I really appreciated your story. I haven't experienced infertility myself. However, my mum's two sisters couldn't have children and there were heart-breaking miscarriages, IVF treatments in the early days followed by the wonderful news of a pregnancy followed by the devastation of an ectopic pregnancy. One of these aunts was a Karitane-trained children's nurse, which just seemed too cruel and the other one ended up being a stepmother which was a blessing in many ways but also a hard road. I also have friends who have lost children and continued in their careers and nobody knows their private anguish. It's really good that people like yourself put your stories out there and connect with people and your story now offers hope. Having a baby is still possible against all kinds of odds, and yet that is never guaranteed.
I had a parallel experience to you with being a young person diagnosed with hydrocephalus or fluid on the brain in my 20s which had been there since birth and in my thirties being diagnosed with a muscle-wasting autoimmune disease where I spend 9 weeks in hospital mostly with people over 80 and they'd tell me they wished they could move like me and I was dying inside. I write and do photography and my husband brought my camera and laptop into the rehab hospital and I wandered around photographing the trees and even the grass. It helped a lot.
I personally think it's important to acknowledge and talk about the dark side of life and our disappointments. Not all the time, or to everyone but to someone or someplace.
I am very excited to find your blog as I've just started a freelance writing course and will be starting my own small business which is both exciting and incredibly daunting.
Hi Anna,
I really appreciated your story. I haven't experienced infertility myself. However, my mum's two sisters couldn't have children and there were heart-breaking miscarriages, IVF treatments in the early days followed by the wonderful news of a pregnancy followed by the devastation of an ectopic pregnancy. One of these aunts was a Karitane-trained children's nurse, which just seemed too cruel and the other one ended up being a stepmother which was a blessing in many ways but also a hard road. I also have friends who have lost children and continued in their careers and nobody knows their private anguish. It's really good that people like yourself put your stories out there and connect with people and your story now offers hope. Having a baby is still possible against all kinds of odds, and yet that is never guaranteed.
I had a parallel experience to you with being a young person diagnosed with hydrocephalus or fluid on the brain in my 20s which had been there since birth and in my thirties being diagnosed with a muscle-wasting autoimmune disease where I spend 9 weeks in hospital mostly with people over 80 and they'd tell me they wished they could move like me and I was dying inside. I write and do photography and my husband brought my camera and laptop into the rehab hospital and I wandered around photographing the trees and even the grass. It helped a lot.
I personally think it's important to acknowledge and talk about the dark side of life and our disappointments. Not all the time, or to everyone but to someone or someplace.
I am very excited to find your blog as I've just started a freelance writing course and will be starting my own small business which is both exciting and incredibly daunting.
BTW I blog at www.beyondtheflow.com and I thought you might appreciate this post on forgiving the unforgivable ie your health issue etc: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/forgiving-the-unforgivable/
best wishes,
Rowena