So I just got back from my first monitoring for ultrasound and blood work. They took five vials of blood this time because aside from the usual they have to do more pre-testing before I get the NK cell intralipid infusion next week.
Right Ovary: 10, 10, 9, and five other follies that were below 7mm.
Left Ovary: 10.5, 7, 7, 7, 7, and three other follies that were below 7mm.
To compare this to last cycle...today I have 8 measurable and another 8 tiny guys = total 16. Last cycle I had nine measurable four little guys at this time = total 13. So today I actually have more visible eggs than last time. But everything is just getting going. Lining is 6.5mm.
I go in again Thursday and I hate Thursday monitoring because my office doesn't have an U/S tech that day so I have to drive an extra half hour to the Buffalo Grove office. AND because the U/S techs are each a little different on what they will show and tell you. I love Roberta at my office. But I will see her Friday so I guess it's OK. And then will have one over the weekend (if not two) which will be all the way out in Highland Park (and hour away) and if you remember from last time...they do "first come first serve" starting at 7am so we have to wake up seriously early and it sucks. But I know in many ways I'm very lucky in that I have an office I can go to four days a week that's just 10 minutes away. I get it. Count my blessings.
I'll update this afternoon with estrogen and any other news when they call.
Ice bar in Vegas 2012
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Baseline IVF#2 Stats and the HGH Clusterfuck
First off: THE STATS (Will be going back to compare to last IVF cycle baseline in Sept after I type this)
AFC: 20 (9 on Left, 11 on Right)
E2: 63 (They want it below 100)
FSH: 9 (They wand it below 12)
LH: 2 (Want it less than 7)
P4: 0.4 (want it less than 1.0)
Since all the numbers are good I will be starting meds as planned tomorrow.
MED DOSES: INJECTS: 150 Follistim, 150 menopur, 0.3 Saizen HGH
ORAL: Dexamethason, baby asprin, CoQ10, and pre-nats
Next Monitoring? Tuesday May 27th
Est. ER & ET: June 5th and June 8th for 3dt
My baseline was this morning and I figure "everything is going according to plan" as I stopped suppression meds on Sunday, got AF on Wednesday so today is day three for baseline. But I brought in my HGH (human growth hormone) med because it's the one I've never used in the past and couldn't figure out how I'd inject it. So I thought my nurses could instruct me. I pulled out what the pharmacy had special ordered for me and confused the hell out of my nurses.
AFC: 20 (9 on Left, 11 on Right)
E2: 63 (They want it below 100)
FSH: 9 (They wand it below 12)
LH: 2 (Want it less than 7)
P4: 0.4 (want it less than 1.0)
Since all the numbers are good I will be starting meds as planned tomorrow.
MED DOSES: INJECTS: 150 Follistim, 150 menopur, 0.3 Saizen HGH
ORAL: Dexamethason, baby asprin, CoQ10, and pre-nats
Next Monitoring? Tuesday May 27th
Est. ER & ET: June 5th and June 8th for 3dt
My baseline was this morning and I figure "everything is going according to plan" as I stopped suppression meds on Sunday, got AF on Wednesday so today is day three for baseline. But I brought in my HGH (human growth hormone) med because it's the one I've never used in the past and couldn't figure out how I'd inject it. So I thought my nurses could instruct me. I pulled out what the pharmacy had special ordered for me and confused the hell out of my nurses.
The pharm ordered me an "easy click pen" Which is if someone was taking the whole 8.8iu at once as one injection. I'm supposed to be taking it over the course of five days. There is no way to do it with this pen. My nurses were like "see if the pharm can crack the pen open for you" AND the amount of diluent in the pen is not the same amount needed...I need .25cc more as it only has 1.5 and I need 1.75. So my nurse said "ask for a 2cc vial of bacro water". I asked "If they don't have it, can I just use the extra diluent I have for menopur?" and she said YES.
