We’re at the point in the journey now where we are living this day to day vs looking back. There are a lot of things in my experience to date that I didn’t share, but we will get to the more minute details eventually (things like the medications, the supplements, the diet, the coping mechanisms)….
Despite the failure of our first egg retrieval cycle, with 7 embryos and 3 transfers (2 failed implantation + one 7w miscarriage), I went into this cycle with so much hope. I surprised myself sometimes with how I was able to let the past go and really be positive about the future and our outcome….
IVF is one major life disruptor. One cycle with one transfer can involve 5-6 bloodwork appointments, 4-8 internal ultrasounds, getting pumped with liquids for external ultrasounds, timed and temperature controlled injections daily or multiple times daily for two weeks or more, popping 20+ supplements a day, going to the clinic sometimes 2-3 early mornings in…
At this point we had been working on growing our family for 15 months. Not a super long time, as some people go through years and years struggling with infertility. When you have repeat failure to conceive there are lots of weird things that start to become triggers – and now that I’ve been through…
— Skip this one if you’re squeamish. — Since going through this I have become a FIERCE advocate for women’s rights and abortion rights. I always was pro-choice, because I truly believe women aren’t out there in droves trying to abort babies late in pregnancy. I never thought I’d have an “abortion”, but that’s what…
I was pregnant. Pregnancy after loss is a beast, even if the loss was barely after finding out you’re pregnancy in the first place. My previous loss was so early that I didn’t really know it was happening, had it not been for my beta bloodwork telling me so. When I got this positive, the…
Christmas. This can bring challenges when it comes to fertility treatment as many clinics go into a slowdown of sorts over the holidays (if you’re undergoing treatment now – it’s October as I write this, it’s worth asking about clinic closures and how they might impact your cycle). My period came on Dec 20, right…
Nobody tells you what to expect when you go into an Egg Retrieval procedure. You are told to show up at a given time, and to have a ride home. That’s all they told me. I reached out to someone I knew from Instagram who had gone through the process a year before, and got…
The summer after my chemical pregnancy came in hot. If you don’t know me personally, I am a wedding photographer and it’s my full time job. Mid-may to mid-October I tend to go completely MIA due to wedding season and portrait season. My friends have grown to expect this. We kept on trying through the…
Let’s start from the beginning. I never wanted a family. All I ever cared about was experiencing life, travelling, eating good food, enjoying my freedoms. A family wasn’t on my radar. I grew up in a chaotic environment. Shuffled around between homes and cities, between parents and grandparents. I never truly felt grounded, unless I…