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Lance discovered today that he likes Thai food.

This now opens up a lot of new dinner possibilities...

Also, I seem to have been bitten by some kind of cleaning and organizing bug. We have a lot of half empty boxes laying around, so I dumped the contents of some boxes into others and broke down the empty boxes and got them out in the garage. While the house is still very cluttered, there is at least a lot more carpet visible.

It's another gorgeous day today. Not rainy and chilly as the weather experts would have us believe. It's partly sunny, mid-50s. And unfortunately, I'm feeling poorly today, so I don't really feel like getting out and enjoying it.

I'm not coming down with anything, it's just...

I switched from the pill to NuvaRing last month and this is my first period since I switched. Oh sweet sister of mercy...ouch ouch ouch!

Oh, hey...does anyone know how much it costs to rent movies at Hollywood Video?

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I NEVER had cramps before I started birth control. Then I did Depo and didn't have any period, then I went back to "traditional" birth control and oh my word... The pain commenced. I found that Midol actually did work to lessen the cramps. You can also get something called Evening Primrose Oil - it's available at the grocery store or Target in the vitamin aisle. It's good for helping with PMS symptoms in general. The only thing is that if you ever DO decide to try for a baby, make sure you don't take it during the second half of your cycle because it can cause uterine contractions resulting in loss of the pregnancy. Speaking of which, were you able to make any decisions regarding the "sterilization" (I put it in quotes because it sounds so damn CLINICAL!) procedure that you learned about while in Germany?

I haven't gotten to the point with my doctor where I have been able to discuss this with her. I think once I feel more comfortable with her, it's a subject I can bring up, but I doubt my insurance will cover it. And at the moment, I can't afford any major out of pocket expenses.

I really doubt we'll ever try for a baby. My period actually came one day late this time and I completely freaked out. It was like clockwork on the pill. And I rarely had cramps. Anyway, my little mini panic kind of indicates to me that I still haven't been bitten by the parenting bug, so perhaps it's time to just put any concerns to rest once and for all.

I have to admit that I have actually been bitten by the bug, and after several tests and medical appointments, we confirmed what I always knew - I'm infertile. Found out last week.

How do you like the ring? It kind of creeped me out. I wanted to try the patch but I heard it causes really nasty bruising. If you consider alternate forms of BC and sterilization, just do NOT get an IUD, and if you are interested in uterine ablation, there's a really awesome doc that does it outpatient over here. She's actually from Canada.

I'm so sorry to hear about your infertility. That must be incredibly frustrating.

As for the ring...so far, I don't particularly like it. I've had no problems with it staying in or anything, but my acne has come back and my periods are, again, a mess. The pill just worked so well for me. I just got tired of having to think about it everyday. Uterine ablation was actally something I was strongly considering. I haven't given it much thought in the past several months, due to other obvious life-changing circumstances.

By the way, totally not on topic, but you are looking fantastic!

Thanks for the compliment, and no worries about the infertility. We always suspected it, which was part of the childfree decision initially. If we do decide that we want kids for sure, there are options, but we aren't willing to try too many of them.

If you start considering the surgery again, look up the Women's Health Connection in Spokane, or Dr. Ravasia I believe. They are very friendly and open minded, but a little unorganized as far as returning phone calls and reviewing test results.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check with my doctor first and see what her thoughts are on the topic. But obviously, Lance and I need to have more discussion about this.

Oh, and to go back to what you said about the IUD...oh, never in a million years. I've already had 2 doctors tell me horror stories about it, particularly for women who have had no children.

Jumping in here...even though this is kind of a private discussion. I had an IUD put in awhile back, and it was horrible. Def not worth the freedom it allowed. I had had two kids and it was still painful! I ended up expelling it one month after insertion...gross. Not that anyone ever asks me, but if someone did, I'd never recommend this type of bc.

That sounds awful and painful!

Almightychix0r, I have my first appointment with a fertility specialist on Monday. I feel you. It sucks. And I know the question was for Karyn, but I tried the Patch. I hated every single second of it. I didn't bruise at all, but it threw my emotions into a tailspin. I was an unbearable bitch the entire time I was on it. I'm a fan of Depo. Or was. Before I was deemed infertile. Hmm.

