Morning lovelies!!
Yippee, back at work!!! That means more time to post here, LOL!
Ooooooh so exciting that we have a new friend to play with!
WELCOME LEE!!
:D:D:D If you don't mind me saying, you've been through a lot... wow, what a marathon!!! I too miscarried on my 3rd try, at 8 weeks (baby died at 7), and I'm now very pregnant, so, yes, fourth time can be the charm! I sure hope it will be the same for you! I'll be keeping everything crossed for you sweetie! And I'll tell you what my dear husband told me at the time: you've been pregnant, that is real, and no one can take that away from you. Your body will know what to do next time it welcomes nice little embies.
Miracle,
Hiya sweetie!
How are you doing this morning? Is work still really hectic at the moment? WOW, Mollie and Charlie were really spoiled during the holidays! PHEW! I wish my family was that crazy about my furbabies... ah well. My aunt literally fell in love with Toulouse when she visited on the 26th, so I guess that's a start!
It really saddens me that Daria's anxiety kept getting worse. It got to the point that we decided to crate her when we leave the house. It's quite heartbreaking, leaving a dog in a cage, but it's for her own safety. My friend Anne has two English Shepards (you know, the huge grey and white dogs with no tail and really long hair?). One of them is a 7 month-old puppy. She was at her parent's during the holidays and she went upstairs for 20 minutes; all the dogs were sleeping. Well, Zorro (the pup) eviscerated a cushion and ate some of the stuffing. Not even 24 hours later, he refused to eat and he seemed in a lot of pain. I'll spare you the details, but they had to open him almost completely; there was one ball of stuffing stuck in his stomach, and another in his intestines, and there was a thread linking the two balls, with so much tension in it that the intestines were all packed. The poor little thing... I won't tell you the fees... several days in ICU, the meds, the surgery itself. Apparently, vets do that kind of surgery about 3 times a week, and the dogs who do that tend to relapse once or twice and they have to be kept on constant watch. Geez. Daria has eaten a whole tea towel one night. Fortunately, she takes her time and she really shreds it, so it comes out, one end or the other. But she destroyed several tea towels, oven mitts, numerous tupperware, a couple of knives (the plastic handle), the equivalent of a whole blanket, and so on. And she doesn't just destroy it, she eats it. Toulouse follows her example, but he's not nearly as bad, although I caught him two days ago, sinking his teeth in the hall's door frame (the moldings are not installed and he was munching on the gyproc). So in a word, Daria was very lucky she didn't have to go through surgery and we don't want that to happen. We have no idea what caused that relapse; it's not like she relapsed when Toulouse was adopted; it was in August! Now they sleep together and they're adorable, so I don't think it's about him. But you should have seen her this morning... she didn't want to go into the cage, I had to grab her and force her into it... and then she gave me that look... geez, she was so piteous.
I can't even give her a blanket, she'll eat it!!! I can only give her a kong and a bone. At least I can tell myself that, when she was adopted and started doing worse and worse things during our absence, the few months of crating her solved the problem. I'll take my maternity leave on April 3rd, and then I'll be home practically non stop for a whole year, plus my husband will be home for an additional month after that. At our other house, we didn't have to use a cage, we left her in a small room (concrete floors, unfinished basement) with a blanket and a toy. We don't have that in our house, but I think the cage traumatises her a little bit. It's tricky, because if we leave her in a room upstairs, she'll scratch the doors like crazy; we had to buy solid pine and my husband spent hours staining and varnishing them, we just can't let her destroy these. Sorry, I'm babbling!
Carolyn,
LOL I know what you mean! Snow and cold weather and hard frost isn't fun, but when you can curl up with a blanket next to the fireplace, it's heaven!
So, any interesting gossip? Yeah, I'm starting to get organized, but we're only halfway there. We can't buy everything at once, we have to spread the expenses. But I've found all that I need for the bedding (blanket, sheets, padding) and that will be my next project. The bedding is quite expensive in stores; I'm sure they use the parents' enthusiasm and "awww" factor... didn't fall into THAT trap... I awwwwed in front of the fabric though
Angie,
You make me blush sweetie!!!! Have I ever told you that your posts always energize me?
