Are You Struggling with Infertility?

Things I learned in my experience dealing with infertility....

As I have mentioned before, my main goal in writing this blog was to be able to reach out to other women/couples that may be struggling with some form of infertility. Throughout my journey, as much as I wanted to isolate myself and hold all of my feelings in, it was nice to know I was not alone at times. Reading others' stories/experiences help me keep some sanity!

It is such a personal thing to experience and it sucks, even more so, going through it alone. Now don't get me wrong, my husband was always at my side for support but like I would tell him; as a WOMAN sometimes you just need to talk to a WOMAN. Or just hear/read another woman's experience/perspective. You would be surprised how similar your stories and feelings are. That is what made me feel better at times. Like I was not completely going crazy! Therefore, if you are struggling, I recommend reading and listening to someone else going through a similar situation. There are plenty of infertility blogs and articles out there that could help you.

--> Find an outlet! For me, obviously this was writing! I am not the best at talking to others about my feelings, so writing was the best outlet for me. I had all the freedom in the world to say what I wanted, how I wanted. If writing does not suit you, find someone to talk to, maybe not a large number of people, but a trusty one or two friends or family members. This way your business does not get spread all over town, and you don't have a million different opinions and lectures coming your way.

--> Exercise! More than half of the time I did not feel like doing any type of exercise, but when I did do it, it made me feel so much better. Even if it was just going on walks, getting out and breathing in some fresh air will do wonders. Going to a gym was not what worked for me, and it may take you time to find that rejuvenating activity that works for you. But don't give up! The thing that worked the best for me was Yoga! It is not only a great exercise, but it is also recommended by doctors when struggling with infertility. There was even a yoga specialist at the Round Table Event I attended, sponsored by The Kentucky Fertility Institute, that justified this even more. It is a great stress reliever and keeps your body feeling good, even when you do not! However, any exercise is good exercise!

--> Most of the time, all I wanted to do was sit at home and do nothing. I became extremely non-sociable. However, this only made things worse as much as I hate to admit it. I needed to occupy my time being surrounded by loved ones and people who brought positive energy back into my life. Remove any negative energy in your life. You do not need MORE negative energy on top of what you are already dealing with, so know when to acknowledge any type of negative energy being brought into your life, remove it and replace it with positive energy. Revert back to something you have always enjoyed doing, but maybe lost touch with it since your struggle began. Something that makes YOU happy or just be around others that make you happy! All of our alone time together was spent at doctors appointments. So it was important for us to take time to spend together, and not let it revolve around our struggle. When my husband and I would take a day to ourselves to spend together, we were not allowed to even discuss anything that had to do with our struggle. This was extremely needed and necessary from time to time!

--> Do what is best for YOU..no matter what! Throughout our journey we were pulled in a lot of different directions, never knowing what our next move was going to be or when it was going to take place. That in itself was stressful for us. On top of having busy lives, the schedules that infertility put us on, limited us on how we lived our every day life. Meaning, we had to remember to take time to ourselves, especially ME. A lot of things we normally did with friends or family before infertility took over, we did not always have the desire to do anymore, or had an appointment out of town or procedure scheduled that conflicted. At first it was frustrating, but we learned to just go with the flow and let it be! WE knew what was going on in our lives, and we did not have to explain or answer to anyone about it. Our family and friends may not have understood at the time, but that was ok. You cannot worry about every little thing like that, on top of what you are already worrying about. If they do not understand at the time, just let it go, one day they will.

The main thing is taking care of yourself, the best you can, when dealing with these struggles. I know, I know, it is so much easier said than done!!! But it is true! It you aren't taking care of yourself, mentally and physically, your fertility situation will not improve. It took me a long time to figure all of this out, too. But I hope this can help some of you out there!