Last week I wrote that Advocacy Day was happening for Resolve. This week, I bring you notes from the field...er...Senate Building, not only to tell you about the work Resolve is doing to ensure that all Americans have adequate infertility coverage during this national discussion on health care reform, but also to entice you to join along next year when Advocacy Day rolls around again.

In a stroke of fortuitous timing, Resolve's annual Advocacy Day comes on the heels of the Family Building Act being introduced to the Senate by New York's Kirsten Gillibrand. Which means that today, constituents will flock to the Hill to discuss H.R.697, the Family Building Act, with both congresspeople and senators.

As the April Rose hoax unfolded last week and anger and grief unfurled itself from the readers of her defunct blog, this energy has been festering in blog posts and exchanged emails with the question about what to do with the tidal wave of emotions. And my advice is to redirect it.

It started with an emailed warning: Pixar's new movie, Up, contains a scene that depicts either pregnancy loss or infertility. It continued with posts--both embracing Disney for sensitively portraying the inability to build a family and condemning Disney for introducing yet another topic that parents don't wish to cover with their kids. Finally, I went to see it for myself. And I sobbed.

There's a Yiddish saying that translates loosely to "if you want to make G-d laugh, make a plan." And the inverse is true for those with infertility currently cycling: "if you want to make an infertile woman cry, ask her to make a plan. And while you're at it, dangle a vacation offer, a fare sale, and get really frustrated with her when she uncomfortably admits for the 80th time that she just doesn't know." Not that I'm familiar with such behaviour or anything.

There is cursing. There is cussing. For the purpose of this post it is important for you to know the difference. Now first let's remove the religious definition of cursing. I'm talking generic U.S. English so called "bad words" we aspire not to say in public but they have been seeping out. Yes, all seven of them.  I’m not talking about cursing, this is the superlative form, cussing.

Any justice without kids raises some red flags, in my mind. Having children gives one a “vested” interest in the consequences of one’s rulings. Kids broaden your perspective and make you less selfish. ~ Comment by "randee" on "Obama Names Sotomayor As Supreme Court Pick" at Fitsnews.com

Two weeks ago, the ever-brilliant Carolyn Hax covered what to say to someone who may be trying to conceive unsuccessfully. The part I found most interesting was that the person was asking about a friend who had been trying for five months, which barring a concrete diagnosis that clearly would impede fertility (a lack of fallopian tubes, azoospermia, no uterus), is not infertile. They're not really even having fertility issues.

Are you getting enough vitamin D? Would you know if you weren't? Apparently, most of us are deficient in vitamin D, and that is putting us at greater risk for heart disease, osteoporosis, some types of cancer, diabetes, and possibly other chronic medical problems (like asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis). You might be surprised to learn how important vitamin D is to your overall health, and how easy it is to make sure you're getting enough.

It's understandable that hearing pregnancy announcements would be difficult for someone experiencing infertility, but making one during a pregnancy after infertility can also be an uncomfortable situation. Not only do people agonize over the "how," trying to keep in mind how they wanted to hear announcements when back in the trenches, but also the "when." Infertility's reach doesn't end with the double pink lines or positive beta.

You would think that after weeping in a handful of Hallmark stores, avoiding brunch establishments in May, and sitting through several dozen celebrations of other women, that those finally parenting after infertility would embrace Mother's Day with a relieved heart; the long-sought maternal space finally entered. Except that's not really what it's like.

Even those who are Internet savvy enough to keep from being separated from financial capital through scams, let their guard down when it comes to giving away emotional capital. How many times have you read a story through a blog and felt a deep connection to the words, carrying them with you throughout the day and having them affect your mood? Perhaps it is someone ill or with an inspirational story or grieving after a death. And how would you feel to learn that it's all a scam? A ploy to get attention and sympathy?