Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II (No Spoilers)

I got cheated out of seeing the final Harry Potter movie on premiere night because Husband and I totally misestimated when tickets would go on sale. We thought two weeks prior was ample time, but they apparently were on sale earlier than that because by two weeks ago, both the 7pm and 9pm shows on Friday night were sold out.

I briefly flirted with the idea of going to the midnight show but ultimately decided that I wouldn't truly enjoy the film if I was on the verge of turning into a sleep-deprived zombie!

In the end we decided to see the 4pm IMAX show on Sunday afternoon. It was crowded but the nice thing about our IMAX theater is that seats are assigned so we just rolled in at 3:50 and got our awesome aisle seats that we selected weeks ago.

(Of course, this system doesn't work when you have annoying people who show up at 4:15 and OF COURSE have seats in our aisle so they are crawling across us while I'm sitting there sniveling over the shot of Dobby's grave. Jerks!)

First off, there were a TON of previews. I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. In my mind, the lights would dim, they'd show a premiere for The Dark Knight Rises (wahoo!) which is being released next summer and then it'd be Harry-time.

Wrong.

We sat through premieres for Real Steel (which seriously looks like the dumbest movie ever made); Puss in Boots (which made me laugh, but not sure if that character can carry a whole movie); The Adventures of Tintin (which, according to Husband, has nothing to do with Rin Tin Tin); The Dark Knight Rises (okay, that one I was excited for but the preview was a little skimpy on the Christian Bale front. What's up with that?); Happy Feet Two (are you freakin' kidding me? They couldn't even put together one movie that made sense and now they're doing a second one?); and probably more that were so memorable that I can't even remember them a day later.

I took the opportunity during the previews to go to the ladies room...twice.

On my second visit, I overheard an amusing conversation: a girl, about 12 or 13 was standing with her mom and said, "We should have gone to see Harry Potter," to which the mother snapped back, "No we shouldn't have." "Why not?" the girl asked? "Because it would be filled with all kinds of naked people and insinuations about that."

Um, okay...

Back to the movie, which finally started: they did a nice little two minute recap of where the last film picked off, which was nice. Husband and I had actually watched Part I that morning because he knew he'd be totally confused otherwise, but I appreciated director David Yates acknowledging that the last films was released far enough back that we all might not remember that Dobby had just died and Voldemort had gotten the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb.

The criticism of Part I was a lack of action. This movie picks up at the portion in the book where the non-stop action starts so the movie itself goes by really quickly (especially since at only 130 minutes, it's the shortest of all the Harry Potter movies).

As a Snape fan I was really only interested in two scenes of this film. Generally I've been disappointed with how the films have reduced the character of Snape to nothing more than a menacing set furnishing. There is so much detail that's been lost in the translation of book to films and on more than one occasion I've remarked that I can't believe that J.K. Rowling signed off on some of this stuff!

Snape is the reason why I got into the Harry Potter series. I saw the first movie with my grandma way back in 2001 and loved it. Actually, I loved the character of Snape and was excited to find out that the great Alan Rickman was behind that dark hair and billowing cloak. That's the reason why I picked up the books in the first place because I knew from the start that this was a brilliant character.

I can't even really describe how disappointed I was at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, not that Snape had killed Dumbledore, but that so many readers were incapable of seeing that there had to be more to the story than initially met the eye. I knew it and I hoped that when the final book was released, both Snape and I would be vindicated (I won't say whether we were or not!)

Regarding Snape's two scenes in the final film (and if you've read the book, you know what they are), I'll say two things:

First, I appreciate the fact that whoever wrote the screenplay for this movie appears to have at some point (possibly even recently) read the seven books and realized the importance of much of the information that may have initially seemed trivial (say to the screenwriter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire who seemed uninterested in anything that didn't involve fourteen year old love or the TriWizard Tournament).

And second, that someone else finally realized that they had the amazing Alan Rickman who was capable of pulling off more meaty acting than the occasional scowl or sneer.