Karyn, sorry I hijacked your comments. Feel free to lay the smack down and put me in my place! My insurance (United Healthcare) covers tubal ligation. I'm not sure about the procedure you mentioned in that earlier post. I know that most doctors will do a tubal for anyone, there's just usually a 4-6 week waiting period. They want to make sure you aren't making a snap decision because you broke up with your boyfriend or had a miscarriage or some such thing. In other words, the waiting period is for people who aren't Karyn and Lance. I think it's ridiculous that any insurance wouldn't cover elective sterilization. If it covers my efforts to have a child, it should cover any effort NOT to for those who wish to remain childfree.

No worries...I don't mind my comments getting hijacked. ;) It means people are reading and have an interest in the topic.

I think my insurance probably covers tubals, but I doubt most insurance policies cover Essure, which is the procedure I had mentioned before. I still think I will meet with resistance if I mention it to the doctor...many doctors apparently believe that women in their child-bearing years still don't know their own minds and that I may suddenly wake up on my 39th birthday and think, "Oh my God...I. MUST. HAVE. A. CHILD. NOW!" and most people generally don't consider that I have probably thought about this topic a lot more than most people who decide to become parents.

But who knows? My doctor is female, the same age as me. She might be pretty understanding. For now, I will give her the benefit of the doubt. And I need to actually have a deep discussion about this with Lance before I ever mention it to the doctor. We've only casually talked about it.

My coverage doesn't specifically list Essure, so I don't think it covers it. And believe me, I've spent a lot of time lately looking at the "Fertility and Family Planning" section of my insurance coverage. To the person who decided on a $5,000 lifetime limit on fertility treatment, I raise a single finger. And it's not my thumb.

The big thing that you and Lance need to understand (and you're intelligent, I know that you know all this and you've thought through it) is that while most insurance companies do cover tubal ligation, very few if any cover the reversal. It costs upwards of $10,000 and conception is VERY hard afterwards. But I've read your statements on your childfree lifestyle enough to know that you're sure about this. You KNOW this is what you want. My hat's off to you, actually. It's easy to decide that you want kids. It's just "the way" for some folks. I think that it might be harder to decide that you don't want children and take the steps to make sure you don't. Ever. It's a big step and I applaud your ability to make it. There's NOTHING more frustrating to an "Infertile" than people who have children when it's clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they never wanted them and they are merely something to be dealt with.

There's NOTHING more frustrating to an "Infertile" than people who have children when it's clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they never wanted them and they are merely something to be dealt with.

Thank you for saying this. Because I haven't dealt with this personally, but I've talked to other childfree people who have said that infertile couples have told them that they are being horribly unfair for not having kids when they are physically able to. And to that I say, WTF? How is it unfair? It's more unfair to bring an unwanted child into the world, and then not give them an environment where they are loved.

I actually hesitated posting that because I was afraid it would come off wrong - like I thought that you wouldn't love children if you "accidentally" became pregnant. That wasn't what I was trying to say and I'm glad you didn't take it that way.

I would much rather see you have a tubal and "throw away" your alleged fertility than watch you freak out at the positive pregnancy test, complain about it openly, dread the first OB visit, piss and moan about every little ache during the pregnancy, then dread the delivery and try to make nice when the kid arrived. Again, not saying that THAT is what YOU would do, but I've seen it happen with other people who didn't want children but ended up pregnant. And it's just plain stupid. If anything, being infertile has made me respect your childfree lifestyle EVEN MORE. It's worlds easier to see someone be proactive and prevent conception than to see them "suffer" through pregnancy and parenthood. Personally, as an "Infertile," listening to someone complain about how much it sucks to have kids is like watching someone throw fresh clear water on the ground when you're dying of thirst. But it's not like that with you. You are merely politely refusing the offer of a glass of that water because you are satiated. Nothing wrong with that.

Edited to fix spelling error. I'm anal like that.

Edited 2008-02-21 04:32 (UTC)

I'm so grateful that I have LJ friends who understand and respect my position. Many people, on first meeting me, automatically assume that I'm some kind of monster who hates children, simply because I don't want any of my own. And anyone who has read my LJ knows how excited I am about my niece and how I have accepted the responsibility to be her legal guardian if anything should happen to her parents (obviously Lance has accepted this responsibility too, but let's face it...he's also in the military...there is always the possibility, however remote, than I could end up raising her by myself).

I think that if I were to get pregnant by accident, Lance would be an amazing dad. He's always been really great with kids. I've always been really awkward around them. Although they seem to take a fancy to me, for some odd reason. I was told it's because I don't talk down to them, like a lot of people do with kids.

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