September is PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) Awareness Month. I heard someone say recently that they feel like there is an “awareness” day, week, or month for everything these days and it feels like we’re in this vortex of over-saturation of “awareness”. This made me cringe. I mean, I get it. But here’s the thing: there…
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The Room That Was Supposed To Be A Nursery
Continue...In our three-bedroom house, we have this room that has always been referred to as “the blue room” or “the spare room”. At one point, it was an office. At another point, it was my sister-in-law’s bedroom. Ever since we moved in 10 years ago, this room has been the catchall space. Even when it…
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Déjà Vu: One Year After Miscarriage
Continue...Everyone says you can’t have a rainbow without a storm, but I never said I wanted a rainbow. I wanted that baby.
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My Miscarriage Wasn’t Just A Heavy Period
Continue...My pregnancy in 2017 was an absolute miracle. After 5 years of waiting, it came as quite a shock as I had done every treatment except IVF at that point. From oral medications to injections, from timed intercourse to IUIs, from temping and charting to natural remedies. I came to grips with the fact that…
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After Miscarriage: “How Many Children Do You Have?”
Continue...For the first time ever, someone who doesn’t know my story of infertility and miscarriage innocently asked me the question I’ve been dreading: “How many children do you have?” To keep the moment from being awkward in a room full of people, I promptly responded with: “one”, but my heart started racing because I felt…
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Infertility: A Decade of Waiting, Miracles, Loss, And Hope
Continue...When I was told at the age of 23 that I was in pre-menopause, I felt like my world crashed down around me. My husband and I had only been married a year plus a few months when I first started to experience symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and infertility. We were told that…
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Five Things I Tell My Child As I Walk Her Through Grief
Continue...Over the last decade of infertility, I have received many “words of encouragement” that don’t actually encourage. Well-intending people, unfortunately, fall short because they just don’t know what to say and it backfires. After experiencing this for so long, you learn what is helpful to say, and what isn’t. After our miscarriage in August 2017,…