a little pregnant

• Breathes life into

  It hadn't seemed so serious that morning, when the NICU nurse called early to say we should be there. Of course we'd go, I said, just like we did every morning, in time for his first feeding, just after morning... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:50am EST
  by Julie

• Quickie

  Our Halloween party...wasn't. There were a few casual acceptances by friends who never showed, and so the informal open house I'd envisioned ended up instead as a quick dinner with the family of one (1) of Charlie's friends and his... [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:51pm EST
  by Julie

• Three things that make me feel queasy

  From antiangie on Twitter: "I'm not sure what you should do with this, just telling you it exists." Jerry O'Connell is writing a memoir about parenthood. Its title: Cry, Feed, (Make Love to Wife), Burp. I for one can't wait...' [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 12:53pm EDT
  by Julie

• I bet they'd come if I made the frightening hand

  I'd been toying with the idea for a couple of weeks, to invite people over for a casual gathering before Saturday night trick-or-treating. I'd order pizza for the kids, put together a few amusing edibles for the adults — certainly... [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 12:03pm EDT
  by Julie

• Your invitation is in the mail

  This morning's breakfast conversation: Charlie: When Ben and I are grown men, we'll still be brothers. But we won't live in the same house. Julie, thinking, I hope not, because that'll mean both of you are in prison: You could...' [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 11:09am EDT
  by Julie

• Truing up

  I just want you to know that at no time has any agent affiliated with the TSA relieved me of either of my children during an airport security screening. This is kind of odd when you consider that until recently... [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 10:42pm EDT
  by Julie

• New rule: Don't read comments, ever

  New rule! Every time someone declares that infertile people should accept their lot in life and adopt, they should be required by law to adopt a child themselves. To put their money where their mouth is. Shouldn't be a problem,...' [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 10:59pm EDT
  by Julie

• Coal, goal, and a swab in the hole

  It started with a high fever. Holding Ben was like clutching a sack of burning coal. An angry sack of coal, in fact, one that writhed and mewled and tried to escape from my arms. Okay, I'd say, and put...' [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 12:08pm EDT
  by Julie

• It's probably a good thing I don't do book reviews

  If you're my friend on Facebook, which is sort of like being my bricks-and-mortar friend except that I seldom send anyone a pancreas in real life, or if you follow me on Twitter, which is sort of like being stabbed...' [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 8:57pm EDT
  by Julie

• Whip smart

  I should tell you it didn't bother me, the misspelling on Ben's note. When I read Amy's comment — "Luckily even dumb people still manage to take decent care of our children!" — I had a frantic moment where I...' [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2009, 11:34pm EDT
  by Julie

• Help an infertile out. Uh, but not like Carolyn Savage did.

  Carolyn Savage had a C-section Thursday. The baby, a healthy boy, was immediately given to his genetic parents, Paul and Shannon Morrell. The clinic responsible for the mix-up has not yet been named. Maybe they're waiting till the clinic has...' [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2009, 9:37pm EDT
  by Julie

• To say hello and goodbye

  Carolyn and Sean Savage, parents of three, were trying to have a fourth child through IVF. Their first child was conceived and delivered without difficulty. Their second child was born at 30 weeks after Carolyn developed HELLP syndrome. It took... [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2009, 2:22pm EDT
  by Julie

• Despite it all, I still feel pretty good about having Ben in day care.

  [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2009, 8:50am EDT
  by Julie

• Keep it simple, sweetheart

  This morning Tertia wrote about how much easier it was to have a newborn the second time around. What she left out was a description of all the panicked messages she sent me before Max was born and my affectionate... [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2009, 1:46pm EDT
  by Julie

• The secret ingredient is pectin

  Last night before dinner I told Charlie I'd made an exxxxxtra-delicious dessert and said that if he cooperated until the end of the meal, he could have some. Iiii know. I know everyone says not to use food as a...' [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2009, 11:19am EDT
  by Julie

