It was October 6, 2004. The Ob/Gyn who had refused to discharge me from the hospital just 2 weeks earlier when I was 28 pregnant was standing at the foot of my bed in the labor and delivery unit. He was explaining my options, basically he had decided a c-section would be the best option if my contractions didn’t stop. I was only 30 weeks pregnant and not ready for my twins to enter this world so early, so small, and so vunerable.

A little while later the neonatologist from the Neonatal Intenstive Care Unit (NICU) walked into my room and sat down. She made herself comfortable, she was planning on staying awhile. She explained the equipment that my babies would be placed in and hooked up too. After telling me that 28 week babies have the same survival rate of a full-term baby, she started to explain all of the complications that my babies might experience since they were 10 weeks too soon. Within a matter of minutes I was both reassured and scared to death.

A few hours later my body decided it was time for my babies to arrive. The doctors and nurses couldn’t stop my contractions with medications. My contractions were so strong that Baby A started to crown before they got me on the operating table. They didn’t have time to prepare me for the spinal tap (thank God) and Baby A was born naturally. Baby B, on the other hand, was transverse so they had to place me under general anestesia for an emergency c-section. Baby A was 2 lbs 11.0 oz and Baby B was 2 lbs 9 oz. They were wisked away immediately after their birth, placed on ventilators and encapsulated in an incubator.

Eight hours after their birth I would find out that my twins were both girls and shortly thereafter I would see them for the first time. It was 24 hours after their birth before I would touch them for the first time. I remember asking the nurse when/if I could hold them. The next 7 weeks would be full of ups and downs. The NICU is a place of wonder, but also a place of emotional trials.

One of our daughters, Baby B, was what they call a “feeder/grower” as she had mostly good days in the NICU and was able to progress easily with feedings and into a big girl crib. She was the rock that helped keep me sane while Baby A struggled almost daily.

Baby A got sick at day 9. They diagnosed her with NEC - a preemie disease of the intestine. When she was 5 weeks old she had her first surgery to remove the damaged portion of her large intestine. She had 2 strictures in her intestines that were blocking food from reaching her stomach. After surgery she had a colostomy for a few months. At 6 months of age she had surgery to reverse the colostomy and she’s been healthy since. The weeks prior to and immediately after Baby A’s first surgery were some of the most difficult of my life. Many days I thought she was going to leave us. I lost count of the number of times I saw her bagged (a form of CPR) because she stopped breathing. I’m sure there were times that the nurses and doctors didn’t inform me of - sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Shortly after Baby A became ill my labor and delivery nurse was walking the halls of the NICU. I stopped her and showed her my precious girls. I told her about one of the times Baby A stopped breathing and her blood oxygen levels were 3 percent (they’re supposed to be above 95 percent). She told me that all new moms are afraid their babies aer going to die. While I can appreciate the fear of a new mom, thankfully few of you have or ever will experience what I have. It’s not something I would wish upon my worst enemy.

There are many moms who have lost their babies. My heart goes out to them as I cannot truly appreciate how heartbreaking it must be to lose a child. Over 540,000 babies are born premature each year. Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn deaths, yet it receives very little publicity. I only hope that someday infertility, loss, and prematurity will receive more attention and more dollars for research and prevention.

I’m lucky that both of my babies survived. I’m thankful each and every day of my life for my good luck!

1. Being a mom to my two little girls. (And a great big Thank You to the researchers and the medical community for the technologies that allowed me to get pregnant and that kept my girls alive when they were born too early).

2. A good husband. My husband supports me in all that I do, even when I’m not sure I should continue on, he’s cheering me all the way. He’s a great father too and that makes me adore him even more.

3. My mom. Who moved to be closer to my daughters so that she could create a strong relationship with them. It’s been a blessing to have her near. I’m going to miss her terribly when she moves back to Colorado in July 2009!

4. My in-laws. Although we’ve had our share of struggles, they have made an effort to have a pleasant relationship with me. They are good grandparents and a good auntie too. My sister-in-law even called me for advice recently - we’ve come a long way!

5.  All my relatives and friends. Life is never complete without friends and family to share in the good times as well as the bad.

6. The lessons I learn each day that challenge me and keep me motivated to do good for others.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. What are you thankful for?

As the holiday season approaches, I wish everyone a joyful holiday season. It’s a perfect time to reconnect with old friends, make new ones and bond with family members. It’s also a great time to tell people what is going on in your life so they can offer their love and support to help you through your rough patches.

