An infertile girl's guide to sewing for fertile friends

That wouldn't make a bad blog title, would it?  Maybe I should branch out...  ;)

A while ago I shared the story that my BIL's girlfriend was pregnant.  Well, my new nephew has arrived.  (I won't get to meet him until the summer.)  Not long after his birth, his parents were married at the courthouse.  I was surprised that it happened so quickly.  DH found out about the wedding plans from his mom just a few days before the wedding, so there was no possible way for us to make the trip...but we weren't technically invited.  We live far away, so it didn't bother us so much but the rest of the siblings live within an hour or two so the trip would have been easy for them...  I guess they wanted a really small group—only both sets of parents and one sibling attended.

Back before my nephew was born, I had planned to sew something for the new mom.  I was going to make her a breastfeeding wrap which I have seen friends use and rave about—the nice kind with the rigid top so you can see the baby easily (which can cost up to $35 online)—but I could not get confirmation that she would be breastfeeding...so I needed a plan B.  What I came up with was: burp cloths.  It seems trendy moms have decorated burp cloths because that is so much more fun than a plain one.  I really don't know if this is true or if the gazillion crafting ladies' blogs just say so because it's an easy sewing project.  ;)  If I had a baby, I would think ease of washing or sheer volume of cloths would trump how cute the cloth looked.  However, I will not underestimate the power that pretty things have to boost one's mood...and once I finished them, I wanted to keep them because they were pretty darn cute.  I tried to get DH to brainstorm with me how we could use them...no luck.  Well, if nothing else, these (10) cloths will add to the quantity she has so she can do laundry less.  :)





I guess I can't start a blog on sewing for fertile people until I have a fertile friend give me all the inside information on what's practical and what's not...  ;)

Up next: laparoscopy

I had an appointment with the NaPro surgeon Dr. C this week.  My surgery is all planned out and will include: laparoscopy, HSG, and removal of a uterine septum.  He said I'll be back to work within a week.  It's a big step, but I am excited to rule out (or rule in and treat!) several diagnoses all at once—endo, open/blocked tubes, polyp, etc.

The appointment itself went well.  Dr. C reviewed the last four months of charting just in case there was anything he missed that we could try before surgery.  He said if I wanted to we could try ovulation inducers (Clomid or Femara) for 3-6 months as an alternative way to improve post-peak progesterone (by improving follicle quality you improve corpus luteum quality).  But he preferred (and I agreed) to do surgery first because it might get us closer to figuring out the cause of the bleeding...and he also wants the septum gone asap.  Usually if a septum is going to cause a problem, it would cause miscarriage, but it's possible it could be playing a role in our infertility.

Dr. C's current theory as to the cause of my crazy bleeding is possible adenomyosis (endo within the uterine wall).  I have wondered that for a while as well.  A couple years ago I even asked my non-NaPro ob/gyn if he thought I could possibly have adenomyosis when we were looking into my unusual bleeding.  (He looked at me like I had two heads when I asked that.)  I am not a medical expert but when a girl happens to own the NaPro textbook and notices that her chart looks strikingly similar to the sample chart from a woman with adenomyosis, she starts to wonder these things...  ;)  Unfortunately adenomyosis is tough to diagnosis without removing the uterus.  Sometimes if it's superficial it can be visible during a laparoscopy—there's a picture in the NaPro textbook.  Dr. C also said it can appear on MRI.  I did have an MRI last year, and the report didn't mention it...

Dr. C said it would be about three months before he could fit me in his surgery schedule.  However, the scheduler called me yesterday, and the first available date is in February!  My surgery is on 2/21—that's six weeks from now!!  It's probably good that it's scheduled so soon so I have less time to be nervous.  :)  It feels good to be making progress!

15 minutes of fame for IF bloggers

Have you seen this article at Our Sunday Visitor?  If not, go check it out.  It's a really nice piece that highlights some of the IF bloggers.

Catholic women struggling with infertility form online community