Walk of Hope & 31 Wk PG Update

Well, I did it! I collected money, I showed up, I met Julie, and I walked in the Resolve Walk of Hope last weekend! At 31 wks pregnant that isn't anything to sneeze at either! The walk wasn't really very long, and thankfully it wasn't as dreadfully hot as it has been lately (but still hot enough).

Best of all... I walked with Julie, yes THAT JULIE, and had a DIVINE time! We walked and talked, we reviewed our stories, discussed extended-length blogging (hers), and generally had a good time overall. After the walking part - we sat in a gourgeous park-area, ate muffins, and I met Jen, Andrea, and Renee. We chatted, played with babies, ate muffins, took bets on how much sugar Jen's kiddo could handle without self-destructing, and had a nice relaxing time. For the record - that kid can handle her sugar!

Later in the day we met up for dinner and added Jennifer to our crew. We had a nice dinner and got to know each other a bit better. I've said so in my comments to Jen and Julie, but I felt like I talked my head off because I was like a puppy at Christmas, all happy to meet my family. It felt very good to meet people that I KNOW will understand my struggle - I don't have to explain IF, or thrombophilia, or how I could shoot myself up daily with NEEDLES to get a child.

Best of all, when I qualified all of my statements about this pregnancy with something like "Assuming all goes well..." no one chided me. No one tried to talk me into be giddy with excitement. Everyone simply nodded and said, "I know exactly how you feel". All I can say is THANKS for that ladies. I didn't feel like a freak, and that meant a lot.

I have to say, when I was at the Resolve walk, it felt very good to look at the rather-large gathering and KNOW that each of those ladies and gentlemen had a story similar to mine. All of the children were works of ART. Seeing all the babies and toddlers made me feel like I was right where I needed to be, doing what needed to be done.

At one point I spoke with one of the RESOLVE team, Renee, about the lobbyist work that was being done on behalf of the RE physicians. Her story struck home with me...

Apparently, there was recently some legislature proposed in Georgia that would change the rules re: embryos (as I remember it) that would make IVF unavailable/illegal as an ART therapy. The lobbyist and (I think) the Resolve team got people and their familys together to go down to the Capital... The bill was stopped by presenting these families and asking the legislators a simple question, "Sir, which of these children would you say was unecessary. Tell me, which one is one too many?". The bill was killed.

That was profound to me... Here there was a group of legislators threatening to take away my ART privilidges. Threatening to take away my ability to make a family. I didn't even know. I was totally UNAWARE that this was going on right under my nose.

That got my attention...

So, I hope I can remember this story after our baby girl is safe at home. Once I'm not on the IF roller coaster I want to start doing what I can for Resolve. I want to be sure that the next IF couples on this journey are given the opportunity to have their families.

**subject change warning!**
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This baby girl is doing her utmost best to crawl her way out of my belly. It feels very much like she's digging for gold in there! I hope she finds some - it might help pay off some of the IVF bills. HA! I kid.

I didn't feel this uncomfortable with Jim. I wasn't this big this early either! My belly is very high this time, and very, very round. It is extrememly obvious that I'm PG, not fat. I get pretty intense tightening several times a day now (not quite as bad as I remember Braxton Hicks, but getting close). Everything seems to be WAY faster with this one...

I'm now so big that people are stopping me to ask when I'm due, and they are expecting an answer of 3 wks or less. So, it is kinda fun when I get to say 8 wks, and wait for their mouths to fall open and eyes to bug out! HA! The immediate stare at my mid-section never fails to amuse me.

List of items to update about from previous posts:

• My Gest.ational Dia.betes appears to be under good control.
• My Syn.throid Rx (for Thyroid issue) has finally been officially reduced back to a reasonable dose
• My mood is GREATLY improved.
• I have setup a marriage counseling appointment for next week for hubby and I
• My son seems to be holding up under all the changes that are occuring at our home (including the influx of pink clothing and toys)
• I have a C-section date scheduled!!!! Nov 20th!
• Baby is supposedly ~ 4.5 lbs - about 2 wks ahead.

I think that's all the news that is news here at Lake Won'tBeLong. Goodnight.