I thought the two scenes were very well done. And I wasn't the only one in the theater waiting for them. As soon as Harry left Dumbledore's office, about thirty people exited the theater to rush to the bathrooms!

The rest of the battle was well done. They moved around the order and location of some of the events and I'm not entirely sure why, but it didn't really change much. Neville got his big scene, which I'd heard had led to applause in other theaters. I think if it had occurred at its proper place, it might have generated more excitement.

The final confrontation was really confusing to poor Husband who had not read the books so I had to explain what actually happened as we drove home. He also got some crazy idea about Snape and Harry being related which I had to address as well!

As expected, the epilogue was ridiculous. I don't know what it served to accomplish in the book and felt the same way about the film (a well placed appearance of Snape when Harry turns the Resurrection Stone would have conveyed the same message), but since this movie was actually following the book, they included it. In my theater, it got a few laughs, but that's about it.

I will say though, that the final image of the film was a powerful one and if we had to see the silly epilogue to get there, then I suppose it was worth it. I do wish Rowling had come up with a more suitable way to end such an epic tale.

I liked it. Husband liked it. Right now there are reviews floating around that it's the best film of the series and I'll reserve judgment on that one. I'll need to see it at least a few more times before I'm comfortable making that kind of declaration (although as I told Husband, it's not like any of the other movies are exactly It's a Wonderful Life as far as I'm concerned).

We paid the extra few dollars to watch it in 3D and I can't say that added much to the film. Other than the occasional snake or fireball shooting out, the 3D portions were rather subtle. If you're looking to save a few dollars, I'd say just watch the regular version (especially since wearing 3D glasses makes it very difficult to dab your eyes when you're sobbing away for the second half of the film!)

I don't know that it makes sense to recommend seeing it: I expect if you've seen the other seven films, at some point you'll see this one. If you haven't seen the others, don't go out and see this one expecting to have any earthly idea what's going on.  But if anybody cares, those are my thoughts on the film! What did everyone else think?

Happy Monday!

**DISCLAIMER** While my post does not contain any spoilers, I cannot guarantee the same of the comments. Read at your own risk. (And also if you are still getting Harry Potter spoilers at this point, you really should do yourself a favor and just read the books. Even without Alan Rickman, they are so much better than the movies!)

Nights on Broadway: Exciting News for Fall

This morning while eating my Honey Nut Cheerios and watching Morning Joe, I let out a loud squeal.

Husband, unsure as to what on Morning Joe could cause such delight or alternatively such horror, rushed into the room and asked if anything was wrong.

Me: No! It just scrolled across the screen that Alan Rickman is coming back to Broadway this fall!

Husband: In what play?

Me: ...Does it really matter? We're obviously going.

During my car ride to work, I considered the possibilities.

I knew that Rickman had originated the role of Le Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liasons) way back in 1985, but wasn't considered famous enough to reprise his role in the film version. Then a few years back, he stared in Noel Coward's play Private Lives (which annoyingly I did not know about until the weekend that it closed).

Surely he'd be tackling something different as opposed to doing one of those roles a second time. And as glorious as it would to hear him sing on stage, I suspected that it would be a play, not a musical.

I confirmed both of these things once in the office. The play in which Rickman will star is Seminar, a new play by Theresa Rebeck, which is about four awe struck students taking a course taught by a famous writer (Rickman, of course). Click here for the full story.

I'm totally hoping that they cast some super famous Hollywood types as the students so when I go see the play and stand by the stage door afterwards, everyone will be there to see those actors and I'll have Alan all to myself!

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

So if you're anywhere near New York this fall, check out this play. Rickman rarely turns in a less than stellar performance and maybe you'll even catch a glimpse of me as I'm being hauled away from him by the police!

(And in the meantime, you can catch Mr. Rickman as Severus Snape in the final installment of the Harry Potter movies on Friday July 15. I've got seriously high hopes for the amount of Snape in this final movie so they'd better not disappoint!)

Happy Wednesday!

Something to Talk About: Infertility and the Media

The other night Husband banished me to the bedroom while he watched 60 Minutes on DVR. As I flipped through the channels, I stumbled upon the premiere of Pregnant in Heels.

