Questions, Questions and More Questions

Can I have a glass of wine, drink caffeine, get a pedicure, manicure, wear nail polish, use essential oils, or dye my hair? What should and shouldn’t I be eating? Is it ok to take Advil for my headache or should I only take Tylenol? Are hot tubs and hot baths ok? 

Why did my injection bleed this evening when it didn't this morning...?

These are only some of the millions of questions that constantly run through my head- most annoyingly as I’m trying to fall asleep at night. The problem is whenever I try to find out the answers to any of these questions I can never seem to find a straightforward answer. 

Every site I visit on the Internet has conflicting answers, and although I like the doctors and nurses at the Calgary Regional Fertility Program, I don’t always find that they explain everything clearly. Unfortunately, I don’t think of or even know the questions to ask until I’m already home from my appointment.

That is one of the reasons why I started reading other women’s IVF blogs. I wanted to read what they were doing and what their doctors were saying. By reading their blogs not only did I start to get some answers, but more importantly I started to feel less alone. 

No matter how supportive your friends and family are they truly don't understand what you are going through because they haven't experienced it themselves. Even my husband doesn't truly get it because he isn't the one who is having to give himself injections or go for internal ultrasounds and blood work constantly. He isn't the one who is 41 and is the most likely candidate of why we had our miscarriage and haven't gotten pregnant since. 

But I am lucky because I do have him, a loving family, and amazing friends who do their best to be there for me. And when they don’t know the answers and can’t completely understand all I have to do is turn on my computer and instantly I have access to hundreds of other women who are also living through infertility and the roller coaster ride of IVF!