*hugs* I'm sorry to hear about DH's chronic pain... what a situation... making the decision to retire must not be easy for him; it must feel like he's giving up... not easy for a "provider". Ouchie. Sounds like you guys have been through a lot together, and I'm glad that you're closer now. Is he still looking for a job or is he taking a break from that at the moment? What about your work? Oh, and I think Becky is the one who discussed morning sickness last... I stopped having mine around week 12, right on schedule. OH, and aren't you the LUCKY GIRL who watched a House marathon lately? Oooooh I looooove House! It is really refreshing to see a character with such a different personality, and yet his acting is so dead on that he never seems to go overboard and make House look ridiculous, see what I mean? It always stays on the dark humor side. I was saddened to learn that Hugh Laurie has been suffering from chronic depression and waited some 17 years to finally see a psychologist when his wife and children insisted on it. How sad, really.
Angel,
Thanks for what you said my sweet, and please don't even feel bad about rambling, we love reading your ramblings!
Seriously, if your counsellor is not helping, then that MAY be because he/she doesn't have the proper training to handle what you're going through. You don't have to keep paying someone if you don't feel the services he/she gives you are not making you progress. Have you considered seeing a psychologist? I don't know how it is where you live, but here, counsellors and psychotherapists don't have a protected title. It means that anyone can call themselves a counsellor or a psychotherapist, and too many people still don't make the difference. Only psychologists and psychiatrists have a proper license, hence my comment about your counsellor's training. Many people are good listeners and can show great empathy, but their lack of proper training and experience really shows when people have certain issues that require more than an empathic ear. Just a thought. Also, be careful to check your counsellor's/psychologist's/psychiatrist's therapeutic approach. Many will say they are eclectic, but they all have a preference. I can't recommend cognitive-behavioral therapy enough. Many patients first see a psychoanalyst or psychodynamician. Sometimes, it helped them overcome their issues, but they have absolutely no idea how they got there, and so they have no idea how they can apply the same skills to get them over their current issues. I almost fall down my chair when I hear them say: "Oh, I saw my therapist for about a year and a half, I felt much better afterwards... but I don't remember what we worked on, really..." Or they complain about how their therapist mostly listens to them and makes very few interventions. That's because it's their therapeutic approach. The cognitive-behavioral therapist always takes time to figure out with you how you got there, how your thoughts and emotions work and how they are contributing to the problem now. And they teach you specific tools to deal with all that, practice them with you, and so you know how you got better and you know, in the future, how to use those same skills to live a happier life in general.
I'm really rambling now, sorry. But it always touches me a lot when people say they don't feel like their therapist is helping. It can be for a number of reasons, and I know I'm not the right psychologist for every patient and can't help them all as much as I would like, but still, I find it too bad that you don't have the impression you're progressing. *hugs* I hope it will change very soon.
Okay, my post is far too long! Take care ladies! *HUGS*
Sophie xxox
oh and you asked about dh's job hunt (you're such a doll for asking.....) nothing promising.... in fact - no good leads at all thus far.....i have convinced him that maybe now is a good time for a medical/disability retirement....he is 55 (tomorrow is his bday) -- has had major leg issues (had couple of bypass surgeries on left leg) that keep in in constant pain when he's working and has noticed a significant reduction in pain/swelling since not working.... so we'll see where that goes....is a difficult process here in the states to get approved for medical disability.....mostly he's just not good at doing "nothing".....and during winter mo's (not as lucky as mir living in the 'sunshine' state where is nice weather pretty much year round!! -- pure jealousy talking!!!) when weather is ok to get outside and with us living on the lake -- he pretty much can always keep himself busy doing "stuff".....there -- now aren't ya glad you asked???!!!! 
always a pleasure to have another on board.....are you on THIS side of the pond (US) or THAT side of the pond (UK)??? 
MEN!!!
Naahh.....don't answer that, you don't need yet another amotional wreck to deal with 
