Show and Tell: Sock It To Me

It has been delightful to participate in Kym’s Sock It To Me Sockeroo.

First, I did some shopping in Madrid to find the faux-Chuck Taylor socks that I sent to Katie from The Happy Hours.

Then, I received two pairs of socks from The New Life of Nancy. Amusingly, when I opened the package, I knew exactly who had sent them. I had only seen one preliminary blog post showing socks that the blogger had sent for Sock It To Me: Nancy’s post about the socks she sent me (which I didn’t know when I read her original post). Over-the-knee socks, perfect for roller derby. I’m not actually this much of a badass, but I can pretend.

How does the Adoption/Loss/Infertility blogosphere make me feel warm and fuzzy?

• I can connect to people at every stage of the infertility journey. Unlike my IRL support group, where I was the veteran explaining everything to the newbies, in the blogosphere I can impart wisdom as well as draw on the experiences of others. Sure, 7 years is a long time, but it’s by no means the longest around here. 11 treatment cycles? Not so many, compared to some. Blogging has shown me what to anticipate, and what to be thankful that I’ve managed to avoid.
• It teaches me about aspects of this process I barely thought about, and in many cases didn’t want to think about. Adoption, surrogacy, and donor embryos are scary next steps to think about for myself, but they’re totally manageable — and quite fascinating, in fact — when friends like, respectively, Lori, Kym, and Dora (as well as Miss Conception) talk about them.
• Having recently become pregnant with twins, there are a lot of people around who get it. They get the twin thing, and the twins-from-treatments thing, and the scared-about-pregnancy-after-infertility-and-miscarriage thing. Plus the thing where I feel like an impostor.
• There is a receptive and appreciative audience for my writing… and my pottery.
• Some of my bloggy friendships have turned into real friendships. Lori is the first blogger that I’ve met in person, but she won’t be the last.
• Over 100 people have accepted my invitation to be thoughtful over the past three months.
• Despite keeping sooo many secrets about infertility (and now pregnancy) over the past 7 years, I have found people that I rush to tell about everything: good, bad, and silly.

Many other Show and Tell offerings involve socks, but many others do not. At least one involves some very interesting pottery. 😉