• 2300 words in search of a theme

  Hey, a lot's been going on since I last posted nine years ago. Last in, first out, okay? First up: the latest Duggar pregnancy, with child #19. Okay! People! We get it! Point taken! You're fecund! Duly noted! Beyond that,...' [...]
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  Posted: September 02, 2009, 10:24pm EDT
  by Julie

• Help me civilize my son and I'll let you ride in the front

  Oh, you lovely Internets, you always pull me through. You always give me just what I need: sympathy, ideas, company, different points of view, the occasional decisive ass-kicking I'm sometimes just begging for. Thank you so much for your warm...' [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2009, 1:48pm EDT
  by Julie

• Laughs and claps her hands

  I wish I could show you the picture. I'm sitting on my father's lap. My curly hair's in what my mother always called puppy-dog ears, a ponytail on each side of my head. My hands are in motion, and you...' [...]
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  Posted: August 13, 2009, 8:48pm EDT
  by Julie

• Suddenly it all makes sense!

  Now I know why Charlie wanted to dig that hole on the playground. Of course! He was hoping to build a latrine. [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 10:28pm EDT
  by Julie

• Quick question

  Fox will air a two-hour documentary special on Nadya Suleman, "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage," on August 19. The program draws from seven months of exclusive access to Suleman, starting with the birth of her octuplets in January. Fox said... [...]
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  Posted: August 11, 2009, 8:32pm EDT
  by Julie

• I'm too scared to ask what plan C is

  This morning before preschool — much to my relief, a recent grant received by his day care facility means I can call it that instead of Stalag 4½ — Charlie asked for paper and pencil. He wanted some drawing time,... [...]
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  Posted: August 07, 2009, 11:04pm EDT
  by Julie

• Builds character

  Earlier this week I was reading a post over at the always-excellent All and Sundry about Linda's birth experiences: I don’t have bad feelings about either of my C-sections. They weren’t terrible, they were fine. I saw my babies right... [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 12:58pm EDT
  by Julie

• Won't you sign in, stranger?

  And then it got even weirder: "Mama, I spelled another word! Want to see it?" Jesus, no, I do not. "It says dead because there is a poison tank under the floor," he explained, "and it's filled with poison. If..." [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 12:54pm EDT
  by Julie

• WTFSON

  This...this is...kind of freaky, right? [...]
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  Posted: July 22, 2009, 9:08pm EDT
  by Julie

• You'll feel like you're falling but you're not. That is, unless you're Julia.

  Oh, I'm sure Disneyland's nice and all, but its claim to be the happiest place on Earth is patently false. After this year's vacation I can authoritatively say that the happiest place on Earth is Tyler Place. Disney has rides...' [...]
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  Posted: July 15, 2009, 12:21pm EDT
  by Julie

• Advocacy Day wrapup

  So here is what I decided, waiting in line to enter one of the buildings of the Senate: People who want the best for us, people who mean to be helpful when speaking to us about infertility, will almost inevitably... [...]
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  Posted: July 07, 2009, 11:47am EDT
  by Julie

• Hardcover, I tell you. Full price!

  Dear Liza Mundy, I am a fan. Let me tell you how big a fan I am: I bought your book in hardcover. I think it's fantastic — provocative but not gratuitously so, balanced, well researched, and humane. It's rare... [...]
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  Posted: June 29, 2009, 11:55am EDT
  by Julie

• Father's Day

  I'm sorry; I'm just a bit goopy today. I'm missing my dad, like always. The last time I saw him was Father's Day weekend in 2007, so he's very much on my mind. (Nothing out of the ordinary, that visit,...' [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 7:02am EDT
  by Julie

• Are you there, Internet? It's me, Margaret

  Attention! Attention! I am about to talk about my period! I warn you so that if frank talk of menstruation unnerves you, you may hastily click away, because I'm about to gross even myself out. I am having a little...' [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 10:37am EDT
  by Julie

• To the distinguished gentleman in the Pharaonic headdress

  Dear Composite Member of Congress Totally Not Based on Anyone in Particular: Hey, how's it hanging? I mean, of course, the fate of this great nation, which you hold in your powerful hands. I was in no way referring, in... [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 12:56pm EDT
  by Julie

