baby's anatomy with so much detail. You could see so much (and we only did the normal scan, not the 3D one)... things look good... so relieved!
8. A boy! Very thankful that we got to find that out, as we were hoping to. We would've loved a girl too, so either is great of course. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming it up and just have some big grapefruit stuck in there. Honestly, yes was anxious. haha...
Yay!!!!! We kinda walked around in shock for a little while after. Is this for real?
9. So on Monday I make it to 20 weeks and that will be officially halfway. Ohmygosh. I kinda want the pregnancy to hurry up, so that I can meet this baby. I want to meet you! But I know I need to treasure these days too. So it is a funny feeling.
** Over and Out **
10. I'm feeling so much better but still tired a lot! Sigh... Hope you have had a good week? I'd better start getting ready. Think this was one of the fastest posts I've done. (Sorry if sentences are a bit choppy.) GO ME! Have a great weekend guys.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Fab Friends
It is the second week of the year already! I hope you had some time to relax before the new year kicked in.
A few weeks ago I spotted this great post by Amy (at Destination Life) she is a friend of Heather, who is a blog friend.
I have come to know a bit about Heather (she has dealt with IF too and is currently agonizingly waiting for their adoption process to progress) but I know nothing about Amy. All I know is that she is a wonderful friend and what she shared meant a lot to me.
I hope and pray you do or will have someone like her in your life. I have been fortunate to have a few whom I'm sure have had simlar feelings to Amy.
I think it is not easy being a friend to someone who has or is going through infertility and/or miscarriage. The stuff we feel and go through can be pretty intense and consuming and I can imagine can be a lot to try and empathise with.
So... this is a big THANK YOU to those of you who have been travelling alongside ones like myself. You are so appreciated!
Anyway. Go read her post.
And if you want you can also go and see how my other blog friend Grace is doing settling into life with her son whom they recently brought home from Korea! Very cute photos and super exciting.
A few weeks ago I spotted this great post by Amy (at Destination Life) she is a friend of Heather, who is a blog friend.
I have come to know a bit about Heather (she has dealt with IF too and is currently agonizingly waiting for their adoption process to progress) but I know nothing about Amy. All I know is that she is a wonderful friend and what she shared meant a lot to me.
I hope and pray you do or will have someone like her in your life. I have been fortunate to have a few whom I'm sure have had simlar feelings to Amy.
I think it is not easy being a friend to someone who has or is going through infertility and/or miscarriage. The stuff we feel and go through can be pretty intense and consuming and I can imagine can be a lot to try and empathise with.
So... this is a big THANK YOU to those of you who have been travelling alongside ones like myself. You are so appreciated!
Anyway. Go read her post.
And if you want you can also go and see how my other blog friend Grace is doing settling into life with her son whom they recently brought home from Korea! Very cute photos and super exciting.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A note to you.
A special note to IF friends and sisters, and others who are/have been waiting with me:
Hi there. Your support and encouragement has been invaluable to me.
SO. Now I have become one of "those" women, who tried almost everything, was on a break, applied for adoption, and got pregnant out of the blue. I am praying my story does not haunt and irritate other waiting-women for years to come- but I have no control over it (I'm sorry... sigh!).
At the same time, I know this story is a miracle. I have not tracked an ovulation for the three years we've been trying, besides when on fertility drugs. I mean, I have joked about an immaculate conception, but I feel like this comes pretty close and I'm so thankful for this. I'm also so aware that the fact that we've made it to 13 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy with no complications is another miracle, after the ones we've lost early.
I don't know why God has decided to show us such grace at this time, yes we have been praying and others too, but so have you for your child, so why me and not you, and why now and not before or later, who knows?
We don't take this for granted and we are trying our best to celebrate each day of it, while praying we can carry this one to term.
When I wrote 'unexpected journey' in the little blurb under my blog title I didn't really think of this extent of the unexpected! Gosh. Yet at the same time we've been praying for it so what else was I thinking? I'm also still keen to continue this blog so we'll see what happens.
I just wanted to acknowledge you and let you know that your support and prayers are what have sustained us and continue to be needed. I also want to keep caring for you so please let me know how best I can.
