"Please, God, not today.."

We visited a new church today. It was ginormous. So big that they needed multiple signs to tell you how to get to where you wanted to go. And I think they had about 80 bathrooms. But we've been searching for a new church for months and we felt pretty confident about this one. I particularly felt good about it.

You see, I was actually feeling good when I woke up today. With the impending d-day (I refuse to use the "m" word anymore), I felt relatively calm and level-headed. We'd been having a great weekend and enjoyed doing regular couple things and especially enjoyed not having to move anything. That was the big plus. We just relaxed.  Oh and we also chose a puppy who will be coming home next week! But I'll talk more about that in another post..

So considering my frame of mind this morning, I thought for sure that this service would be easy to sit through, enjoyable and maybe we'd even chat with some patrons afterwards.

But all that changed the minute we sat down.

Being in the upper balcony, we squinted to see several people congregating at the front of the stage. "Oh no," we said, glancing at one another. "Please, God, not today. I'm really trying..." I thought. But to my dismay, those two dreadful words flashed up on the screens:

Baby Dedication Day

Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!  WHY?!?!?  Why today of all days?!  Why can't we just catch a break already?! Why does this misery follow us around like a plague?!?

I wanted to leave. At that moment, I wanted to get up and run to the nearest exit. But we stayed. Shrunken in our seats, we agonized through all 20 minutes (no kidding) of this painful morning. I cringed at every baby's face that was plastered on the screen and even more so when the congregation "ooo" and "ahh-ed" at each one. And it was like a knife in my heart when the pastor would talk only to the parents and grandparents and leave out the bleeding hearts who so desperately wanted to join their elusive club.

Needless to say, it crushed my peaceful state of mind. I was officially in a funk. I couldn't even tell you what the rest of the sermon was about. With all the people scattered around us, I didn't feel the need to censor my eye-rolling. It probably wasn't the most Christianly thing to do, but I was worn down. Tired of going from church to church and feeling the same way. Tired of putting on a brave face when inside I was crumbling. It was just too much. Too hard.

After the sermon was over, we bolted out the door and decided to do something we never do. Go out to lunch! Yes, I know that might seem silly to you, but we're very frugal people. Going out to eat is not a normal option for us, but I had a bucket full of feelings that needed to be eaten, and that could only be done with a big delicious sandwich. So eat them I did.

And that was my morning.

Caution: Sadness Crossing

Boston. How I miss you. I only lived outside the city (Allston then Brighton) for a short time, but my heart has always been there. If it hadn't been for meeting my amazing husband and moving to NC, I'm sure I'd still be there today... 10 minutes away from the bombing site and among the chaos that is this crazy manhunt. It's hard to concentrate on anything else except the heartache and suspense of finding the terrorists who have hurt so many people. Yet I find myself reflecting on so much sadness today.

I've tried to put TTC out of my mind for this month. I've tried to focus on moving and organizing and buying new things for our apartment, but it's hard. Hard to know that today could have been our 4th IUI. Next month marks another mother's day that I can't celebrate.

In a few weeks is my niece's 1st birthday. How I adore that little girl, yet her big day brings back such painful memories for me. I wish I could've been at her birth and held my sister(inlaw)'s hand. I wish that seeing that baby girl for the first time would have only brought me overwhelming joy. But it's with mixed emotions that I face the next few weeks.  I would love nothing more than to share in what seems like the rest of the world's happy time. A (seemingly) whole month devoted to celebrating mothers. A title that I long to have. An identity that continues to elude me. But how I chase it. Every moment of every day I'm reminded of what I am not. At the store, on tv, outside my home and at church. Everywhere there are pictures of the happy family that I don't have.

I don't mean to be morose  I've been trying to keep busy with various life things but it's the quiet times that I remember the hole in my heart. Its gentle aching as I snuggle my puppy. Especially the times that I pick her up and hold her on my lap. What I wouldn't give to be holding my child..