• Bleeding Kansas

  I don't care how incongruous it might seem for me — at last and gratefully a mother — to rage at the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining doctors in the U.S. to perform late-term abortions....' [...]
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  Posted: June 01, 2009, 9:44am EDT
  by Julie

• Femme nue avec fromage, c. 2008

  I know childbearing changes women's bodies. I knew it would affect mine, even beyond the changes infertility itself incurred. (Mushy white laparoscopy scars? Check. Persistent painful ass lumps from progesterone shots? Check. Fibrous wodge of scar tissue in the bend... [...]
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  Posted: May 28, 2009, 10:32pm EDT
  by Julie

• Hope swings eternal

  Well, really, what is there to say? [...]
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  Posted: May 19, 2009, 11:20pm EDT
  by Julie

• ...Than are dreamt of in your philosophy

  This afternoon I stopped to donate a box of old clothing. Another woman was there, too, taking box after box out of the back of her SUV. She looked a bit older than I am, attractive, suburban, pleasant. "Feels good,..." [...]
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  Posted: May 08, 2009, 9:45pm EDT
  by Julie

• Fourboding

  As if Ben at nine months, with his irregular waking, monomaniacal crawling, and two dastardly teeth, weren't challenging enough, I've come to realize an alarming truth: Four years old is trying to kill us all. There is, of course, the... [...]
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  Posted: May 07, 2009, 3:50pm EDT
  by Julie

• Gentle reminder

  UPDATE: We have winners! Amanda Lynn, Broad Minded, Mhlia, Shrink, loribeth, Suzie Bozarth, Vanessa, Deb, Natalie, Laura S, Gretchen, Duchess, jeni, redzils, Paz, tiffany, Cori, Stacey, Sam, and Emmy, check your e-mail. Thanks to the rest of you for entering.... [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 9:12am EDT
  by Julie

• The chicken is involved, and also committed

  Once you've been touched by infertility, how can you not stay aware? Even with two kids, even past my own years of crisis, I still see it everywhere. Today's example comes from Margaret Wise Brown's children's classic, Big Red Barn,...' [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2009, 2:58pm EDT
  by Julie

• And now for some really jerky behavior

  So a couple of weeks ago I was sitting with Mel of Stirrup Queens — I know! — talking about jerky. But I'm jumping ahead. I will get to the meat in a minute. I've written before about how I... [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:59pm EDT
  by Julie

• Sweet and sour

  ...Not in that order. First the sour: A few days ago I read a post that made me angry. When I read something on the Internet that pisses me off, I usually do one of a few things: Respond immoderately... [...]
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  Posted: April 19, 2009, 11:38pm EDT
  by Julie

• Mistakes were made.

  Look, I'm not trying to run your life or anything. All I'm saying is that if you ever find yourself considering the question of whether to teach your preschooler to read, it couldn't hurt to keep the following sentence in...' [...]
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  Posted: April 12, 2009, 8:23pm EDT
  by Julie

• MAKE BUNNY FAST

  Urgent! Urgent! I must know immediately: What the hell does the Easter Bunny do these days? To millions of people — billions? — worldwide, Easter is about the joyful resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm not a Christian, but we do...' [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 2:30pm EDT
  by Julie

• We now join March Madness already in progress.

  Class AAAAAAA 1. Backward. Arena: under the living room sofa. 2. Forward. That treacherous son of a bitch of a direction. 3. Fifty of 'em at least, all poised to erupt simultaneously, in fearsome rows, like a shark's. 4. That's...' [...]
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  Posted: March 26, 2009, 9:49pm EDT
  by Julie

• Friday ramble

  When I picked Charlie up from day care a couple of days ago, the kids were out on the playground. He and two particular friends can usually be found raising a low-grade preschool kind of hell, and that day was... [...]
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  Posted: March 13, 2009, 12:45pm EDT
  by Julie

• Now we are six

  Six years ago today, in the very first post on this blog, I wrote: Today I peed on a stick and got two pink lines. The first positive pregnancy test I've ever had. I am one smug motherfucker today. And,...' [...]
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  Posted: March 07, 2009, 7:50pm EST
  by Julie

• Really love your peaches, want to shake your dumbass state senator

  Dear Georgia, Hey, if you're not too busy following NASCAR or looking at each other in surprise and murmuring, "How 'bout them Dawgs?" or finding mammal bones in candy that should by all that's holy be boneless — and I...' [...]
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  Posted: March 05, 2009, 10:44am EST
  by Julie

• In defense of "implant," or, Ow. That hurt, in a miniature kind of way.

