02.15.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:15 pm by kellgaston
It’s been busy, as usual. I spent all my spare time this week preparing for the Valentine’s dinner at church. 14 to 16 people RSVPd. 6 people showed up. A little frustrating. Not totally surprising, though.
I was out of the office two days this week — one for a workshop and the other for a field trip to T&lsa. It was nice to be out and about. The workshop will be very helpful as well.
The appraisal for the house finally happened on Tuesday. Thankfully, it appraised for what we needed. But, because the bank was running so behind, the interest rates changed. It makes me pretty upset because we were ready to lock the rate in last week.
Baby is really trying to get some teeth. You can finally feel bumps beneath the surface. Unfortunately he has been spitting up a lot as a result.
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02.10.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:35 pm by kellgaston
I thought I’d share a few of our latest pictures.
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02.08.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:33 pm by kellgaston
There’s been a lot of bad news lately in the infertile blog world. Most recently, Mary Ellen and Steve (maryellenandsteve.wordpress.com) come to mind. Their story is heartbreaking. At 19 weeks gestation, they lost their triplets after ME came down with a severe infection (caused by the cerclage required for her incompetent cervix). I can’t even imagine what they’re going through. It’s hard to even know what to pray for for them — just that they be surrounded by God’s love and . . . held.
We are so fortunate to have a happy, healthy baby.
But their situation also makes me angry. 1) One of my co-worker has an adopted daughter. In the last few weeks, that little girl’s birth mother had another little girl (her sixth live birth — she’s had multiple abortions). This woman is a fugitive from the law, a meth addict, and all around, LOSER. And she’s had multiple “healthy” babies — if meth addicted = healthy. 2) One of the reasons that infertiles often end up with multiples in the first place is that you literally have to “put all your eggs in one basket.” Because treatment is so expensive, you put back more embryos or try IUI instead of IVF. IVF is the best treatment for problems like ours. There are fewer question marks — you decide how many embryos to transfer. With IUI, it’s a gamble. You have no control over how many follicles you have. You can end up with one baby or 6, like the Goslins. In a more perfect world, IVF would be covered, and because it was covered by insurance, couples would only transfer one embryo, more effectively limiting the number of possible babies, as well as the risks to mom and baby. And to the family — because 70% of couples with multiples end up divorced. Not good.
In other news . . . there are a lot of idiots in Oklahoma. Today, the Oklahoma Health Department (the state agency across the street from me), again extolled the benefits of breastfeeding, encouraging employers to make it easier for their breastfeeding moms to express milk. At the end of the article was a comment section. I made the mistake of reading the comments (www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080207_1__OKLAH00833). OMG! One person said that the thought of someone pumping at work was “disgusting” and made her “want to puke.” Another said that nursing was a “personal problem” that should be “left at the door.” One commenter said that allowing women to pump was just asking for a sexual harassment law suit and that really, women were just looking for ways to slack off. I couldn’t help myself, I had to comment. It is just mindboggling the misinformation that is out there.
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02.07.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:49 pm by kellgaston
I recently read a post at alittlepregnant on abortion. I’ve always been opposed. Infertility only strengthened that belief. That anyone could take the life of a child, no matter how small, and by choice is inconceivable. Regardless of the circumstance, I cannot understand it. Abortion should never be necessary in this day and age. It’s an issue that should be a non-issue. Now responsibility, that’s the real issue.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:42 pm by kellgaston
I have been physically sick today thinking about the baby in Tennessee or Arkansas — one of those places hit by a tornado — who was found in the field. It is miraculous that he is alive. That poor mother. She was probably only thinking of him.
I wanted to hurry home and see baby and hug him.
We’re so building a nice big shelter at the next house.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:38 pm by kellgaston
I’ve seen several political related posts on infertility blogs recently and thought I’d join in, as a former poli-sci minor and lover of politics.
I was raised by democrat registered republicans. That’s just how it is here in Oklahoma. If you want to participate in local politics, you register as a democrat.
