Deciding to share my story

When my husband and I decided a year and a half ago that having kids would be in our not-too-distant future, I decided we wouldn't tell anyone. What if we found out we were infertile? How embarrassing would it be for so many people to know that about us?

Then, about a year ago, I decided to tell one of my best friends when we were out to lunch. She was thrilled and eager to know more since she also has not had any children.

Then I told a few of my best friends from high school.

Then I told a close co-worker.

Then I told a neighbor.

By this point, some of the closest women in the world to me knew about this latest project my husband and I had decided to take on.

Finally, I had to rein myself in. Although I do not any longer view infertility as something anyone should be embarrassed about -- and I frankly have no idea right now if my husband and I are truly struggling with infertility or not -- I felt like I needed to stop telling my friends that we were TTC. I don't want to be annoying and self-centered. Perhaps more importantly, though, I don't want people at work to even suspect that I might be TTC and therefore treat me any differently. (In a perfect world a woman would not have to worry about discrimination in the workplace, and while I have not experienced overt discrimination, I know too many instances of women who've faced subtle discrimination when it comes to their choice to have children.)

So, I decided this blog could be a place for me to (mostly) vent my frustrations and share my story in hopes that anything from my experience could potentially help someone else. For a while there (aka last month, and the month before that, and then earlier in the fall...) I was spending entirely too much time scouring the Internet looking for answers my doctor seemed incapable of providing. I do not claim for this blog to possess medical wisdom, but I do think that when you're faced with TTC, something you've never worried about in your entire life -- except those times you prayed you WERE NOT pregnant -- it's good to know as many stories as possible to arm yourself with knowledge, however anecdotal.

I give you my personal story, nothing more, nothing less, and I hope the window into my world will open doors within your own. Good luck!