  I'm gonna shatter what remaining infertility cred I have with a single crotchety declaration: I don't quite get what's wrong with implant. Wait, now, hear me out. I'm as big a stickler for precision in language as anywhatsis. If you... [...]
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  Posted: February 19, 2009, 9:20pm EST
  by Julie

• This just gets better and better

  Ben and I have a stomach bug so I'm not up for much in the way of commentary today. Good thing this shit practically writes itself: A few months after Dr. Michael Kamrava helped Nadya Suleman become pregnant with octuplets,...' [...]
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  Posted: February 13, 2009, 1:23pm EST
  by Julie

• Octuplets. Still. Again.

  Nadya Suleman has named the doctor responsible for the conception of her octuplets and, she says, her other children. (Her mother disputes this, saying that a previous doctor had promised not to perform further procedures on Suleman, requiring her to... [...]
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  Posted: February 10, 2009, 1:13pm EST
  by Julie

• Association: free. Puff-painted STDs: priceless.

  I think about the dead when I'm holding Ben, when the house is quiet and the room is dark and there's nowhere else I should be. It's the only time I really do, waiting for him to finish a feeding...' [...]
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  Posted: February 08, 2009, 11:07pm EST
  by Julie

• Oh, come on, you had to know this post was coming eventually.

  Okay, octuplets? Seriously? I wasn't going to write about this. Every time I get all twitchy here about HOMs after ART, I inevitably get my judgmental ass handed to me on a silver platter. No, wait: a plastic fast food...' [...]
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  Posted: January 31, 2009, 11:04pm EST
  by Julie

• 120 hour party people

  Hey! Day 5 embryos stored somewhere in Minneapolis! Happy You Day! Whooooo! I made you some festive party hats. Here they are! So clap 'em on and let's celebrate. Let's get this party star-teddddd! Wait, you hadn't heard? Well! I... [...]
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  Posted: January 18, 2009, 5:14am EST
  by Julie

• Playdate 101

  Invite a child to play. To reduce the chance of rejection, select the kid least likely to have other social commitments — say, the one who eats paper, or who's always all crusty and rabbity-looking around the nostrils, or whose... [...]
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  Posted: January 15, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Julie

• Being Mom and keeping mum

  They tell you your life will change when you have kids, and you think, I know. Dumbass, that's the whole point. You know it will, but you simply can't anticipate how. The major ways are easy to imagine. It's the... [...]
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  Posted: January 08, 2009, 7:09pm EST
  by Julie

• Make with the presents or Mrs. Claus gets it

  Dear Santa Claus, Please bring me a tape recorder. And maybe some other stuff. [Pause.] This note is to remind you. [Longer pause.] Now do what I say. — Charlie, dictating his 2008 letter to Santa (first draft) Christmas kicked... [...]
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  Posted: December 29, 2008, 12:05pm EST
  by Julie

• Two hands (extended dance remix)

  On the one hand: "Charlie is creative, inventive, and imaginative and openly shares these gifts with all the people around him. He is becoming a better communicator in his social interaction with others. He is able to express how he..." [...]
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  Posted: December 22, 2008, 8:48pm EST
  by Julie

• Comic jeanius

  Friends, I give you...pants! It was very hard to choose only five winners, and not only because the entries took up 128 pages when I pasted them into Microsoft Word, and not only because I printed them out in teeny-tiny... [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2008, 12:40pm EST
  by Julie

• In medias res

  Yesterday Yesterday was Charlie's birthday party. Five four-year-olds descended upon my house at the appointed hour, and, at the giddy instigation of my son, created a fracas. The children played with toys, shotgunned cunning little boxes of chocolate milk, and... [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2008, 11:16pm EST
  by Julie