*sigh*

....Speaking of puppies, and a change of subject before we all drown ourselves in my depression, we're trying to adopt one! A puppy that is. I found myself at the Guilford County Animal Shelter a few days ago, playing with the most adorable 7 week old puppy. Black and white and cute all over. (sorry the quality's not so great - she wouldn't sit still for her photo-op)

Oh it is so happening. I will adopt a puppy if it's the last thing I do. Or at least the first thing I accomplish this summer.

And with that note, I'm gonna go buy myself something pretty. Specifically makeup, groceries and possibly some dry shampoo. Oh, the exciting life I live.

And the journey continues..

I have to say, this has been a difficult week. Found out (not surprisingly) on Sunday morning that the IUI didn't work. Still went to church tho, so I get 5 points. I've been in a daze ever since. I don't know if I thought this one would work, but it feels different this time. I think it's because we're taking a break from treatments for a while. The last few times the IUI's failed, AF meant, not just that it didn't work, but that we could start over again. This time it means that it's over.. for the time being.

The other night we were sitting on the porch drinking beers (hallelujah) and it dawned on me... We've been trying for more than 2 years and over 30 cycles, yet I have never once seen two pink lines. Not even a little bit. Nothing.

See I decided to test this last time because I theorized that maybe I was getting pregnant but losing it soon after. Of course my theory was mistaken, but it meant that I bought a pregnancy test for the first time in a year. I stopped buying them because they were a waste of money and I could tell by my temperature if AF was coming or not.

I guess that's why this time is harder for me. I realized that this means I won't be a mother for stupid mother's day.. again. And that just breaks my heart a little more every time I think about it. The silver lining is the trip that we'll be taking to the beach. We went last year as well after I explained to DH that I couldn't stand the idea of attending church for "that day."  This year is no different. Another year past and still no baby. No pregnancy.

I'm sure I'll feel a little better as time goes on. I did start drinking regular coffee again and drinking beer. I stopped all of that for the last 3ish months and it's been freeing to be normal again.

I am looking forward to a few things: we're moving next Monday to Greensboro. We live outside the city limits at the moment and this move will put us in the perfect area. Very excited. We'll also be saving $200 a month which we can put towards a house downpayment/IVF.

But I'm just taking these moments in stride for now. To be honest, I stopped asking God for a pregnancy over the last few days. I know this isn't true, but my heart just feels like it's a waste of time. Actually putting that down in words makes it feel worse than it did before. I have to work on that. I hope the Lord is patient with me. Oh and I signed us up for a group counseling session at a local hospital  It's specifically for dealing with infertility. I'm hoping it'll be good for us and, who knows, maybe we'll make some friends in the process.

That's all for now. It's 7pm and DH hasn't left work yet. Crossing my finger's that he'll call me soon. Till next time.

Things I wish I could say

Stay away from Target! At least until after Easter. That's the mistake that DH and I made today. We needed a few odds and ends so we braved the stores today. It was packed with families, children, babies, pregnant ladies, you name it. They were there... Waiting.. to ruin my day.

Fortunately we got in and outta there pretty quickly. And big news for me: I bought a pregnancy test. No, no, I don't think I'm pregnant, although I suppose it is possible (currently on 7dpiui) but I want to actually check this time. Normally I'll just temp until the end of a cycle and can predict exactly when AF will show up, but this time I want to see if I'm getting "a little pregnant" and then losing it. So for real this time, I'm gonna test on 11dpiui. I'm not expecting anything miraculous, but then again, my God is the God of miracles.

Onto more hilarious things..

I have a friend person who I've fallen out with as of late. Nothing spectacularly bad happened,  but we just kind of parted ways. It was prompted by her inability to regulate what she'd say around me. More often than not I'd leave her presence feeling just a little bit awful and it was always due to my infertility and her lack of empathy. Or at least the amount of empathy that I require.

I guess I'm a little hard on my friends that way. I've learned that you can't control the outside world (see: Target) but you can control who you befriend. In the past I would have probably kept someone around who occasionally insulted me, but since the knife cuts so deep with infertility, I can't spare the extra blood. I need my heart intact. I've learned that the easiest way to do this is simply distance yourself from those who don't have your best interest in mind. Oh, they may say they do, but their actions speak a different story.

