Monday, June 30, 2014
cycle day 1 (IVF #1)
Day 1 and counting . . . I've scheduled my labs for Day 3 this upcoming Wednesday. All I can do now is hope and pray that everything is normal. I'm more than ready to start this next phase of treatments. My husband and I were at an info session for IVF at our clinic last month and the nurse asked a woman seated next to her husband when she hoped to start IVF treatment.
"Yesterday." The woman answered.
I think every woman (and man) in that room felt the same way. Why didn't we start this yesterday?
No time for regrets now I know as we move forward. Trying to stay hopeful - as well as keep my feet firmly planted beneath me. There are so many things that could go wrong. So many disappointments.
It's all the things that will go right - all of the JOYS - that are keeping me going.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
waiting for auntie
Waiting for AF today . . . or hints that she's on her way . . . tomorrow really is more likely. I'm only on cycle day 27, but usually I start spotting and cramping at around this time. Could be that the acupuncture I've been pursuing on a weekly basis is finally bringing my hormones back in line and I'll start my period with none of the familiar spotting that I've been used to in recent years.
I just want to get to cycle day one!
Looking back now I wish I had never done that clomid cycle in May - it really messed me up and now we're still waiting to start . . . waiting to start everything! I've been pretty patient, because I feel that it was my choice to do the last cycle and therefore my fault for the resulting cysts and hormonal f**k up. But now, please body, please please come back to center.
My husband is home from his training and we've spent the weekend in bed. (I wish we could pull up that kind of enthusiasm in the middle of my cycle instead of at the end - but it is nice to snuggle and cuddle with my husband when we're not trying to make a baby.) Less stress, more bonding.
We'll need that for the days ahead. Yesterday we walked to a coffee shop and sat for hours talking about our next steps and our families. We've had struggles with both sides during these 2 infertile years that we've been through together.
We are basically at the point where we rarely see his side of the family, because of some pretty brutal and inconsiderate comments made by his mom and sister, as well as some brutal gossiping done by his mother to the entire family regarding our infertility treatments.
Boy, people are so clueless and self-righteous when they haven't had to struggle with infertility. So full of condescending advice. My husband and I really struggled this past fall with infertility and his mother took that as a sign to attack our marriage and our faith and whether or not we were good enough people to even raise children.
That pissed me off.
She had the nerve to tell me that children are not the most important thing. She even boldly claims that she could have lived without children, though I don't know what she would be doing with her time if she couldn't interfere and gossip about the lives of her four children. My mother-in-law (MILly) is a work of pure art. She truly thinks we should be treating our infertility with herbs and prayer.
To each their own. If you are reading this blog and that is your treatment choice and you are at peace with that, I respect your right to make that choice and wish you all the best of luck. I know babies are a gift from God, so are advanced medical treatments. My husband and I are going to need them in order to conceive.
We just need to get to cycle day one - with steady day three labs.
We have some family events that are coming up on my husband's side and I'm carefully preparing myself and my husband. We are trying to create a support system of communication and awareness so that we can survive these stressful encounters. My husband is so used to his mother's manipulative ways that they don't annoy him like they do me.
One of the most important things in my life now is becoming a mother, I just keep telling myself to ignore any background noise that will cause me stress and to listen to my heart and be guided by my faith.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
hidden daggers
What sucks the most about infertility is having opposite reactions to what in normal circumstances would be good news. What sucks is instead of feeling happy for another woman's pregnancy all I feel is depression and anxiety.
Will I ever be pregnant?
Today a co-worker came over to my desk to chat. She recently returned from maternity leave and has been supportive of me when I told her about our struggles with infertility last fall. Back in October she sent me an email telling me how hard she knew this was for me and how good of a mom she thought I would be when our baby finally arrived.
So...it's very important for me that I remain on good terms with this woman, because I know her heart is in the right place. When I talk to her I ask about her kids and family and she sometimes asks about our adoption. Today she wanted to tell me about a trip that she has planned to Hawaii to visit her sister. I remembered that her sister had been married last August.
I knew what was coming next - the other shoe would drop.
She finally said that the reason she's going to Hawaii is that her sister is pregnant and due soon and she wants to help out. This is great news, but I wanted to just crawl under my desk and curl into a ball and rock until the work day was over.
This story is so normal and great . . . but it made me feel like shit.
I got through it okay. Wished her well and told her to have fun. I'm hoping that there will come a time when I can share stories about my kids with this woman. I can't burn all of my bridges with the real world just because I'm struggling with infertility.
I wish I lived in Hawaii. I wish I was pregnant. I hope we can get there.
I want to be normal. I just want to feel happy again.
Will I ever be pregnant?
Today a co-worker came over to my desk to chat. She recently returned from maternity leave and has been supportive of me when I told her about our struggles with infertility last fall. Back in October she sent me an email telling me how hard she knew this was for me and how good of a mom she thought I would be when our baby finally arrived.