• Letters to the editor

  Dear editors of the New York Times Magazine: Whoa, hey, that wasn't very subtle, was it? First come the photos. It starts with the picture on the cover, where writer Alex Kuczynski cradles her belly with a knowing, feline smile,... [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2008, 4:03pm EST
  by Julie

• Hey, Joe

  A few weeks ago I got a message from the nice people at Joe's Jeans asking me if I had any interest in talking about their product here. I get a fair amount of e-mail like that, as I've said... [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2008, 4:18pm EST
  by Julie

• I am an excellent parent, stomach virus edition

  [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2008, 9:28pm EST
  by Julie

• Traveling and unraveling

  Whoa, hey, that was kind of a long hiatus, huh? Sorry about that. I got a little sidetracked, what with holding the first-round auditions for performers, renting a fleet of chauffeur-driven bumper cars, and doing exhaustive background checks on ponies... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2008, 12:08pm EST
  by Julie

• Party animus

  I was supremely tickled by Lynn's comment the other day, when she mentioned a book called Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful. See, I happen to have that book. It's part of a set, one that was given to me by... [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2008, 8:11pm EST
  by Julie

• Enlightened electorate, my ass

  At dinner last night Charlie asked me, "Mama, have you ever votened before?" I assured him that I have votened whenever the opportunity has arisen. "In fact, your dad and I voted today," I said. (I did not mention the... [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2008, 6:20am EST
  by Julie

• T.G.T.M.

  Hey, you know how on Friday afternoons, people get all excited about the coming weekend? Like, they resituate the pleats in their khaki Dockers, turn off whatever lite or kool or smuthe radio station they've been listening to in their... [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2008, 12:09pm EST
  by Julie

• Treat

  No, Charlie is not a wizard. Nor is he a warlock. Call him either and he will look at you blankly, then patiently correct you. He is a witch, and he'll thank you to remember it: "actually, a witch in... [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2008, 7:59pm EDT
  by Julie

• Haiku! (Gesundheit.)

  Limber up those fingers, people, and get ready to count some syllables: It's time for the First Annual Infertility Haiku Competition!Crimson droplets fallMournful autumn, maple leaves,Days before betaMy Fertility Plan is sponsoring a contest to celebrate the many ways infertiles... [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2008, 12:04pm EDT
  by Julie

• You can be active with the activists or sleep in footed sleepers

  Hi! So! That was awesome, huh? Glad you liked it, because as it happens, I have a lot more to say about abortion, politics, and the upcoming elec—whoa! Hey! Was that a picture of a cute baby? All right. Now... [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2008, 9:45pm EDT
  by Julie

• Why no one with a uterus should vote for John McCain

  Senator John McCain, Republican candidate for president, on late-term abortions, and whether they should remain legal when the health of the mother is at stake:"Health for the mother." You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to... [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2008, 10:10am EDT
  by Julie

• Scrolldown fug

  In the mail last week: Oh, boy! I know you are thinking. Maybe Julie won a prize! ...Sure, I...guess. (Don't know scrolldown fug? Oh, you're in for a treat. And speaking of treats, and speaking of prizes, I picked two... [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2008, 9:47pm EDT
  by Julie

• Liveblogging this morning's two-hour glucose tolerance test

  9:20: I arrive at the hospital. The glass window in front of the receptionist is adorned with clear red Halloween motifs that are meant to look like spatters of blood. Perhaps not the most reassuring choice for a phlebotomy lab.... [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2008, 2:54pm EDT
  by Julie

• Rocky Mountain huh?