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| The "easy click" pen I McGyver'ed open to get the vial out at the far left all encased in sealed plastic |
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| The meds I should have gotten |
I went to the pharmacy and A) they don't have diluent water vials there and B) They wouldn't crack the pen open for fear of damaging the vial. Since I work at that Tar.get I went and found a flat head screw driver and cracked it open myself (SCORE!) and came home to dilute it with my stuff. I want to get all three of my injects set to take to work tomorrow (I have to take them at night and I start work at 4pm tomorrow). Only after I did it - the med had white foaming bubbles (I swirled, not shaken the meds per instructions). Then I noticed the diluent for menopur is sodium chloride - and I was like OMG is that the same as the bacro water? Did I just waste a $700 drug?! A quick google search makes it seem like mixing HGH with sodium chloride is common, but no mention of the white foam I'm seeing. The foam filled up 80% of the little vial! Thick white foam!
Thankfully my nurse called back, said she understood if I did not feel comfortable taking it and as luck would have it, she had one she could donate to me from some who had a canceled cycle. She said it was a Godsend because they *never* have this drug to donate, because it's not like FSH drugs where you order a little more just in case. This drug is "take this and throw out" (as it's not good 14 days after mixing the two).
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
No title comes to mind - mishmash
First off - let me say my last post about Mother's Day... Boy was this year different than all the rest. Jokes on me I guess. I had made it through all those other Mothers Days as if it was just another day, only maybe slightly sadder than any other day. This year? Yeah - I did have the first cry on the holiday ever. I honestly believe if I had been home and not around people that were not family I would have been fine. But working the early hours of Mothers Day at Target? Yeah, that SUCKED!!!! I figured "oh, it will be really quiet as people will be at church or brunch or family plans for the day." Tons of fathers and or sons are massive last minute shoppers! AND nice bastards that they are, I had a few ask if I was a mother. The first one who asked, I said "Just a mother of angels" and started to tear up as he said he was sorry and wished me a happy mothers day.
Knife - heart. Stab....twist.
So the next few, I simply said no as it was easier. And then when a co-worker friend of mine asked why I was in a bad mood I went off on him. "Why?!? Because it's mother's day and I should be seven months pregnant celebrating my miracle and instead Jennyfer gets the day off 'cause she *is* a mom and I have to work surrounded by women enjoying their day or people buying things to celebrates moms. And what do I get? Just reminders that all I have is dead babies." Que ugly crying. At work. Kill me. Just kill me. But, I took a few minutes in my office, cleaned myself up and finished the day at 3pm. Came home and felt fine. Went to dinner with MIL and SIL and family and felt fine. It really was the situation I believe. But no matter what, next year if I am not a mom and still working at Target? I'm taking that damn day off as a mental health day that is for fucking sure.
House Hunting....well we found another house. That I liked more than the first one we put an offer in on. And were outbid. It took four days of them dragging it out to finally hear that yeah, there was a higher offer...they were just using us as "back up" if it falls through. Bastards, you could have been more forthcoming. Oh well. So back to the drawing board of searching.
IVF - what to hear how out of it I am? I accidentally didn't realize that when I donated my left over follistim after my first IVF (because we thought we'd never be able to afford to cycle again) that I gave away the applicator pen too. So here I sit, ready to start injections this Saturday only to realize I have no way to get the drugs into my body. Thank goodness I realized it today, emailed my nurse, and they have an applicator pen laying around the office. Whew. I thought I was going to have to beg one of the #75strong to overnight me the darn applicator pen or call pharmacies like mad tomorrow. But yeah, baseline is Friday. Meds start Saturday. I'll update stats after baseline.
With all the stress of the home buying and upcoming IVF - I'm totally lazy not wanting to cook. Anyone else? I feel like others (on the boards and FB) seem to eat out or not cook anywhere nears as often as we do (we cook at least six nights a week). So I'm feeling guilty that I don't want to cook tonight, esp. since I didn't cook last Friday and I want to go out to dinner this Friday. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get over the guilt eventually....
Knife - heart. Stab....twist.