Love s
Friday, December 10, 2010
Five In One
Okay so the problem with not keeping up with blogging is that there starts to be so many things to say! Today I'm going to list- just to 5.
(this star has 5-points too. i know. deep.)
Stick with me people, there's some exciting stuff to be shared! Warning: lots of links so be prepared to right-click and 'open in new tab' (hopefully haha), lots of things relating to Christmas. (If you don't have the stamina for this list today, at least read point 1!)
1. CELEBRATION TIME! Grace and her husband at Chois-R-Us who are adopting have finally finally gotten their call to go to Korea.
She has been waiting for her son to come home for so long. Many of us have been waiting with her. She is a fabulous blogger and never fails to make me laugh. I'm just so stoked for her and her husband that their journey to bringing their dear boy home is at a final stage. Praying that things continue smoothly from here on and there are no hiccups. Woopwoop!
2. SHOPPING IDEA. Online shopping can be so good. Through Grace, I found this blog by Kelly- Life with Briar. They have also adopted and this blog is about life with their daughter. What's also fun is that Kelly makes crochet hats, clips and other fun accessories! Her Etsy shop is called BriarClaire (and I've already bought a couple things for my nieces overseas hehe).
3. CHRISTMAS. Christmas trees are going up all around us! Have you done yours? For the first few years of marriage, the husband and I delayed getting a Christmas tree because we (like many other couples) thought to wait until we had kids.
About a year into our infertility journey, we realised we could be waiting for a long time... so we decided to 'stuff it' and get a tree. I love that we made that decision to start enjoying what Christmas is about (like not simply about children) and creating our own traditions with or without kids. It was actually also good for us because it reminded us that we are a whole and complete family unit even as two.
4. IF AND CHRISTMAS. For those dealing with infertility or loss, Christmas is a hard time because there are so many reminders of things we are waiting for or miss. What are some aspects you struggle with? How are you coping? What are some ways you've found that help?
I don't have any great thoughts right at this moment but I'd love to come up with a 'guide' so if you have any ideas let me know.
Here are a few links that have caught my attention:
5. BODY STUFF. On quite a different note, after a Christmas meal or not, I often struggle with dealing with how I look, and weight issues, my imperfections in general etc.
I waste a lot of precious energy concerned about this stuff and am continually having to go to God about this. I've come a long way but this has been a life-long thing for me- and probably will be.
This post, 'The Scale', at (in)courage is a good reminder, as when we let our minds get too preoccupied with 'fat or not fat', 'heavy or too heavy', 'eat this or not', not just are we doing damage to ourselves but also to others who see us as an example- daughters, friends, those we mentor, other women around us etc.
This topic really gets me going so I can go on about it for a while, haha, but I will leave it for another day!
So that's me for now. Hopefully not too long until the next post.
(this star has 5-points too. i know. deep.) Stick with me people, there's some exciting stuff to be shared! Warning: lots of links so be prepared to right-click and 'open in new tab' (hopefully haha), lots of things relating to Christmas. (If you don't have the stamina for this list today, at least read point 1!)
1. CELEBRATION TIME! Grace and her husband at Chois-R-Us who are adopting have finally finally gotten their call to go to Korea.
She has been waiting for her son to come home for so long. Many of us have been waiting with her. She is a fabulous blogger and never fails to make me laugh. I'm just so stoked for her and her husband that their journey to bringing their dear boy home is at a final stage. Praying that things continue smoothly from here on and there are no hiccups. Woopwoop!
2. SHOPPING IDEA. Online shopping can be so good. Through Grace, I found this blog by Kelly- Life with Briar. They have also adopted and this blog is about life with their daughter. What's also fun is that Kelly makes crochet hats, clips and other fun accessories! Her Etsy shop is called BriarClaire (and I've already bought a couple things for my nieces overseas hehe).
3. CHRISTMAS. Christmas trees are going up all around us! Have you done yours? For the first few years of marriage, the husband and I delayed getting a Christmas tree because we (like many other couples) thought to wait until we had kids.
About a year into our infertility journey, we realised we could be waiting for a long time... so we decided to 'stuff it' and get a tree. I love that we made that decision to start enjoying what Christmas is about (like not simply about children) and creating our own traditions with or without kids. It was actually also good for us because it reminded us that we are a whole and complete family unit even as two.