  They're calling it the Personhood Initiative of 2008. Next month Coloradoans will vote on whether to amend their state Constitution "to include the pre-born from the moment of fertilization as having their 'personhood' clearly established." This description comes from Colorado... [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2008, 11:31am EDT
  by Julie

• Probably too young to be tried as an adult

  Julie, falsetto: Iiiii know a boy who's stuck in Folsom Prison! Yes, I do! Yes yes yes I do! Who is it? Who could it be? Let's guess! Let's guess! Is iiiiit...you? [Index finger on the tip of Ben's nose.]... [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2008, 9:24pm EDT
  by Julie

• Cross words

  A member of IVFC posted a link to a feature on her former clinic's Web site — Egad, I'm suddenly aware of how old-fashioned I am. Am I the only person alive still capitalizing Web? Internet? Velocipede? Probably. My stars.... [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2008, 11:56pm EDT
  by Julie

• How the weekend generally goes

  Scene: In the car, passing a restaurant we used to visit weekly. Charlie: Why did that restaurant close?Julie: Because not enough people went there for the owners to keep it open.Charlie: How many did the owners need?Julie: I don't know... [...]
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  Posted: October 04, 2008, 3:36pm EDT
  by Julie

• IBTC

  File under "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow": Please enjoy FUNWARI MILK CHAN. I wonder if they're sold in pairs. File under "Word to your lovely mother": A neologism found on turdwords.com, a site so patently NSFW that I'm... [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2008, 9:44am EDT
  by Julie

• A brief illustrated history of an unimportant piece of furniture, or, I really bought quite a lot of that fabric

  Today I dismantle the co-sleeper. It's the same one Charlie used, the single piece of baby furniture we had in the house when he was born. The first time we were told he was to be discharged from the hospital... [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2008, 4:49pm EDT
  by Julie

• Kill your television. Or at least that irritating duck.

  This morning Charlie lost his mind. Now, I know I'm not supposed to let my three-year-old watch Wonder Pets until his eyeballs fall out of his head and roll around on the family room rug, causing them to become so... [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2008, 9:41pm EDT
  by Julie

• Things we like

  I get a lot of e-mail with a marketing angle, suggestions that I promote this product or that on my site. Sometimes the products in question are a good fit for my audience; sometimes — in fact, I am sorry... [...]
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  Posted: September 19, 2008, 10:36am EDT
  by Julie

• Postpartum

  About that six-week appointment. First, I offer you a riotous laugh at my expense. The nurse led me to an exam room and took my weight and blood pressure. Then she presented me with a gown and prepared to leave... [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2008, 2:36pm EDT
  by Julie

• Bad patient. No cookie.

  On day one postpartum, the OB who performed my C-section came into my hospital room and asked me if I had any questions. I was nursing Ben at the time, feeling blissed-out and invincible. "Nnnnope!" I told him, and turned... [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2008, 10:55pm EDT
  by Julie

• He's depraved on account-a he's deprived

  Some kids imitate their mothers nursing, reenacting that exquisite mother/child tableau, small faces serious as they cradle a beloved doll close, touchingly aware of the importance of the business at hand. Not Charlie. I'm pretty sure this is the only... [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2008, 9:41pm EDT
  by Julie

• Big brother

  This morning at 7, just as I'd been since 4:30, I was lying on the sofa in the den, blanket pulled up to my chin, baby's head lodged in my armpit. At his last feeding, Ben had eaten peaceably enough... [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 2:23am EDT
  by Julie

• Big brother

  This morning at 7, just as I'd been since 4:30, I was lying on the sofa in the den, blanket pulled up to my chin, baby's head lodged in my armpit. At his last feeding, Ben had eaten peaceably enough... [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 12:37am EDT
  by Julie

• Voyage to the bottom of the C

  Look, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but sweetbreads are neither sweet nor bread. While I normally despise evasive phrasing — this might sting a little... — preferring instead the plainest of speaking — ...as... [...]
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  Posted: August 28, 2008, 9:22pm EDT
  by Julie

• 49

  Hawaii is the 50th state, and the only one my favorite aunt never visited. She'd made a project of bagging all 50, visiting some several times because she loved them — Colorado for its mountains, Maine for its rocky coast... [...]
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  Posted: August 25, 2008, 3:40pm EDT
  by Julie

• Don't make me post a recipe, too.

