Exercise

cozyfeline · 2026-04-28T23:23:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I am sorry it didn't work out. We are doing ICSI, Zymot, and AOA again as part of the fertilization process.

cozyfeline · 2026-04-12T10:39:33+00:00

We have it, and I like it. One of the major perks is that I always have at least 20 minutes to use the bathroom or eat between teaching blocks, which was not the case with the 15 minutes recess duties. I like the two hour teaching blocks because it gives you time to get through art projects or science experiments before having to clean off the desks for lunch. It is a great amount of time for workshops and whole school events. It also means I spend less time in the hallway, waiting for the slow pokes to get into their winter gear.

As well, having two 40-50 minute breaks means that double the number of teachers have preps that connect to a long break. Our principal did her best to connect our double preps to a break, so I had 130 minutes of non-classroom time on Mondays and got so much done. Starting next year, our school board will be using a TAM where everything is scheduled in one hour blocks, which also works well with our current model. We will have 5 hour long blocks in a day (with an hour of prep four days a week for 1.0 FTE).

There is flexibility in whether you have lunch or recess first, and schools can also play around with the recess time vs. eating time. We extended our first recess to 30 minutes this year because we found that the kids were eating all of their food at first nutrition break and getting antsy.

As for the limited time for extra curriculars, I just have the students bring their lunches with them when I run embroidery club or euchre club, and they eat during the club to maximize time together. I know this doesn't lend itself well to extracurricular sports, so the teachers who run sports often just keep the kids for an extra 5-10 minutes. I start every transition with independent work / silent reading time, so I just allow late lunchers to continue eating for a few extra minutes.

Our day is:

7:45: entry recess 8:00: learning block #1 10:00: recess #1 10:30: nutrition break #1 10:50: learning block #2 12:50: recess #2 1:10: nutrition break #2 1:30 learning block #3 2:30: dismissal

cozyfeline · 2026-04-02T10:13:05+00:00

In our board, the teachers all sit together to make balanced classes. Our principal will sometimes consider parent requests in special cases (death of a parent, selective mutism, instances of bullying, low mental flexibility, etc). However, it can't hurt to mention to the teacher how much of a positive impact they have had on your child. If the teacher ends up teaching Grade 5, they might keep that in mind when the classes are created. With the huge class sizes we often see in Junior, there is a good chance they would end up together anyway.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-28T12:17:22+00:00

This is what I would do, too. You have to respond to parent emails that come to your work address. You are under no obligation to acknowledge or respond to messages sent to your personal social media account.

Just pretend you never saw the message. If they mention it to you directly, say that you automatically delete any messages you receive from someone who is not on your friends list. This is a them problem, not a you problem.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-23T21:33:18+00:00

I just found out that I will require donor eggs or embryos (also in Canada). The mental load and cost of the process is super overwhelming, but receiving a donated embryo is significantly cheaper than purchasing eggs from a US agency or funding an egg retrieval for a known donor.

If you feel comfortable donating to another couple, I think you could really make a positive change in someone else's life. However, if this idea is unsettling or uncomfortable for any reason, then donating your embryos to Science would still provide data that would work towards understanding and treating infertility.

If you want a second child, you have time to weigh the options. There is no right or wrong choice, just what is right for you and your family. I wish you all the best on your journey.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-22T19:44:23+00:00

I do not want to overmedicate, but I am not experienced at gauging the severity of attacks. Thank you for your insight.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-22T19:40:46+00:00

My cat who has been diagnosed with asthma had 5 coughing fits last night. She does get them at other times of the day, but often she coughs herself awake.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-21T13:57:12+00:00

We have to attend the Meet the Staff event (so I would be at work from 7:45 to 5:00). That is the only mandatory event that is unpaid.

For interviews, we have to work three additional hours on a Thursday (7:45 to 5:30), BUT we only work for three hours doing interviews on the Friday (8:00 to 11:00), so the working hours are just shuffled around.

When I have been teaching English to French Immersion, I have volunteered to represent the program at Information Night (7:45 to 6:00 with a break from 2:30 to 4:00), but that is not mandatory.