4. IF AND CHRISTMAS. For those dealing with infertility or loss, Christmas is a hard time because there are so many reminders of things we are waiting for or miss. What are some aspects you struggle with? How are you coping? What are some ways you've found that help?
I don't have any great thoughts right at this moment but I'd love to come up with a 'guide' so if you have any ideas let me know.
Here are a few links that have caught my attention:
- Stirrup Queens wrote a post a week ago, 'Fire and Ice', thinking through whether to go to possibly-difficult baby-related events or not... not totally related to Christmas but sorta is... and is interesting.
- She's also got this popular older post that is a Holiday Survival Guide for IF-types that is pretty funny in parts.
- My recent favourite The Nester writes this post about doing less and enjoying more this season- not related to infertility or baby loss but something to think about for those like me who can tend to make life more complicated than necessary sometimes!
- (She also has awesome ideas for wreaths and other 'crafts' if you like that sorta stuff. See the bottom of this post.)
- Beckie's Infertility Diaries posts about how it is so easy to think other people have had an easier time when maybe they didn't. TOTALLY. Overly beautiful pregnant women, sweet happy families with tons of kids, perky parents of newborns, um... yup I'm horrible I know I know. But how many times have I walked past with so much seething envy? ALL based on assumptions that it was a smooth ride for them, when I have no idea. This, unlike me sigh, is a sweet post.
5. BODY STUFF. On quite a different note, after a Christmas meal or not, I often struggle with dealing with how I look, and weight issues, my imperfections in general etc.
I waste a lot of precious energy concerned about this stuff and am continually having to go to God about this. I've come a long way but this has been a life-long thing for me- and probably will be.
This post, 'The Scale', at (in)courage is a good reminder, as when we let our minds get too preoccupied with 'fat or not fat', 'heavy or too heavy', 'eat this or not', not just are we doing damage to ourselves but also to others who see us as an example- daughters, friends, those we mentor, other women around us etc.
This topic really gets me going so I can go on about it for a while, haha, but I will leave it for another day!
So that's me for now. Hopefully not too long until the next post.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Ten Things at 10 am
Today I'm starting at 8:30 am because maybe by 10am I'll actually be ready to post haha.
1. I had a wonderful time in Dunedin. It was great having a couple of days away from 'normal' life, spending time with my friend P, and checking out the little city. It was beautiful weather too which was a huge bonus as it can get cold down there!
One of the highlights was visiting the Cadbury factory... CHOCOLATE! Even though some of the original products are no longer made there, they still make lotsa fun stuff like the boxed chocolates and easter eggs. It was a fun tour and you get chocolate as the guide takes you through. yum.
(pointing is a bit off... )
(us in the sugar bowl... this is my fave pic!)
2. I've been thinking about how to explain infertility to others in a short and sweet way (if that's possible)... because I am giving a notice at church sometime soon to tell them about the church's desire to have a support group or network for those struggling with infertility and/or miscarriage loss. This is huge for me because those who know me know I'm not at all an upfront person, plus I'm pretty much baring my all by being up there!
However, I'm so thankful for this opportunity as this is something I'm excited about, but kinda freaked out at the same time. You can pray for the right words to say in that short time (like 2 mins), so that women for whom this is relevant to will feel safe and comfortable to maybe respond or at least feel cared for, and also that the rest of the church will gain bit more insight into this topic. Also if you have any good quotes or ideas, let me know!
3. Another blogger Heather posted about this video, Empty Arms. This has been on my resources page too but I thought to post about it again because it is just a really well done project.
It is a video that explains infertility so well... if you haven't seen it I encourage you too- there may be tears though! I also like how Heather puts it in her post where she said, "You guys all know that we are adopting, and though that is seen as a "resolution," the stamp of infertility on our hearts will never truly go away." I think she says it in such a succint way.
4. I have thought of posting the above video on my Facebook page just for some friends who may be interested to watch it or pass it on to others, but I'm still not really sure about it! As much as I have been super open about my journey, I also don't always know how much to say about infertility/miscarriage stuff on Facebook. Funny huh? Hmmmm. What do you think?