Which brings me to the funny part. She recently lost her job (okay, that's not so funny) and I found this out in an email she wrote me. To give her credit, she was reaching out but I was definitely stiff-arming her. Part of my brain wants to just make her my friend again so there'll be no conflict, but the other part knows that I'll just feel crappy again, and that's the part I listen to.

Well I never responded to this email (sorry if I didn't feel heartbroken that she lost her job.. I had just finished a second failed IUI and would take a job loss over that any day) so she eventually wrote me again asking if I had moved. I decided to be cordial and told her we were planning to move in a few weeks and asked if she had found work yet. Her response was short: No, she hadn't found work yet. I had to restrain myself from responding what I really wanted to say... Here are a few snippits that popped into my head:

"Just relax, it'll happen."

"Are you sure you're looking for jobs correctly? Maybe you're looking for the wrong position."

"Oh I understand.. My best friend's cousin's next door neighbor lost a job too. It was so sad."

"You should just intern somewhere! It's not a paying position, but at least you'll have something to do with your time!"

"Seriously?? You can have my job! I'm so busy I can hardly stand it!!"

"You just lost your job? Oh that's such a bummer. I just got hired at the best job ever!! I'm so thrilled!!"

"Maybe you were just working too hard, so they had to let you go. Ya never know.."

"I swear, when you stop looking for a job, that's when you'll find one."

"My husband has more jobs than he can handle! I swear he sleeps and he makes money!" 

"I knew a girl who took a crappy job, then whaddya know, the next month her dream job fell into her lap!"

and my personal favorite...

"That's just awful. My uncle got laid off from a job once. He never found another. Poor guy. He died alone."


I should be a career counselor.

Sunday's Dilemma

Okay, I'll admit it. I am totally dreading going to church this Sunday. It's Easter and we all know what that means... Children everywhere. In their tiny suits and dresses and parents fawning all over their cuteness.

I realize that I am completely missing the point of Easter Sunday and the miraculousness that occurred 2,000 years ago, but it's hard to focus on Christ's triumphant return when all you see around you are children's candy, Easter baskets, and how to make your kid look as adorable as possible.

So I'll be praying. A lot. I would love nothing more than to focus on Jesus' resurrection. I pray that He will be with me on Sunday when I dodge the little tykes dressed in their finest. I pray that He will return my wandering thoughts to His purpose for this day. Because I really don't want to think about other people's kids. I just want to think about Him and how He can work in my life. And I hope he does. He deserves my every ounce of attention, especially on this day.

IUI #3 and the case of the evil doctor

It's 2 days past our 3rd IUI. I never enjoy these procedures  but I particularly disliked this last one. I had my least favorite doctor at the practice (there are 3) who performed my first IUI after which I bled for 3 days. The IUI itself was somewhat painful and then afterwards I had cramping for several days. She did my ultrasound once as well which was also painful. She's just bad. I'm very unhappy with her and I hate when she's (seemingly randomly) selected as my doctor.

So as I'm laying oh-so-vulnerably on the table in the waiting room, feet in stirrups and a blanket draped over my lap, I confess to this doctor that the first time she did my IUI, it was painful. I asked if she could possibly slow down this time as to not hurt me. Her reaction was less than empathetic. She told me that my cervix was the problem and that I have some type of tissue that would just be scratched no matter what. I replied that when a different doctor did my second IUI, not only did I not even feel it, there was not a drop of blood when he was done. She said that she'd done hundreds of these and that SHE wasn't the problem.

If I hadn't been in such a state as I was, I'd have kicked her in the face. Unfortunately, she was just about to do the IUI and I didn't want to make her mad in case she would hurt me more. Needless to say, it hurt this time as well, but not as bad as the time before. Her reaction was infuriating and I plan to request her taken off my case.

Now that I got that out, I feel a little better. We've decided to start possibly looking for a new RE. We've barely spoken to Dr. Y as it is and it seems like no one at this clinic is really concerned about our issues. I had initial blood work taken but beyond that, I haven't heard a peep. Finally I asked the very sweet nurse who always recognizes us when we come in, what our next step should be. I let her know that I already made an appointment with Dr. Y to discuss what we should do next and she assured me that he'd have a plan for us which would probably include injectables. But because I'm so "young" he's not in a hurry to move us along.

