Emskyrooney

Today I’m the featured Snapshot over at PAIL !  Go on over to check it out and to check out the other Snapshots ! When Paul and I met we were excited to find out that each of us wanted three children as we both had two younger siblings.  We started trying for our first baby about a year after we got married and although the four months it took to get pregnant seemed like FOREVER to me as I'd fully expected to get knocked up right away, we now know that four months is laughably short. When LP (short for Little Paul as he's the 4th Paul in a row on hubby's side) was almost 1 we decided to try for baby #2 as we were hoping our children would be about two years apart.  Four months passed, then 6 months, then a year.  We had two "positive" home pregnancy tests which turned out to be chemical pregnancies.  At that point my OB/GYN suggested we go see the Reproductive Endocrinologist.  All the usual tests were done and we were officially diagnosed w...

This morning I attended my very first “ Body Pump ” class at the YMCA we’ve joined.  “Body Pump” is basically group weight-lifting.  You use a barbell with various weights, an aerobic step, and pump it up to some catchy music.   Apparently people become addicted to the class.  I enjoyed it and will definitely go back, but the chance of me becoming “addicted” to working out is slim to nil. I think this year was the first year in quite a while that I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions or set any goals for myself for the year- at least publicly.  But I have been on a mission to lose the baby weight, plus a few extra pounds I need/want to take off and have actually been doing pretty well with it.  My goal has been to maintain a weight loss of 1 pound per week.   I know that I could go hard-core and lost it more quickly but I really wanted to make this more about changing my life style and habits and getting into a food/exercise routine that...

I’m a bit late in posting this, but I wanted to let everyone know that this week, April 21- 27 is National Infertility Awareness Week .  1 in 8 couples are affected by infertility.   Look around.  That girls night out you just went on?  Somebody in the group most likely struggled/is struggling/will struggle to have children.   Your sorority sisters?  Quite a few are most likely affected.   Co-workers?  Them too.  Strangers at the grocery store?  Yup.  All told about 7.3 million Americans, 12% of the female population of child-bearing age are affected by infertility. Those of us who struggle with infertility are given the hard task of getting through our daily life while dealing with a disease that generally has no visible, at least to the casual observer, symptoms.   There is no way to tell simply by looking at someone whether they are infertile or not.  Women and men with children, women and men with...

I haven't mentioned PAIL  much lately but am still very much a part of this great community.  For those of you not familiar with it, PAIL is a resource/community/support group for people who are Pregnant and/or Parenting through Adoption, Infertility and/or Loss.  One of the things about going through infertility is that it isn't suddenly all behind you even after you become a parent.  I still have secondary infertility even after having another baby.  It's something that changed who I am, how I view life, and how I interact with other people.  Knowing that there's a group of other people out there who understand all of this from a first person point of view has been very helpful to me throughout this journey. And so PAIL is celebrating it's six month anniversary!  They've asked us (if we'd like) to submit a Vlog answering a few questions.  All of the Vlogs will be linked on the PAIL site on Saturday, December 8.   I don't normall...

Anyone who has visited my blog in the past few days might have noticed a new button over on the right column.  It's a link to a blogroll I just joined called PAIL , which stands for Parenting/Pregnant after Infertility and Loss.  Started by Elphaba over at " Alice in Diaperland ," it's a community of bloggers who find themselves parenting or pregnant after struggles with infertility and loss.  It's a way to bring together women who were once classified as "infertility bloggers," but who now don't feel quite comfortable in the world of "mommy bloggers" even though they are parenting and or pregnant.  We're women who are lurking around a bit on both the infertility and the pregnancy message boards, but who don't feel quite right commenting or asking questions in either type of forum. Those of you who are long-term readers might recall that I initally started my blog because I found out I was pregnant with LP and wanted to write about ...