5. When I was in Dunedin I met a girl who'd been in foster care. It broke my heart to hear that her mom for various reasons was struggling to cope with her kids, and had to give two of them up to be taken care of by another family. This little girl was now back with her mother, but her brother is still with the care-giving family. What a mess. I am not here to judge but I'm just saying it was simply so impacting talking with this real life child who was in the midst of this. I don't dare to imagine the impact this is having on these children.
As the husband and I have been thinking through these situations linked to adoption, etc, it just really hit home and I wondered if God was just nudging me to slowly open my heart to the various ways I can parent one day, even if it is not conventional... not sure yet, but it was a conversation I'll remember!
6. Summer is on its way... so that means strawberries! Yay. Looking forward to more.
7. Aren't peonies just so beautiful? I wanted peonies for my wedding but we couldn't get them at the time. They are such gorgeous flowers huh! These were some we spotted when I was down south.
Thanks for reading! Have a great day.
(oOPS. We were cleaning as I typed this off and on. Now it is 11. ha.)
1. I had a wonderful time in Dunedin. It was great having a couple of days away from 'normal' life, spending time with my friend P, and checking out the little city. It was beautiful weather too which was a huge bonus as it can get cold down there!
One of the highlights was visiting the Cadbury factory... CHOCOLATE! Even though some of the original products are no longer made there, they still make lotsa fun stuff like the boxed chocolates and easter eggs. It was a fun tour and you get chocolate as the guide takes you through. yum.
(pointing is a bit off... )
(us in the sugar bowl... this is my fave pic!)2. I've been thinking about how to explain infertility to others in a short and sweet way (if that's possible)... because I am giving a notice at church sometime soon to tell them about the church's desire to have a support group or network for those struggling with infertility and/or miscarriage loss. This is huge for me because those who know me know I'm not at all an upfront person, plus I'm pretty much baring my all by being up there!
However, I'm so thankful for this opportunity as this is something I'm excited about, but kinda freaked out at the same time. You can pray for the right words to say in that short time (like 2 mins), so that women for whom this is relevant to will feel safe and comfortable to maybe respond or at least feel cared for, and also that the rest of the church will gain bit more insight into this topic. Also if you have any good quotes or ideas, let me know!
3. Another blogger Heather posted about this video, Empty Arms. This has been on my resources page too but I thought to post about it again because it is just a really well done project.
It is a video that explains infertility so well... if you haven't seen it I encourage you too- there may be tears though! I also like how Heather puts it in her post where she said, "You guys all know that we are adopting, and though that is seen as a "resolution," the stamp of infertility on our hearts will never truly go away." I think she says it in such a succint way.
4. I have thought of posting the above video on my Facebook page just for some friends who may be interested to watch it or pass it on to others, but I'm still not really sure about it! As much as I have been super open about my journey, I also don't always know how much to say about infertility/miscarriage stuff on Facebook. Funny huh? Hmmmm. What do you think?
5. When I was in Dunedin I met a girl who'd been in foster care. It broke my heart to hear that her mom for various reasons was struggling to cope with her kids, and had to give two of them up to be taken care of by another family. This little girl was now back with her mother, but her brother is still with the care-giving family. What a mess. I am not here to judge but I'm just saying it was simply so impacting talking with this real life child who was in the midst of this. I don't dare to imagine the impact this is having on these children.
As the husband and I have been thinking through these situations linked to adoption, etc, it just really hit home and I wondered if God was just nudging me to slowly open my heart to the various ways I can parent one day, even if it is not conventional... not sure yet, but it was a conversation I'll remember!
6. Summer is on its way... so that means strawberries! Yay. Looking forward to more.
8. Sammy's chicken-legs stretch. See what I mean?
9. About a week ago I finally finished lining some of our room curtains. Yeah I sewed the lining on by hand cos' it was quite thick and I'm not so used to how machines work still. Felt very accomplished. Um... think I've had this project on for like way too long! Anyway, very relieved to be finished. We haven't put them up yet but we'll get there hopefully haha...
10. Rocky Road- Snickers RR on the left, and and newly discovered Cookies 'N Cream RR on the right. I found the 'original' Snickers recipe in a Women's Weekly Cookbook (great books). They were an instant hit with the girls.