So...it's very important for me that I remain on good terms with this woman, because I know her heart is in the right place. When I talk to her I ask about her kids and family and she sometimes asks about our adoption. Today she wanted to tell me about a trip that she has planned to Hawaii to visit her sister. I remembered that her sister had been married last August.
I knew what was coming next - the other shoe would drop.
She finally said that the reason she's going to Hawaii is that her sister is pregnant and due soon and she wants to help out. This is great news, but I wanted to just crawl under my desk and curl into a ball and rock until the work day was over.
This story is so normal and great . . . but it made me feel like shit.
I got through it okay. Wished her well and told her to have fun. I'm hoping that there will come a time when I can share stories about my kids with this woman. I can't burn all of my bridges with the real world just because I'm struggling with infertility.
I wish I lived in Hawaii. I wish I was pregnant. I hope we can get there.
I want to be normal. I just want to feel happy again.
Monday, June 23, 2014
raise your smoothies in a toast!
It's so good to hear good news! Today one of my fellow bloggers announced that she was pregnant after her first IVF. (You can find her near the top of my blog roll.) That's so great. I truly wish her a healthy and safe pregnancy and I can't wait to follow along through her blog. You girls (and guys) keep me going.
I've never come across a more positive and problem-solving inventive group of people in my life. Yes, I'm standing by positive as a description of the IF community, because even though we do get knocked down - even though we have some legit things to gripe about - many of us find ways to cope and stagger back to our feet. Every time one of you stumbles and pulls yourself back up and returns to the blogger-sphere to tell your story it gives me courage to keep going.
Of course I wish it was me who got to post a BFP . . . I know my day will come. It's either a BFP or a call from our facilitator saying they have a match with a birth mother for us.
I had to readjust my expectations this afternoon after I got off the phone with our clinic. It looks like the earliest time we can schedule our egg retrieval and fertilization is early September. Darn, in my head I was like: "We are doing IVF this summer." September feels so far away. I'm just gonna roll with it. September is a good month. It's gonna be our month.
Back to the main reason for this post - some infertility recipe goodness.
Cinnamon Avocado Smoothie
1 Banana
1 Avocado
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup organic ground flaxseed
1/2 t. organic cinnamon
Whip it up and serve!
So, we've probably all heard how good avocados are for preparing for IVF, but my research also shows how beneficial ground flaxseed and cinnamon are - just for everyone. Watch how much cinnamon you consume, though - there is a daily limit.
I'm not a doctor or anything - I'm just trying to find ways to improve my health and increase the odds that our fertility treatments will work. I would love your feedback and suggestions for ways to boost my diet to improve my fertility.
Happy Monday Y'all!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
holiday
I know Dr.'s need vacations too. Mine is taking his for two weeks in the middle of July - the hard thing about this is that this is the same time that my first IVF cycle is scheduled to start. Let me make this clear, the clinic hasn't scheduled me in yet, that's just when I wanted to get the ball rolling on this next phase of our baby-making journey. The past few months have been agonizing hell for me as I've been waiting for my body to "return to normal" after our 6th and final failed IUI cycle. My hormones seem to be settling down, if all goes well my period should arrive on Saturday or Sunday.
Ha ha ha. Yes I am laughing at myself, because I know how things that we expect to happen don't happen the way we want them to when we are traveling down the road of infertility. Usually my period is very regular, I hope it doesn't fail me in seven days.
I also have to jump through several other hoops before we can start this cycle. I have to have good day 3 labs and I have to have a clear sono. These seem like big things to me now. Last year my attitude would have been "I'm sure everything will be great on me." Now my attitude is "okay, what are we dealing with now, and how much further am I from a positive pregnancy test?"
The journey if infertility has turned me into a different person.
My days feel so blah. Here it is already almost July. The 4th used to be a really fun holiday for me, but now I don't really care. All I care about is when my name gets slotted on my IVF clinic's calendar and when I can start taking the meds. I know one of the main things that women say when they look back on their struggle with infertility is that they wish they hadn't stress so much, that they had enjoyed the beautiful moments in front of them, but I just can't. I just can't.
I'm sorry that I can't.
This holiday means nothing to me if I can't celebrate it one day with a child. I feel like I'm being childish, that I should just get over it, but again I can't. I am going to have a good day on the 4th. My husband will be home, I'm sure we'll do something fun and distracting. But I'm focused on one thing here - for better or worse.
Hopefully for the better.
Ha ha ha. Yes I am laughing at myself, because I know how things that we expect to happen don't happen the way we want them to when we are traveling down the road of infertility. Usually my period is very regular, I hope it doesn't fail me in seven days.
I also have to jump through several other hoops before we can start this cycle. I have to have good day 3 labs and I have to have a clear sono. These seem like big things to me now. Last year my attitude would have been "I'm sure everything will be great on me." Now my attitude is "okay, what are we dealing with now, and how much further am I from a positive pregnancy test?"
The journey if infertility has turned me into a different person.
