Just a quick update

I promise a much longer post is coming.  But for now, I will share a few of my favorite photos from our AMAZING trip to St. Lucia.

Our first day in Paradise!

Waterfall at Botanical Gardens

Sunset Cruise... with lots of Rum Punch!

View of Marigot Bay after sunset

Our own private cabin... our little slice of HEAVEN on Earth

Frustration All Around

As I write this, my students are being subjected to the yearly state tests. They are taking the reading portion, which I can't read or modify in any way for them. They are required to take the 6th grade test, even though most of them read at the 3rd or 4th grade level. We take two tests a day, and yesterday we took so long that the kids had to eat their lunch in my room because we hadn't finished. These tests are all sorts of unfair... and the worst part is that this test determines so very much for my school. This single series of tests determines our school's status in terms of AYP for the No Child Left Behind Act. We are already on the "list" because not enough of our special education students were able to pass the test. The stakes just keep getting higher and the state keeps cutting the funds that we need to teach. It is a vicious cycle that is doing NOTHING to improve our education system. As a teacher, there is nothing I can do about it. That is the hardest part of all of this.

On top of all of this, my district is making drastic cuts in our staff for next year. Several of my colleagues have been cut to part time and several others have been cut completely. Many of these individuals had NO idea that they would be losing their positions in the fall. A few of them are even tenured at the START OF THE NEXT YEAR. I am so sad for our school. We were once a great place to work with lots of great people who worked here because they loved what they did and had pride in our school. I fear that this is the final straw and many of us will start working just to our contract and do nothing more. There is even talk that they will be cutting all of the extracurricular activities next year. What a sad state we are in. My assistant who has been with the district for SEVEN years, was just told that she will not have a position for the fall. No one can tell me what this means for my program. It will be VERY difficult for me to meet the needs of my students without an assistant. I don't know if I will have an assistant or not at this point. Only individuals have been told at this point, so nobody knows the big picture. All we have are the hallway conversation we all seem to have trying to figure things out. There is a great deal of stress and unrest in the building right now.

So I can't even really lose myself at work right now. I am still VERY raw about our negative last month. The tears are now farther inbetween. The last few days have been tough... lots of tears. I think I am getting over it, but then I realize I am far from being over it. We did decide to take a big splurge and spend Spring Break in St Lucia. We are both really looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a week away from the rest of the world. Hoping that we will have a week not thinking about it.

Need to get back to my class... it has taken me all day to write this post. :) The kids are now getting very antsy... and I can't blame them!

Short Vent..

Just a quick vent. I am a "fan" of my clinic on Facebook. All this week I have received updates from the fan page that my RE has a book coming out... that is supposed to answer any questions you have about trying to get pregnant. If the man can write a book on the topic, then why the heck doesn't he have any answers for us? It just makes me sad. :(

Vent over.

One day at a time...

That is really all I can do at this point. We're dealing with it. I wish I hadn't figured out "dates" if we had gotten our positive. I had a mini meltdown today when I realized that our first ultrasound would have been this Friday. Its the little things like this that seem to set me off the most.

Chris had a great weekend at the High School Sectional meet. He had one relay and several boys qualify for the state meet this coming Friday. He had a few sectional champions, too! The team ended up in 3rd place, which is one of the best they have ever done. I am so very proud of him and this accomplishment. Chris needed this... he needed to feel some success.

We are no closer to making a plan as to what to do next. I know what I want to do, but it isn't possible right now. Instead, we are focusing on trying to plan a great relaxing romantic vacation for spring break. I think we have decided on the US Virgin Islands. We are waiting for Chris' coaching check to book things. It will be last minute, but we are hoping to get some great deals that way. While I feel a little guilty making this splurge, I know that we both NEED this. We are both hurting and need to take some time to reconnect and simply relax.

Next week are the dreaded state tests for my students. They are not ready, but I don't know if they would ever be ready. I HATE giving these tests and they are simply NOT FAIR for my kids. I won't go into a rant about it again. I am not feeling very successful as a teacher, which is compounded by our failed IVF. I am just not feeling very successful in life right now. I let things slide in my professional life while I focused on our IVF. I don't regret that decision, but now I have to deal with the consequences of that choice. I am an overachiever, so it is hard to look at see that you haven't done all that you could have done. Trying not to look back, but move forward. That's hard since I don't know what our future holds.

My Valentine...

15 years ago, this man asked me to be his wife. I can't even begin to express how much we've changed since then. It wasn't a perfect day and I made things difficult for him, all the way to the proposal. But he still asked, and I said yes.

We had a similar day this year. The reality is that I am still in a not so great place and not completely in control of my emotions. Last year Chris went all out and planned a full day of spoiling me. He told me that he thought I was going to be pregnant so he didn't want to plan much. So that left us with no plans on Valentine's Day.