Recently, I stole some inspiration from my friend K and made this Cookies 'N Cream one. So awesome. These are great treats for bringing over to parties or as gifts! Let me know if you want either recipe. (Sometimes I take a while to email you but I do do it eventually haha...)
Thanks for reading! Have a great day.
(oOPS. We were cleaning as I typed this off and on. Now it is 11. ha.)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Ten Things at (not really) 10 am (more like 12pm)
The fastest way for me to post is to list. So here I go. This is a jumbly list of things.
1. This weekend is a long weekend for us here in NZ- Labour Day. It has also been quite sunny! Loving it. Yay for warmth!
2. However, I haven't been feeling all that wonderful. I'm not sure if I have allergies or am just run-down. I'm yawning by 9pm and crawling into bed by 9:30pm! Grrrr. Thankful for not having to work tomorrow though.
3. I have started to get quite depressed about supermarket-ting. I used to like it but now it comes with such dread! (Maybe because I'm terrible at writing a shopping list... cos' it all depends on what is on discount! You know what I mean?)
It is such a big job... walking your socks off, pushing big bafoony trolley/cart around, dodging other shoppers and avoiding aisle-rage, spending a TON of money that doesn't look worth your wares, loading it into the car, then unloading it all, stocking the pantry, then doing it all again in a couple weeks.
Now I make sure I buy ONE SNACK THING as a reward, cos' I'm often starving from all the mental, physical and emotional energy I've invested into the trip... so I eat it when I've loaded the car and got in my car and BREATHE. Then start the journey home. Yesterday I ate a banana. Not very exciting I know but still good haha...
4. My friend Ruth mentioned making cards recently on her blog... this inspired me to make some the other day. I'm not very hard-core (like not at all a proper scrapbooker-type) about it but I just make the most of random things I have, like fabric.
(as you can see, i like hearts!)There are lots of birthdays (and a wedding) that have been going on this month. I'm already late for some, ugh terrible I know. This is also a good money saving thingy (which I'm trying to do!) as I can get super carried away buying cards and gifts, etc.
5. My blogger friend Grace and her husband are adopting and waiting for their child to come home to them. She finally has just heard some good news... it is possible that she will be able to bring him home from Korea in 6 to 9 weeks. SO STOKED FOR THEM!
6. Heather at reach in, reach out, reach up posted about some myths about infertility. This is a great post... I myself may have said stuff like this to others before experiencing infertility myself and I understand that with IF and loss, sometimes there really is never anything to say that is good or helps... but at least avoiding the really bad ones is a plus. (At the moment one of the hard ones for me is wondering if people think that adoption is our new fertility treatment. It is not.)
7. My super friend C has been celebrating her birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday!
8. I'm running a half-marathon in a week. I have to admit I'm quite worried about it. Am I prepared enough? Will I survive? Have I set too high of a goal? AHHH... I'm also raising money while I run, for the Heart Foundation. If you'd like to donate, click here. (Don't laugh, I've been pretty laidback about the fundraising.)
9. IF stuff never leaves me... I often randomly count the number of people I know who are pregnant. Do you? I hate that I do this as it is just plain ol' torture... but I can't help it. It is reaching the point where 80-90% of my friends are either pregnant or have kids or are 'trying'... I wonder if you ever get used to it.
10. Right now, the husband is vacuuming. Yes! I am so thankful for him. haha.
Have a good weekend.
2. However, I haven't been feeling all that wonderful. I'm not sure if I have allergies or am just run-down. I'm yawning by 9pm and crawling into bed by 9:30pm! Grrrr. Thankful for not having to work tomorrow though.
3. I have started to get quite depressed about supermarket-ting. I used to like it but now it comes with such dread! (Maybe because I'm terrible at writing a shopping list... cos' it all depends on what is on discount! You know what I mean?)
It is such a big job... walking your socks off, pushing big bafoony trolley/cart around, dodging other shoppers and avoiding aisle-rage, spending a TON of money that doesn't look worth your wares, loading it into the car, then unloading it all, stocking the pantry, then doing it all again in a couple weeks.
