I have just come out of a horrid ordeal that I really didn't want to write about. But it is through sharing our experiences that we learn.
As some of you may have read already I have been trying for a baby for a while now. I have had a miscarriage from a blighted ovum that I blogged about at the time. One year later, being considered an 'older' woman (39) I was told I needed fullblown fertility tests as did my husband.
I could deal with the endless bloods, scans and prodding but everything in my body told me not to do anything too intrusive. Cameras through the cervix and dye into the uterus being such treats in store for me.
But I listened to the quacks and the rational side of my brain. Others did it and so should I. I should stop being a crybaby.
I did a test - a hysterogram - to check my tubes and uterus that involved pumping dye into me.
Sadly and ironically the test gave me a bug that may have screwed up what was normal and healthy. A form of pelvic inflammatory disease. I was put on heavy antibiotics straightaway and told to rest. Two weeks later spent in Middle Eastern sunshine I am finally finding my feet. Ironically the only way of knowing whether there was damage is to do the same test again. No thanks.
I went through every emotion afterwards and was blessed to have a doctor in A and E who broke down with me in tears as she had also been trying for a baby for two years.
For years, centuries we looked to the stars, to our own bodies to figure out what was right for us. The Elizabethans used moods to analyse sickness. My recent experience is that western medicine has become totally disconnected from humanity. I was a vessel to be pumped up with iodine. A hormone count to analyse. No one asked how I felt, if I was okay. I have friends going through the same process who have had depression or even split up with their partner due to the pressure. Making a baby becomes functional, desperate, the opposite of making love.
My instinct told me and still does that if I want a baby it will come naturally or if it doesn't maybe it is not meant to be. Others have a different vibe about the whole thing and are comfortable with fertility treatment, IVF or other procedures. But for me and for many of my friends the cost was getting too high. It made me sick, frustrated, anxious and most of all I lost me.
Ironically I just spent my hols with my husband and stepdaughter. Nothing was missing, I was with my family and it completed me. But when I was in the medical baby-making process I constantly felt like I was failing, that I had to have a baby to be a woman. I was jealous of mums with bumps as I waited to be told I had polyps and PCOS and blah blah blah. Our local suburban town screamed with pushchairs and buggies and our spare rooms echoed with emptiness.
Enough.
This is my last blog on trying to have a baby. I am putting it aside and letting nature take it course. "Que sera sera" as my dad said.
For all those women in a similar place, don't listen to anyone else's judgement but your own. Everyone has their opinion about what you should do. Listen but don't do anything that feels uncomfy. If in doubt, don't.
As I have learnt no good comes from something done half heartedly. In fact I am so sure babies only come into this world when the heart is totally full, full of love and confidence.
Follow BritChick Paris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/britchickparis
Dr Amina Aminu: International Women's Day: Putting Nigeria's Women First
Christina Robert: Motherhood: It Gets You Coming and Going
How Much Does It Cost to Have a Baby? Hospital Costs ... - WebMD
What's the Best Age to Have a Baby? - Huffington Post
YOU: Having a Baby: Guide to Pregnancy, Parenting Tips & Advice ...
Can I afford to have a baby? | BabyCenter
Kate Middleton Hopes She's Having a Baby Boy
Is Having A Child A Rational Decision?
Having a Baby? See a Financial Advisor
I went through the same. Ended up telling friends & family we didnt want children, just to stop them continually asking 'when was it going to happen?'. I went through months of testing one, the hystersalopingogram or whatever it was called, actually put me in A & E afterwards. I can remember my father seeing me become progressively unwell & depressed & telling me that nothing was worth this & please would I stop.
The need to become a mother was so strong, I would go through anything.
Then 1 visit to my consultant, who told me I was still not pregnant & it was likely my fault as I was trying too hard, left me lower than I have ever been & for a few days I dont think I could have got mentally any lower. Then I just thought what the hell, enough was enough & if I wasnt meant to have kids I would just compensate elsewhere but not waste the rest of my life trying. I gave up. 3 months later I was pregnant! When my firstborn was 21 months I gave birth to twins, full term 40 wks. 5 Years later I had my fourth.
In some cases just trying too hard can be the biggest contraceptive ever.
We tried naturally for a few years, didn't happen, had all the tests etc, no known cause, had 2 rounds of self funded (£4000 per cycle) IVF, the first one didn't work, the 2nd was messed up by the clinic, who refused a free cycle in compensation, although they (for some unknown reason, hhmmmm) desperately wanted us to pay for another go.
In the end, we stopped with all the treatments and decided to adopt, so..... in less than 2 weeks, our baby girl comes to live with us permanently!
I now have a house full of things i'd never thought i'd need and when the pushchair arrived yesterday, i caught sight of myself in the mirror, pushing it and got such a shock that this was actually me wheeling a pushchair!
I'm pretty sure that now we have our adopted girl and have stopped stressing about getting pregnant, i'll get pregnant and end up with 2 kids under 1 year old!!
Good luck everyone
Best wishes to anyone out there who is going through it. If you don't have success in this area it doesn't mean you will never be happy again. You will. X
After some more treatments,... lots of blood tests,... several pelvic proceedures (exclusively for my wife of course),... and a run-up to right before starting hormone therapy,... literally the week before we thought we were going to start,... a couple of miscommunications (one mostly my fault, the other entirely the practice's fault) and a hard stop happened. It was more than my wife could take to continue the process,... so we are back to square one,.....
We are starting to look into local foster care,... with an eye toward adoption if the situation merits it. We still want to be parental figures - I suspect we would be good ones,... but it is going to have to happen via a different path.
Good luck to you - whatever your path may be from here.
We went through everything you went through, including the complete c*ck up at the fertility clinic. I know how your wife feels
X
I try not to envy those who have been able to have kids uneventfully,... but I suspect that the trials of getting to that point will make me appreciate parenting more than the typical 'new' parent.
I wish you the very best of luck.
ALL responded to medication and guess what- am now 22 weeks pregnant with a perfectly healthy baby at age 46, no IVF or anything else- so there is always room for a second opinion, being sensible and the odd miracle !
Good luck ...