Taking a different spin on Alisa’s article, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

Also, congratulations to Laurie at Quips and Tips for Couples Coping with Infertility for winning the November book giveaway, Hope Happens.

I recognize that people like to be noticed. They probably would have liked the article to be about them. But who cares which family is chosen for the article? What matters is that an article was written and the cause is being put into the public’s eye. Isn’t that what really matters? Most people don’t know that 540,000 babies are born premature each year. Any article on this topic is a good thing. Period.

In addition, the March of Dimes released their new report card on the United States. It seems to have gotten some attention as I’ve seen a lot of buzz via blogs and online news articles about how poorly we are doing as a nation with regard to these tiny citizens. Read more about the report card on the March of Dimes website.

Every time I see an article on infertility, premature babies or depression I am thankful that someone else is sharing their story. The more stories, the more people will start to talk about these issues that impact millions of people each year. All of these articles are about the CAUSE, not the individuals. An I hope to see a lot more of these articles, no matter which woman  or family is interviewed, so that one day infertility and premature babies get as much press as other diseases.

I’m not really surprised there has been little mention of November being a month to bring about awareness for premature babies. There was really no publicity for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which was October 15th. Or National Infertility Awarenss Week, which was October 19th-26th.

Why is it we give to little attention to infertility, loss, and premature babies, yet there is a ton of publicity for other medical issues? Can someone help me make sense of this?

P.S. To honor National Prematurity Awareness, I’m giving away 5 coupons for a free case, yes a full case, of Enfamil Lipil formula. The coupons expire 12/31/08 so you’ll need to take action fast. I’ll provide coupons to the first 5 people who email me with “Enfamil” in the subject line to info@twinpeas.com. I won’t use your email for any other purpose - I respect your privacy.

A friend of mine, Jimmy Moore at Livin La Vida Low Carb, and his wife have shared their story of infertility. I’m posting the links here for one reason - to show the male perspective of this disease. Although there are a few male bloggers discussing infertility, they are in the minority. One thing I didn’t do well was consider how our infertility journey impacted my husband. So, on the back end, I’m trying to make more of an effort to show that this is a difficult topic for them too.

When Jimmy found out it was male factor infertility, read here.

Jimmy and his wife considering IVF/ICSI, read here.

How the cost of IVF determines which route to go, read Jimmy’s thoughts here.

The decision to go forward with IVF, read here.

The medical realities of IVF, read about the medications and other details here.

The IVF treatment, pics and details here.

The results, the waiting game.

Thanks Jimmy for sharing your story on my blog!

Once we found out that we needed to consider IVF/ICSI in order to have a child his mindset changed. He still didn’t seem too upset that we would never be able to have a child via spontaneous conception (i.e., intercourse). In fact, he was of the opinion maybe he wasn’t meant to be a father. Again, he didn’t seem too upset that life had thrown him a curve. However, I wanted to be a mom and his “oh well” attitude didn’t sit well with me.

During our IVF cycle I could tell this laid-back guy was stressed out. He was nervous about the procedures, worried that we just threw a bunch of money at something that wasn’t guaranteed to work, and how all of this would impact our marriage. When we found out we were pregnant with twins, he was once again a little nervous about raising two kids at once.

But when I was admitted into the hospital for preterm labor, this guy who doesn’t get upset about much and approaches life with pure ease became overwhelmed. He wasn’t able to support me the way that I thought he should, but what I didn’t know at the time was that he was scared. He was scared for our unborn children, he was scared for me, and he was scared for himself.

I recently read an article about postpartum depression in men. At first I chuckled at the article, but by the time I got to the end I realized my husband had a lot more emotion about the entire process than I ever gave him credit for. For some men becoming a dad means they give up all of their freedoms. I know that was an issue for my husband. Once he found out he was infertile I think he started to imagine a life full of travel and toys free from anyone or anything holding him back.

The article stated that male postpartum depression is almost as common as womens postpartum. Again, I dismissed this until I started to think about how different women and men are. The postpartum might be very different for the sexes, but I have no doubt it is just as difficult for the men to process and admit as it is for women.

Do you know how your partner is doing?

