Disclaimer

Many people I know in real life read this blog. Many of them send me emails, write comments, or mention something I have written when we see each other. I know that there are other people I know who, for some reason or another, do not want me to know they are reading. That's fine too. But being public to everyone is both a wonderful thing and an awful thing. All wrapped up and tied with a bright and shiny red bow.

For nearly two years, I wrote the original Sticky Feet blog without talking to my friends or family about it. Mike knew about it, but he didn't read it. Mandy knew I wrote a blog, but we didn't really discuss it. Other than that, it was my space to write about what I wanted. It was the blog of an infertile and 90% of the posts dealt with infertility and how I was dealing with the IVF process. Many of the posts were negative and I used the blog as my outlet to vent about whatever it was that was making me mad that day. The blog was a wonderful therapist. When I read through the archives of that blog now, it is obvious to me not only how much my blog has changed but how much I have changed as well.

After Bo was born, and the blog morphed into more of a "mommy blog" and I started a separate blog for friends and family to view pictures and read stories about Bo. I am still not sure exactly how, but I am thinking it must have been YouTube, the new blog led my BIL and SIL to find my infertility blog. Chaos ensued and it wasn't pretty. Hence the fact the old blog is now password protected...

However, being "outed" has been great for the blog and in many ways, good for me. Before I post, I do think about how it will impact those I know in real life, and there are several posts that sit as drafts because I know they would not be well received. However, sometimes I post things directed as those I know in real life. And sometimes they don't like it. But at least now I know that they are reading it and they know that I am putting it out there for them to read.

This blog has grown and changed and taken many new directions in the past year. I started accepting advertising. I'm writing product reviews and endorsements. I'm receiving free products and hosting giveaways. I make enough money from blogging each month to deposit some money into Bo's college fund. I never thought that my blog would become any of this. It started as a journal, became a safe haven to vent my infertility woes, and now is a Mommy/Infertility/Random blog that people actually read. For those reasons, I'm glad I was outed.

All of that said, I am starting to write about infertility again. And not just infertility, but MY infertility. I am starting treatments again and despite the fact that I am writing about this publicly for all of the world to see, infertility is a very private and personal process for me. My hormones will be off the wall. When I went through all of the cycles before I did not want to talk to anyone in my real life about it. And those I did talk to about it were not always helpful, understanding, or supportive.

This is my disclaimer, to my real life family and friends that read this blog. Yes, I am going to continue to talk about my infertility journey online because the community that I have found inside the computer is important to me. I hope that through my journey I will be able to help someone else. If you have questions, yes, feel free to ask, I want everyone to be educated about infertility and the IVF process. But if this cycle fails (or even if we succeed), don't call me. Don't stop me in Wal-Mart and tell me how sorry (or happy) you are. I don't want to be talking about a failed cycle (or a pregnancy at 4 weeks gestation). And I'll post on the blog when I'm ready to talk about it. Discussing how IVF works, questions about infertility, those are always welcome. Discussion about my pregnancy, or lack thereof, is not. Email is always safe. Real life conversation is not.

I am not saying this to be mean. I am saying this to protect myself. I hope you will be respectful of my wishes.