This show is, in a word, ridiculous. Wealthy, connected, and pregnant New York City couples hire a woman named Rosie Pope who dubs herself a "maternity concierge". She helps them decorate nurseries, choose names, and basically anything else they need to prepare them for the birth of their child. In the first episode, a couple insisted upon hiring a group of experts, empaneling a focus group, and throwing a dinner party for friends...all to choose a name for their son, who they claimed would most certainly be on the Presidential ballot in 2056. In the end, the couple ignored everyone's advice and settled on a name that no one liked...which they totally could have done for free.

I was ready to start flipping again when a particular scene caught my attention. Rosie Pope, the maternity concierge herself, holding a Follistim pen.

A Follistim pen, like I have in my refrigerator right now!

At first I thought perhaps she was branching out and helping women who were not yet pregnant, then her husband appeared on the screen and it occurred to me that in a tremendous bout of irony the maternity concierge was battling infertility.

Lately it seems like infertility is everywhere. And I don't think that's because I'm going through it.

Many years ago, my mother's doctor suggested that she have a mammogram. Nothing was wrong, but my mom had hit an age where it was a good idea to do one. So she agreed and while she awaited the results, she traveled to the beach to visit her brother's family. While there, she called me in a panic:

Mom: There is breast cancer awareness stuff everywhere here!

Me: What do you mean?

Mom: Everyone's wearing pink...and there was a parade this morning. I think it's the universe trying to tell me something.

Or it was October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Say what you will about television shows like Jon & Kate Plus Eight and other families with high order multiples, but I really do think they are at least partially responsible to bringing the subject of infertility to the forefront. People love twins, triplets, quadruplets. The more babies, the better. And beyond triplets (which occur in only the rarest of cases), these high order multiples do not happen naturally.

Soon, I was noticing that other reality shows were dealing with infertility issues. Giuliana & Bill suffered a miscarriage followed by a failed IVF cycle right around the time Husband and I did. And the Little Couple hasn't even been able to complete a cycle of IVF due to complications arising from Jen's small frame.

As silly as it sounds, but I feel a bit of a kinship with women like Giuliana and Jen: Giuliana is a successful television personality and Jen is a doctor. Both set goals for themselves in life and then achieved them...until now. Suddenly there's this huge thing that seems so easy for every other woman and yet it turns out we're woefully inadequate in that department and there's nothing we can do to change it. Seeing other women experience that out-of-control feeling doesn't necessarily make me feel any better, but at least I know I'm not alone.

Here's the thing though: it's one thing to discuss IVF when cameras happen to be following you around and documenting every detail of your life. It's another to just come out and start talking about it. Not because there are cameras. Not because anyone is going to find out anyway. But just because it's something that happens to women and to couples that isn't shameful. It's not something we need to hide in the corner and be embarrassed about.

Recently it seems many celebrities have begun discussing their experiences with infertility and IVF. Elizabeth Rohm, best known from Law and Order, found out at age 34 that she couldn't conceive naturally and underwent IVF. And Elizabeth Banks, currently appearing on 30 Rock, and her husband had a baby via gestational surrogate.

Perhaps it is just that I've become super-sensitive to matters of infertility. As I searched for the two stories linked above, I came across several sites listing dozens of well-known celebrities who have experienced infertility. I still can't help but think that many of those celebrities "came out" about their struggles in response to an accusation by the media. A celebrity has twins and the first assumption is that there must be a non-genetic reason for it. That turns the revelation into more of a, "Yes, fine, we did IVF. Are you happy?" than a open and mature dialogue about the fact that there are couples out there who simply cannot conceive naturally, but luckily science has stepped in to allow many to achieve what otherwise would be impossible.

When Husband and I were undergoing IUI, we didn't tell anyone save our immediate family. When we had our first miscarriage, we didn't even tell them until months later. That whole period was awful: I felt like I was lying to everyone about everything. Our response to IVF has been totally different: we've been completely open about it because we're not doing anything wrong. Why should Husband lie to his high school friend about why I might not be attending his wedding in June? The truth is that if I have doctor's appointments three times a week, I won't be able to travel.

