Just Do Something

We had been going to Lifequest since December 2007, with 8 cycles monitored and 7 inseminations.  Dr. Belej-Rak is nice enough but the overall clinic experience is a bit off-putting.  And then there was no pregnancy happening, and the doctor didn’t seem to have much to offer in options or opinion.  There have been many times that we thought about switching clinics, and now finally we’ve moved to Hannam Fertility. 

We had an appointment with Dr. Perry  at Hannam.  Having read her bio on the website, we were a little concerned that she had not specialized as an OBGYN.  But she got good reviews on RateMDs.com (don’t you just love the internet).  And when we met her, we liked her.  Unlike Dr. Belej-Rak, she was able to share some information that left us feeling as though we had a better understanding of the process and of our options.  Not that Dr. Belej-Rak refused to talk to us about fertility etc – but neither S nor I felt like we retained much of what Dr. Belej-Rak had to say, and ultimately didn’t feel very confident in her.

So, even though this clinic charges fees, we’ll give it a shot.  Just making this change feels like we’re moving forward.  Not because we’re leaving LifeQuest so much as that we’re doing something.  Since we seem to have very little control over whether S gets pregnant or not, it feels good to be doing something.  And like Dr. Perry said, if S gets pregnant on the 8th try – it’s not likely anything Hannam Fertility did that LIfeQuest wouldn’t have also done, although they will happily take credit.

We left Dr. Perry’s office feeling very positive – but had to go back to LifeQuest for S to get some bloodwork done (Hannam and LifeQuest sometimes share labs).  After we left, we both felt worn out and discouraged again.  Could it be that sitting in the LifeQuest waiting area had that effect?  Or is it just the baby-making in general? 

We’ll see how it goes.

Lest We Forget

Another year, another Remembrance Day.  As a government employee, I get the day off – and I (almost) always watch the ceremonies in Ottawa on the television.  I listen to the speeches, the prayers, the cannon fire, and  I observe 2 minutes of thoughtful silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. 

I remember having assemblies on Remembrance Day when I was a kid.   I remember our Grade 2 teacher instructing us to wear the poppy over our hearts, not just anywhere we wanted to.  I remember having a general understanding that the purpose of remembering was so that we would not be doomed to repeat forgotten history. 

But we’ve never, to my knowledge, been without wars in the world.  And now we have various western nations fighting wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan (as though we had forgotten that the USSR could not win a war there).  And on November 11 we all wear our poppies, and our politicians somberly lay wreaths at cenotaphs, and children sing “In Flanders Field” – but we don’t stop warring. 

Remembrance Day marks the end of World War I.  By observing Remembrance Day, shouldn’t we strive to end war (and by implication, cease to start new ones).  What is the point of remembering, if we don’t bother to change?  It just seems such a hipocracy, somehow.

I guess holding hands was too risque?

Last week’s Grey’s Anatomy introduced a declaration from character Erica Hahn that she was gay, so gay.  A big old late blooming lesbo.  This declaration was made in bed, wearing full nightgown, to her new lover Callie Torres, also in full nightgown.  It was followed by Callie promptly hopping into bed with Mark Sloane, and then hopping in again, where it was established that she was bi, or straight… one or the other.  But she would perservere in her relationship with Hahn (even though, lets face it, it was pretty damned awkward).

And now, one week later, they’re ditching the story line and ditching Hahn’s character. They say they aren’t getting rid of the character because of the lesbian thing.  After all, they still have a lesbian character on the show in Callie… 

Really?  Since when was Callie a lesbian?  I guess to frightened Mormons or other Proposition 8 proponents, bi or bi-curious is tantamount to being a lesbian (or to being the anti-christ).  Speaking of which, I suppose it’s just a co-incidence that they turf the gay, so gay, character immediately after Proposition 8.  But what an insult to injury co-incidence.

Civil Rights in the USA

Last night I watched television while Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America, and today I wondered whether I should remark on it here.  But what to say that isn’t already being said?  Yes, this is history in the making.  It’s been only a few decades since strange fruit was hanging from poplar trees in america, and now they have a black man for president.  And I hope he does well, recognizing he’s been given the crown to a bankrupt kingdom with a couple of wars to sort out.  And yes, it’s a huge symbol of the progress the US has made with respect to civil rights. 

But at the same time that Barack Obama was elected President, three US states voted to ban gay marriage (California, Florida, Arizona), and Arkansas voted to prevent unmarried couples (i.e. homos) to adopt.

Am I just old fashioned, or is it wrong to allow the majority to decide whether a minority gets to enjoy equal rights?