Hi everyone,
charlotte welcome, and sorry that you find yourself here. I hope your hospital appointment gives you some answers as to what is going on!
doll wow, Iran. Ken must indeed be James Bond! Here in DC, I have met a lot of people who have to move countries for work every few years, and I'm sure that it's incredibly stressful, even if you're used to it. You're my hero for managing it with IVF at the same time. Incidentally I wouldn't worry about the emotional stuff - who is to say what is normal and what isn't? I wouldn't put yourself under any pressure about feeling a certain way or not, you're handling everything absolutely brilliantly in very trying circumstances!
art I had those bruises from the tummy injections too. I found one thing that seemed to make a difference was trying to find a spot that wasn't just over a vein (I have see-through skin and can spot them fairly easily). They are not fun though, and I had it easy with the pen thing!
princess yay you're back. Don't go! I would love it if this thread could include our graduates, your pregnancies are so hard won, and it gives us all a lift that some of us make it through to the other side! Farting blood though, wtf? That really does not sound a barrel of laughs at all.
lemon Wow, another round of IUI coming up in December - that's exciting, a new chapter and a fresh start. I have every finger crossed for you to have a booze and Stilton-free Christmas.
buzz I agree with lemon, Kayla and the life coach seem to have brought joy and equanimity to you and I am so incredibly glad.
pout hurrah, welcome home, we have missed you! I would love to know more about your burgeoning craft empire. I have found that doing something creative is guaranteed to get me out of a funk, whether it's cooking, writing a poem, or making a birthday card. Exciting about the end of the IVF wait drawing nigh. It sounds like there will be a few of us - me and euro and maybe buzzy - doing it in early 2013, and it will be great to have another clammy paw to clutch at. It's been great to see the first wave of us going through it and managing so brilliantly, and it's got me kind of excited about the process, although I know it won't be easy at all.
mellow so sorry about the tears. I can totally relate to that feeling, the disbelief that it is happening and that it has come to this. But we will get through it, and as sar says, it takes a lot of courage to face this. You should be really proud of yourself. I'm glad that you're feeling a little better now.
mrsd well done on hiding the bump lady. And you are a legend for doing IVF over Christmas - really, that deserves a TTC gold medal! That sounds difficult. I hope you and your DH will at least get to do some romantic stuff sans family, watch Love Actually and drink hot chocolate and cuddle a bit.
sar oh honey your post about looking in the mirror was heartbreaking. It is so bloody unfair. I wish I could make this less painful for you. You've done so much for all of us but I'm not eloquent enough to say the right thing to give you comfort.
joy I concur with the others on the fishy smell, there is definitely a 'sex smell' that lingers around. Years ago I remember smelling it on a flatmate (who I was really close to). She had stayed out late the night before, and when we were chatting after she got back from seeing her bloke and had a bath, I detected the telltale shag aroma. Of course I told her I could smell that she'd been having sex and she was mortified ! I think it's pretty standard, right? But not if it's mega strong - although people's internal pHs and body chemistry might affect it, I guess? I don't know - worth investigating everything, I reckon. Hope you're feeling less sore and itchy and that things are still healing nicely.
Loving the Economist talk. MrC gets the New Yorker and will occasionally read an article to me in the bath but I find them too long to read on my own. I think if they were 30% shorter they'd be perfect. I get sick of them about three quarters of the way in. I love the Economist but it can get rather relentless the way it keeps on coming every week. Someone who worked there once told me that their subscription figures are higher than their readership, because so many offices subscribe as a matter of course, and then the copies just sit there, looking the part, without anyone picking them up.
Waves to everyone that I've missed. I'm going to go plant some daffodil and tulip bulbs, I think - it's finally got cold here and there are leaves all over the garden that I've been ignoring for weeks. And then I'm thinking of making a pear and blackberry crumble for an autumnal themed potluck party that I'm going to tonight. I might even start work on putting together my wedding album, only three years late, inspired by pout's crafty action! Hurrah for Saturdays.