What if?

Lately, it's the 'what if's that have my brain spinning at night. Truth be told, I have always been a 'what if' kind of person. It's one of my greatest flaws. I am always thinking forward to the future and trying to figure out all of the worst possible scenarios. Don't get me wrong, I also think about the good things and the positive possibilities. It's just that part of me feels like I'd rather be emotionally prepared for the bad things. There's a small comfort in at least knowing the worst case. As long as I know what might happen, it won't completely blindside me, right?

Only life doesn't exactly work that way. There's always some hidden danger you weren't expecting. On top of that, sometimes when the worst things happen, it doesn't matter that you knew they were possible. Sometimes the bad things still knock us on our butts, regardless of whether we thought we were prepared for them or not. Some things hurt so badly, there's no possible way to prepare. 11 years ago, I had the worst thing happen to me when I was on a trip to Europe. Did I know it was a possibility? Yes, I guess there was some part of me that knew something like that could happen to a woman traveling alone in a foreign country. But I never really thought it would happen. So when it did, I wasn't prepared. Tomorrow, it will be 11 years since it happened, and I'm still not over it. I don't know that I will ever be over it.

In that instance, it didn't matter that somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was a possibility. Nothing could have prepared me for the emotional impact of that one single event. So why do I keep doing this to myself? Why do I keep borrowing trouble? If it doesn't truly make the bad things easier to digest, why do I spend weeks, even months, worrying about the what if's? What if I don't get pregnant with IVF? What if we can't afford to try again? What if I miscarry? What if my heart breaks over and over again?

The answer to all those questions is the same. If any of those things happen, terrible as they may be, I will grieve. I will be sad, angry, upset, yes, even heart-broken. But I will survive it. Just like I've been surviving for the past 11 years. It will hurt, but I will find a way to be strong. I will move past it, and someday, I will become a mother. I hope that it will happen sooner rather than later, but life is full of what ifs and unknowns and that will never change. So for now, I'm going to try to put those what if questions and worst-case scenarios to the side and choose instead to try something new. Hope.

Relax

One of life's biggest challenges is learning to keep a positive attitude even through the hard times. I was talking to my mom on the phone last night and we were talking about how people rarely know the right thing to say when someone they know is going through a hard time. In fact, I think some people get so nervous about what to say, they often end up saying the exact WRONG thing. There are some people in this world who are just not empathetic. They can't put themselves in your shoes and try to understand what's going on with you, so therefore, their comments often become insensitive.

With infertility, how many times have people said, "Just relax. You're trying too hard! If you just relax, you'll get pregnant in no time!" Oh really? Gosh, why didn't I think of that??? You've solved everything for me! Relax! Miraculous! I'm sure that if I relax, my PCOS will disappear and my eggs will suddenly magically become more mature and I will start to ovulate on day 14 of every cycle. Right?? With Cancer, people tell you to keep a positive attitude and that the power of positive thinking will save you. Really? YOU try having cancer and being positive all the time. My mother was saying that when her older brother died in a terrible car accident, someone actually came up to my grandmother and said "Well, at least you have five other children." WHAT? Like having five other children somehow makes the one that's gone just a throwaway? Losing a child can't be easy. It's devastating. Just because you have five more does NOT mean you won't care about losing another. And your first born son. What an incredibly insensitive thing to say!

Of the above mentioned things, I have luckily never lost a child or been diagnosed with cancer, but I am battling infertility. So often, the people who aren't going through it simply can't understand what it feels like to not be able to get pregnant. They don't understand what it's like to go in to a doctor's office ten times in your cycle to get poked and prodded. You think going to a yearly gyn. appointment and having a pap smear is bad? Try going in five times this week and having to pee in a cup, give blood and strip down to nothing so the nurse can stick the ultrasound wand in your hoo-ha and check (again) to see if there is any hope for this month. It's degrading and difficult. And what about having to explain to all the different doctors about your lifestyle choices, your sex life, past traumas, cervical mucus, your bowel movements, everything. It's not a fun conversation to have over and over and over. And to be honest, that's just the very BEGINNING of infertility treatment options. Now that we're moving on to IVF, everything gets ten times more invasive and difficult.