On December 21st I wrote a post all about how our struggle with infertility has led to some changed expectations for us as a family and for me as an individual.  Through the two years of trying to conceive baby number two I felt as though I was on an emotional rollercoaster - some days excited and optimistic, some days depressed and miserable and feeling like a failure.  A lot of time was spent trying to convince myself that it would be ok if we only ever had one child, as we have such an amazing little guy, and other days were spent feeling so sorry that I wasn't able to give LP a little brother or sister....   As I wrote that post I was expecting a visit from good old "Aunt Flo" at any moment, just in time for the holidays.  I was certain that her arrival was imminent and tried to focus on the events ahead of us like Christmas and our trip to Las Vegas instead.  We were planning to enjoy our holidays and then jump back on the "trying to conceive" wagon with a...

Growing up I had a plan of how my life would go.  I’d go to college, move to a big city for a few years, then meet the man of my dreams on a blind date (set up by friends, of course), get married, move back to my hometown, and have three children before I reached my 35 th birthday.   My husband would go to work and I’d be fortunate enough to stay home and raise our perfect children.  Actually- my plans sound a lot like the path my mother’s life took (especially those perfect children!) – although she probably had something completely different in mind while growing up.   Of course, as everyone except idealistic teenagers knows, life rarely goes the way you’ve expected.  Plans change, dreams change, people change.  I changed.  I ended up moving farther from home than I ever thought I would – 5 hours by car.  It might not seem far to some of you but I grew up in the town my father’s family has lived in...

I've been whiny lately- on Facebook, on my blog, and in my non-virtual world too. Have been feeling blue about the whole infertility thing and some salt has been rubbed in the wound over the past few weeks. But you know what salt is good for?? Margaritas! And "Aunt Flo" just arrived so I can drink one guilt free!!! So my apologies for my whiny blah ness of late. Have reminded myself that life really is good- I have a beautiful, smart little boy, a wonderful handsome hubby who takes charge of the turkey every year (honey-brined and smoked this year!!), a fridge full of food, and great family and friends both near and far.... So much to be thankful for, more than a lot of people in this world, and I truly AM grateful.... No more whining (at least til Friday!)! Margaritas go perfectly with turkey, right??

Today Redbook announced that they’ve joined forces with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association in a new campaign, “ The Truth About Trying ,” to end the secrecy about infertility.   On their website they say, “ One in eight women in the United States will struggle with infertility, so why don’t we talk about it?”   To which I say, “Hear! Hear!!!,”   or perhaps that should be “Here! Here!” As part of their campaign they’ve invited both celebrities and “regular” people to post videos on their site sharing their experiences, thoughts, and feelings about the struggle with infertility.   They’ve also added articles about infertility including the various kinds of treatments , links to infertility blogs , and an article entitled “ The Invisible Pain of Infertility .” I encourage everyone to check this out- even if you haven’t had any problems with infertility, chances are good that you know someone who has- they just might not be vocal about their struggles.   When I started bl...

Try, try again. This is my mantra lately. (Along with "pass the wine!" and "say please and ask nicely when you want Mommy to help you!") So round two of the Clomid on the infertility report card gets a big fat F for fail. There was a brief moment when we thought perhaps this was the month but hopes were dashed hours later by the untimely (and rather delayed) arrival of my crotchety Aunt Flo. Boo! Off I dashed to the pharmacy to pick up round 3, so that we can keep on keepin' on. Perhaps the third time's the charm? Fingers crossed... A few weeks ago Paul and I decided that after this third round we're going to take a little break from all this drug/doctor interference. We'd originally planned to move right onto whatever is next if the Clomid didn't work but with the holidays coming up we think we'll be better off waiting until the new year before we get into the next stage of treatments. Anywho, that's the scoop on that. I continue...

Back in April I posted about our trouble getting pregnant again. And I’ve been wanting to post more about it since but have instead taken the easy, less emotional way out and posted about all of the projects we’ve tackled this summer around the house. But this project, this attempt for baby #2, is taking up a fair amount of our time and energy as well. In early June my period was late and so I took a pregnancy test. And it was positive! Hooray! I went the next day to the doctor’s office for a blood test. The next day they called and said that once again, my hCG levels were low and to come back in a day or two for another test. So I did, all the while keeping my fingers crossed that things would go well. The results of the next blood test showed even lower levels. And the next day (the day we took LP to the zoo actually), I started bleeding. I tried to focus on having fun at the zoo as a family but all I could think about was that this was another lost baby. ...