When you are trying to get pregnant, there are so many emotions involved. For some, it happens straight away, but for one in six couples, it takes longer than one year of consistent unprotected sex to conceive.
For others, they have one, two, or more children, and are looking to complete their family, and have had no previous issues getting pregnant, staying pregnant, or with the actual birth. This is referred to as secondary infertility or subfertility.
Your a different person now than when you started this journey.
How many items can you tick off this list that apply to your journey?
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
counted days down to your period
got a period when you didn't want it
went to events where you didn't drink
welcomed friends and family members babies
avoided family
avoided friends
given up things you love in order to lose weight
gone for scan after scan with no defined answers
taken multiple injections a day for weeks or months before egg collection
gotten no eggs on collection day
gotten no / low sperm on collection day
had no embryos fertilised
had cycles cancelled for any reason
had to go for tests or more tests
went to bed crying
went to work crying
cried in a toilet in work
cried in the car
cried looking at a negative pregnancy test
juggled scans / appointments during work hours
calculated the costs before you start
calculated the costs after your first loss
calculated the costs where you are now
calculated the time it's taken to get here
calculated what age your baby might be if they didn't leave you early or if they had been fertilised or implanted on "that" cycle
had to go for a d&c
had your miscarriage at home
had to bury your baby
couldn't bury your baby
had to tell family or close friends your bad news
couldn't talk to your partner
shut down completely
put on a brave face for someone else
was angry at the world / God / the universe
was angry at yourself
hated your body
hated your life
thought or cried why me/us.... again
The Gift of Healing and Fertility Programme
You will embark on a 14-week journey to rediscover all of the joy in your life. Both partners will attend the first session.
We look at all of the emotions you are carrying around daily, how that is affecting you from living in the waiting period for your baby, and how these emotions are protecting you and want to help you.
You will learn several coping strategies to deal with everyday life and how to de-stress from it all. You will become your own advocate when dealing with medical teams, family and friends. You will begin to remember the real you, then one before all this journey started.
You will reconnect with your partner, and remember why you fell in love, and how impromptu, flirty sex is much better during this time, not just "timed sexual intercourse".
You will go on short meditative journeys to meet old wise soul's who have messages for you and your baby, and will guide you through the next best step, so you can deal with everything else feeling cool, calm and in control.
The Gift of Fertility Programme is designed for both partners.
In particular the men can sometimes get left behind and feel unheard as they navigate this emotional rollercoaster with a female partner.
Ensure they feel as heard as they want to be. Sometimes they need to be pushed a little out of their comfort zone, talking about feelings, and listening to someone else bare their soul to a complete stranger! However, this method of talking and getting the emotions out in the open, means they are not festering inside.
If something is "festering", what do you imagine? A gorey film image, with an open wound with maggots crawling around (sorry!), or a niggling pain in your body that just won't go away. Both are on the right line of thought. It is something that won't go away, and if you leave it long enough it will eat away at you.
My hope for clients is that you get to the bottom of that niggling pain, so it doesn't manifest into an open wound, which in reality could be your life turning into a nightmare.
I want to give you the tools to communicate clearly with each other, to lean on each other, to not take things said personally, because someone is hurting, but to be open to listening, and understanding the emotions of the other person.
This can be a long journey, but why not enjoy yourselves along the way? Believe me, you can!