So the next few, I simply said no as it was easier. And then when a co-worker friend of mine asked why I was in a bad mood I went off on him. "Why?!? Because it's mother's day and I should be seven months pregnant celebrating my miracle and instead Jennyfer gets the day off 'cause she *is* a mom and I have to work surrounded by women enjoying their day or people buying things to celebrates moms. And what do I get? Just reminders that all I have is dead babies." Que ugly crying. At work. Kill me. Just kill me. But, I took a few minutes in my office, cleaned myself up and finished the day at 3pm. Came home and felt fine. Went to dinner with MIL and SIL and family and felt fine. It really was the situation I believe. But no matter what, next year if I am not a mom and still working at Target? I'm taking that damn day off as a mental health day that is for fucking sure.
House Hunting....well we found another house. That I liked more than the first one we put an offer in on. And were outbid. It took four days of them dragging it out to finally hear that yeah, there was a higher offer...they were just using us as "back up" if it falls through. Bastards, you could have been more forthcoming. Oh well. So back to the drawing board of searching.
IVF - what to hear how out of it I am? I accidentally didn't realize that when I donated my left over follistim after my first IVF (because we thought we'd never be able to afford to cycle again) that I gave away the applicator pen too. So here I sit, ready to start injections this Saturday only to realize I have no way to get the drugs into my body. Thank goodness I realized it today, emailed my nurse, and they have an applicator pen laying around the office. Whew. I thought I was going to have to beg one of the #75strong to overnight me the darn applicator pen or call pharmacies like mad tomorrow. But yeah, baseline is Friday. Meds start Saturday. I'll update stats after baseline.
With all the stress of the home buying and upcoming IVF - I'm totally lazy not wanting to cook. Anyone else? I feel like others (on the boards and FB) seem to eat out or not cook anywhere nears as often as we do (we cook at least six nights a week). So I'm feeling guilty that I don't want to cook tonight, esp. since I didn't cook last Friday and I want to go out to dinner this Friday. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get over the guilt eventually....
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Thoughts on Mothers Day
So for many IF and Loss women, Mothers Day is really tough.
And I get it. I do. I've survived four of them since starting TTC. It's hard. But here's the thing for me. It's not unbearable. For 30 years of my life, Mothers Day was about celebrating my mom. We didn't live near relatives, so there was nothing we did other than celebrate my mom. And we didn't go over the top. In many ways - it was a day like any other Sunday. Except that we'd have picked out a gift especially for mom and a card. And we'd try to be a little nicer, a little more thankful. And so when I was an adult and moved far away - the day was still similar. I'd call, having sent a gift and card. But much of the day was an ordinary Sunday in May. So why should it now have so much more meaning?
These past five years, sure I've thought "I'll be celebrating mother's day myself next year" full of hope for the future. But I keep coming more and more to terms that it may not be true. That next year could be just like this one. No child in my arms - only next year it would be the realization that it really is never happening. But I think (*think* being the operative word here) that it will be ok. Because I have not built it up so much. It's a brunch with MIL and SIL. Or remembering to get my mom's pedicure set up. It's just another hallmark holiday people.
The bigger picture is what saddens me. The never hearing that first laugh. Or seeing them in their first halloween costume that they picked out themselves. Or putting bandaids on their boo-boos. Their first day of school. Their first date. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's the nothingness that extends beyond a day a year but every day of every year for the rest of my life. And yes, I've been trying to come to terms with that the last two years. The nothingness of it all. And I'm making baby steps.
But I think that biggest step can't be taken or even really grasped until the final decision is made. The "this is the end" moment of treatment. Because I still have that hope we don't get there. But I'm trying to become as prepared as I guess is possible for someone.
But above all - I know that everyone handles everything in their own way. So if you're having a hard week. Or if Sunday you're trying to get through the day without big ugly crying. That's OK. Do what ever you have to do. But for me, I remember the last four years being a little sad here and there - but mainly just another day.