Chris called an booked massages for us at a place we'd never been. We got up and had breakfast and stopped at World Market to stock up on wine. We got to the massage place, and I had a bad feeling. It was inside a Gold's Gym and the vibe was just off. And then they handed me a form to fill out about my health conditions and there it was in black and white... "Are you pregnant?" It's little things like a simple form that just make my heart stop. I got over it... or so I thought. Then when they came out with a masseuse that was male, I lost it. No WAY was I going to get a massage from some guy. I had a minor meltdown and ended up in tears. We got a refund and got out of there. I am sad that Chris missed out on his massage, but I knew I needed to get out of there. (I am hoping to schedule one for him at a NICER place later this week to make up for it)

We ended up going to see Lighting Thief. We were both disappointed with the movie because it strayed so far from the book. The movie iteself was good, but it was just hard to follow since the plot was so different than the book. I am looking forward to talking with some of the kids at school to see what their take is on it.

Came home and had another melt down but we ended up the night on a great note. There is a great restraunt here in Antioch that had a special Valentine's Dinner event. We went and had a great time with some great food. It was nice to just enjoy the moments and we only talked about the IVF once. All of the food was amazing and we even shared a bottle of wine. I was feeling pretty good by the time we got home. :) I was glad that I had the day off from work today since I had a little headache this morning for sure.

The next month is crazy busy for Chris and he had tons of work to do this morning. I made breakfast and even made chili for lunch. He had early practice for the high school, so he had to leave by 12:15. I am used to being home alone, but I am having a hard time with it right now. I miss him dearly and wish he could be home with me now. It seems that early mornings and evenings are the hardest for me. I am not ready to be out in the "real world" just yet, so for now I have to deal with being alone at night.

I am hoping that things will start to get better soon. I am still having moments of shear panic when I realize that our FET really did fail. I don't have any idea what the future holds for us at all. So for now I am just taking things one day at a time. But I am so very thankful that I have my valentine to take the journey with me!

Project Life (yes, a non infertility post!)

Thought I would share my project life album that I have been working on. I thought this would be a great year to do this, since I thought I was going to be pregnant for most of it. But we all know how that turned out, so I am not going to go there.

The goal is to take a photo a day and journal about it. The album is a kit from Becky Higgins. You can find it at Amazon now. There are divided page protectors so all you have to do is slip the photos and cards in.

I am actually all caught up except for the journalling for last Sunday. Still not sure what I want to write that could sum things up.

So here it is:

Questioning my Identity

For the past six years, I have defined myself as an infertile woman. While I have many roles in my life, the infertile was first and foremost in my perception of myself. I created a barrier that protected the infertile from life and all of the things that can shake the world of said infertile. Baby stores, showers, facebook posts were all avoided. I created a hard shell that didn't fantasize about being pregnant or look up due date calculators. I didn't wander the baby aisle at Target or read reviews about baby products. I kept myself safe... most of the time. I was bitter about being infertile, but I accepted it as the fate I was given. I was getting stronger and able to share in the pregnancy and baby of one close friend.

And then I cracked the shell. I decided to do a final treatment cycle in the hopes of getting some answers and being able to fully move on. With each step of the process, I got more hopeful. It scared the crap out of me to be hopeful, but I did it. We were at the best clinic in the country. We were seeing one of the best REs in the country. I passed every test along the way and everything pointed to us ending up pregnant this time. EVERYONE thought this would work. The experts, our friends, and us.

For the first time in six years, I actually believed that I was going to be pregnant. I made plans. We talked about names and I browsed nursery themes for hours. I calculated my due date and considered when I would have to go on maternity leave. I researched my teaching contract to see what I needed to do in order to maximize leave. I imagined what my babies would look like and what their personalities might hold.

I created a path that I was sure my life was going to take. I had plans. We had plans. I had expectations of what I would be doing this weekend, next weekend, and beyond. And now I feel lost.

I am an intelligent woman. I should be able to pick up the pieces and move on. I mean, really, it is not as if this failure is a new thing. I've been there before. Somehow this time was different. I feel so very stupid that I actually thought this was going to work. I let down my guard and now I am questioning everything.

I don't want to go back to the bitter infertile woman, but she felt safe. Right now I feel raw. I feel like I am made of glass and might just shatter at any moment. I don't really want to be this fragile sad woman either. What do I really want to be? I want to be a mom more than I want anything else in this world. I want to be identified as a mom. The reality is that I can't have that identity.

So I guess for now, I am going to be the sad fragile woman until I can build another protective shell. I don't think I'll ever be able to create a complete seal. I've had a taste of hope and the "other side." I am taking things one day at a time and hope that I can come out of this stronger.