So what, I have to be 38 to get some attention around here?!?!  Because my FSH is only 9.8 I'm not considered an important enough case??  My DH's results have been less than stellar, but I don't see any concern. Why not?!

This is why we're looking for a new clinic. I just want to know that someone's even looking at our file. I feel like we're just put away, never to be seen again until I initiate contact. It's all so exhausting.

DH's numbers weren't awesome this time. Last IUI they were 19mil, this time 7.5mil. He was so discouraged when they told him the numbers. If I wasn't on the table at the time, I would have hugged him so hard. It just breaks my heart to think that he feels like the problem. Honestly, I believe it's the combination of us both. My less than stellar egg quality and his not-so perfect numbers.

We decided to take next cycle off if this one is not successful. I need a break from the meds and from never being able to drink coffee or wine or eat tumeric. Yes, tumeric..  lol Apparently it stimulates the uterus which is a no-no for TTC. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells during the TWW. I'm tired. I need to relax for a bit and not monitor everything I do.

So here we are. Two days past IUI. I wonder what the next two weeks shall hold..

Sarah's Laughter

I'm not sure if you've heard of this wonderful ministry, but it's called "Sarah's Laughter" and you can subscribe to their daily newsletters. It's Christian support through infertility and it has brought me out of some very dark times. You can find the website here: http://www.sarahs-laughter.com/ 

Today, I needed to be reminded that I'm being watched. No, not in a creepy peeping neighbor kind of way, but in a 'is my testimony for Christ what it should be' kind of way. I'm not gonna lie.. I have been the worst friend these past few months. We made a little group of friends at a church a year ago and I have done my best to distance myself from them. The reasons are complicated, but I have blamed infertility on much of it. I feel guilty about it all the time, but I can't bring myself to reach out to them or anyone. That's partially why I started this blog.

Infertility is so isolating and the heartbreak devastates so much of your life that I gave myself the go-ahead to become a recluse. I certainly wasn't trying to, but it happened. And when I have bad days and want to scowl at every mother with a baby that I see, sometimes I let myself do that too. Now I'm sure if those women were to spend a moment in my head and feel how my heart was breaking, they'd cut me some slack, but they don't know what I'm going through. And the more that I allow myself to let those feelings fester, the easier it is to become bitter. I don't want to be bitter. I pray daily for joy. I pray for joy just as much as I do for a child. Some days I need it more than others.

Today is one of those days. We had another failed IUI. Another failed IUI. Blech. I hate saying that. I guess we're starting a 3rd IUI. I received my meds today...  I'm not wholeheartedly in this cycle tho. I miss coffee and wine and feeling normal. If these cycles do anything to me, it takes away my feeling or normalcy. I feel like a lab rat and I'm living a live of restriction. I can't stand that.. And then when the cycle fails, I inevitably think "what did I do wrong? should I have eaten different things? should I not drink tea either? did I cause myself to miscarry early?"

I talked to my husband about these very things last night. He assured me that there's nothing I could have done differently and then he actually thanked me for putting myself through all the things I have. That was lovely to hear. :) I have an incredible husband. If I have anything to be thankful for through this trial, it's that infertility has brought us so close together. I can't quite put into words how grateful I am, but I'm astounded every day at how much we love each other. When other marriages are struggling under the heavy weight of infertility, ours has only been strengthened. 

Which  brings me back to my being watched. I have read many women's stories of their difficult journey and how torn apart their marriages were after enduring years of infertility. And all I can think when I see that is "if they only knew my Saviour, if they only knew what peace He could give them. If they only knew that they could ask Him for joy and He would give it to them." Then I'm reminded that I should always be a light in the darkness of this heartache. That no matter how hurt I'm feeling, God will never leave me and He has promised to give me strength. For this, I am the most grateful. Psalm 30:5b "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Thank you, Lord, for this promise.