Except I refused to do that. For years, I was a republican. Oh, how naive I was. Alzheimer’s changed that. When I moved to OKC, I went to register, but forgot to mark the party. So, I was an independent for a while. Now, I’m a registered democrat. But, I’m still really conservative, except I am for universal health care with infertility coverage for all!
But in my field, I see a lot of federal projects come through. And I tend to ask why my tax dollars are going to do this or that. I don’t think it’s the federal government’s responsibility to finance a water tower for this town, or to build a new house for this person. Dh says I care more about old buildings than living people. That’s not really true. I just think that sometimes, the federal government takes on a little too much. And that people should be responsible for themselves. Ultimately, I believe that you should do for one whatever you do for another. So, if the government wants to provide X for this person, they should provide X for every person. Liberte, egalite, fraternite.
On Tuesday, I wasted my vote. I knew I was doing it. I voted for a fellow infertile, even though his campaign had been suspended. I was trying to make a statement, though it seems as though no one was listening.
But, now McCain looks as though he will be the republican nominee. I can live with him.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:28 pm by kellgaston
Baby has started taking baths in the real tub. He loves it.
I took him to watch dh play volleyball. Baby wanted to play too.
The damage to my car amounted to about 650.00. I’ve thought about calling the person who hit me, but I don’t think I can communicate with him.
The candidate officially accepted my former boss’s position. She should start the first of April or May. I’m actually fine with it. I just hope I can hold out at full-time till then.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday — and pizza day from my favorite pizza place.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:23 pm by kellgaston
Maybe I was a bit too hasty in my decision earlier this week. I’m going to give this format another try.
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02.03.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:34 pm by kellgaston
I really don’t know where to start. Last week was . . . crazy. So crazy that I forget what happened when.
Monday night was rough (or was it Sunday night? I can’t remember). Baby was up a lot. I was up with him three times and dh was up with him several times, then finally got up with him for good around 5:00.
Wednesday, I was rear ended just after I dropped baby off at Grandma’s. I’ve never been in an accident and wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I called dh, but he was at the gym and I got his voicemail. So, I called MIL. Then, 911 and was transferred to OHP. I was told to exchange info. The damage was minor to me, so that’s what I tried to do. But, there was a problem. The car that hit me was a big old white monte carlo. The driver did not speak English and had no insurance. Oh, what happened . . . I was in stop and go traffic and had to stop abruptly when the person in front of me stopped abruptly. The car behind me must not have been paying attention and slammed into me. Luckily, he couldn’t have been going very fast. My car held up amazingly well. I expected more damage. It was a surreal experience — to hear that loud crunch and be slung forward. My heart was racing and I had a slight headache, but that was it. I’ve filed a claim with my insurance, but we’re not going to spend the $500 deductible to fix my car. It can’t be worth much with the number of miles I have on it anyway.
Later Wednesday, my boss told me I was doing a good job. To me, that meant something “bad” was about to happen. It didn’t happen immediately, but on Friday, she did offer the NR coordinator position (the one I am doing temporarily) to the lady from NC. The lady from NC is supposed to let us know by Tuesday at noon. Maybe I’ll at least get the paycheck for two months.
Thursday night, dh went with me to the unveiling of the Preservati*on Oklahoma 2008 Most End*ngered List. Several of my projects were involved. It was an awkward event, filled with people I don’t know. I’m glad it’s over, but I was glad dh was able to be there with me.
Now, to what really made last week bad. I’ve mentioned that I’ve been angry a lot lately. A lot of my anger has to do with expectations I have not being met. Expectations I have of people. I’ve told myself to stop expecting things, but old habits are hard to break. Last week I was pretty upset with other people in my life. I can’t go into a lot of detail, because some of those people read this blog, but I’ve taken the advice from our Sunday school lesson this morning to make connections I wouldn’t normally want to make. I’ve made myself talk about things that really made me mad. The people I’m mad at are probably oblivious I’m even mad. I don’t know whether to say something or just let it go.
Thankfully, mom came on Thursday. We had a wonderful visit and I was able to get things done.
I’m glad last week is over. Whatever this next week brings, hopefully I’ll deal with it better.
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