Does that mean I'm not happy for him to be getting married? Of course not.

Does it mean that I wouldn't love to be there? Sure, granted the wedding is in Nebraska over my 30th birthday weekend, but Husband is definitely going and I'm never one to turn down a great party!

Being truthful is just easier and as expected, Husband's friend understood and wished us luck.

Part of the problem, I think probably the biggest problem, is that people don't know how to respond to someone who is talking about infertility. It's uncomfortable to hear and not something that can be solved with some reassuring words. But sometimes, most of the time, the person dealing with infertility isn't looking for answers.

She's just looking for support. For a friend. For someone to be there for her and distract her with shopping or lunch or a day away from her HCG count or estrogen levels.

The one thing I've learned as Husband and I have navigated the last year is what amazing friends we have. Friends who call Husband to talk because they can tell we're having a bad day. Or friends who show up with cheesecake and movies to entertain me while I'm stuck in bed rest. They don't solve our problems. They don't even try. But they are there for us more than we ever realized friends could be.

Of course there's a difference between telling close family and friends what's going on and blabbing about it to the media (or on a blog!), but in order to get infertility out there as a non-taboo subject, people have got to talk about it. And become comfortable with it.

I'm glad to see that there are finally some younger celebrities and people in the public eye addressing this issue. Hopefully someday infertility won't be thrown around as an accusation and will just be another part of life.

In the meantime, Husband and I are continuing our quest to conceive and will be beginning a second cycle of IVF tonight. Thank you to everyone out there for all your support. I may not "know" you, but reading your comments and stories also makes me realize that we're not alone and I commend any of you willing to share your story on this blog!

Happy Friday!

A Change is Gonna Come: A Brief Explanation of My Recent Absence

I've made a big decision that I'm really excited about and wanted to share with you all.

Effective Monday April 4, 2011, I'll be starting a new job. It's a job within my same organization and deals with the same subject matter, but the work itself is completely different.

After all the emotional and physical ups and downs of the last few weeks, I came to the realization that I simply cannot have a job where so much happens on an emergency basis. New issues are always coming up and the results is chasing a moving target. It's stressful enough as it is (as evidenced by the fact that all my co-workers have a pair of dress pants and jacket in their offices. There's always the possibility that any day, no matter how benign it may begin, could turn into a full day in the courtroom at any moment.), but add to it a personal life that's going through it's own series of issues and it becomes unbearable.

My boss is actually the one who made the suggestion about a transfer. The next day I asked her to ask our Big Boss about my options and now less than two weeks later, it's all set up!

The transfer is temporary and for four months. At the end of the four months, I can either apply for a permanent position in the same office or I can return to my current job. I like the flexibility of not being stuck somewhere, when in all honesty, I'm not even sure if this transfer is going to reduce my stress level. If it doesn't work out, I'll just come back.

The devil you know is always better than the devil you don't know, right?

So the last few days I've spent organizing my cases and preparing to turn them over to other attorneys. It's taking a while because I have a lot of cases. Hopefully I'll be finished by the end of the week and I can start fresh at a brand new position on Monday morning!

I have to say that even the knowledge that I only have 3+ days left in this position is already lifting my spirits!

Happy Tuesday!

White Wedding: Happy Anniversary, Husband!

Four years ago, Husband and I were married!

We had a lovely ceremony at a historical meeting house followed by an awesome reception at Fox Hill Inn in Brookfield, Connecticut.

(I debated posting the location of our reception site, but finally decided to go ahead and do it because (1) we live nowhere near it and (2) I want to prove Husband wrong that none of my readers are crazy and will now build a time machine solely for the purpose of going back in time four years to the Fox Hill Inn to somehow prevent our wedding reception from ever happening.)

We originally picked our wedding date more than a year earlier (in January 2006); however, in September, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. For a few days we considered postponing the wedding because we were unsure of whether she'd be healthy, but in the end kept the original date. This turned out to be a good thing since it was the healthiest period she had following her diagnosis.

