Swimming the Breaststroke *updated*

For those of you that don’t know, TMI is an acronym for “Too Much Information.” So … I’m warning you now, if you don’t wanna read about women stuff, it’s best that you click off this page now .

two_flowersHere … check out this post if you’d rather not read on.

Hum dee dum dum … Dum dee doo dah …

Okay. Fair warning. Here goes.

I have gained weight. And it’s all because of that damn Lupron. And how, may you ask that I know this without having stepped on a scale (because I refuse to do so)? Well, besides the obvious tighter fitting clothes and the ring on my finger feeling a little tighter … Well, my b**bies have gotten a little larger.

And I know I’ve gained a sufficient amount of weight when these tatas have “bloomed.” Because they’re the absolute last place that fills out when I gain weight. (And sadly, they’re always the first thing to go, when I lose the weight … dang-nabbit!) And even though I may be a little more heavier-set than the typical Asian American woman, I was never graced with a “hearty set.” So, when Naughty Hubby snapped a picture of them during a recent dress-uppity event … the rather revealing cleavage that stared back at me confirmed that I had, indeed, gained a significant amount of weight.

To make things worse, Hubby & I are heading out of town next Thursday for a mini-vaca … a chance to get away for a spell. We’re heading down to Orlando to spend time with Hubby’s cousins just to have some fun. Yes, we’ll be heading to Dis.neywor.ld and Univ.ersal Studios. No, I’m not so much bothered about it being the center of the universe for all things kid-related. (Actually, I’m quite looking forward to being a big kid for the weekend!)

Anyway, one of those days we’re planning on heading to the beach for the day. Which, of course requires a bathing suit. And well, last time I wore my two-piece was on our cruise in November. Pre-Lupron. Pre-weight gain. So yeah … won’t be looking so hot in my two-piece these days. And I wouldn’t look so hot in a one-piece either, based on the little non-pregnant belly I’ve got going on.

But thank G*d for the invention called the tankini. A two-piece that, if the appropriate tank top piece is found can hide that non-pregnant pudge I’ve got going on … and can still show off a little of the recently gained “assets.” (Might as well flaunt them while I’ve got them, right?) Pair it with a matching swim skirt, and it might just hide the “a$$”-et you don’t want to flaunt.

So off to Hudson’s Marshall Fields Macy*s to look for a tasteful and age-appropriate tankini. I head directly to the sportswear department, where I assumed that they might put out all the seasonal summer wear. No luck. Then I walk over to the active wear area, thinking that perhaps they put it with all the brand name exercise crap. Yep, still no luck. Finally, I stop an employee who directed me up to the second floor. “It’s right by the restaurant. Next to the maternity wear.”

Excuse me? Did I hear that right? Next to maternity wear? Who the H*LL had the brilliant idea to put bathing suits next to maternity clothes?! But sure enough, there they were. One and two-piece bathing suits looking quite smug next to those fashionable maternity clothes.

I’m honestly not sure what horrified me more. Knowing that I was going to have to try on bathing suits to help … ahem … appropriately distribute the extra weight I’ve gained. Or having to walk past all those very stylish maternity clothes that I know I will never have the chance to wear.

For an infertile … nonetheless one that has probably gained weight from all them extra hormones pumping through our systems … that is just cruel and unusual punishment!

Alas, I managed to find a decent tankini/swim skirt set that “accentuated the positive” (heartier hooters) and “eliminated the negative” (okay, so there was no way to completely eliminate the larger booty). And just as soon as the sales woman wrapped up my purchase, you know d*mn well I booked out of there as fast as I could.

Ugh … I suppose that I should know by now that bigger bosoms means that I should get off my lazy (not to mention large) a$$ and start working out again.

Once again … D*mn Lupron!!

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Oops. I forgot to add the disclaimer. Nope … that ain’t my body in that picture. (If I were only that thin …) And I also forgot to mention that yes … I realize how horrifying it must be for those that are pregnant to have to look at skinny two-piece suits.

But I do stand by what I said … “Who the H*LL had the brilliant idea to put bathing suits next to maternity clothes?!” and “That is just cruel and unusual punishment!”

Okay … back to your usual blog-surfing … 🙂

Get The Puck Out!

Ohhhh yeah … The Detroit Red Wings are one more game away from winning the Stanley Cup!

Yes, Mrs. Spit … I know how upset this must make you. A non-Canadian team match-up for the title. But I must remind my friendly neighbors to the north, that Detroit has played a big part in the history of the National Hockey League. First of all, the Red Wings are one of the “Original Six” hockey teams still in existence from the first decade of the NHL. And second … anybody who knows hockey (and even quite a few that don’t) knows who Gordie Howe is. Yup. Mr. Hockey, No. 9 of the Detroit Red Wings. And finally, I do believe that Detroit is pretty much known league-wise as “Hockeytown.”

