Post-Holiday Update

Some highlights from the holidays:

-My wife's least favorite person is pregnant. She found out by looking at this particular person's MySpace page which said something about being "nauseous", and comments from friends saying "I'm so happy for you! You've waited so long!" Just for reference, this girl has been trying for 4 months. My wife melted down into a puddle of tears and a mantra of "It's not fair!"
-No comments from family/friends about our infertility issues. Very nice.
-Attended a party with friends who are all in the process of starting a family, or are well along the path of parenthood. My wife got stuck with the other women while the guys and I went out to the garage to look at dead animals (my friend is a taxidermist) The women discussed children and babies - my wife sat on the sidelines, clearly pained by the topic. Our puppy found his way into the kid's baby seats, diaper bags, and other baby accessories whose owners were none too happy about his discoveries ... my wife and I were secretly cheering our little puppy on while he climbed in, over and around all of the baby stuff. Good boy Cooper!
-Picked up a copy of "The Infertility Cure" ... a book I'm sure many of you are familiar with. So far we like what we're reading and are willing to try the author's recommendations, so I've started taking as many of the vitamins recommended in the book as I could get my hands on (Vitamins C, E, B12, Zinc, Ginseng, Fish Oil and a multivitamin) My wife intends to begin following the recommendations for women contained in the book. There are a few other vitamins and supplements I have to track down on the internet, but I intend to find, and take them ASAP. The author proposes that infertility can be overcome with traditional Chinese medicine, which to date, I have considered to be a member of the same ranks as "Voodoo" and "Witchcraft" (right next to homeopathy and chiropractic) Being backed into this infertility corner, however, I am reconsidering my classification scheme of alternative medicines. If nothing else, the concepts in this book seem to support an overall healthy lifestyle, so even if we end up at another round of ART, it can't hurt ... and there seems to be a lot on the topic of positive thinking - an area in which my wife admits to needing improvement.
-Cooper (our puppy) is now sleeping in our bed every night - something I said would never happen upon getting him - and is almost completely reliable in "eliminating" outdoors.
-I have gained 10 pounds since starting my consulting job! Time to buy a weight set, and to find time to start using it. Leaning towards a Powertec Workbench.
-We are in a holding pattern with Dr. M. until my wife ovulates in her next cycle. Her current cycle was screwed up because of Dr. S's recommendation to take the pill, and Dr. M.'s ensuing recommendation to stop taking the pill ... she took only one of the pills, but it caused her to have a half a period, or something involving bleeding / spotting. So, we're going to wait until she gets a positive ovulation test in her next cycle (which will be normal, hopefully) and schedule our post coital consultation with Dr. M. immediately thereafter.

That's all for now. Happy new year. Time to get in shape, eat salads, cut back on alcohol and tobacco (I partook of some Kodiak over the break ... that's chewing tobacco in case you don't know)