Sweetest Words

(Children mentioned herein. Just cherishing some of the special moments.)


On Christmas Day, Petite woke us at about 7:45 a.m.. She had initially forgotten the hype and hubbub of Christmas and wanted to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy in our bed for awhile. We were more than happy to oblige.

When we came to our senses and realized that so many gifts were out in our living room, waiting to be opened and that we had people to thank for these lovely gifts, as they were calling later in the day, I gently reminded Petite about the tree and presents.

"Santa come?" She asked. "Yes," I replied, "Santa came and left some presents." That was it. She was eager to get a move on with her day and hopped down off the bed as quickly as possible for a two-year old.

I'll spare you the crazy details of frantic unwrapping, delight at the new gifts, and fun that ensued at our house. The day went well. Everyone had a lovely mid-afternoon rest when Petite had her nap. I spoke to most of my family members to thank them for being so very thoughtful. I thanked Hubby for having given me a raclette (which I have wanted for about 12 years to replace another one that went elsewhere). My girlfriend gave me a beautiful stainless steel electric kettle; again, something I've wanted for awhile. The turkey dinner was delicious and the wine that accompanied it went down nicely, as did the rum pudding dessert! YUM!

But the best, the absolute sweetest moment I want to remember is the following:

As I said goodnight to Petite on Christmas night, she was clinging to her new Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy dolls, snuggling under her comforter. I leaned down, brushed my hand gently on her hair a few times, as I do every night, and I kissed her.

"Good night my sweet baby girl. I love you."

"Love you Mommy."

"Merry Christmas my darling girl."

"Merry Kismas Mommy."

Tears rolled down my face. Never were sweeter words spoken.



When you stop and think about it, these are the moments IFers want. Nothing huge. Nothing incredible (except that it kind of is, in my view). Not the overwhelming moments. IFers want a regular life. They want the quiet, everyday moments of snuggling with their children. Of kissing them goodnight. Of taking them to the park and playdates. Of showing them the world. Of teaching them kindness and respect. Of showing them love.

And if they're lucky, to receive love like this in return. For nothing is more beautiful.

At Christmas, I wish for all of us to be so blessed and find the path that will bring us to the realization of our dreams of building a family. May 2012 bring this to you, if you are still searching. It took us almost 7 years to find our path and go from our first "try" to having a baby in our arms. I pray to God that each of us, each of YOU, are able to have that as well... and with luck, well before 7 years passes!

Much love, now and always,
Gil

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by FindingChaos/Soulemama.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment'

in the comments for all to find and see.

Merry Christmas from Petite, Hubby and Gil.

May 2012 bring you and yours peace, love, health and happiness.

Blood Draws; the Vampire Strikes Again! Ugh.

To check up on how my thyroid is doing, my doctor regularly orders blood work for me. This time, I had to get it done; my prescription for medication is about to run out! Eeek!

So I went on December 8 and had blood drawn. Most of the results were normal. However, a couple were a touch off. Here are the details:

TSH (thyroid) is at 2.45. Technically this is "normal" however, if I wanted to do another IVF, I need to get that down below 2.0, and ideally, around 1.5. I had a feeling that my meds weren't doing an optimal job anymore.

Ferritin (aka iron) is at 53. That means that I have "reduced iron stores" because normal is from 80 to 300. At least it's better than what I had last year. Still not great though. Obviously I need to eat more meat.

Both monocytes and eosinophils were a touch above normal, at 0.81 and 0.45 respectively. Normal ranges for monocytes are 0.0-0.8. Normal ranges for eosinophils are 0.0 to 0.4. I am not sure what this means... some websites suggest dimished lung capacity? Maybe this is a factor of the terrible cough/cold that I'm still fighting. I suspected I might have pneumonia. I wonder if I ought to get an x-ray to be sure. Ugh. Not fun.

Those are the latest details from the vampires. On a positive note, I found a great technician at a local laboratory and hopefully I will get lucky and have her again when I need to get blood drawn!

{This Moment}

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by Finding Chaos/SouleMama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’
in the comments for all to find and see.

Long-Awaited Adoption Success for a Friend

I've been absent, dealing with a pox/plague at our house. A snot-filled, congested, hacking, sinusitis-riddled, weepy-eyed state of affairs that would make the most healthy of individuals weak at the knees. It's not been a fun week in our house, that's for sure. Hubby is still hacking up a lung. I missed two days of work and stumbled through a hazy fog of semi-reality for a few days. Petite is coughing too; she woke at 5 a.m. this morning with a chesty cough. I am crossing my fingers it doesn't get worse.

I know, I know. No excuses for not writing. Mea culpa.

Meh... my blog.

I write when I can. C'est la vie!

Anyway, in my soggy-tissue miserableness, I was peeking at Facebook. One of my sister's and my friends, T, finally had some happy news. I've known for a little while, but now that it's public, I can publicly post about it.

Adoption success.

After YEARS... like maybe close to ten years of waiting.

T (a schoolmate of my sister's) and her husband C got lucky this year.

Before I met my husband, they got married. They wanted a family and started trying, with no luck. Around ten years ago, when I met Hubby, they were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Being in Newfoundland, that's a bit of a dead end; there are NO IVF clinics in the province at all. Treatment is usually done on "The Mainland" (as we refer to the rest of Canada) in Halifax, Montreal or Toronto... depending on your finances and if you have a place to lay your head while you're in the city.

Anyway, after their diagnosis, they tried a few things, but with no success. And then they quickly moved on to adoption.

They waited. For years they waited. Hoping to be matched. Hoping for a call. They did the necessary classes/courses and kept their file updated. They looked at adopting from China and got themselves on the list. We heard a few years ago (around the time I got pregnant) that it might be a matter of months and they would have good news.

Those months turned into more years.

And this year, finally, some luck.

They have been matched with a little boy, I think he's three years old, and it's going wonderfully. He spent a few weeks with them in the fall. And now, he's just been placed in their home full time. T said on Facebook the other day that she is about to be a full-time Mommy. She will get her parental leave and she will stay at home with him to help him adjust and to enjoy her new son.

T and C have just gotten their best Christmas gift ever. And it's been a helluva long time coming. I shed tears of joy when I got the news a few weeks ago. I could not be more thrilled for both of them. They are loving, caring people and will be wonderful parents. May they have many, many years to enjoy and to cherish every single moment.

Congratulations to them! *throws confetti*