So to say that all you have to do is 'relax' is pretty much like a slap in the face. No. It's not just about relaxing. It's about real medical issues that are serious and heartbreaking. It's about very precise timing and complex dosages of very expensive medicines. There is so much that needs to be done from dietary changes to losing weight to shots to blood draws to ovary checks to egg retrievals, and the list goes on and on. Let's see YOU go through that and then you tell me how easy it is to just relax.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here because anyone reading this blog is either battling infertility or is being incredibly supportive of my journey. I just needed to get it out, so thanks for listening.

How To Deal...

I have been feeling very positive this week, so naturally, it was time for something to happen that will test my emotional well-being. I hate to write about other people on here because I realize they might someday read my blog and get the wrong idea. On the other hand, I created this blog as a place where I could go to journal about my feelings throughout this process. Something happened yesterday that I feel I need to talk through. Partly because it's hard for me to deal with or stop thinking about. And partly because I think it's something any woman going through infertility has to deal with several times throughout their journey toward having a child of their own.

There is one couple that is our closest couple friends, if that makes sense. The husband is my husband's best friend from college and they are very close. When I met his wife a couple years ago, we hit it off right away. We're a lot alike and they are both a lot of fun to be around. George and I have other close friends, but no other couple that we both get along so well with. Anyway, they recently moved back to our area and we spend time with them a lot. They just bought an amazing house that is probably three times more expensive than our place, which already makes me feel kind of... less, which I know is petty but completely honest.

Anyway, I knew they had talked about possibly having kids soon, but the last time we talked, she was on birth control. I wasn't emotionally prepared for the picture text message last night with two positive pregnancy tests. I'm definitely happy for them. Of course I am. They are our good friends, and I want them to be happy and I want to be excited for them. But at the same time, it's difficult. After texts of congratulations, she tells me this was their first cycle trying and how proud her husband is of that. I pretty much fell apart. Well, I excused myself to the bathroom and then fell apart.

I couldn't help but have these thoughts about how I've taken that feeling of pride away from my husband. He can never feel like that because I'm defective. After 13 cycles of trying to conceive, we're still not pregnant. And I am completely aware of the fact that many couples who struggle with infertility have been trying for far longer than 13 cycles. However, I've carried this fear around inside of me for 14 years. Ever since I was diagnosed with PCOS and that doctor told me I might never be able to have children, I have been terrified that I would never be able to get pregnant. It's taken me years to find the right man to even start trying or to get into a position where we were able to try. And I've found that my worst fears are coming true. There's a constant doubt that runs in my head. Will I ever be able to get pregnant?

So when someone close to me gets pregnant, it's a reminder that I am not. I am still trying to learn how to deal with the pain of watching others get pregnant and have their babies while I'm dealing with infertility. How do I deal with the fact that one of my best friends got pregnant in one cycle and has already announced it to everyone when she's only 4 weeks along? I will never have the luxury of casually taking a pregnancy test and not feeling desperate about the results. I will never be able to happily announce a pregnancy at only 4 weeks, because the risk of miscarriage is way too high for that to be a good idea.

I know that what I'm feeling has nothing to do with my friend or the other women in my life who are pregnant. I would never want to take away from their happiness. It's all my own issues. My own worries and fears. I understand that, but it doesn't make it any easier.

What I should be thinking is how much fun it will be to both be pregnant together. I should be thinking about how great it will be that our best friends are also going to have a baby around the same time. We can enjoy days at the park together or baby dates and such. It'll be great, right? Instead, my mind goes to the fear. I think about the potential for heartbreak. I think about how I am going to prepare myself for a baby shower or dinners together if IVF fails. How am I going to deal with that? Or what will I feel if April comes and we go to the hospital to support them and meet their new baby, but I'm still not pregnant? I know I shouldn't let my mind go there, but I feel in some ways that I have to protect myself. I have to prepare myself. It's complicated and if you've never experienced infertility, I don't think you can really understand it.

So, my friends in the blogosphere? How do you deal with close friends or family who are pregnant? How do you act normal around them even when you're hurting? How do you find a way to let your happiness for them overrule your disappointment in your own situation?