And I get it. I do. I've survived four of them since starting TTC. It's hard. But here's the thing for me. It's not unbearable. For 30 years of my life, Mothers Day was about celebrating my mom. We didn't live near relatives, so there was nothing we did other than celebrate my mom. And we didn't go over the top. In many ways - it was a day like any other Sunday. Except that we'd have picked out a gift especially for mom and a card. And we'd try to be a little nicer, a little more thankful. And so when I was an adult and moved far away - the day was still similar. I'd call, having sent a gift and card. But much of the day was an ordinary Sunday in May. So why should it now have so much more meaning?
These past five years, sure I've thought "I'll be celebrating mother's day myself next year" full of hope for the future. But I keep coming more and more to terms that it may not be true. That next year could be just like this one. No child in my arms - only next year it would be the realization that it really is never happening. But I think (*think* being the operative word here) that it will be ok. Because I have not built it up so much. It's a brunch with MIL and SIL. Or remembering to get my mom's pedicure set up. It's just another hallmark holiday people.
The bigger picture is what saddens me. The never hearing that first laugh. Or seeing them in their first halloween costume that they picked out themselves. Or putting bandaids on their boo-boos. Their first day of school. Their first date. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's the nothingness that extends beyond a day a year but every day of every year for the rest of my life. And yes, I've been trying to come to terms with that the last two years. The nothingness of it all. And I'm making baby steps.
But I think that biggest step can't be taken or even really grasped until the final decision is made. The "this is the end" moment of treatment. Because I still have that hope we don't get there. But I'm trying to become as prepared as I guess is possible for someone.
But above all - I know that everyone handles everything in their own way. So if you're having a hard week. Or if Sunday you're trying to get through the day without big ugly crying. That's OK. Do what ever you have to do. But for me, I remember the last four years being a little sad here and there - but mainly just another day.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
House Hunting in detail
So the funniest thing about Jeff and I is how we are totally the same person - just he's the male and I'm the female. But we really share one brain and therefore we've hardly ever fought. We're coming up on our 5th anniversary, six years living together, seven years knowing each other...and aside from some little spats on finances stemming from me feeling like crap from leaving my career job to move here and not finding anything that pays well (and Jeff trying to convince me it will be OK and my job does not define me) - we can't think of a single fight we've had. It's kind of spooky sometimes how we think alike.
But damn if it doesn't come in handy when house hunting! We share a brain people!
We agreed we want a 3 bedroom, two and a half bath with attached garage. After that it's not must have but wish list.
Wish List
Master Bath en-suite has double vanity and if possible separate shower & soaker tub (which became the "norm" in the 90's so it's not too uncommon in the 'newer' areas of our town).
Walk in Closet in Master
Basement (either full or half, finished or unfinished we don't really care but we want something).
Open concept for at least the kitchen/living room
Hard wood floors on the main floor (or really good looking laminate)
And we don't like one story ranch or split levels if at all possible we want a traditional two story
And a kitchen without linoleum
Deck or paver patio already done would save us money & time
Well we found a house - and it has everything above. And cathedral vaulted ceilings in the entry way/living room, AND the bedroom! And high beautiful windows! And a bonus of an office on the main floor.
The only funky part of the house is just off the family room, they installed (repurposed) the closet doors to an office which was originally just an open archway...and for the closet doors they hung a curtain. Jeff and I were talking and he said he'd want to move the closet doors back to the closet, and turn the archway into french doors to close off the office but still have it semi-open. That is EXACTLY what I had thought! Down to the french doors. Ah, thank you same brain!
The problem? We said we could take our time finding a house. And we've only seen five houses. And I'm already falling in love. Like seriously people - I'm painting and decorating in my mind. And it's listed above our budget - but not by much and since it's a short sale we have high hopes we can get that price lowered by 15%. But can we? Our realtor thinks it's fairly realistic, but then it has to be approved not only from the sellers but the bank as well since it's a short sale. And it's only been on the market for 18 days so it's not been out there long. I need to remember this house could go away and be someone elses. Sigh. We're going to try and see it again on Tuesday with my FIL who spent his life as a carpenter to see if he sees any red flags. If no, we'll put in an offer and cross our fingers.
