So I am not actually attending the BlogHer conference in Chicago this weekend, however I did have the opportunity today to meet up with our very own Stirrup Queen Mel, and some other bloggers who are, for lunch today. As those of you who have gotten to meet Mel know, she is as genuine and awesome in person as she comes across on her blog and in her book. Pictured here are Mel and me after eating our lunches with other ALI bloggers on the Sheraton hotel lobby’s floor.
The BlogHer attendees had an unprogrammed lunch break this afternoon and so I drove downtown (about 1/2 hour ride from where we live on the city’s southwest side), while my parents graciously stayed with Sean, so I could spend some quality time with Mel. I was also delighted to get to meet and talk with some other ALI bloggers there (including Aurelia from No Matter How Small, Briar from Unwellness, Alexa from Flotsam and Kate from Sweet/Salty). Sadly, some of them have also experienced the loss of a child and so I felt a special connection talking with them today.
I can see why BlogHer can be a wonderful and also an overwhelming experience. I have never seen so many women in one place with laptops and handhelds connecting with others in real life while also staying connected online! From talking with Mel and the other ALI bloggers today, as well as following Mel’s posts about BlogHer on her blog, it definitely sounds like a fun, interesting and though provoking experience to participate in.
Anyway, as I told Mel, getting to spend time with her today felt like a combination of getting to meet an old friend and a celebrity. Ever since I first stumbled across her blog two years ago I have been amazed at all that she has done and continues to do for our ALI blogging community. I wish that her book existed back in April 2007 when I began blogging, while we were doing our first IVF cycle. However, I am still glad to have my own copy now and was honored when she signed it for me today.
Thank you to Mel, Aurelia, Briar, Alexa, Kate and the other ALI bloggers who I had lunch with today for the opportunity to meet and spend time with you. I hope that the rest of your BlogHer experiences are wonderful and I look forward to keeping in touch through our blogs in the future. I don’t know if and when I might ever make it to a BlogHer conference as an attendee, however it was still fun to get a glimpse of what it might be like from my lunch visit today! 🙂
A few brief updates on me and my family… we will be 32 weeks gestation tomorrow and our prenatal appointment this morning was as routine and uneventful as we hoped for and expected it to be! Have I mentioned lately how surreal this all feels? Only eight more weeks until our scheduled c-section and we get to meet our hopefully happy and healthy new baby girl…
Thank you for your kind comments on my last post and especially your thoughts and prayers for our friend and her husband who found out that their baby, due this November, has Trisomy 18. I did get to talk with her for about an hour on Monday evening. I was glad to be able to connect with her, hear about their experience with their baby so far and to share with her some of our experience with Molly as it might relate to how they will go forward with their pregnancy, in light of the diagnosis and prognosis they have received. They have an echocardiogram scheduled for next week with a pediatric cardiologist to get a better look at their baby’s heart. Apparently one of the characteristics of a baby with Trisomy 18 are some level of congenital heart defects. Our friend and her husband are still digesting all of this, which is understandable and I hope I can continue to be a source of comfort and support for her on this journey with her husband and their first child. I will be in touch with our friend again soon and am grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers for her and her family during this difficult and uncertain time.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I saw your photo on Mel's blog a little earlier. I am soooo jealous!!! but glad you are all having such fun!
That's cool that you all met up at BlogHer! I have been following the conference through twitter and wishing I had gone. Maybe next year. 🙂
You were one of the highlights of the whole weekend. You have the best smile.
Here from the future, Time Warp Tuesday.
I love that pic of you and Mel, and ABBY!
I find myself wondering about the friend you mentioned in your last paragraph…
Wow, how fun to see you pregnant in your picture. You're positively glowing. I'm so happy to know that the baby girl you were carrying that day arrived happy and healthy into the world.
And how cool that you got to experience BlogHer in a small dose like that. I too think it would be really overwhelming, especially if you didn't know a lot of people there. I really wanted to go this year to San Diego but in the end I couldn't afford it. It was a really big disappointment. I had dreams of going to NYC next year but there is no way I'll be able to afford that either. The flight and tickets to the conference alone are WAY too much. Anyway, maybe some day… a girl can dream…
Whoa: you hobnobbed with some serious heavy-hitters! Of course you fit in perfectly 🙂 You look really glowing in that photo with Mel. I'm not surprised to hear she's just as amazing in person! I hope to meet her someday. She's been such a huge source of inspiration to me.
{ 2 trackbacks }