Next week I’ll be posting two blogs about the male perspective. Since I was in this mindset already, an opportunity to share our story with another blogger who seeks input from other couples came my way. Funny how things work out sometimes… To read her article and the interview about male factor infertility go to, Quips and Tips for Couples Coping with Infertility.

First is a beautifully written article about how infertility hurts at Totally Her.

The second is an article about how mindset can sometimes control our destiny. I know that I often say to myself, “I don’t want to forget to _______” and I forget. After reading this article I’ll change my internal words to, “I need to remember to ______” so that the focus is on remembering and not forgetting. Great advice. There is also a short video to watch, called the Mind Movie. Want to get pregnant? Read more on the IVF Cost blog.

P.S. remember to leave a comment to win a free copy of Hope Happens.

At this time too, my marriage was falling apart. My husband was less than supportive of my needs and continually put the feelings and needs of his family in front of mine. Even though I felt betrayed at times, I needed my husband. I would call him multiple times per day and give him the latest updates on our girls. It wasn’t appropriate for me to dump all of this bad news on my friends. It was hard to call my mom because I’d start to cry the minute she answered the phone.

In the middle of the month our ill daughter had surgery to remove part of her large intestine. Without the surgery she would have died. Watching a 5 week old, 4 lb baby being wheeled away to surgery was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had. I paced and worried the whole time she was in surgery, but she returned and we were looking forward to her recovery. However, her first 3 days after surgery were the worst 3 days of her life (except for the day she first became ill when they gave her pain meds and she stopped breathing before the doctors had the vent attached…). She wasn’t getting better and I was devastated. But by the 4th day she started to show improvement and two weeks after surgery she came home with us.

The day we brought our twins home was Thanksgiving. It should have been a joyous occasion, but it wasn’t. Misunderstandings, hurt feelings, miscommunications, and much more turned this holiday into a horrid day that ended up lasting for months.

Many times people get so caught up in their hurt feelings or opinions and forget what is going on with others. In our instance, no one was giving us (especially me) credit for all of the stress of infertility and then premature babies. They were focused only on what I did, and not the circumstances or events that took place prior to my actions (long story…). When it should have been about my daughters it was about them.

As the holiday season approaches remember that everyone is doing the best they can with the knowledge available to them. We could have avoided many of the mishaps of our Thanksgiving disaster if we had communicated better with my husband’s family. Also, we (especially me) should have established some rules - as horrible as that sounds it would have saved a lot of heartache and arguments - a safe space and safe topics.

Four years later I approach the upcoming holiday with apprehension, but also with an open mind. My relationship with the in-laws is better and we are able to enjoy family gatherings. Create a space that works for you - it’s amazing how this one small change spurred positive changes in my interactions with the in-laws.

P.S. Enter to win a free copy of Hope Happens, just leave a comment between now and Nov. 15th. This book has great quotes to inspire and calm you as you prepare for the crazy holiday season.

The rules: leave a comment between Nov. 1st and Nov. 15th on any post to be entered into the drawing.

As the holiday season approaches many of us may find it stressful when dealing with family and friends. This book will offer you inspiration quotes to get you through the holidays.

So, step 1- call mom to figure out how long I should boil the eggs. Generally I don’t make hard boiled eggs so even at 30+ y/o (closer to 40-yikes!), I had to call mom for advice.

Step 2- make lunch and eat it while waiting for the eggs to boil. I notice there are 10 minutes left on the timer so I decide I can go pay my bills online while I wait for the timer. Forgetting that if I turn my iTunes on I won’t be able to hear said timer. Jam away at Seether.

While plugging away at reconciling my bank account I hear this “POP” and think to myself, what was that? All of a sudden it hits me - I was boiling eggs. Oh sh*t. I bolt out of my office into the kitchen to find a huge mess. There was egg (only one exploded out of the four in the pot) everywhere. I found egg on the wall behind the stove, on the floor - 10 feet away and over the counter tops, on the underside of the microwave and cupboards, and even in one of my Halloween decorations.

That poor pot has been overcooked many times and has always returned to working order with few, if any, long-term scars. I’m not sure I’ll be so lucky this time. I still smell like burnt eggs - and that is just from cleaning it up. My house smells horrible. My husband is going to gag when he walks in the door-he’s not a big fan of any type of egg and especially not burnt ones. Then I’ll get a million questions about how could I have let the water boil out and what the heck was I thinking/doing (and yes, if you’re wondering why the 20 questions from my husband, I’ve done this before…too many times to count).

