Announcing the June 2013 Giveaway!!!

We have new giveaway starting now! It will run until June 30, 2013 at 11:59PM Central.

The goal: to get 300 likes on our Facebook page before the giveaway expires.

The prize:

How to enter?? Visit the page at the top labeled "June 2013 Giveaway" and fill out the entry form!

If we reach 300 likes, one lucky entrant will be randomly selected to receive this beautiful necklace!

Want to increase your odds???? Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow the blog!

Did We Get 200 Likes on Facebook????

We sure did!!! To see if you won visit www.facebook.com/fightingforfertility

Thanks everyone!!! Stay tuned for our next offer!!!

And The Winner Is....

Chelsea Spraberry!!!

Chelsea,
I have sent you a private message with further directions!

Thank you everyone for following our page. I hope we gain more followers as word of our blog spreads. We are always looking for more voices to add too!

You Guys Are Awesome!

We have officially gotten over 25 followers!

That means.... A drawing for the PCOS bracelets!!!

We will draw a name tomorrow afternoon, at 3 pm, so be sure to check back to see who won!!!

You guys are awesome and if you know anybody else that wants to follow us, they have until tomorrow to do so and still be in the drawing!

Timing Timing Timing

For the last several months I have been thinking about when we will try again for a baby.

Originally we decided to wait until I started nursing school, based on the hope that it would be the Spring or Fall 2012 semester.

We made that decision a while ago, when I had initially planned on applying in Aug/Sept 2011 for the Spring 2012 start. I ended up not being able to apply because I couldn't take the entry test due to all the dates being full.

In the meantime I took additional classes like medical terminology and a certified nursing assistant course. I just finished the CNA course on March 1st (as valedictorian!) and submitted my nursing application for the Fall 2012 start on February 27th.

I was annoyed at that additional delay. Then I started thinking... Always a bad thing.

Nursing school is 2 years long. I have a feeling, deep in my gut, that if I am accepted for the Fall 2012 start, we actually won't start trying until the 2nd year of school, that way I'm done when we start trying.

I know it's smart, but it tears at my heart. I know we have to see how it goes... but still...

~Shannon

Bracelet Giveaway!

Visitors don't forget to follow us (click the link on top left) and the first 25 will be entered to win a FREE PCOS bracelet!

"Surprise!..."

When you are struggling with fertility, there are a few things that you dread hearing. And the list is long.

However, I'm going to talk about pregnancy announcements from other people.

I've had a few in this journey (I don't know many people having kids yet). Some expected, some not.

We will start with September 2009.
I was at work at my data entry/callcenter job. You aren't supposed to have your phone but I also have mine tucked into a drawer where I can barely see it incase of an emergency. I get a text from my husband's ex-stepsister. It reads the following: "We're pregnant after only a month of trying!" That sent me to the bathroom to cry a bit. I congratulated her.... She eventually told me it was a mass text and she was trying to shove it in her family's faces. We saw them a couple times throughout the pregnancy and they stayed over a night or two. A week after their son was born, we went to see him. He was cute. I didn't cry. Hubs couldn't hold him. Said it was too hard on him. It took him MONTHS to hold him. As in FOUR months.

Fast forward to August 2010.
I went to dinner with a friend because I was expecting a pregnancy announcement from the SIL. During the meal I got an email from a cousin with an "It's a Girl!" announcement... SUPRISE! That hit but since I rarely saw them it wasn't drastic. I was just surprised that I knew I would get a pregnancy announcement, even though it wasn't from the one I was expecting.

September 2010-Infertile Couple's Luck!
A couple that we knew that had been struggling to get pregnant for the last 2 years was pregnant!!! Yay!!! Their announcement didn't bother me. They had struggled. I felt so happy that what they had waited for for SOOO long was finally happening!

October 2010.
It was evening time and I was on the treadmill while hubs was at work. This was before I would go with him any time I had open and help. I had 45 minutes down, 15 left... And I got a text. "We're pregnant! Finally". Yes... Finally... because trying for 1-2 months is FOREVER to wait. Hubs called to make sure I was ok. I was still calm and on the treadmill. Ended up going 15 minutes longer than my goal... Then went in the guest/future nursery and cried. Then I felt stupid crying for myself and pulled it together. When Hubs came home I tried to act normal but he sees right through that and he just held me while I cried. We both took the next day off and made a step towards going to the RE that was recommended to us. Over the next 6 months we hung out and I got to watch her belly grow and tried to be friend's and go walking with her and to the mall. I remember crying at Christmas over the dinner prayer because I saw her husband holding her with his hands on her belly and I felt like a complete and utter failure. That is a story for another time. As is the following in April 2010 when Max was born at 28 weeks (she was in hospital for 6 weeks) and passed the following morning from an infection.