My days feel so blah. Here it is already almost July. The 4th used to be a really fun holiday for me, but now I don't really care. All I care about is when my name gets slotted on my IVF clinic's calendar and when I can start taking the meds. I know one of the main things that women say when they look back on their struggle with infertility is that they wish they hadn't stress so much, that they had enjoyed the beautiful moments in front of them, but I just can't. I just can't.
I'm sorry that I can't.
This holiday means nothing to me if I can't celebrate it one day with a child. I feel like I'm being childish, that I should just get over it, but again I can't. I am going to have a good day on the 4th. My husband will be home, I'm sure we'll do something fun and distracting. But I'm focused on one thing here - for better or worse.
Hopefully for the better.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
uplifting thoughts
Just love the dog flying sideways through the air after the frisbree. My dog loves to catch frisbees. Everyday I get home from work and she's waiting for me. She really lifts me up. My husband and I just adopted her three weeks ago. It took us a while to get a dog. We were back and forth.
In 2011 we said:
"Should we get a dog? We'll be having a baby soon, there will be no time for a dog.
In 2012 we said:
"The baby is just around the corner, it wouldn't be fair to the dog if we got one."
Then came 2013:
"We can't even think about a dog, we're too busy running back and forth between work and fertility appointments."
Finally 2014:
I said "Honey, we're going to adopt a dog. Let's make a positive step forward in our life and take this leap."
And our dog has been the best thing we've done in the last two years. Funny, but now that we have her, I feel like there's this positive energy in our life now . . . things are going to start to happen for us.
Ever hopeful:
Jillian
(Source: handmadebycharlotte.com; blogg.amelia.se,magicinbatureblog; lifespotting.tumbler.com; claudia.d.k)
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
wednesdays
Wednesdays are hard.
It's on Wednesdays that my mom, my sister and my cousin gather at my parent's house (my sister with her two little girls ages three and one and my cousin with her two month old son) to hang out. I can't be a part of this - I'm not a mother. (Nor can we afford for me to take a day off in the middle of the week - plus it's a 180 mile round trip.) I feel left out. Usually I'm too busy at work to imagine what they are doing - but it hurts.
I'm never invited to these gatherings. There's never been the "hey, I know you're usually working, but just this one time would you like to join us?" comment extended by any of the participating parties. In fact, if I do complain I'm made to feel like I'm a whiner. Anyway, Wednesdays suck.
That's just how I feel.
Someday I know I'm going to be a mother, but from where I'm sitting now I can't ever imagine wanting to hang out with the women who have basically ignored me this entire struggle. Yes, my mother, my sister, my closest cousin - they have very much ignored me. And I know why - they feel bad, they do - momentarily - but then they are so busy with their lives and their young families that they just can't stay trapped in the problems of someone else for very long. We all have to live our own lives.
I know there are worse things than infertility. But the idea of having to live a childless life just kills me. I'm not choosing to live this way. I'm doing everything I can to get us out of this.
Today I had a lot of ovulation pain and all of the other classic signs of ovulation, it's too bad my husband is on active duty down in Kansas. Last year I would have thrown a fit about this - him missing my fertile days, but after 6 failed IUIs I've learned patience.
It is what it is. He can't be here. Making myself upset would only be making myself upset and I need to gather calmness, equanimity and peace around me like a healing cloak, so that my body can be prepared to carry a child this autumn.
I want to believe I'm one Wednesday closer to being a mom . . . so that's what I'm going to do.
It's on Wednesdays that my mom, my sister and my cousin gather at my parent's house (my sister with her two little girls ages three and one and my cousin with her two month old son) to hang out. I can't be a part of this - I'm not a mother. (Nor can we afford for me to take a day off in the middle of the week - plus it's a 180 mile round trip.) I feel left out. Usually I'm too busy at work to imagine what they are doing - but it hurts.
I'm never invited to these gatherings. There's never been the "hey, I know you're usually working, but just this one time would you like to join us?" comment extended by any of the participating parties. In fact, if I do complain I'm made to feel like I'm a whiner. Anyway, Wednesdays suck.
That's just how I feel.
Someday I know I'm going to be a mother, but from where I'm sitting now I can't ever imagine wanting to hang out with the women who have basically ignored me this entire struggle. Yes, my mother, my sister, my closest cousin - they have very much ignored me. And I know why - they feel bad, they do - momentarily - but then they are so busy with their lives and their young families that they just can't stay trapped in the problems of someone else for very long. We all have to live our own lives.
I know there are worse things than infertility. But the idea of having to live a childless life just kills me. I'm not choosing to live this way. I'm doing everything I can to get us out of this.
Today I had a lot of ovulation pain and all of the other classic signs of ovulation, it's too bad my husband is on active duty down in Kansas. Last year I would have thrown a fit about this - him missing my fertile days, but after 6 failed IUIs I've learned patience.
It is what it is. He can't be here. Making myself upset would only be making myself upset and I need to gather calmness, equanimity and peace around me like a healing cloak, so that my body can be prepared to carry a child this autumn.
I want to believe I'm one Wednesday closer to being a mom . . . so that's what I'm going to do.
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