I realized today, although I may be good at cooking and baking, I am definitely not good at watching a boiling pot. Every now and then I think it is healthy to admit our faults, as little or big as they may be. I’ll take this one step further, I’m not good at any kind of waiting.

All of a sudden egg salad doesn’t sound so good.

Infertility is not about defining the masculinity of a man or the purpose of a woman. Yet, we keep it locked away. Yes, infertility is everywhere in the blogosphere. But are you talking about your diagnosis or struggles with your friends and family? Are you hoping they find your blog so they can learn about your feelings? Do you tell them what is and what isn’t appropriate to say to you? Do they know how to support you or are you protecting yourself from their harsh words or lack of compassion?

In less than two weeks I’ve seen notices about infertility consulting firms. The first is My Fertility Plan - the consultants have a book coming out in early 2009 that will be SO helpful to those navigating fertility treatments. The second is mentioned in the Chicago Tribune article. And I know of other too.

I wonder - will adding consulting services to this industry help remove the stigma associated with it? Will couples starting their infertility journey get the help they so desperately need from the very beginning thereby, reducing feelings of loneliness or shame? Will the addition of these businesses make the general public realize that infertility is really a medical condition and should be treated and approached as such? I don’t know. I do think that to some extent these consultants will help the lives of some couples as they navigate infertility. Coaches and consultants are not for everyone. Many people have recommended that I purse that idea, but it’s not for me. I don’t want to be a fertility coach because I think it would be too sad to process my feelings of those who don’t make it to the other side.

What do you think of fertility coaches? Will they help infertile community?

It was a fun interview - I hope you enjoy it. Please listen at: Finding Your Diamond Radio.

P.S. If you want to create a business around your passion, I recommend Elmas at Diamond Life Creators.

Anyway,  they gave a special issue just for those trying to get pregnant, it’s titled, “The Art of Getting Pregnant” and it is full of great articles, tips and resources. I read the entire magazine from cover to cover in one sitting yesterday. I wish Conceive had been around when I was going through IVF - it’s only been around since 2004.

They have made all of the articles in their special issue available on their website at www.conceiveonline.com. Find articles about Clomid, how to manage medications during fertility treatments, the updates on infertility coverage by state (it’s getting worse, not better), an IVF users guide, and much more.

During NIAW you can get a FREE copy of my ebook, 30 Questions to Ask Your Doctors about Infertility and Treatments. Subscribe using the RSS button and it will arrive in your email!

But it is a big deal. My girls are 4 years old and they are doing good. They seem to be developmentally on track with their full-term peers. If you were to look at them today you would assume they are fine and the fact that they were born premature is no big deal. However, prematurity is the leading killer of newborns in the United States. Also, many premature babies have physical or learning disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, hearing loss, vision loss, etc., because they were born premature.

In addition, so much of the development of a baby occurs within the last 8 weeks of pregnancy. The lungs and brain don’t fully develop until the end of the third trimester. Besides, having a baby spend time in the NICU is a less than fun experience. Not to say the emotional, physical and possibly financial drain it places on the couple (and especially the new mom).

As National Infertility Awareness Week starts and National Prematurity Awareness Month approaches in November, we need to be sensitive to not only the issue of infertility, but also that of premature birth. Women who undergo fertility treatments are at a slightly higher risk of having a baby born too soon.

For free teleseminars offer by RESOLVE this week, click here. They have established a members only resource of great information, lists of doctors, and much more. To learn more, click here.

Recently he had some weird symptoms. He seemed to be concerned, but didn’t bother to do any research. He lives on his computer so why the thought never occurred to him is beyond me. Instead, he made a doctor appointment and figured he’d let a “professional” diagnosis his condition. We’ll I decided to be a little proactive and researched online using WebMd and a few other sites and I found some possible explanations. I passed along my new found insights to my hubby who then heard the same diagnosis from his doctor only two days later.

Maybe my husband wanted to hear from a doctor that everything was going to be okay. However, he wasted a lot of his time and insurance dollars to do so. I’m not saying I think you should spend all of your time in front of the computer to gain answers. However, while going through our IVF cycle I knew most everything that was going to happen (up until the point of the HSG trigger shot - and then everything went way too fast) and this provided me with a lot of peace of mind. I was more educated and comfortable with the process because I was informed.

