Ten Observations

I've taken a blogging break for a week and there's so much to say.

1. We're moving forward with IVF, which means I've been reading a lot about fertility drugs and outpatient surgery procedures. It all starts later in June, so once again, I'm playing the waiting game 'til the right time of the month.

2. I've had several episodes of spontaneous tears and frustration, although they've abated a bit.

3. I've called a local therapist who actually has experience with diabetes and infertility, as suggested by my soothing endo. As much as I recommend a certain NY-based therapist to my Big Apple peers, I think seeing someone locally would be beneficial in this case. Like everything else, I'm waiting for the appointment.

4. Last weekend was a child fiesta, as the Mister and I went to several barbecue/parties where kids ran wild. However, in person I think I handled it well and in fact played with a few toddlers and a baby (not all at the same time) and enjoyed them. The Mister smiled a few days later and said it was clear I'd be a great mom, and that it was nice watching me hold our friend's infant and play with the baby on my lap.

5. I've gotten a form from my insurance and am going to submit several months of acupuncture bills to them to see if they'll pay for any of it. In the meantime, I'm taking a bit of a break from acupuncture until the IVF treatment officially starts.

6. My caring and calm endo, who I saw earlier this week for a usual check-up, gave me some suggestions about the diabetes care. Since September, the month we started officially trying to have a kid, I have gained a whopping seven pounds. This is clearly because I'm correcting any post-meal blood sugars over 160 with a small hit of insulin, and then either going low later or otherwise packing on weight when I probably wouldn't have before when my sugars ran higher. Kind Endo told me I shouldn't correct before three hours post-meal, and if I'm running higher before three hours, to adjust my insulin ratio for the meal. "What if I go high after the meal anyway," I asked. "Then we adjust your post-meal basals," she replied. It felt like hearing something I'd never considered before, so this week I'm chilling out on the corrections and figuring out whether my ratios should change.

7. Due to said weight, my shorts from last year just don't fit. While I am trying to exercise my ass smaller, I don't want to wait it out sweating in long pants every weekend. Yesterday I found a nice pair of shorts at Ann Taylor for $10 (yes, you read that right) that were actually comfortable. While I'm not pleased that I'm wearing a size that most Ann Taylor shoppers would swim in, I'm pleased that I didn't have to spend a lot for them, either.

8. I'm also making an effort to write down everything I eat (which has been sporadic this week, but I'm trying) in a modified Weight Watchers plan. I've only ever lost significant weight when I did WW and exercised, so Kind Endo suggested doing a solid 45 minutes of walking every day as well. This week it's been beautiful out so I just go walking at lunch, but today it's rainy so I'll have to get creative about walking. There's a mall near my office, so maybe I'll have to make a visit and walk in circles. Maybe I'll find another pair of $10 shorts?

9. The authors of several infertility blogs I've been reading/catching up on are either about to have their first children, or in the case of Persephone, had twins in the past day or so. Another blogger, Jill, just announced she's pregnant. So perhaps I'm entering into another lifecycle as well.

10. More administrative than anything else: my blog's margins are weirdly messed up and I can't figure out why. As a result, I'm consolidating my links to two pages that list, essentially, all the diabetes blogs and a huge number of infertility blogs, which will cut down on the margin mess-ups, I hope. If you know the HTML programs that Blogger uses, and have any idea why my right margins won't line up, drop me a line and let me know. Thanks. NOW AMENDED TO SAY the fabulous Kassie is not only an HTML goddess (thank you!) so that my margins now look fine, but my Kind Endo passed along a copy of Kassie's fabulous When You're A Parent With Diabetes book. I wanted to read it all before commenting, but suffice it to say that so far, it's terrific. I hope it sells a million copies and helps every single PWD (parent with diabetes) out there. Congrats, K!