Since Husband refuses to allow me to post photos of him, it's hard to end up with a photo montage that isn't just completely of me, but here are a few other shots from the day that hopefully he'll approve of!

The kiss! I sobbed through the entire ceremony, but luckily managed to get it together

for the good stuff at the end!

Me, Husband, and my parents after the ceremony.

A family favorite: me and my awesome sister and best friend, Suzanne.

Getting ready to bust a move on the dance floor.

So many people told Husband and I during our reception that they loved how we were having a good time. We were so puzzled. Do most people not have a good time at their own wedding reception? I guess if you allow the stress of creating the "perfect day" get to you, then it might be difficult to less loose and have fun. Husband and I were totally not worried about that and had a blast dancing the night away with friends, reconnecting with family who had traveled shocking distances to celebrate with us, and chowing down on the post-dessert Venetian table (best wedding idea ever!)

Husband says that his one regret with our wedding was that he didn't ask for a "Surf and Turf" dinner option. We had selected crab cakes and fillet mignon as our entrees and he's sure that if he had asked the Fox Hill Inn to put one of each on his plate, they totally would have. He's managed to turn his own mistake into a positive thing for other couples and now many of our friends who have subsequently gotten married have asked for, and received, the Surf and Turf option.

We're celebrating tonight with dinner at a super snazzy restaurant and then showering each other with gifts of the Fruit and Flowers variety (the traditional gift for the 4th anniversary). We both like to be a bit creative with our presents so hopefully we don't end up with forty pounds of apples sitting in the kitchen tomorrow morning!

I'm very lucky to have Husband and don't tell him nearly enough how wonderful he is and how much I love him! These four years have flown by and I can't wait for what the future has in store for us!

Happy Thursday!

Headline News: Pregnancy Test Results

*This post contains medical information. If you haven't figured that out from the title and the labels, then you probably have bigger issues to worry about than being freaked out by the information contained below. Just sayin'.*

Eleven days after my embryo transfer was D-Day...erm well actually B-Day. I was scheduled for a pregnancy test first thing in the morning and then expected a call back from the doctor's office at some point that afternoon.

This whole process is really crappy because you're anxiously waiting all afternoon for a phone call that's either going to give you really good or really bad news. I told Husband that they should save the bad news calls for the end of the day so there's fewer hours you have to live before you're allowed to go home and put on jammies. He claims women would catch onto this pretty quickly, but I doubt I'd notice and I do think I'd appreciate it. But as it stands, the call can come any time from 11am to 4pm, and afterwards you're either going to be walking around grinning for the rest of the day because you're pregnant or you're going to have to lock yourself in the ladies room in tears because you're not.

Those are the only two options, right? Positive pregnancy test or negative pregnancy test?

Wrong.

It turns out there's a third option: inconclusive. The pregnancy test measures the level of human chornioc gonadotropin (HCG) in the blood. A level of HCG below 5 means not pregnant. A level of HCG above 25 means you are pregnant.

So there's this whole no man's land between 5 and 25 where you might be pregnant...but you might not be. On B-Day, my HCG level was 12.

Unfortunately I got the call from my doctor's office while I was on the phone with another attorney. I put her on hold, answered the call, and got the news that I had to repeat the pregnancy test in two days.

Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder?

After I hung up the phone, I went back to the other attorney who was explaining in tremendous detail how our case, scheduled for hearing in just a few hours, was completely blowing up in ways that were not helpful to either of our clients. Finally, the call ended and just as I was ready to call Husband, the phone rang again. Another attorney on the same case was calling. He was on the opposing side and really wanted to rub in these late developments that were so detrimental to my client's position. I made it through the call and finally called Husband...

who happened to be in Florida for the day! So it's not even like I could make him come home to meet me! I explained to him what the nurse had said and he was dumbfounded.

Husband: I had it all planned out what I was going to say to you if it was positive. And I knew exactly what I would say if it was negative. I didn't even realize there was a third option!

