Friday, July 30, 2010

You are not alone

A fellow IF-er posted this today on my IF board and I asked her permission to share it with you...

I try and thank all of you often, but I don’t know how to impress how deeply my thanks to you goes. I have come to learn the hard way that infertility is one of the most brutal inhumane, unrelenting battles a person can fight. Each disappointment feels like a small death. SO many dreams die when you are struggling to create a family. I was always one of those girls who stuffed pillows up her dress and pretended to be pregnant. It wasn’t just a dream, it was an inevitability. Of course I would fall in love, get married and get pregnant like everyone else. Why wouldn’t I? That’s how life works isn’t it? Not so much for me. I’m coming to grips with the fact that a big round belly doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me. I know that I will be a mother, but it’s still painful to let go of the dream that I will carry my own baby.


This is where you come in. Every time I see that doctor no matter how much I try and prepare myself for bad news it feels like someone has sliced my heart wide open. The pain is something I have only experienced when someone I love has died. The problem is that nobody has died. I am expected to pick myself up, dust myself off and head back to work. How am I supposed to go on with my life when a huge hole has been cut into my heart? This is where all of you come in. Over and over you immediately swoop in with your needles and thread and sew my heart back together. Each of you put a little stitch or two into my mangled heart and mend it with your love. Your constant and unwavering love heals my heart right back up and it’s stronger than ever. This battle has not weakened my heart, but made it stronger. It is thick and strong with all of the scars of this merciless struggle. My heart is this big huge patchwork quilt of your love. It is now stronger and capable of holding more love than ever thanks to all of your handiwork. I will never be able to thank you, especially my war buddies who rescue me over and over while they are still on the battlefield themselves. When we do welcome a baby into our family, because one way or another we will, it is going to be the luckiest child in the entire world to be loved by each and every one of you.


With all of that said, I am going to stop crying and I am going to go read my book of baby names because as sad as I am, you are all sewing away right now, I will be better shortly and I know that we will have a baby that will need a name very soon.

Monday, July 19, 2010

It's a...

GIRL! I was SHOCKED as I told Gregg that I was 90% sure we were having a boy! We both shed some tears & were so incredibly happy!

Little Hadley was adorable (we even got a yawn) and the doctor said she looked perfect (we thought so, too! Her heartbeat was 157 bpm and we're pretty sure she's going to be a little gymnast...just look at these legs up over her head!

I'll admit that I was a little disappointed that the u/s tech didn't give us a "girl" ultrasound shot, but I'm working on getting one elsewhere.

I've been feeling tons of movement in there lately which is SO exciting, and Gregg gets in at least one good kick a night!

I had an amazing time over the weekend and got all sorts of wonderful baby gifts for our little girl from my IF friends at our GTG. What amazing women - I had an awesome time & can't wait until we can do it again! I am so blessed!

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Rite Aid & CVS goodies

I had a great shopping trip out to Rite Aid & CVS again today. Take a look!

First I stopped at CVS. I got 6 SOBE LifeWaters, 1 Dawn Hand Renewal Detergent & 2 Old Spice Body Washes for $3.60.

The breakdown...
SOBE LifeWater on sale for BOGO & I had BOGO coupons - 6 bottles FREE (saved $10.14)
Dawn Hand Renewal Dish Detergent - on sale for $.99, had $1 coupon - FREE
Old Spice Body Wash on sale for 2/$7, coupon for BOGO - $1.75 each!

And at Rite-Aid, I did 3 separate transactions...

Transaction #1:
Zyrtec 30ct on sale for $18.99, $4 manufact. coupon, $1/$10 RA Allergy coupon = $13.99
(I stupidly thought that the Allergy rewards were still running, not realizing that they were done on the 26th of June, so I was bummed about that, thinking I would get a $5 RA gift card).
Edy's Ice Cream - $2.99 (got $1 UPR at check-out)
Used $5/$20 coupon
Total OOP $12

Transaction #2
Pampers Jumbo Pack $8.99, used $3 coupon (will get $2SCR) - $3.99
Tide w/ Febreze $5.99, used $1 coupon - $4.99
2 Gillette Body Washes on sale 2/$8, coupon for BOGO (will get $2SCR) - $1 each
2 Malt o Meal cereals on sale 2/$3 (got $1 UPR) - $3
Used $1 UPR
Used $5/$25 coupon
Total OOP $12.03

Transaction #3
Dawn Dish Detergent on sale for $.99, used $1 coupon - FREE
Crest ProHealth Toothpaste on sale for $2.99, used $1 coupon (got $2 UPR) - $1.99
Renu Sensitive on sale for $7.29, $2 RA coupon, $4 manufact. coup (+$7.29SCR) - $6 overage!
Glide Floss Twin Pack $5.99, $1 coupon (+$4 SCR) - $.99
Crest Mouth Rinse $4.99, $1 coupon (+$3 SCR) - $.99
Used $1/$10 Oral Care Products reward
Used $5/$20 RA Coupon
Total OOP $5.75

Total paid at Rite Aid today = $29.76
Received $4 UPR to use next time
Will get $18.29 in SCR
Total OOP = $11.47 on $93.47 (retail), an $82 savings!

I plan on going back tomorrow to redeem my $4 in UPR toward some skin care products so that I can qualify for $15 in RA gift cards w/ their skin care rewards program!