Now I make sure I buy ONE SNACK THING as a reward, cos' I'm often starving from all the mental, physical and emotional energy I've invested into the trip... so I eat it when I've loaded the car and got in my car and BREATHE. Then start the journey home. Yesterday I ate a banana. Not very exciting I know but still good haha...
4. My friend Ruth mentioned making cards recently on her blog... this inspired me to make some the other day. I'm not very hard-core (like not at all a proper scrapbooker-type) about it but I just make the most of random things I have, like fabric.
(as you can see, i like hearts!)5. My blogger friend Grace and her husband are adopting and waiting for their child to come home to them. She finally has just heard some good news... it is possible that she will be able to bring him home from Korea in 6 to 9 weeks. SO STOKED FOR THEM!
6. Heather at reach in, reach out, reach up posted about some myths about infertility. This is a great post... I myself may have said stuff like this to others before experiencing infertility myself and I understand that with IF and loss, sometimes there really is never anything to say that is good or helps... but at least avoiding the really bad ones is a plus. (At the moment one of the hard ones for me is wondering if people think that adoption is our new fertility treatment. It is not.)
7. My super friend C has been celebrating her birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday!
8. I'm running a half-marathon in a week. I have to admit I'm quite worried about it. Am I prepared enough? Will I survive? Have I set too high of a goal? AHHH... I'm also raising money while I run, for the Heart Foundation. If you'd like to donate, click here. (Don't laugh, I've been pretty laidback about the fundraising.)
9. IF stuff never leaves me... I often randomly count the number of people I know who are pregnant. Do you? I hate that I do this as it is just plain ol' torture... but I can't help it. It is reaching the point where 80-90% of my friends are either pregnant or have kids or are 'trying'... I wonder if you ever get used to it.
10. Right now, the husband is vacuuming. Yes! I am so thankful for him. haha.
Have a good weekend.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Hello There!
(not my bear)If you'd like to know about my IF stuff, you can go to My Infertility History.
If you'd just like a gist of everything, you can go to Welcome/Quick-start.
Here's some random stuff about me:
1. I'm writing this from a fitness centre in Auckland, New Zealand. I've lived here for almost 10 years though I grew up in Singapore and am from Singporean-Chinese background.
2. I'm married to a Canadian.
3. This morning we forgot to feed the dog- the husband thought I did and I thought he did.
4. The dog has been a lot of work, though we really like him... but that's for another post.
5. I love Japanese food... I just love a lot of food in general.
6. I flinched when I heard that Alicia Keys had her baby, cos' I didn't know she was pregnant. And I double-flinched when I heard that Beyonce is now pregnant*. Totally jealous. Sigh... Secretly don't want to listen to their music to 'punish' them for being 'fertile'.
7. I just wrote two posts related to how much I LOVE shopping (one here and one somewhere else) which is so hilarious because in real life the husband and I have had talks about 'finances' just this week and shopping is SO NOT ALLOWED. Well he didn't say that but I think that is a probable conclusion.
Okay I'll stop here.
Thanks for stopping by!
*Edit: Hold your horses... I've been told this might be a rumour only.
Friday, October 08, 2010
In Real Life
Thanks for reading my posts and commenting on them, etc. I appreciate all you folks who are dropping in and checking this out. It means a lot.
Some of you have mentioned that my blog is 'pretty'. Why thanks! I do like it too. It is actually just a blogger-template, which means I didn't do anything, I just picked it and it appeared haha...
Some of you who read this know me but some of you don't, and as it is hard to know what I'm like just from my blog, I thought I'd do a small IN REAL LIFE list:
In real life,
1. I am not so great at verbalizing my thoughts and feelings. Okay. 'Not so great' is an UNDERSTATEMENT. I'm terrible. (I'm sure even the husband uses this blog as a reference to how I may be doing this past week. Things to work on, yes.)
2. I like neat and tidy but I'm not neat and tidy. I'm clean but messy. Unless you say you are coming over, then I make sure it is neat and tidy, where possible.
3. As much as we try, there is always soapscum to be scrubbed, dishes to be done and more laundry to be loaded. I really admire friends whose houses are always looking fab, but I also know I need to just get over it.
