Wishing It Was Me.......

I guess I've not made a secret of the fact that I'm having a pretty crap time at the minute, really feel like the universe is testing me to see just how far I can be pushed before I crack.

Aside from what I wrote in the First Time for Everything  post, Two of my best friends have just broken the news to be that they are pregnant. I suppose what surprises me most is how difficult it was for them to tell me, they were fretting so much about how I was going to react. Both of these peole have had struggles in this area, both have been trying for a long time to get pregnant and funnily enough, both had recently confided in me that they are just ready to give up trying (before they found out they were pregnant obvioulsy).

These people are my friends, and that is not something that I can honestly say about a lot of people; There are not too many people in this world that I truly consider to be my 'friend'. I am so happy for both of them and I would hate for their joy and happiness in this time to be ruined for them because of how they imagined I would feel about it. Is there a part of me that wishes it was me? Of course there is, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't starting to feel more and more left behind everytime I hear of someone else who has found a way through their struggle and has become pregnant, but I truly want this to be the most special pregnancy experience ever for my friends, because although I am green with envy, I know how hard the journey has been for them and I know how much they deserve to be where they are right now. So ladies...stop worrying about how you think this is affecting me and just enjoy this womderful time in your lives...(Just promise to keep notes for me and tell me all about it when I finally get to that stage.xx.)

So...as I was alone last night, I took to Twitter to find some people who blog for similar reasons to mine, and I was overwhelmed by the number of people who are going through the same thing...like hundreds of thousands of people who are having this same struggle. I got talking to some people and I found that it was really helping. I got talking to one lady in particular, who is a similar age to me and in a very similar situation and she simply asked me 'how many attempts have you had?'

You know...I really had to think............ and when I did...the result was just staggering...I really did lock a lot of things away in the back of my mind to the point where it felt like someone else's story, and as this conversation was taking place in text form...I had to type it out (as Twitter only allows 140 characters, it had to all be abbreviated, hence why people suffering from infertility issues become masters of abbreviation), but the results are as follows;

1 x Natural Miscarriage at 9 weeks.
1 x Natural Ectopic Pregnancy at 7 weeks.
ICSI-IVF resulting in 8 Embryos and a severe case of Ovarian HyperStimulation Syndrome.
Transfer No.1; 1 embryo, BFP, Miscarried at 7 weeks.
Transfer No.2; 1 embryo died in thawing process, 2 embryos implanted, BFP,  Miscarried at 6 weeks.
Transfer No. 3; 2 embryos, BFP, 1 lost by ectopic pregnancy at 6 weeks, 1 lost by Methotrexate at 7 weeks.
2 embryos left in cyropreservation.

It seems so clinical writing it all out like that, its just a history of facts, there are no emotions, no feelings, no concept or indication of just how difficult it all is, And unfortunately, to a lot of people who are not going through something similar or have no experience of infertility, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and anything related to subfertility.....that list that I have typed out could just as well be a list of what their mechanic did to their car during its last service. It seems that even though the number of people suffering in a similar manner to me is absolutely huge, we have to come to terms with the fact that unless they have experienced it and lived it, other people simply cannot understand how truly it difficult it is. This is not a negative reflection on those people, its just impossible to truly understand if you haven't experienced it.

I think this is why it was so hard for my friends to tell me that they are pregnant...because they have lived the struggle and they know how difficult it is, they have felt those feelings when others have broken the news to them that they were pregnant, they have experience of wanting to be happy for your friends but at the same time wishing so much that it was you to the point where you start to question if it will ever be you.

I know that in a few days, I will be able to draw hope from my friends' pregnancies, hope that it can happen for me too...but for right now... I'm still stuck on wishing it was me.xx.

African Fertility Statues

Had to be worth a try...!!!

And just something that made me smile during a very difficult time.......

First Time For Everything........

I did something today that I have never done before, something I thought I never would do........... I cancelled my appointment with Gordon...at the last minute. It was no reflection on Gordon or the wonderful work that he does, he has helped so many people have happy, healthy pregnancies, I just cant praise him enough. So...I'll rewind a bit and explain.......

We had a fabulous holiday, it truly was wonderful and was just what we needed. We had an appointment with Gordon a few days after we got back, a very positive appointment...in which we decided that we never wanted to see the inside of the Cork Fertility Clinic again. Gordon reiterated what he had said to us over 6 months ago...that he is certain that there is no reason that I could not get pregnant naturally and have a very healthy pregnancy to full term. So, at the end of the appointment, we were both feeling very positive, we had no schedule, just Patrick had to start taking some supplements and we were just going to see what happens. It was great, it was like we were in control again, we fully believed that this will work and we were ready to do it.

Fast forward to 5 days later...I was booked in to have a minor prodedure in Clonmel hospital...to investigate the pain I am still having since the ectopic pregnancy in October. I was fine, wasnt a bit nervous, I knew I was going to be knocked out for it and wasnt a bit bothered............until I got to the operating theatre and got that distinctive operating theatre smell. That smell brought back the fear and heartbreak I had experienced last October, knowing that entering that room meant that I was coming out of that room no longer pregnant with two beautiful babies.................and I began to cry and I began to panic. The poor theatre nurses didnt know what was going on and I wasnt able to explain it because I really didnt know what was going on myself. I guess they thought I was just really really nervous about this very minor procedure I was having done.

Ever since then (about 9 days ago) I have been feeling really down. I know that I want to get pregnant and have a baby more than anything in the world, however...I also realise that I now have a serious fear of being pregnant and everything that means for me...the fear, the worry, the waiting for something to go wrong, the trips to the hospital in case something is wrong, the over thinking everything, the what ifs......... I feel like we came back from holidays and we were on top of the world, we were feeling good and felt like we could do anything...felt like we could maybe embark on this journey again, but take a different path...a path that allowed us to control the pace, but yet something as small but as hugely significant as the smell of the operating theatre threw me right back into a place where I am once again terrified of being pregnant..... And that is why I cancelled that appointment today...because I simply couldnt do it...and I know I have gone to see Gordon before when I was having feelings similar to this and he helped me work through those feelings and I have left his clinic feeling a million times better, but today I just felt like I didnt want to vocalise it, I didnt want to make it real.....I didnt want to be back 'there'.

I emailled Gordon this evening to apologise for cancelling at the last minute, he emailled me back telling me that he was expecting this to happen, that it had to happen at some point. (I guess it isnt possible to go through what I have been through and not have a fear of it happening again...imagine that...!!!).

He also told me to 'be good to you'...and I think that is the part I struggle with the most. I guess there will always be a part of me that blames myself for losing all of my babies, there is always the 'what ifs' (what if I didnt go to work, what if I didnt eat chocolate, what if I drank more water...). So...when I feel down about it...I really do not want to be good to me. It really is hard to treat yourself when you are feeling so crap....!!!

I will make another appointment to see Gordon really soon, as soon as I am feeling any way up to talking about all of this and actually vocalising it (isnt it amazing that I can write all about it here, but find vocalising it absolutely impossible right now...???).

I also have some really interesting pictures of African Fertility Dolls which I took in Florida, that I must post on here...I will get around to that in the next few days hopefully.xx.