November 2011-Birthday Announcement
I had been very observant since about August. I had figured that with the 6 month standard wait period that the SIL would be trying again. And our A/C had gone out in August and I saw a used pregnancy box in their garage when they let us stay the night. Early/middle of November she mentioned that they were only having sex when she was ovulating. Then they went on vacation. Thanksgiving I noticed that her husband said, quietly, "already got that brain" when she forgot something. I was the only one nearby. Her birthday dinner was that weekend and I noticed that she had a glass of wine but barely drank half in a two hour period. NOT like her at all. They decided to play "telephone" to make the announcement that she was pregnant again. Having expected it, I was happy for them. The week after New Year's 2012 she had a miscarriage.

There is a word of advice to either give friend's or to keep in mind: If you need to make a pregnancy announcement, try to keep in mind those that have struggled and break it to them nicely and privately. Even if by text. Sometimes wording can make ALL the difference. As can a heads up. That way you can get the appropriate happy reaction!

~Shannon

Question #25

25. Talk about a time when you made someone in your life understand more about infertility.

Shannon:

I'll talk to anyone that listens about it. I've gotten better and to the point where I don't cry every time. I couldn't list one specific time though. Most of the time they look like they don't want to talk about it and aren't paying attention... Oh well. The least I can do is try to spread the word!

Mrs Red:

I talk about it all the time. My co workers are probably tired of hearing it but I try to spread the word everywhere and make sure people are educated so that thy can learn to be more sensitive, I talk about it to anyone who will listen. I don't just spring it on people but I try to bring it up when it seems someone can be better educated, or when they ask why I don't have children.

Ashley:
I also talk to everyone about it. I talk to family, friends, patients and strangers. I try to educate when the subject comes up. Or if someone asks if I have kids I usually say no, we struggle with infertility...and go on and talk more about it. I don't just go around talking about it but make sure I talk about it when appropriate and don't just let the moment pass by. Its amazing how many people struggle with infertility and how many people have NO CLUE about it.

Question #24

24. How has your financial situation affected your infertility journey?

Shannon:

Fertility treatments can get expensive, especially if you are referred to an RE. When you find out the clomid treatments are $1000 (including sonos)... That is a LOT of money. Not in the long run, I know. And definitely not the most expensive. But that would be EVERY MONTH of treatment. We have a hard time saving it up. Usually when we get close, something else comes up!

Mrs Red:

My hubby and I had a bad habit before marriage of putting everything on credit so we have a mountain of credit debt, plus now a mortgage... So most of our money goes to that. When I worked for a mutual fund company my insurance didn't cover it and we weren't all for paying out of pocket. I ended up quitting my job of 7 years and stayed out of work for 5 months getting out of depression and trying to 'just relax and get pregnant' didn't work. So I started working again and we realized when we switched insurances to my hubby's his work covered infertility treatments!!! So we started them because even if we didn't have much spare money, it was ok because the insurance covered a lot of it. I have been very blessed with my new job because it affords us to pay down our debt without acquiring more and still do treatments. We have only done 3 rounds of iui but it's still a lot even with insurance. We are waiting to pay down more debt before we plunge into ivf this summer. Let's pray we can continue on that path incase our healthier lifestyle change doesn't bring us a baby :-)



Ashley:
Unfortunately I feel this whole journey is driven by finances and will power. We pay everything out of pocket and I'm not sure how but we have found some way to move forward without taking much time off between treatments. My husband owns a business with a business partner and the business does very well but they don't draw much of a wage because they want to pay everything off as soon as possible (which I understand because they are starting their 4 year) but it does get frustrating going through this journey because I feel like if we were a "normal" household with two incomes we could have done things a little quicker & less stressful financially. We've used the money that he makes to pay for our fertility treatments since we usually live off of my income for everything else. So for the most part it has worked out. We are just starting IVF in which we did have to barrow a small portion of the amount, which has been the first time we've had to do that. We do not like debt and the only debt we have is our home, business and now $5500 for IVF. That also helps keep my stress level down.

Question #22

22.Were you the product of infertility? Was anyone you know the product of infertility? How do you know? Or do you just suspect based on circumstances like age differences between siblings, time between marriage and conception, etc.

Shannon:
I wasn't. HOWEVER, my twin sisters are. My mom had me and then my brother. She divorced and remarried. I didn't know that there was any issue at the time (I was only 8-9). She had my twin sisters in January 1997. She didn't tell me until we started our journey that she had developed PCOS after her 2nd pregnancy. She actually conceived my sisters on her 2nd month of clomid (100mg). And I didn't find out until recently that they were actually supposed to be triplets but the 3rd didn't get very far in developmental phase in uterus. There are 10 years age difference between them and me.

Mrs Red:
I wasn't, my brother was born after 3 miscarriages, followed by 9 more miscarriages. They never gave my mom a reason why she had so many. Other than that, I don't know of anyone else.

Bracelet Giveaway!

Don't forget to FOLLOW this blog and be entered in the drawing to receive a FREE PCOS bracelet!

Picture courtesy of Aerabella's Boutique

BRACELET GIVEAWAY!

We will have a drawing for the first 25 followers of the blog to receive a FREE PCOS support bracelet!!!

Picture courtesy of Aerabella's Boutique

Hurry up and follow us!