4. I read too many books at the same time.
5. I'm insecure. Can you tell? I think that's why I explain things too much too. Just so you don't misunderstand me. Heaven forbid you misunderstand cos' then it may lead to you not liking me. How can you not like me? I wouldn't be able to handle that. Sigh. Seriously. Full of issues. Reading a book about it of course.
6. If I have some time to chill, I like to sit around and drink tea- and just do not much.
Ok. That's me for now.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
BlogLite
How is your weekend going? It is Sunday here. (I'm supposed to be making something for tonight for when I go to my mom's for dinner, but here I am trying to squeeze in a post.)
I'm trying to keep things a little lighter. (Not sure if that is possible because I think about a lot of stuff, probably over-think yes, and over-analyse yes, as that is also just a big part of who I am! But I'm trying to consciously take it easy on the heart and brain... focus on some fun things.)
Well... I've also been advised by our counsellor friend to try and chill, while I'm waiting for the next couple weeks, so I'm working on it!
I love lists, here's one:
1. Last week I got an award! The 'Versatile Blogger Award' from Grace at Chois-R-Us. Yay! Thanks so much. My first ever. Feel pretty stoked about that. WOW! (Sorry haven't had a good opportunity to respond to it yet though...)
2. On Thursday I was doing some errands in the mall and decided to have an ice-cream cone. Chose peppermint-chocolate chip. SO GOOD. Reminded me of when I was a girl becuase I used to have that flavour all the time (not totally sure why, but I did)... Ice-cream is so going to be in heaven too I reckon. What's your favourite flavour? (I can never decide.)
(I only had one scoop- though I would've welcomed two more... this is just a stock photo.)
3. On Friday I ended up watching two movies! One, Killers, at the movies and the other, Baby Mama, on TV. I didn't intend to purposefully watch movies with baby-related bits in them (obviously one had those themes more than the other), but somehow I did. And it wasn't too bad. Pretty funny actually. Yay for light and fluffy entertainment! (I also met up with a couple of friends- thanks for that!)
4. Yesterday our team (we work together but we are also good friends) did a session on Strengthfinders. It was cool finding out some of our specific strengths and always makes you feel good knowing you are good at something haha, and hearing someone else tell you that you have neat gifts. Yuss! Great resource for teams and work relationships- totally recommend it. (If you are familiar with them, mine are: Individualization, Deliberative, Analytical, Developer and Belief.)
5. Yesterday we had friends (who are engaged, woopwoop!) over for brunch. LOVE BRUNCH. We had pancakes with blueberries, fried banana, maple syrup and bacon. (The boys also added cream as one of the toppings... hmmm, I wasn't so sure. ) It was great to see them. If you want a good pancake recipe, I have an awesome one from my mother-in-law.
6. Today I bought a wedding magazine for my above friend. She's still thinking through what she wants to do for her wedding, and I seized the opportunity to get her a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. I know I know... Martha's a bit much and we have our own local ones, but it is just such a great publication for ideas! Though a bit useless for phone numbers cos' we live in NZ. Can't help it. I'm trying not to look through it myself but I just love the pictures in it. And the IDEAS! Ahhhh. Look forward to giving it to her.
7. Making something 'different' to take to Mrs K's (my mother) tonight. Will post pictures depending on whether it turns out or not. haha.
8. Oh for got this one- on Wednesday night we had dinner with my cousin-in-law (cousin's husband) who lives in the UK. Sad I didn't get to see my cousin herself and their little boy but that's ok. It is always nice to have a friendly visitor drop by from far far away.
Okay better go now.
Have a great rest-of-your-day!
I'm trying to keep things a little lighter. (Not sure if that is possible because I think about a lot of stuff, probably over-think yes, and over-analyse yes, as that is also just a big part of who I am! But I'm trying to consciously take it easy on the heart and brain... focus on some fun things.)
Well... I've also been advised by our counsellor friend to try and chill, while I'm waiting for the next couple weeks, so I'm working on it!
I love lists, here's one:
1. Last week I got an award! The 'Versatile Blogger Award' from Grace at Chois-R-Us. Yay! Thanks so much. My first ever. Feel pretty stoked about that. WOW! (Sorry haven't had a good opportunity to respond to it yet though...)