  I don't know where to go from here. My first feeling based on the comments from my last entry is gratitude — from most of you I felt warmth and understanding, even from those whose stories are radically different from... [...]
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  Posted: August 18, 2008, 11:36am EDT
  by Julie

• The only post I will ever write about nursing our second son

  Ben nursed exclusively for the first ten days of his life. My milk came in on day 3 postpartum — a revelation to me, since the sudden engorgement made it clear that my breasts never really did quite what they... [...]
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  Posted: August 10, 2008, 10:27am EDT
  by Julie

• She must not have gotten the memo

  Thank you so much, everyone, for your kind words and support. There is no doubt but that I get by with a little help from my friends [YouTube], and I'm really grateful you've been here to share all of this... [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2008, 2:49am EDT
  by Julie

• Greetings to the new brunette

  Ben, born 8/1/08, 8 lbs. 9 oz., 20.5". Mother and baby doing well. Very, very well indeed. [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2008, 1:15pm EDT
  by Julie

• No, I would not like to cut the cord

  Not even a symbolic snip of the last few inches. I was instructed to put on scrubs and booties and mask and a silly hat, and not to touch anything that might be sterile. Okay, a newly-extracted baby covered in... [...]
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  Posted: August 01, 2008, 10:36pm EDT
  by paul

• Into the great wide open

  Here goes everything, folks. I am more grateful than I can say for your kindness, generosity, and good wishes. Paul will let you know. [...]
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  Posted: August 01, 2008, 6:00am EDT
  by Julie

• Nothing in particular, exhaustive discussion of

  Morning, everyone. I have no particular agenda today, so I'm just going to free associate a bit. It will keep me from thinking too much about the giant sinkhole that has been revealed at the top of my former driveway,... [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2008, 11:15am EDT
  by Julie

• What passes for nesting around here

  You know, I guess you people are helpful and all, but I cannot help but notice that among all your well-meaning comments, not one of you advised me not to have our 259-foot driveway completely torn up, regraded, and rebuilt... [...]
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  Posted: July 28, 2008, 11:19am EDT
  by Julie

• Like a virgin

  In the most fundamental of ways, this is all old hat — not late pregnancy, but a C-section followed by bringing home a baby. I know, very roughly, what those things are like, and could imagine I have an idea... [...]
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  Posted: July 25, 2008, 10:49am EDT
  by Julie

• NST, scheduled C, misplaced pee, and cranky me

  The good news Yesterday's NST went off without a hitch. The baby moved, accelerated, and decelerated exactly as expected, ripping out the necessary three episodes in 15 minutes flat — due, no doubt, to the mysterious and irresistible powers of... [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2008, 8:28pm EDT
  by Julie

• Everything must go, including my serenity

  You know, I'll cop to cranky. I admit I'm on edge lately, and not just because a couple of celebrities declare they like to have sex. If the headline grab seems a little desperate to me, if making an announcement... [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2008, 1:34pm EDT
  by Julie

• Loved you in Sliders. Now shut the hell up.

  Stop the presses, America! According to People magazine, "Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell, who celebrated their first wedding anniversary July 14, are not expecting a baby — yet!" It may not be immediately obvious why this is newsworthy. Why, in... [...]
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  Posted: July 20, 2008, 8:10pm EDT
  by Julie

• In which I lose my Kool

  I don't normally respond publicly to crotchety comments, being for the most part a hundred-flowers-bloomer, only, you know, without the appalling violence and the destruction of an entire nation's ideological integrity, but I'm going to do it now, because one... [...]
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  Posted: July 18, 2008, 11:23am EDT
  by Julie

• Mathematical proof that I will do almost anything to avoid wearing that mall maternity shit

  + x the required full bust adjustment + a fetus whose weight is currently estimated at 7 lbs. 14 oz. = me at 36 weeks [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2008, 9:17pm EDT
  by Julie

• I think I will call him Dr. Iron Fist in My Velvet Glove for short

  It is common for bloggers to refer to their doctors with colorful nicknames, both to maintain a modicum of privacy and to distinguish in their posts between "my doctor" — Dr. Pretty Sure He's God — and "my other doctor"... [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2008, 9:29pm EDT
  by Julie