Sin City: Family Style

We spent three nights in Las Vegas over the long weekend. It is kind of a strange place to take a family vacation with a 2-year-old, but there was a reason for this location. I finally met IN PERSON eight women whom I have "known" online for over 3 years. We've all, unfortunately, had to face issues with infertility. When Jeff and I found out that In Vitro Fertilization was our best chance at getting pregnant, I searched for information online. I found a site that covered many topics of infertility, and they had message boards where people could ask questions, commiserate, offer support, and share stories. I started reading about some of the struggles that other women were going through, and I started posting on a board with them. I connected with a wonderful group of women who were all somewhere in the IVF process. I didn't know that we would remain in contact long after my unsuccessful IVF, my successful IVF, my pregnancy, the birth of Henry, and well beyond. We've become a support system for each other in many aspects of life. We started talking about meeting in person, and since we all live in different parts of the country, Las Vegas was a place that was somewhat central and relatively inexpensive. I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet my new girlfriends!

(That's Cadence in the foreground. From L-R: Terrie, Karen Z., Maggie, JamieLynne, Karen VG, Missey, Laura, me, Dawn)

Not everyone was able to make it, but we had 9 women, 7 husbands, and 9 babies there. We were marveling at how amazing this picture is, when you think about all of the struggles and treatments and heartache and happiness that brought us together.

We all stayed at the same hotel (The Excalibur), and the above pictures were taken at our group dinner on Saturday night. I'm sure our waiter loved serving our party of 25, including 9 children aged 2 and under. Actually, he was very complimentary about the kids' behavior. They really were amazing! After our meal, the kids had lots of fun playing with the black rocks in the entryway of the restaurant. Henry's still saying, "How 'bout rocks?" It's a good thing I put two of the rocks in his pocket as a souvenir.

We spent some time hanging out in Laura & Dawn's suite, and the kids loved playing in the big bathroom. Henry couldn't get enough of turning the bath water off and on. Olivia & Charlie (2-year-old twins) thought it was pretty fun, too!

We did a little bit of Vegas sightseeing during the day. Here we are in front of our hotel, The Excalibur, or "Big, big castle" as Henry calls it.Here we are with New York, New York Hotel in the background.Henry seems to like Elvis almost as much as he likes Santa Claus.

He did, however, like SpongeBob (who was in our hotel lobby) quite a bit.He alo liked the water fountain, where he made lots of wishes. Well, he threw pennies into the water, but I don't know if he actually made any wishes. I did!It was a really special weekend, finally meeting the women who gave me so much support and advice and encouragement. They helped me to survive the trials of infertility, which although extremely difficult, I would never trade in, because they led me to my sweet baby Henry.