467th Friday Blog Roundup

I have a cold.  I refuse to take any cold medicine because it would interfere with having my eyes drip incessantly which I think adds to the visual package when I limp dramatically into a room and moan, “I’m sick…”  I like to remind the kids that I’m sick no fewer than eight times every half hour.  I would do it more often, but I don’t want to be annoying.  I like to remind Josh that I’m sick every time we communicate by text so he has a long string of written reminders of my illness.

And now I’m telling all of you so you will pity me.

I am sick.

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The BBC had a very interesting report on discrepancies in IVF success rates based on race.  The article states:

Overall, 35% of ethnic minority women successfully conceived and gave birth after IVF compared with 44% of white women treated at the clinic between 2006 and 2011.  This was despite all the women appearing to have favourable chances of having a baby, based on factors such as the quality of their egg reserves.

That 35% statistic is an average.  Middle Eastern women have the lowest odds (21.4%) and South East Asian women have a slightly better rate of live birth (38%).

There isn’t a clear-cut reason given for the difference in success rates, and the rates seem to be an average per cycle vs. overall success after more than one cycle.  But even without answers or a plan forward, I thought it was worth pointing out.

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The 2013 Creme de la Creme is trucking along.  There are currently 61 on the list with over a month to go until the hard deadline (December 15!).  So, are you on the list yet?  Extra love to people who submit early!

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Adoption Retrospective: Show Me Despair and Uncertainty” (Portrait of an Adoption)
• “One More Chapter” (Stirrup Queens) — thank you, Lori!
• “I Don’t Know What to Do with My Hands” (A Single Journey)
• “Remembering” (The Barreness)
• “According to the Internet, I Am Lazy…” (Stephanie Snowe)
• “You Are Not Weak” (Grow Baby Grow)
• “Get Over It” (The Koob Triplets)

Okay, now my choices this week.

A Good Mother has a wonderful post about pausing to take everything in, even during the terrible moments in life.  It’s a piece of advice we hear often in regards to happy occasions: weddings, graduations.  Take a moment to step back and soak it all in.  But it’s important to always take those moments: during the awful times and the mundane times and yes, the good times too.  It’s one of those posts that we need every once in a while to serve as a reminder.  Have you paused today?

A Woman My Age has a post about Buddhist chanting and why she does it.  After rolling through the everyday stressors — big and small — she comes down to the heart of why she chants: “And so…. this is why I chant.  Not for deliverance from life’s problems or a magical solution, but for insight for a better way to lead my heart and life.”  I love this post.

Nuts in May is queen of the title.  She is so skilled at framing the post through the title, this time “Not Enough Tea in All the World” before launching into a litany of why she is posting infrequently.  And it contains such beautiful little nuggets as “Fuck 2013. Fuck it exceedingly.”

Lastly, Magpie Musing takes us on riff of leaves, from those of absence to the ones falling from the trees.  She moves from HR to books — both the ones she’s reading, the ones she asking you to donate, and the ones that are free for the taking.  It’s a nice spiral on a theme.

The roundup to the Roundup: Did I mention that I’m sick?  IVF success rate discrepancies.  The 2013 Creme de la Creme opened: is your post on the list?  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between November 1st and November 8th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.