But look how pretty!
But damn if it doesn't come in handy when house hunting! We share a brain people!
We agreed we want a 3 bedroom, two and a half bath with attached garage. After that it's not must have but wish list.
Wish List
Master Bath en-suite has double vanity and if possible separate shower & soaker tub (which became the "norm" in the 90's so it's not too uncommon in the 'newer' areas of our town).
Walk in Closet in Master
Basement (either full or half, finished or unfinished we don't really care but we want something).
Open concept for at least the kitchen/living room
Hard wood floors on the main floor (or really good looking laminate)
And we don't like one story ranch or split levels if at all possible we want a traditional two story
And a kitchen without linoleum
Deck or paver patio already done would save us money & time
Well we found a house - and it has everything above. And cathedral vaulted ceilings in the entry way/living room, AND the bedroom! And high beautiful windows! And a bonus of an office on the main floor.
The only funky part of the house is just off the family room, they installed (repurposed) the closet doors to an office which was originally just an open archway...and for the closet doors they hung a curtain. Jeff and I were talking and he said he'd want to move the closet doors back to the closet, and turn the archway into french doors to close off the office but still have it semi-open. That is EXACTLY what I had thought! Down to the french doors. Ah, thank you same brain!
The problem? We said we could take our time finding a house. And we've only seen five houses. And I'm already falling in love. Like seriously people - I'm painting and decorating in my mind. And it's listed above our budget - but not by much and since it's a short sale we have high hopes we can get that price lowered by 15%. But can we? Our realtor thinks it's fairly realistic, but then it has to be approved not only from the sellers but the bank as well since it's a short sale. And it's only been on the market for 18 days so it's not been out there long. I need to remember this house could go away and be someone elses. Sigh. We're going to try and see it again on Tuesday with my FIL who spent his life as a carpenter to see if he sees any red flags. If no, we'll put in an offer and cross our fingers.
But look how pretty!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Nashville Trip and House Hunters
So I wanted to go back and recount our trip that I had talked about...
We had heard about the group bus trip to Nashville for the last regular season Blackhawk hockey game back in early December. At the time, I was hesitant...would I want to be on a bus with 40 drunks while 6 months pregnant? But after the miscarriage I knew it was something to look forward to in the greyness that had consumed my head post loss - and it was.
So we had 44 people on a bus. I won't go into all that went a little wrong on the way there except to say our bus driver had a bad GPS and no common sense causing what should have been an 8 hour trip leaving at 6am into a 10 hour trip leaving at 6:45am. We hit both Chicago rush hour leaving and Nashville rush hour arriving. But we made it. And I had a few Bloody Mary's, jello shots, and vodka soaked cherries along the way to make the trip more enjoyable.
The game. OMG the game. You would not believe how many Hawk fans too over Nashville. It was a sea of red in that town and everywhere we went people would see us in our gear and yell out "GO Hawks!" Our friend Skippy came through with awesome seats! We were just six rows off the ice. I was six rows away from my Hockey husband Patrick Sharp!! I may have been *that* obnoxious fan for some of the game. A Predator fan sitting in front of us made a comment about "Oh, he didn't get the puck, that's SAD." as a play on words for a guy on our team named Saad. I loudly stated "It's pronounced SOD you dumbass!" and got our whole section laughing. Yes, we ended up losing 7 to 5 but it was a good game none the less. And hell, we had already made it to the play off and they didn't. And our two best players Kane and Towes were out injured so oh well.
And we bar hopped on Broadway. You don't fully grasp the idea of "music town" until you've seen 11 band in just six bars in one night. All amazing singers. Here are a few shots from our adventure.
And the big news from this week?
WE WERE APPROVED FOR A HOME LOAN!!!!
Yes - our six years of paying off all credit card debt (and it was huge people), Jeff's Law School Student loan, two cars, and over $35,000 in medical bills (over 20K in IF expenses) has finally put us in a financially stable spot. Sometimes I think back and can't believe all the money we've shelled out these last few years to get us to this point but we did it! The only debt we currently have is one car. And we can now start HOUSE HUNTING!!!
