The Magic of 8

My kid turns 8 today. 8 is a cool number, since it is the eternity symbol turned on its head. It's a thing I never thought I'd see: that is, my kid turning into a young lady. She was an IVF baby, and at one point she was a "Frosty," a frozen embryo lying in a freezer in a lab somewhere. 

When my husband and I started the IVF process, I had no clue what would happen. Things got real, fast, when I realized that IVF involved shots in the stomach (self-administered) and shots in the butt (administered by my husband.) To illustrate how awful the butt shots were, I can say in truth that the stomach pokes were a breeze. 


The first round came, and I went into the lab. I was told to drink 16 oz. of water and hold it so they could do an ultrasound if they couldn't see the embryo. I also got a valium (that was the cool part.)


Out came the turkey baster, and I had to lie on my back with my legs in the air for 30 minutes afterwards. That's when the 16 oz kicked in with a vengeance. Finally I had to beg to go and pee before my 30 minutes were up, and the doctor grudgingly allowed. 


The result : no pregnancy.


Round Two - More shots, more water, another valium, and more basting. Again, I had to beg to go and pee. Yes, my bladder is the size of a small soft fruit. 


The result : pregnancy, followed by a miscarriage five weeks later.


Round Three - This was the last batch of embryos. The lab tech told us that when they were defrosted, one egg started to grow immediately as if it couldn't wait any longer. 


And I had to do more shots, in the stomach and the butt. I now have permanent scar tissue on my heinie.

This time I didn't drink all the water, and I waited on that valium. I took it a few minutes before the basting procedure, and it kicked in quite nicely, thank you. I fell asleep on the table, and they had to wake me up to go home. That was it - all done.


A few days later, I started to dream about snow and ice. I was in a winter scene, and the light glistened off thousands of icicles and snowflakes.


Result : pregnancy.  Final result : My daughter is about to turn 8.


The funny thing is that she loves to suck on ice and eat snow. Weird, huh?


The first time I saw her heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor, it was the strangest feeling. I felt like I had been on a long voyage, and I saw a beacon that called me home. 

The Lighthouse


Lost in electronic hush, 
  Near-darkness clouds our vision
We peer, looking for something -
  Something we forgot, or
Had dreamt years ago.
  And then, a thousand miles away,
The many-structured crystal flash
  Sweeps by us, and again, and now
In steady rhythm, our comfort is
  Calling us, bringing us to land.

My Pirate Crew

In celebration of Book Bloggers' Collaborative Arggghsome Contest, I've decided to become a pirate and head to the waves, trolling the seven seas for booty. I have my eyepatch, my grog, my parrot, and my hook all ready. 


Plus I have a cool ship that I'm going to call The Fluffy Underpants.


I do need a crew, though. Here are my own 'orrible lot:


1. Errol Flynn - Because nobody does Gay Blade like Errol.

2. Captain Haddock - I'm a huge Tintin fan, as I've said before, so the Captain must come along.

Anyone who can curse like this needs to be on The Fluffy Underpants.

3. The Pirates! Band of misfits looked sort of like Wallace and Gromit so I'll take them on board.

4. Oh for crying out loud, Google! ALL RIGHT!!!!!

5. We need a good pirate wench, so I've selected Geena Davis from Cutthroat Island:

6. He's nearly a cliche now, but Long John Silver is an amazing literary creation. And he was the first one to say this: 


“Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest 
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! 
Drink and the devil had done for the rest 
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” 


7. And to round out the crew, let's have Anne Bonny, the famous Irish pirate lass who is played here by Jean Peters:

If you just can't get enough pirates, do go and check out Book Bloggers Collaborative. They are running a cool Rafflecopter contest with prizes  fearsome hidden bounty to celebrate the release of A World Apart by David Brown.


Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army.

He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace.

But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

London

Yesterday my daughter got the best thing in the world - a huge, brown paper package from London, covered with overseas stamps. You can't tie packages up with string anymore, alas. They get caught in the newfangled Post Office machinery.

The box came from her aunt in London. There is a lot going on in the city these days. It's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (did you watch the flotilla? And the parades? And did you see Catherine's red dress?) and of course the Olympics are coming up over the summer.


We were in London this year to visit. Of course my daughter wanted to visit Harrod's, that was destination number one, and Buckingham Palace. Sorry, Your Majesty, but shopping rates over your house. As we walked past the palace two things happened:


The flag was up, meaning that the Queen was At Home.
A helicopter flew in and landed. And I just know it was Prince Harry, aka Charming, Handsome, Heroic Prince.

And here's what happened in Harrods:


Shopping, duh.
Tea in the children's tea room, complete with chalkboards and a treehouse and yummy organic food.

Are you wondering what was in the package? My daughter had it ripped open by this time. Inside were loads of "pressies," including:


A teddy bear commemorating the Diamond jubilee
Chocolates shaped like crowns, ditto
An eggcup, ditto
A mug and a spoon, ditto
A tin of shortbread
T shirt with a sequin dog that says "We Are Not Amused" (our new favorite shirt)
A book of puzzles about the Olympic Games
Olympic chocolates
ANOTHER T shirt for the Olympic Games in London


Isn't that just beyond thrilling? Doesn't she have the best auntie ever? How on earth will we convey our thanks to London for all the gorgeous things?


If you have any ideas, leave them here.