I sometimes forget that I haven’t updated you all in quite a while on how things are going with our fertility journey. For the most part I feel like there is nothing new to share – and so I haven’t said anything. Then when we were at the What If Conference last week, I had so many friends ask how things are going and where we are at in the process that I realized I should probably post an update!
First, I wanted to say that James and I have decided to be as open as possible about our journey on the blog, Facebook, and even posting on Instagram (under the hashtag #ctpfertilityjourney) because we feel like so much of the shame and secretiveness people going through infertility feel is because the general public is not educated on the process. Those who haven’t been through it don’t know what to say or how to help friends and family (even though they often want to). They are afraid of saying the wrong thing, or not knowing what to say at all.
Anyway, all that is to say that James and I want to change things! We want people to be educated about the process (even if they’ve never been through it) and we want to share our experience in hopes that others will be brave and share too (or, even if they don’t want to share – at least they will know they are not alone).
So – on to where we’re at right now…
Basically we are waiting.
haha! Exciting, I know! The deal is, this process is expensive and we have weddings booked through November of 2014. We couldn’t afford to try to get pregnant anytime before that because that would mean we’d have to pay for this expensive stuff AND return wedding retainers to clients who booked us. (Not to mention we LOVE our clients and are genuinely so excited to work with them, so I really don’t want to miss any of their weddings that I’ve already emotionally invested myself in!)
So with my next cycle we start the blood work and testing again at the fertility center, and then the following cycle (end of March) we will start with our first IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). After we saw our doctor late this fall I felt so much better and so hopeful because we finally had a plan of action!! I felt calm for the first time in a while, and have genuinely just been enjoying my time between then and now. The closer we near the date for the process to officially begin, I’m not going to lie, I’m getting a little anxious/nervous/excited/worried… all at once. I still feel incredibly hopeful, but other feelings are creeping up to join with it (but I’m doing my best to keep them at bay and stay positive).
In the meantime, as I’m sure you can tell, James and I have been enjoying the trips that came up (somewhat serendipitously) this year… our time in Hawaii in November, our visit to Arizona last week for the What If Conference, and we fly out again on Saturday for our first wedding of 2014 in the Dominican Republic. We are soaking in all this time together, hoping that soon enough we won’t have the luxury of heading out to vacation solo anymore (at least not as easily). 🙂
So that is it! I figured I should update you all so you don’t have to wonder or cautiously ask me when you see me in person. (Which, for the record – please don’t be cautious about it – I am more than happy to share how we’re doing and what we’re going through if I see any of you in person! If I’m blabbering about it here – you can bet I’m okay having a real conversation about it. Again – if we don’t share the experience and help educate people – this infertility shame that seems to have taken over everywhere will never go away.)
I plan to keep you all updated now and then throughout the process whenever there is news to share, and will be updating things more regularly on Instagram as we go through all the blood work, testing, and everything – so make sure to follow me over there (@christytylerphoto) if you want more of the day to day stuff when that starts. The plan is to actually share it all, because if things don’t go as planned or as we hoped, I would much rather have all your love and support than not tell anyone and pretend everything is rainbows and unicorns when I’m really hurting inside.
Thanks again for all being SO wonderful and sharing this journey with us!!! Knowing you have our backs is AMAZING! xoxo