Health literacy is a big topic among medical professionals. They play a part in it just as we do. Not all doctors/nurses have the communication skills to help their patients so it is really up to us to be as informed as possible so we can be an active participant in our medical care. This is a skill I learned (thanks to infertility) that has served me well over the past few years.

What resources do you use for information? Leave some ideas and I’ll add those to my resources list.

A BIG Thank You to East West Essentials for providing me a sample of their Male Fertility Kit to offer to one lucky reader. East West also has Female Fertility Kits, Pregnancy Wellness Kits, and supplements to help your body during infertility and pregnancy.

If you haven’t visited East West Essentials, I highly recommend you do so. Their products, including their fertility products, have been used by celebrities and touted on national TV by shows such as Extra!

A friend of mine sent me the following details on a 10-week tele-class about how to manage your menstrual  imbalances. It sounds like a great course for those dealing with PCOS. If you want the conference number and the passcode just leave a comment and I’ll email you the details.

Women who participate in the Take Back Your Period 10-week tele-class will:
- Know what is causing their menstrual imbalances emotionally and physically
- Keep work and play dates they previously canceled due to period problems
- Understand why certain foods exacerbate and cause hormonal problems
- Know which foods will decrease their symptoms and balance their hormones
- Get the support they need to make change possible

The class is $95/month. In 2009, the price for these classes will be $150/month. I encourage you to take advantage of this rate now. The October class is filling up - you can still enroll! Early enrollment for the November class begins this week. Both classes are 50 minutes each for 10 consecutive Mondays (with a 2 week holiday break for the November class - class price will not change). Classes begin:

October 13, 4pmEST/1pmPST.
November 17, 5:30pmEST/2:30pmPST.

Kristen is offering 3 FREE preview classes so you can decide if participating in the 10-week class is right for you. Here are the details for the free preview classes:

Friday October 10, 4pmEST/1pmPST
Friday October 24, 4pmEST/1pmPST
Friday November 7, 4pmEST/1pmPST

ALSO - Win a FRE Male Fertility Kit - a $154 value. Contest ends Wednesday. Want one? Leave a comment.

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce it’s incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.

On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.

Yesterday I went to the mall mainly to visit the See’s Candy Store. I knew that today was going to be a disappointing day. And I was right, because today has reminded that I will never be pregnant again, and it surely won’t happen via spontaneous conception. I’m not getting any younger, nor is my husband. And the fact that he doesn’t want any more children makes it almost certain that he hasn’t engaged in any activities or surgeries to fix his male factor infertility. More than anything I just annoy the heck out of myself and feel like such an idiot. It brings me back to the months when we were actually trying to get pregnant and I would be hopeful every single month only to be disappointed. It’s not the same today as it was then, but it is still a bummer.

On to more positive topics…

Only a few days left for your chance to win a FREE $154 value Male Fertility Kit. For the next week (Oct. 9-Oct. 15) all you need to do is leave a comment on my blog over the next week to be entered in the contest.

For those of you who are RSS subscribers you’ve probably noticed that I have a FREE ebook I’m only offering to you. I hope you download a copy and find valuable information to help you along your journey. If you want a copy of my ebook titled 30 Questions to Ask your Doctor about Infertility and Treatments subscribe using the RSS button.

Soon I’ll be offering another FREE ebook titled Managing Your Relationships and Your Sanity During Infertility to visitors of my blog.

Joanna addresses:

• How long do you need to receive acupuncture treatments in order for it to help you achieve your dream of becoming a mom?
• How do you find an acupuncturist?
• Can acupuncture help male factor infertility?

And much more in this interview.

Creative Commons image courtesy of hradcanska.

Then after our twins were born premature we had dinner with friends who came to visit us in the NICU. At dinner they informed us they were pregnant, of which we were very happy for them. At that time, as happy as I was for my friend I was envious too. Getting pregnant was easy for them. Yet, we were spending our days and nights at the NICU because our IVF twins had been born too soon. It was too soon for me to really embrace the fact that we finally had children and it no longer mattered how easy it was for everyone around us to build their families.

My counselor had told me that once we had kids that I would no longer judge people by how easy it was for them to have a baby or that I would no longer care. She was right and wrong. While my girls were in the NICU, it still hurt. It hurt that we had to struggle. It hurt that after our struggle to get pregnant, we had to manage the NICU experience - which might be worse than infertility, I’m still weighing that one - and deal with the stresses of managing two babies at once, and premature twins for that matter.