Because we've lived here in our townhouse for over six years, and our landlord loves us and is awesome he is letting us make a deal with him since our lease is technically up in two weeks... We are signing a six month lease - but it has a clause that we can get out of it no problem with two months notice. We figure with closing time and not having to pay the first month you own a house this is enough time. So the search has begun! But we're not in a huge rush as we know IVF is just around the corner and we can take our time since there is no crunch to get it done before our lease is up. We hope to be getting a tour of a few we found on line already by this weekend or early next week. This should be an interesting adventure. I'll keep you updated for sure.
We had heard about the group bus trip to Nashville for the last regular season Blackhawk hockey game back in early December. At the time, I was hesitant...would I want to be on a bus with 40 drunks while 6 months pregnant? But after the miscarriage I knew it was something to look forward to in the greyness that had consumed my head post loss - and it was.
So we had 44 people on a bus. I won't go into all that went a little wrong on the way there except to say our bus driver had a bad GPS and no common sense causing what should have been an 8 hour trip leaving at 6am into a 10 hour trip leaving at 6:45am. We hit both Chicago rush hour leaving and Nashville rush hour arriving. But we made it. And I had a few Bloody Mary's, jello shots, and vodka soaked cherries along the way to make the trip more enjoyable.
The game. OMG the game. You would not believe how many Hawk fans too over Nashville. It was a sea of red in that town and everywhere we went people would see us in our gear and yell out "GO Hawks!" Our friend Skippy came through with awesome seats! We were just six rows off the ice. I was six rows away from my Hockey husband Patrick Sharp!! I may have been *that* obnoxious fan for some of the game. A Predator fan sitting in front of us made a comment about "Oh, he didn't get the puck, that's SAD." as a play on words for a guy on our team named Saad. I loudly stated "It's pronounced SOD you dumbass!" and got our whole section laughing. Yes, we ended up losing 7 to 5 but it was a good game none the less. And hell, we had already made it to the play off and they didn't. And our two best players Kane and Towes were out injured so oh well.
And we bar hopped on Broadway. You don't fully grasp the idea of "music town" until you've seen 11 band in just six bars in one night. All amazing singers. Here are a few shots from our adventure.
 |
| Us at the game |
 |
| Us outside three story bar Honky Tonks Central |
 |
| Look how close I was to Sharpie!!! |
 |
| Up close of my hockey husband |
And the big news from this week?
WE WERE APPROVED FOR A HOME LOAN!!!!
Yes - our six years of paying off all credit card debt (and it was huge people), Jeff's Law School Student loan, two cars, and over $35,000 in medical bills (over 20K in IF expenses) has finally put us in a financially stable spot. Sometimes I think back and can't believe all the money we've shelled out these last few years to get us to this point but we did it! The only debt we currently have is one car. And we can now start HOUSE HUNTING!!!
Because we've lived here in our townhouse for over six years, and our landlord loves us and is awesome he is letting us make a deal with him since our lease is technically up in two weeks... We are signing a six month lease - but it has a clause that we can get out of it no problem with two months notice. We figure with closing time and not having to pay the first month you own a house this is enough time. So the search has begun! But we're not in a huge rush as we know IVF is just around the corner and we can take our time since there is no crunch to get it done before our lease is up. We hope to be getting a tour of a few we found on line already by this weekend or early next week. This should be an interesting adventure. I'll keep you updated for sure.
Monday, April 21, 2014
NIAW Video for 2014 and other things...
It's that time of year again dear readers! It's National Infertility Awareness Week!
If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, you must be new around my blog or the IF world - check out previous April posts the last three years for great info, videos, etc if you want to see what I've done in the past or "come out" of the IF closet.