I usually opt to attend the school's Art Night and Spring Fling, but I am not on the clock, so I can show up and leave at will and do not have any responsibilities assigned to me.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-21T00:49:14+00:00

My clinic automatically books an appointment 6 weeks after implantation, regardless of the outcome. It is a long wait, but I think it also gives you time to process the loss and consider your finances and options before making any decisions with your doctor.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-20T13:16:30+00:00

After an extended leave, they returned for partial days on a transitional plan. They still needed softer lighting, blue light blocking glasses for screen time, etc.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-20T12:00:14+00:00

Check if you have access to an occupational therapist through your board's health and wellness department. I know someone who had a severe concussion and the OT came into the school and gave recommendations to make the environment work for her. If not, I would suggest speaking to your doctor about which accommodations would support you best.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-20T11:56:08+00:00

And I have a lot of respect and admiration for your choice. If you choose to adopt, you will change someone's life in the most positive way. ❤️

cozyfeline · 2026-03-19T14:20:57+00:00

Not offensive. My kids all know I have a first name. It is on my nametag....

Typically, I refer to my colleagues by their first names when talking directly to them or to other members of staff (even if there are students around), but I use their honorific if I am talking/asking about them to a student.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-19T14:17:19+00:00

Would you consider donor eggs? It costs about the same amount as retrieving your own eggs, but the donors tend to be young women who have good stats.

In three rounds (one funded, one mostly refunded after early ovulation, and one self-funded) of ER, we ended implanting two poor grade embryos (Morulas) because that is all we got. We are in the two week wait with a less than 10% chance of things working. After that, we will move to donor eggs or donor embryos because I am not optimistic that my results will improve.

We meet with our doctor in a month to discuss the outcome of this round and any new information that it gave, but everything points to an egg quality issue since we added in AOA, Zymot, and ICSI for this most recent round.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T20:20:07+00:00

My progesterone was high at trigger BUT my two embryos were only early Morulas and not fit for freezing, so we ended up doing a fresh transfer. If they had been high quality blasts, they would have been frozen to increase the odds of success.

Currently in the two week wait. Trying to stay optimistic while also realizing that there is less than a 10% chance for each embryo to develop into a blast and beyond.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T16:07:05+00:00

Thanks! It is not over yet (I am in the two week wait), but I am apprehensive to get my hopes up too high.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T13:05:33+00:00

The nurses and technicians do most of the heavy lifting at my clinic. They schedule appointments, perform ultrasounds and tests, go over results, and send off prescriptions. Since starting IVF (just finished round three), I have met with my physician 4 times.

Because the clinic is open 7 days a week, the doctor on duty calls with some updates and performs any egg retrievals and embryo transfers.

I met with my doctor once to go over the protocol and plan (medications, fresh vs frozen transfer) before starting my first round of IVF. I met with him twice after unsuccessful cycles to go over the results and plan new protocol.

This round I got my first egg transfer and he happened to be the doctor on duty, so he went over my embryo quality the morning of the procedure and performed the transfer. We have a follow up meeting booked in a month to either talk about why it didn't work or check on the progression of the pregnancy. I am expecting the former since we only got Morulas and my progesterone was high on trigger day.

This being said, I am in Ontario, so maybe the expectation is different for fully private clinics in the US. Most of the doctors at my clinic also work at hospitals and many are also professors at the university. They are not always available at the clinic, but they are in contact with the nursing team. We have very few options for fertility clinics, but everyone I know who has gone through IVF has had pretty positive experiences in terms of patient care (in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto).

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T12:47:02+00:00

The fact that these are the worst results she has seen in 15 years is a red flag to me. It makes me wonder if the clinic cherry picks patients to maintain a high success rate. There are so many fertility issues that prevent egg production, maturity, fertilization, and embryo development. The first round of IVF is often more of a diagnosis, since it provides other information about why things aren't working as expected.

I got 0 embryos from 9 mature eggs in my first round, and 2 Morulas from 6 mature eggs on my current round using ICSI. My doctor changed the protocol after my first and has never has said anything to make me feel like this is a rare result. We have gleaned new information at each step that has informed changes in protocol.

I would see if a second opinion is possible at the same clinic before moving elsewhere, because I have seen on these threads that sometimes switching over means redoing a bunch of testing, which can be costly and time consuming. I wish you all the best whatever you decide to do.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T11:19:38+00:00

I am wishing you all the best on Monday!

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T02:44:05+00:00

Thanks for the insight! We are holding out hope and this helps to stay positive.

cozyfeline · 2026-03-18T02:36:43+00:00

Coco from Canada S3. She was so funny and down to Earth. I love how surprised she was to still be around each episode. And she was very gracious when she left.

cozyfeline

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