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Friday Friend Link Up ~ Furry Friends

  Welcome to all my ICLW bloggers! OK, so this is the last link up for this month and hopefully we’ll get more participants! It’s Friends Month on Stress Free Infertility. We talked about IRL friends (check out my poll) and virtual friends (read some heart felt posts). Now it’s time to pay homage to our furry friends, the fur babies that are near and dear to your hearts!

Here’s what you need to do:

  • Write up a quick post about your lovable 4 legged friend who has helped you through your infertility in some way
  • Include an adorable picture
  • Link back here to spread the word and get others to read the linked posts as well
  • Link up on Friday (*I will most likely put the list up by Thursday)
  • Have fun! ;-)
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Welcome ICLWers!

  Hello! Welcome to my little corner of the Internet! I went through 6 IVF cycles to have my family and I wrote a memoir called Ordinary Miracles coming this fall. I write this blog to help all of you still on your journey to motherhood and I am looking forward to meeting new bloggers!

  On Sundays, I usually post a success story but I don’t have a new one this week. You can check out the success stories I’ve posted or if you’ve been successful, go to my Q & A for success stories post for all the info on how you can submit yours!

  This month has been a busy one! It’s Friends Month here on Stress Free Infertility. I posted a poll to see how honest you are with your friends in real life. Check that out for some interesting results! Also, I’m working on a new book for the fertile world. Please pass on this quick survey to your fertile friends and family members!

   And last but not least, I’m having a little link up and I would LOVE your participation!Write up a quick post about your virtual friends (all your besties in the ALI community) to tell them how much you appreciate them and then link up to my Friday Friend Link Up post. Also, get some posts ready for your furry friends and link up this Friday!

Thanks for stopping by! ;-)

Show some love! Comment back!

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Virtual Hugger Award!

 

PhotobucketSo, for my Blog Love post, I decided to create an award for my top commenters! They, after all, have been great cyber friends giving so many virtual hugs! I have never met these bloggers in person, but they are out there, tirelessly supporting me and many others I’m sure. They have BIG hearts and I appreciate it so much! So, here are the rules!

  Virtual Hugger Award Rules:

  1. Thank the person who gave it to you (and link back)
  2. Give 3 Reasons why you LOVE comments and want them to keep on coming!
  3. Award your top 10 commenters and tell them they won the award! (*Most blogger software has widgets/plugins that can figure out who they are!)

OK! I LOVE comments because they:

  1. Make my day!
  2. Remind me that my blog is important to others
  3. Help me to meet and support other bloggers on their journey

Here are my top 10 commenters:

  1. Andrea from Life, Love & Persuit of Our Fairy Tale
  2. Tara from Me Plus One
  3. Hannah from Hannah & Sam
  4. Rebecca from The Road Less Traveled
  5. Christina from The Subfertile Frugalista
  6. Aly from The Infertility Overachievers
  7. Kristin from Dragondremer’s Lair
  8. Ashley from Stealing Baby Kisses
  9. Junebug from Junebug’s Musings
  10. Holly from Ready to Be a Mom

Thank you to all my commenters! And keep on spreading the love! ;-)

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Thoughts on October’s ICLW…

  halloweenOK! Wow! So yesterday at just about midnight, I finished commenting on ALL 165 blogs listed for ICLW! That means that I have actually achieved Iron Commenter status! And I’m not going to lie…it was quite difficult to do. So with that said, I really don’t know if I will even put the cool badge on my sidebar. Because, you know what may happen? It will stare at me each month and remind me that I did it once and I can , with loads of diligence, do it again…it will be a LOT of pressure and late nights and time away from my family and I just don’t know if I can commit to that every month. In fact, I know I can’t. And this month, I didn’t even do it for the fame or glory. I really just did it to try to connect with new bloggers and to see if it was even possible for me.

   This month I virtually met lots of new bloggers, many in various stages of infertility. Some were new to the blogosphere, and others were new to ICLW and some were both. I am happy to report that I added more than 30 blogs to my blogroll as a result! I also read many blogs of mothers of autistic children. And it must be said, this is quite a powerful community of writers and I learned so much!

   Thank you to all those that commented back! Although I have to admit that it was slightly disappointing to not even have a third of the 165 I commented on comment back. But…I get it. I am insanely busy too! So, it’s all good! ;-)

   Until next month ladies…

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Sucess? A Chance for more Giveaway entries!

  successOK…so I recently read some opinions about success stories and I wanted to put some feelers out there about this topic since I post (or try to post) a new story every Sunday. I know when I was going through infertility, success stories always made me smile…sure they hurt deep inside because I was waiting for my own success, but still I smiled. And I can understand the love/hate relationship you may have with them if you’re in the midst of going through infertility, especially immediately after a BFN.