2. On Thursday I was doing some errands in the mall and decided to have an ice-cream cone. Chose peppermint-chocolate chip. SO GOOD. Reminded me of when I was a girl becuase I used to have that flavour all the time (not totally sure why, but I did)... Ice-cream is so going to be in heaven too I reckon. What's your favourite flavour? (I can never decide.)
(I only had one scoop- though I would've welcomed two more... this is just a stock photo.)3. On Friday I ended up watching two movies! One, Killers, at the movies and the other, Baby Mama, on TV. I didn't intend to purposefully watch movies with baby-related bits in them (obviously one had those themes more than the other), but somehow I did. And it wasn't too bad. Pretty funny actually. Yay for light and fluffy entertainment! (I also met up with a couple of friends- thanks for that!)
4. Yesterday our team (we work together but we are also good friends) did a session on Strengthfinders. It was cool finding out some of our specific strengths and always makes you feel good knowing you are good at something haha, and hearing someone else tell you that you have neat gifts. Yuss! Great resource for teams and work relationships- totally recommend it. (If you are familiar with them, mine are: Individualization, Deliberative, Analytical, Developer and Belief.)
5. Yesterday we had friends (who are engaged, woopwoop!) over for brunch. LOVE BRUNCH. We had pancakes with blueberries, fried banana, maple syrup and bacon. (The boys also added cream as one of the toppings... hmmm, I wasn't so sure. ) It was great to see them. If you want a good pancake recipe, I have an awesome one from my mother-in-law.
6. Today I bought a wedding magazine for my above friend. She's still thinking through what she wants to do for her wedding, and I seized the opportunity to get her a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. I know I know... Martha's a bit much and we have our own local ones, but it is just such a great publication for ideas! Though a bit useless for phone numbers cos' we live in NZ. Can't help it. I'm trying not to look through it myself but I just love the pictures in it. And the IDEAS! Ahhhh. Look forward to giving it to her.
7. Making something 'different' to take to Mrs K's (my mother) tonight. Will post pictures depending on whether it turns out or not. haha.
8. Oh for got this one- on Wednesday night we had dinner with my cousin-in-law (cousin's husband) who lives in the UK. Sad I didn't get to see my cousin herself and their little boy but that's ok. It is always nice to have a friendly visitor drop by from far far away.
Okay better go now.
Have a great rest-of-your-day!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Links and Things- Article and Clip
This is an article from the women's magazine SELF (U.S.), 'This Woman Has a Secret', which I got from Untangle Me. It is about the silence surrounding infertility, both personally and socially/politically...
This is not specifically about infertility but still interesting- a short video of an interview with the first baby (now an adult) born through IVF. It is about how her life has been a source of fascination to many... from Beckie's Infertile.
On Monday, I watched the short doco on Jay-Jay and Dom's IVF attempt again but this time with the husband- from a previous post. We are still working through our thoughts about IVF and it was cool to watch it together. Overall I think it was really because we totally know how they feel! Hope and frustration tangled in one big web of intensity. Lots of tears again.
It was actually also good preparation because I was going to the clinic for a procedure and it was helpful to see someone else's experience- not the same but similar. I could visualize what was going to happen.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I know my last post was quite full of grrrrrrrrr-ness.
If you wanna know... Basically, I'd produced too many follicles/eggs for just the 'usual' ovulation induction plan to continue... so we had to go to the back up plan, which was to aspirate/remove extra eggs and because that makes you sore, it was then best to proceed with IUI.
So I've done my first IUI. Yes, I'm slowly working my way through every possible fertility treatment available possible. I think I'm ruining my good doctor's wonderful track record... haha.
Thankful for drugs that make you groggy (love it cos' then you don't realise the position you are in) and the husband who was by my side. I'm doing well now- some crampy pain but nothing bad.
Now we wait.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Blog Friends
Hello there!I thought to share something from someone else's blog. (There are so many great blogs out there!)
Grace at Chois-R-Us is in the midst of adoption, waiting for the child they have been placed with to come home to her. Awesome news but I can't imagine how agonizing the wait must be!
She also blogs about other stuff while she's in this time of waiting. Here's one of her posts that made me laugh! So HILARE. Love it. (Probably cos' I get emotionally attached to shopping/stores too... sigh... and I also like writing letters hehe...)
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