One of my favorite videos is this one:
Go ahead, watch some more. Just a warning, you might end up spending 2 hours watching these videos. They're addicting.
So, I feel like I didn't really conclude or even explain my NIAW series of posts. The story is, I'm dealing with infertility. It's been harder at times than others (like this past Mother's Day at church when my husband put his arm around me and I just started bawling) but it's getting better. I can talk about it more openly now and it's been quite therapeutic.
If you are dealing with infertility, I'm sorry you are going through this heartache. It sucks. It really does. But here are some things that have helped me deal with this burden:
You can check out this site for some venting. It's a great place to get out some of that anger over dealing with infertility. It's a safe place for us to vent amongst other ladies who know what we are going through. If you are not dealing with infertility, please don't visit this site. Your feelings will be hurt and you will be tempted to make comments about how bitter we are, etc., etc. Yes, we are bitter, but we are trying to deal with it, and venting in a safe environment like this helps.
For something more positive and uplifting, check out A Blog About Love. She recently found out that she won't be able to have children naturally, which is so heartbreaking; but she is doing her best to be positive about it - which makes me want to have a positive attitude as well. She talks about infertility but also about marriage, fashion, travel, etc. I have been reading this blog for a while and love it and highly recommend it - even if you aren't dealing with infertility.
Be sure to talk to a friend about your struggles with infertility. It helps to get what we are feeling off our chest and alleviates this burden we are carrying around. A few months ago I opened up to a friend/co-worker who revealed to me that she is dealing with infertility, and as we talked she confessed she had no idea I was dealing with infertility as well. I thought, what?! How could you not tell, when my husband and I have been married for almost 7 years?! But it just goes to show that people can be really clueless about your situation, even more so for people who don't know what it's like to be infertile. That's what prompted me to open up about infertility on Facebook and post about it on this blog, to help others know that infertility exists (it seriously never crosses their mind that you actually have been trying to have a baby!); and so that hopefully other people dealing with infertility will realize they aren't the only ones and we can help each other get through this. We can do it.
Another important piece of advice, don't put your life on hold waiting for a baby. I'm finally putting this into practice and I wish I would have realized this a while ago (I would have been done with graduate school by now). So, go back to school, take that vacation you've always wanted, lose the weight you've always been meaning to lose (which I actually did using an amazing program that helped me lose over 20 lbs.) and just live your life without waiting to do things "just in case" you get pregnant.
My last piece of advice is, if you are religious, pray. Pray that Heavenly Father will give you the comfort you need to get through this trial, to give you the strength to endure it, to hand over your burden to Him and to give thanks for the blessings that you do have in your life. Being grateful for what you do have helps out - a lot.
Take care my friends, you aren't alone.