As my counselor predicted, as my girls have aged, I have become less worried about how long or how easy it is for those around me to get pregnant. I am thankful for my children and have somewhat gotten over how hard it was to get here.

So last week I joined a friend for happy hour. We were having a nice conversation and then she said so quietly that I almost had to ask her to repeat herself. But when I saw the tears I knew what had happened. My friend had one miscarriage about six months ago. It took her some time to get back into the swing of life and I’ve been trying to support her as much as she’d allow. There was a time where she wasn’t too receptive to getting together so I waited until she was ready. The tears told me what I had almost missed her say, she had a second miscarriage. She saw the heartbeat and her body had started to display the signs of pregnancy.

I am no longer envious of my friend who could get pregnant so easily. In fact, my heart bleeds for her. I truly cannot imagine how devastated she is and how sad it must be to loose a baby once life starts to grow within you.

I’m doing some research for my friend to learn more about miscarriages, what causes them, how to prevent them, etc. If you have any advice, articles or sources of information that might be helpful, please leave a comment with a link or way to contact you.  Thank you!

P.S. Have you entered my contest for a FREE Male Fertility Kit from East West Essentials? Please send an email to info@twinpeas.com to enter.

Stay tuned…

As you may know, I’m a big proponent about providing information on the risk of a twin/triplet pregnancy. Although I truly believe and advocate for the right to assisted reproductive technologies (ART), I would love to see a reduction of twins because of the risk to the mom and the babies. I think you’ll enjoy the information Dr. Steinman provides in this podcast about spontaneous and ART twinning.

A few items we discuss in this podcast are:

1. What increases your chances for conceiving twins with spontaneous conception (vs. ART).  We briefly discuss how IGF applies (or doesn’t apply) to ART. Dr. Steinman talks about calcium - something you might want to discuss with your RE. Di d you know that ICSI results in the highest rate of ART twins.

2.  In spontanous pregnancies, age plays a role in twinning, but the reverse is true with regard to ART. Hear his thoughts and scientic information on both the man’s and woman’s age and fertility treatments.

3. His advice - be cautious when undergoing ART to minimize the risk of a twin pregnancy.

Insurance coverage - Dr. Steinman believes it would reduce the rate of twins. He agrees that one of the problems in the U.S. with regard to ART is the financial drain to couples. Hear what they do in Israel - you’ll want to move there!

His book is available at Amazon.com, click here to buy a copy!

It’s been two years since he has seen my girls and I will be terribly disappointed if he flakes out on me again (he’s been saying he’ll come visit for the last year or so). Hopefully I get up the nerve to call him tonight. So inline with the “Trying to Let it go Tuesday” that my friend Mommy Meryl has created, I’m trying to let go of being disappointed. If he chooses not to visit it is he who is loosing out on the relationship and joy of my girls.

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Mommy Meryl has also bestowed an award on me, my first in the blogosphere. I’ve been procrastinating posting the blogs I am to award this too. It took me a few days to decide who I wanted to pass the award along too because lately I haven’t been very good at reading other blogs on a regular basis. So here is my list, in no particular order:

1. Benedict Family - a blog and podcast on infertility, secondary infertility and parenting

2.  A Million Moments of Kindness - positive stories about the good in the everyday acts of ordinary people

3. Mom to Twins Plus One - the life in the day of a busy mom after infertility

4. Rain’s Authentic Blog - always full of positive inspiration

5. GNMParents (okay, so I contribute to this one…it has good reading)

6.  A Soldier Girl (life) - a blog I enjoy every time I stop by during NCLM or ICLW

The rules of the award, pick 7 of your favorite blogs and post their names and links to their sites. The award is a photo so you just need to copy it (I hope it shows when I click “publish”).

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Last, but not least. I’ve been running a contest for you to win a FREE 30-day supply of The Male Fertility Kit with East West Essentials. I’ve been telling folks to use the RSS to enter the contest. We’ll I just found out that I cannot see individual RSS subscribers — I am so bummed and feel really dumb for not knowing more about this darn technology. So, if you have already entered the contest using the RSS or email options, unfortanatuely I don’t have any way to determine who you are. So PLEASE send me an email to info@twinpeas.com with your name and email address so I can enter your name into the drawing (must send me an email by October 15th). Thank you and sorry for the hassle!