Occasionally, we ask Cribsheeters to weigh in on stories Strib reporters are working on. You guys are great about coming up with perspectives we haven’t thought of and anecdotes that help bring a story to life. Here are a couple of requests from consumer health reporter Josephine Marcotty.

Chicken Pox Parties - Is the vaccine worse than the disease? Some parents think so, especially since chicken pox can be pretty mild when kids catch it early. Before the vaccine was available, mothers gave pox parties. Now pox parties may be making a comeback among vaccine-wary parents. Have you heard of pox parties? Been to any?

Your embryos - One of the toughest choices parents have to make when they start in vitro fertilization is what to do with the frozen embryos left over after they’ve had their children. IVF clinics require parents to make a choice before treatment begins. There are basically four choices: Freeze them indefinitely, allow them to be destroyed, give them to other couples for implantation and birth, or donate them to science. What did you choose? What would you choose and why? Are there other options you’ve found?

Contact Josephine Marcotty directly at (612) 673-7394 or marcotty@startribune.com

We’re excited to introduce Kyndell Harkness, who’s going to be blogging regularly for us as she undergoes In Vitro Fertilization.

Hi. My name is Kyndell Harkness and I’m a 36-year-old photographer at the Star Tribune. My husband Jeff and I are in the midst of IVF. Tons of doctor visits, crazy hormones, and so many shots you feel like a pincushion. Fortunately, Jeff and I have a sense of humor about it.

How did we get here? Well, that started nine years ago with a simple Well Woman check up. After an ultrasound that shocked and bewildered the nurses, they told me I had a bumper crop of fibroids and some endometriosis. This was three weeks before our wedding. Great timing.

Over the next eight years, I had three surgeries with three different doctors. The first doctor was the old school one. He was the one that said: “Boy, years ago we’d have told you you’d never have a baby, but with all the new technology you’ve at least got a chance.” Nice. His bedside manner was not his strong suit. The last one was the best one. We shared the same sense of humor and have laughed our way through all of my crazy plumbing problems.

The surgeries cleaned things up but did enough damage that I won’t be having a kid the good old-fashioned way. Oh well. I think of it this way: I’m not dead or dying. I have a husband who makes me happy and a pretty satisfying job. Can I really complain? Nah! That’s just a waste of energy.

We started the IVF process in December and holy cow, it’s been crazy. You have NO idea. Here’s the short version. We were prescreened and psychoanalyzed. Jeff shot me up five times a day. I became an egg farm and was harvested. Chris (the Love Doctor) made little Harkni embryos. I started feeling sick. They couldn’t find my cervix. My ovaries swelled to the size of oranges. I got real sick. Then I was hospitalized for three days. I gained like 10 pounds of fluid. Whew! Sound insane? Yep, it was. But I’m well now and feeling more like myself everyday.

Now it’s a waiting game. While I heal and get stronger, our six little embryos are in Petri dishes paired up and keeping each other company. They’re a bit cool being frozen and all. The spring thaw for us will be the end of April when I’ll have my first go at getting pregnant.

I’ll be catching you up with all the craziness.