If you wanna know a really quirky fact concerning Detroit and Canada … Did you know that Detroit is the only U.S. city in which you have to drive south to cross the Canadian border? Yes … our friendly neighbor, Windsor, Ontario is the southern-most city in the great country of Canada, which makes many of those Cannucks that support our Red Wings have to drive north to catch one of our home games at “The Joe.”

And that, my dear blog friends, just might wanna make you scream, “Get the puck out!” Just like Hubby did multiple times tonite …

Required Reading

Holy Schmoly! (Try spelling THAT, you Spelling Bee kids!) NaComLeavMo ROCKS!

I have read so many new blogs over the past 5 days that it’s frickin’ ridiculous. And I’ve gotten comments from so many new people that I feel like I’ve been voted in as Homecoming Queen! (Hey, what can I say … I’m a Midwesterner and Homecoming Queen was more important than Prom Queen …) Thanks to everyone that has stopped by to leave a comment … all of your words mean more than you could ever know. Because, if I haven’t outright mentioned it before … prior to starting this blog, I felt I had little to no support as I’ve fumbled through this IF world. And now … well, I’m ecstatic that I’ve found, not only an outlet for my frustrations, but a whole support system I never knew existed until just over a year ago. I truly wish I would have found out about you all ten years ago, when I first got on this d*mn roller coaster.

And as I’ve been going down the NaComLeavMo list of blogs, I’ve started to add more subscriptions to my google reader. And since I haven’t had a chance to read the blogs of those I’ve already subscribed to … well, let’s just say that I’ve got a lot of reading to do this weekend. I’ve tried to chip away at it night after night, but dangnabbit! That list still keeps growing. I swear, I spent the whole evening alternately watching the Pistons lose (grrr ….) and reading / commenting on blogs off of my google reader. And I’m not even halfway through all the posts …

Well … I guess between going to a Bridal Shower on Saturday (thank G*d it’s not the other variety of shower), watching the Red Wings game Saturday evening, and meeting up with fellow Metro-Detroit bloggers for lunch on Sunday … I will have to do more reading!

But right now I’m going to climb into bed and crash … YAWWWWNNNNN

Na Com Leav … wha?!

Okay, for those of you that aren’t aware … Sunday the 25th was the start of “National Comment Leaving Month” or NaComLeavMo … and yes, that’s what that little graphic with the party hat to the right of this post is for.

For those of you who haven’t read Mel’s post, NaComLeavMo is the month where we are encouraged to step out of our “lurker” mode and actually comment on other people’s blogs. And in return, leave a comment on the blog of someone that commented on yours. The idea is to open up discussion amongst all of us in IF / MC blogland and beyond.

Today being day three of this month, I’m finding it hard to just “stumble” onto a fellow blogger on Mel’s list without having to do a lot of back-reading before I feel I can … a-hem … “intelligently” respond. (Oh, who am I kidding … right?!) And then I stumbled on Rachel‘s latest blog post, who thought it might be a great idea to do a quick recap of ourselves and our story so that other’s might not have to be “clicking around” so much.

So Rachel … I’m taking your lead and doing the same thing. (By the way, my favorite ice cream flavor is Jamocha Almond Fudge from BR … or Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz from B & J!!)


Told you I was an Island Girl at Heart

Hmm … where to begin …

Three things are a big part of who I am in life. I’m Asian, I’m Catholic (although of questionable degree), and I’m Infertile. Yep … that’s right Infertile with a capital “I”. But let’s start off with the Asian bit first.

I’m a second-generation Filipino American; meaning my parents were born in the Philippines while my brother (aka “Dr. Bro”) and I were born here. While I know many other people can relate to having parents that were born in another country … being of Asian descent, it’s a little harder to “blend” in, if you catch my drift. I’m always going to look different than most people in a room. Or I’m always going to be lumped in or mistaken for another “nationality” (whether it be any pick of Asian countries or Native American or even Guatemalan … Not. Kidding. You.) But the biggest part of being Filipino American is that you are literally torn between a very traditional culture where authority is never questioned and the American culture where everything and anything can be challenged and questioned … and it’s encouraged. How does a strong-willed, stubborn female learn to live with these clashes in culture and belief? Well … peruse through my older entries and you might find a few.

