Don't Ignore...us

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week.  I have decided to dedicate a post to NIAW's "Don't Ignore Infertility" campaign.  Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples.  Those 1 in 8 could be your sister, brother, daughter, son, best friend, the person standing next to you.  There is a good chance you may not even know, because infertility is an invisible disease.  This makes it easy for others to ignore or dismiss our pain, emotions, our struggles.  However, we are here and we do matter.

Don't ignore that this is a disease.  We who suffer from infertility are told to "just relax" and it will happen.  Infertility is not cured by "just relaxing".  We don't just get pregnant by trying the first month and delivering a baby 40 weeks later.  It is not easy for us.  About 85%-90% of infertility cases are treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures and there is no guarantee that they will work.

For those who suffer from infertility, don't ignore your own strength.  We should recognize our own resilience.  To the woman who has had countless fertility treatments with no positive outcome...to those who have had loss after loss with no baby to show for it...to the couples who wake up everyday and think that they can't take any more heartache...you are stronger than you may think.

And to those who may know me personally... please don't ignore me.

Don't assume that since I am now expecting a daughter that I am somehow "cured"...

Don't ignore what I went through...

I was in pain...

I had almost lost hope...

I was scared...

I struggled...

I cried...

I spent countless hours having blood drawn and ultrasounds...

I have had multiple surgeries...

I have had my hopes lifted and then in the same instant crushed...

I have watched others around me have their first child...their second...

As I watched time slip by one second at a time...

I have gained friends, but lost many more...

My marriage has been tested, but it is now more solid than ever...

I have scars on my heart from my previous three losses...

Scars that will always ache...

I wake up every morning and think about how I got where I am right now...

My journey will continue...

The experiences are forever etched into my soul...

Please don't ignore me...for I am 1 in 8.