As for this year, I made my annual video (second year in a row where I'm honoring my support group). But what's nice about this year, is as a group we're not just trying to raise awareness but we're also trying to raise money for Resolve.org. It's taking that additional step! Link to this years video
First up was Jamberry nail wraps. A friend of one of my group made up a few designs to choose from with 20% of the proceeds going to our resolve fundraising. A handful of us I think got them, I can understand not everyone wants to wear their "advocacy" on their nails all out and proud if you will. But me? My nails have become like billboards these last few months. I did four leaf clovers for St. Pats. And last two weeks for the Blackhawks trip? Please (Man, I should do a whole other blog post on that trip). So these is what I picked - the "graffiti" design. My right thumb has "Infertility" "Warrior" stamped on it - LOVE IT! And I'm sure I'll have people ask about my nails, as they always do when I have something different...so this just gives me an opportunity to talk to even complete strangers during NIAW.
Next the Auction & Donation pages. If you are on FB look for us as: 75Strong Supporting Resolve.
There are items up for bid (Bidding starts on Friday the 25th of this month) There is jewelry, cookies, wall art, even a Coach clutch, etc donated to the auction.THIS is a link to that facebook page. For straight up donations you can find us HERE. I joked that even if just us in the 75 strong each donated $15 we would exceed our goal! But we're hoping to get outside donations as well - and we also know some in our group are dealing with financial hardships from IF costs or cancer treatments, divorce, etc what have you. So even if all you can give is $1 - every dollar helps build toward our goal.
This money will go to Resolve.org and then be matched. And the money is specifically for setting up support groups throughout the country. So others can know the love and support like I feel from my girls. WOOHOO!!
So happy for NIAW! While it's something that comes from immense pain, it makes me feel so good inside to know that our pain can turn into something good. The silver lining if you will.
So I've got my video, my nails, my FB and Instagram posts, our group's auction & fundraising, and I shared our story to another loss gal's NIAW blog-swap. (Will post a link when it's up).
I am feeling EMPOWERED!
If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, you must be new around my blog or the IF world - check out previous April posts the last three years for great info, videos, etc if you want to see what I've done in the past or "come out" of the IF closet.
As for this year, I made my annual video (second year in a row where I'm honoring my support group). But what's nice about this year, is as a group we're not just trying to raise awareness but we're also trying to raise money for Resolve.org. It's taking that additional step! Link to this years video
First up was Jamberry nail wraps. A friend of one of my group made up a few designs to choose from with 20% of the proceeds going to our resolve fundraising. A handful of us I think got them, I can understand not everyone wants to wear their "advocacy" on their nails all out and proud if you will. But me? My nails have become like billboards these last few months. I did four leaf clovers for St. Pats. And last two weeks for the Blackhawks trip? Please (Man, I should do a whole other blog post on that trip). So these is what I picked - the "graffiti" design. My right thumb has "Infertility" "Warrior" stamped on it - LOVE IT! And I'm sure I'll have people ask about my nails, as they always do when I have something different...so this just gives me an opportunity to talk to even complete strangers during NIAW.
Next the Auction & Donation pages. If you are on FB look for us as: 75Strong Supporting Resolve.
There are items up for bid (Bidding starts on Friday the 25th of this month) There is jewelry, cookies, wall art, even a Coach clutch, etc donated to the auction.THIS is a link to that facebook page. For straight up donations you can find us HERE. I joked that even if just us in the 75 strong each donated $15 we would exceed our goal! But we're hoping to get outside donations as well - and we also know some in our group are dealing with financial hardships from IF costs or cancer treatments, divorce, etc what have you. So even if all you can give is $1 - every dollar helps build toward our goal.
This money will go to Resolve.org and then be matched. And the money is specifically for setting up support groups throughout the country. So others can know the love and support like I feel from my girls. WOOHOO!!
So happy for NIAW! While it's something that comes from immense pain, it makes me feel so good inside to know that our pain can turn into something good. The silver lining if you will.
So I've got my video, my nails, my FB and Instagram posts, our group's auction & fundraising, and I shared our story to another loss gal's NIAW blog-swap. (Will post a link when it's up).
I am feeling EMPOWERED!
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