  So my question is, how do you feel about the success stories every Sunday? Do you love them, come here each week and read through the stories with hope and leave feeling inspired and uplifted? Or do you avoid them and feel like you’ve seen enough and that it makes you more depressed?

  I don’t think I’m going to stop posting them because I do get some positive vibes and visits on Sundays (unless of course you all chime in that they aren’t helpful) but I just wanted to get a better idea! Thanks!!

   OK…not sure why I didn’t think of this before but today and most of tomorrow are the last chances to enter Fertile Garden‘s giveaway!! So, for an extra entry or two, you can tweet about the giveaway and/or blog about it. Please link back to the original giveaway post! Go ahead, it’s giveaway blogging, giveaway tweeting, necklace winning time!! ;-)

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Win a Necklace, Hear some music, follow along!

   OK…so in case you missed it, there’s a little giveaway I’m having from Fertile Garden. See the post below  for all the details. It’s a beautiful necklace and I’m really quite excited about it!!

music_clef    So I’ve been debating about my new playlist on my sidebar. I was only able to get a handful of the songs from my Inspiring Tunes post (and of course I’ll continue to add more on, so feel free to write a comment about a song or two you love). But what I’m wondering about is…should I put the list on automatic play? And maybe random? Will that be a tad annoying or a soothing welcome? What do you guys think? Would you rather click play to hear the music?  I would love your opinions!! Thanks! ;-)   (I have a playlist on my other blog that always starts with Ordinary Miracles which I love and I think is fitting because that’s the title! But I wonder if anyone gets tired of it?)

   And lastly, if you’re here from ICLW and you’re new, welcome! I’m at 99 followers and I’ve been anticipating getting to 100 since my 100 Ways to Be Stress Free Through Infertility list!! And…well I’m so close I can barely contain myself! If you follow along I promise to keep it interesting and as stress-free as possible. My whole idea for this blog is to create a community of support! Thanks so much in advance!!

Happy ICLW!!

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Fertile Garden Giveaway!

  Good morning everyone and Happy ICLW! If you’re new here I am so happy you came by!  Please peruse my newly organized sidebar for a little of what’s been going on!

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Now onto the BIG excitement for the day! I am starting a giveaway courtesy of Fertile Garden “where hope helps things grow.” It’s an amazing shop of hand made fertility & pregnancy bracelets, fertility jewelry and inspiring art featured on Etsy and Shop Handmade! (The owner herself is going through infertility and rounding out an IVF cycle. She also tweets and blogs! So be sure to check those out!)

   I LOVE her jewelry because each piece uses high quality gemstones  “which have special metaphysical properties that are used to enhance fertility and sustain pregnancy.” Some gemstones used most often in Fertile Garden’s pieces are amethyst (which is said to “purify and transmute negativity, boost production of hormones and peace of mind, and give patience and calmness despite overwhelming odds“), moonstone (which ”promotes love, hope and fertility“) and rose quartz (which “are the beads of love and fertility, soothes the heart and promotes peace“). The jewelry is also adorned with charms that are unique fertile symbols like butterflies (“symbols of the soul“), elephants (“symbol of love and virility” said to “increase fertility luck“), and turtles (“symbol of fertility and vitality, known for patience and tenacity“).

  Fertile Garden would like to giveaway this beautiful necklace to one lucky reader!

il_430xN_158584317This beautiful antique bronze fertility necklace features a lovely pendant circle with 5 wire-wrapped moonstone dangles, resembling eggs in the nest, all watched over by two sweet and nurturing mother birds. Birds symbolize love, loyalty and good fortune.”

  To enter: Simply View the shop of items and leave a comment on this post about which piece you would most like to have. Please include your e-mail in your comment so I can contact you!

For extra entries: (each one can be counted!)

  1. Follow @FertileGarden on Twitter!
  2. Follow Fertile Garden’s Blog!
  3. Like Fertile Garden on Facebook!
  4. Follow my blog!
  5. Follow me on Twitter!
  6. Become a fan of my blog on Facebook!

The giveaway will end on  Wednesday, July 28th!

 That’s it!! Good luck!!

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RELAX?!?