As for the Catholic part of me … I don’t want you to think that I’m super-spiritual or anything. Because, in reality … I’m not. But, having been through 12 years of Catholic School … how can religion not play a part in my every day life? Even though it’s mostly about feeling guilty. You know … the “I’m not a Mom yet because I must have not prayed enough” or “I must have done something horribly wrong for God to punish me by not gracing me with child.” That kind of guilt. And no … I’m not (as) angry at God for where I am in life. Truth be told … I know that I’ve been “given” certain gifts from up above (my Hubby being the biggest gift of all); I just honestly have to have faith … not only in God, but in myself as to know when I am strong enough to do the right things in my life. And that’s the part of my Catholicism and spirituality that I can most relate to. Trust me … it’s taken me being 18 years of being out of high school to figure that one out.

I’m Infertile. Oh yeah … this is the main reason I started this blog. There had to be a way for this Catholic Filipino-American to let out all the repressed emotions I’ve let build up over the past ten years. Yep. That’s right. Ten. Long. Years. In brief, I married my high school/college sweetheart two years after graduating from college. We started TTC just over a year after that with (obviously) no success. After another year of “giving it more time,” I finally approached my OB-Gyn who put me on almost a year of Clomid. Yeah … the nurse in me should have questioned that … but the Filipino in me respected authority (see what I mean?). After that didn’t work, it was on to a laparotomy to clear out some nasty endometriosis followed by six months of evil pharmaceutical devil incarnate Lupron therapy. Then followed about 7 months of medicated cycles and the first episode of deep depression along with a 4 month “break” from treatment. And then the big guns … IVF. A one-time cycle that failed and brought about another episode of deep depression, followed closely by repression. Until one fateful day in November 2006 when my SIL (who just remarried 5 months prior and already has a middle-school age child from her first marriage) announced she was pregnant. As if that didn’t devastate me enough, Liam was born prematurely and with some “imperfections” which just made me feel like my feelings of jealousy and anger caused ill-will to this innocent child. And so … in the midst of my SIL’s pregnancy with Liam and his unfortunate passing 4 months later, I started this blog. And it has helped me deal with these emotions in ways that I didn’t think possible. And the fact that I’ve found such wonderful support out here in blogland … it just means the world to me. I just wish I would have found it sooner!

So those are the biggest things I can share with you in this one lengthy post. Hope you decide to stick around and read on. And then you can follow along with what happens in the next stage of my Mommyhood dream. I’m hoping to gather that source of faith and strength to fumble through the adoption process … as one failed IVF was enough for me emotionally and financially. Oh and you can see what other evil and emotionally ridden things I do as I finish up another six months of Lupron therapy for that bitch of a friend I call endometriosis. Oh … and did I mention my SIL is pregnant again … and due in early September?

Goodness … if you’ve stuck around reading this entry to the end … you might as well just add me to your Google Reader! 🙂

(Oh and hey … while you’re at it, check out my other blog!)

Ain't No Party …

… Like a Dee-troit Party, ’cause a Dee-troit Party don’t stop!

These days there’s not too much to be proud of when you tell someone you’re from the Detroit area. First of all … despite the fact that we are NOT the Murder Capital of the U.S. (that esteemed title goes to New Orleans for 2008), people still seem to equate Detroit with crime and violence.

And then there’s the whole Motor City deal. Yes, we’re the birthplace of the modern automobile. Yes, we make gas guzzlers. Yes, we’re a city that’s literally dependent on fuel. That makes for a harsh economy, especially with many people losing jobs and a bad housing market.

Oh, and of course there’s the whole mayor fiasco, which I won’t even begin to rant about here.

So … when good things happen in Detroit, it’s always something to be proud about. And the fact that our sports teams are doing incredibly well right now is definitely a source of pride.

Now, I have to admit … I like blaming the fact that I’m a sports nut because of my husband. I always tell people that I never knew in the six years of dating Hubby that he was such a big sports fan until after we married. And that because of him, I started getting into our sports teams.

That is not true. I fully admit that my fascination with watching professional sports started early in life. From watching Tigers games at the old Tigers Stadium … to watching a very young Steve Yzerman play with the Red Wings at my first hockey game at 12 years old … to listening to the “Bad Boys” of the Detroit Pistons play in the NBA finals during my high school graduation ceremony in 1990. In fact … I can tell you with certainty, that watching sports is something that has bound my Dad and I together. And, of course, Hubby too.

Well, so for those of you that don’t follow sports … let me just tell you how proud I am to be a Detroit fan. Currently, the Red Wings are vying for the Stanley Cup. If they should win … our captain will be the first European-born captain to win the Stanley Cup. And the Pistons? Well, they’re currently playing against the Boston Celtics in the semi-finals for the NBA Championship.

And tonite? Well … I’ll be a little nervous. You see … not only are the Wings playing, but the Pistons are playing at the same time!!

D*mn. This is prime example of a Detroit party that don’t stop …

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UPDATE: And the par-tee continues … Wings won against the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0. Pistons won against the Celtics 94-75. And both games were played AND won here in Detroit. Talk about a great day for the city …