At this point, I'm hysterical, which if you're counting, marks the fourth time in three weeks that I've completely and absolutely lost it while at work. Luckily I had closed my door prior to making the call and since my co-workers have all managed to look me in the eye since, I've convinced myself that they did not hear my crying.

I pulled it together and hung up the phone. As I passed my boss's office on my way to the ladies room, she spotted me and could tell something was wrong. I walked into her office and lost it for the FIFTH time. She immediately sprang into action, decided that she would go to the courthouse to deal with my case that was on a downward spiral, and I would go out to lunch with our social worker to get out of the office.

As a totally unrelated aside, if you're looking for 100% waterproof eye makeup, I recommend tarte Amazonian Clay eyeshadow (reviewed here) and Smashbox Jet Set eyeliner. Despite my crying for nearly two hours straight, my makeup looked impeccable. It's become my go-to eye makeup on days when I'm expecting phone calls from my doctor's office. But I digress.

We went to lunch and ran some errands and when I got back to the office, I felt tremendously better, though I still didn't want to go home alone. Luckily a fellow princess happened to catch wind of what was going on and offered to bring over dinner. It was much appreciated and rather than sitting at home, weeping all evening, waiting for Husband, I had a slightly more pleasant evening with a friend and three crazed pups.

The next day, I found this website, which made me feel more optimistic. At the very least, I decided to be cautiously optimistic. If the numbers go up on the second test, I can be even more optimistic. If the numbers go down, at least we have ten frozen blastocysts that we can use next time (without my having to pump myself full of medication again!)

On the morning of the second pregnancy test, I heard no less than two Queen songs on the radio: We are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody. I decided it must be a sign and convinced myself that good news was in my future.

Unfortunately, my HCG levels were only up to 19. My doctor asked me to come back for a third, and likely final, pregnancy test four days later. He expected at that point, my levels would begin to drop and advised me to lower my dose of progesterone in oil. I had a million questions, but unfortunately my doctor had a death in the family so he was viewing my chart remotely and not actually in the office.

The cramping, it seems, was totally normal and related to the ovarian hyperstimulation which had started back up due to the low amounts of HCG my body was producing. So I got the hassle of more ovarian hyperstimulation symptoms but without the happy news of a pregnancy.

That evening did not go well. Husband wanted to follow our doctor's instructions and do the progesterone shot whereas I felt that at best we were only prolonging the inevitable and didn't want to do it. Husband said he didn't want to look back in five years and think, "If only we'd done those progesterone shots, something would be different," and threatened to call the emergency line to tell them that I was refusing to take my medication. We finally reached a compromise that I'd take the injection that night and the following day, he'd speak to an actual doctor and ask whether there was any chance that we'd end up with a viable pregnancy.

I cried the entire time that Husband was administering the shot and afterwards he felt horrible.

He called the doctor the next morning. According to the doctor, there was a infinitely small chance that we could end up with a viable pregnancy and for that reason, we should continue the shots. Husband tried to explain this to me, but I told him that I'd already made up my mind and that the phone call was for his benefit: if he was going to insist on stabbing me with an 1.5 inch needle the next three nights, he needed to know exactly what the odds were of it making any difference.

So we continued to do the shots and managed to prove pretty definitively that these shots are administered much more smoothly when both people are calm and relaxed, rather than anxious about stabbing one's wife against her will and she's wiggling around on the bed in tears upon being reminded that this whole elaborate process didn't work. The second-to-last night, he hit a vein and we got blood everywhere! And on the final night, the first time he tried to inject the needle hurt like heck so he had to change the needle and try again.

I wish I could write that on the third day my HCG levels skyrocketed to 300 and suddenly I was pregnant with twins, so that Husband and I could complete our family with one try and never have to go through this again. That somehow I was wrong and the progesterone in oil shots made the difference and we were in that infinitely small percentage of circumstances that turned into a viable pregnancy.

I wish this story had that kind of ending...

but it doesn't.