  

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istock photo

    OK, so I was caught up in a post recently from Busted Plumbing about an Infertile Cat Fight which involved a comment left on Naomi’s 999 Reasons to Laugh at Infertility‘s Face.book page. A woman who had gone through PCOS and over 2 years of TTC recently got pregnant and felt that ”the reason it happened was bcz i stopped thinkin about it.” Then a fight ensued as many women took offense to it and it went back and forth. (See the whole text here if you’re dying to read it all! And while you’re there go over to my page to become a fan! ;-) )

   Anyway, it got me thinking about how the whole “RELAX!” or “Just don’t think about it” comments and how it could relate to my blog. I am well aware that the title “Stress Free Infertility” can be considered an oxymoron. You may wonder how you could possibly be stress FREE through your infertility…and perhaps it may be construed as me telling you to RELAX and you will get pregnant.

   Many readers may be thinking that your infertility causes stress and stress could potentially be contributing to your infertility and it is a vicious cycle that you feel trapped in. Well, it is this very thinking that got me to create this blog.

   So rest assured that although I would never come right out and say it, I am not even implying for you to RELAX throughout my blog posts because this very comment would most probably cause more stress! But by reducing the stress you are under in the various ways presented here, you may have better results in getting pregnant (which is detailed in the article linked below).

   Ask yourself this, if you do something that helps with stress (meditating, reading, writing, listening to music, acupuncture, getting a massage, sleeping soundly,  etc.) don’t you feel better overall? That is my goal…to help you through this whole mess of infertility by feeling better. If you are able to achieve a pregnancy, then that is another wonderful side effect now isn’t it? ;-)

While writing this, I stumbled on an excellent article worth checking out.

Stress and Infertility

(Since I haven’t done a Fertility News post in a while, consider this a consolation prize!)

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May ICLW!

 IComLeavWe-May-2010This Fertility News Friday, I wanted to kick off ICLW! (Which is Stirrup Queen’s International Comment Leaving Weekwhich is short for IComLeavWe for those that don’t know!) This month there are 167 blogs on the list and my goal is to get through more than my typical one third(ish) amount. ;-) If this is your first time here, Welcome!! I hope you read a bit and stay around!! (Here is a previous welcome ICLW post for all you newbies!) If you’ve come here from a different source and seeking Iron Commenter status, then I am #94 on the list.

   So, I will keep this short and sweet…I’ve recently compiled a list of 100 Ways to Be Stress Free Through Infertility so please check that out in case you missed it! And recently, I’ve been trying to create a recommended list of The Best IF books (and I want to add fee-good books too) and a list of Feel-Good Movies, so please check those out (the posts are short I promise) and add some of your own. I was waiting for ICLW to start so I can have a LOT more to add….so please do not disappoint! Soon, I will make buttons on my sidebar so you can access these lists whenever you feel the need…and maybe I’ll even make the buttons accessible for your sidebars too! Let me know if you’d be interested!

  By the way, speaking of sidebars, if you’re not on it, you’ll want to be because one day soon, you may get randomly picked for some Blog Love! So leave me a link & I’ll get you on right away!!

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Happy ICLW!

  Hello! I’m an IVF survivor, a mommy of 3 miracles, and an advocate for going through infertility as stress free as possible. I’m certainly not an expert; I had my own share of anxieties. But I have been there, and I know first hand how it felt going through infertility for my first child and then through secondary infertility to continue my family. My experiences have inspired me to write a memoir (that is a work in progress) and start this blog. But, now I am inspired by all of you. Your patience, passion and perseverance are what drive me to continue writing and continue on the journey.

  Here’s a welcome, a little of my history, and recap of some of my topics with my first ICLW post. For any other specific topics, check out my cool tag cloud in the side bar. If you would like to know who’s cycling now or soon, go here. I am also looking for any new topics that anyone wants me to write about or discuss. So please, don’t hold back!

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   Every Sunday, I post a success story. My goal is for you to be inspired and discover someone you can relate to. I hope the stories warm your heart, give you some peace, and help you believe that success is entirely possible. If you or someone you know would like to be featured, please e-mail me the answers to the questions posted here with a picture or two. To see past stories, go here.

  

   heart blogEvery Monday, I feature an awesome blog RANDOMLY selected from my sidebar. It’s my way of showing blog love, of getting to know more about you and your plight, and to let others know about you too. If you would like to be added to my blogroll simply leave a comment with your link. I am always adding more on! To read the features I have already posted, go here.

  Thanks so much for stopping by! I wish you all the best on your journey! Happy ICLW! ;-)

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