Thursday, April 26, 2012

Twenty-Three Things About...

The journey with my crazy ovaries.

It is National Infertility Awareness Week.
In honor of this week,
here are random facts about infertility
(my experiences and general information).
They are random, 
as are my reproductive organs.
So it is fitting.

1.  I am kind of annoyed that I ever spent a cent on birth control.  I wish I could somehow bottle up my natural birth control and sell it to people. Like some of these people.  I would be a kajillionaire.
2. I have been "officially" infertile for 4 years.  However, I wondered even before that if I had issues. 
3.  Infertility messes with your head. Paranoid is a good word to describe me.
4. About 6.1 million women are dealing with infertility.
5.  I am officially diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I am lucky enough to have the skinny and non-hairy version of this.  Which, I guess, is a good thing.
6.  Yes, I have tried Clomid. It is like a Tic-Tac for me.  It does nothing, but thanks.
7.  Yes, I have tried relaxing.  That does not help my ovaries. It does nothing, but thanks for the advice.
8.  Infertility messes with your heart.
9.  Do people not talk about infertility because it has to do with the parts down under? Because, if so, that's dumb.
10.  If I were a cow, I would be butchered immediately.  I am so glad I'm not a cow.  For many reasons.
11.  I hope I am a success story for my fertility clinic sometime soon.  I want my baby announcement hanging up in their office.
13.  Infertility is, for some reason, humiliating.  Even in the fertility clinic, a lot of women won't look at each other.  I get it, but it's sad to me.
14.  You will not become infertile by talking about it with me.
15.  I will not be uncomfortable if you talk about it with me.  Nor will my ovaries explode.  
16. My perfect potion that has seemed to work is: Femara, Gonal-F shots, Ovidrel, IUI, and Crinone.  Oh, and prayers for sanity.  And by perfect potion, I mean the potion for getting me pregnant, not keeping me pregnant.
17. Infertility is not trying for a few months and not getting pregnant.  
18.  I adore the nurses at my doctor's office.  They are crazy amazing for several reasons.  But, seriously, they have a job that I would not want.  They deal with hormonally-crazed women all day who are all on edge and they are on the other end of those stirrups all day. Not cool.  
19.  I often walk by people in the store and wonder if they are dealing with it. And I wish I could talk with them.
20. I believe that once you are an infertile, you always are. Even if you have kids.  So many women have said this. That you will always feel the sting of pregnancies and annoucements, even when/if you have your own kids.  I have been reading the blog "A Peek Into Our Journey"--she states these feelings well here.  It's nice to know that I wasn't going crazy when I had those thoughts when I was pregnant with Nugget.  (Oh, and read the other blog that the woman writes about her 3 beautiful miracle triplets.)
21.  I can't even count how many people have been on the other side of my stirrups.  It's not even an issue anymore.  Sure, you 18 med students can come in and learn.  Have fun!  That disturbs me a bit.
22. Whenever I'm at the doctor's, I always think about what I would do if there's a fire drill or something.
22.  I wish this on no one. 
23.  And I hope that if you are dealing with infertility that you have a good support system and have gathered the strength to share your story with other people.  





2 comments:

  1. i love your posts. really i do. and feel like i'm a partial clone. so glad i know someone else feels the same way i do, because i was beginning to think i was a bit crazy (which is easy to do when on fertility drugs for so long!)
    #5 is me too, THANK GOD!
    #6 and 7 i say ALL the time when a new dr or nurse sees me to consult. and i have an urge to punch them in the mouth every time.
    #9, I will never understand. people always ask why i'm so open about it. i always respond with "why not?" it's not embarrassing...to me anyways.
    #13 i say all the time. i even ran into an old college roomate in my office one morning and had to practically trip her to get her to notice me. she laughed and said she tries not to make eye contact. it saddens me that people are "ashamed".
    and #21...i laughed out loud. i always say yes to a student coming in. i also always joke that there isn't a dr in the rochester area that hasn't seen my naked body. it's probably not much of a joke anymore! ha

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  2. #1 - so agree. #7 Why do people say that crap? #8 Yup. #9 YUP. #14 Freakin' hilarious. Ok, I'll stop now. 16 years of infertility (actually 28 because even though we adopted I'm still considered an infertile person!) my fave moment of late when a Sam's clerk asked me if I was having a fun day with my grandkids and I retorted "Just because I didn't have my kids at 16 doesn't make me a grandma." This totally embarassed my 14 year old....now he shares this with others... Infertility makes us stronger women! You my dear, are strong and courageous and I pray #11 for you.

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