On the day of the third test, my levels were up to 45. To be a viable pregnancy, they should have been at least 90. My doctor predicted that at some point during the next week, I'd have my second miscarriage of this process. If I didn't, and if my blood work a week later hadn't begun to drop, he suspected that I might have an ectopic pregnancy, which could potentially require surgery.

I wish I had better news. In fact, I wish I had actual news. I leave you all in limbo just as Husband and I have, for the last two weeks, been in limbo. My fourth pregnancy test is on Tuesday so I won't know definitively what's going on until then...and given the uncertainty of the past few weeks, I'm reluctant to make any promises that I'll have answers because I can't say for certain that I will. And that is completely devastating to me.

Of all the possible outcomes for our first IVF cycle, I think this is the worst. I'm pregnant. It worked, but I'm going to have a miscarriage...again. It's a loss that I wouldn't wish on any woman, not even my worst enemy. And no one should have to go through it twice, but unfortunately I will.

In fact, I'm hoping I will because the alternative means surgery and potential irreparable damage to my ovaries, fallopian tubes, or uterus.

Trying again is a given. At this point until the doctor's tell me it's a lost cause or that it's medically dangerous to continue, we're going forward full steam ahead. And hopefully someday in the not too far future, that will yield some happy news that I can't wait to share with all of you.

If anyone has questions about this entire process, please feel free to email me or comment below. My biggest hope in documenting my experiences is that it will help educate women and couples who may be beginning or considering IVF and have questions. The fact that the first cycle didn't work for Husband and I doesn't diminish that so please consider to respond as you have been throughout this process.

Thank you all for your support throughout this first cycle with IVF. I've enjoyed reading your comments as well as your emails. As difficult as these last few months have been, having the support of so many women, most of whom I've never met, has helped me significantly and more than you, or even I, may realize right now.

Dog Days are Over: Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Aftermath

By now I'm sure many of you have seen this video circulating the Internet. It's of a dog in Japan who has miraculously survived the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but is refusing to leave the side of his canine companion who was more seriously injured.



If you've not yet seen this, don't press play before making sure you have a box of tissues available.

This is not the first time that I've wondered what would become of my dogs if they were ever stranded, due to a natural disaster like in Japan or just because they someone escaped from our backyard. I suspect that they wouldn't stay together: Abbie would be off like a rocket while Izzy would stay put, hoping Husband or I would spot her.

A few years ago, my mother, who also has two dogs, relayed this story to me. Apparently the gas man had checked the meter and left the fence wide open. Not realizing this, she let the dogs out into the backyard.

About fifteen minutes later, the telephone rang. My mom answered and a woman's voice on the other end said:

"I have your dogs."

Keeping in mind that this is my mother so half of my DNA comes from her, her first thought was, "Did you kidnap them? Are you calling to ask for ransom?"

Of course, that was not the case. The woman had spotted the two dogs in her yard, several blocks away, managed to read my mother's phone number off one of their tags, and had called as a Good Samaritan, rather than as a nefarious puppy kidnapper.

There is a happy ending to both stories: in Japan, the dogs have both been rescued and are receiving veterinary care and at my mother's house, the puppy's were returned and now she always checks to make sure the gate is closed.

The point of this post is to remind everyone that in a natural disaster like this, animals are victims too. Many will end up in shelters, which need to be funded to help locate new homes for these animals. Two organizations taking donations are Animal Refuge Kansai and the Search Dog Foundation. So after you've made your donation to the Red Cross, consider making another donation to help the animals of Japan.

I remember watching footage of Hurricane Katrina on television and being appaled that rescue teams were refusing to allow people to bring their pets with them. Husband and I vowed right then and there that if we were ever in a situation that required us to be rescued, the dogs were coming with us and no one was going to tell us otherwise. Unfortunately not all pet owners feel this way or have a choice in the matter so it's important for all us animal lovers to look out for those pets in need!

And if making a donation isn't an option, here's an informative article with other suggestions, including what to do if you encounter a stranded or abandoned animal closer to home.

Together we can all make a difference!

Happy Friday!