Day 122 – We told you so! (Relaxing, my rear end!)

Seven Weeks, three days. Day 55 in the quest to chase our little miracle

So i was reading my good friend Kate’s blog (Busted Plumbing – you should go there, always good for a giggle) the other day, and i stumbled upon her post
Katie Says “Put A Sock In It”: (“Relax” Advice Drives Infertiles Crazy), and it got me thinking…

So many times over the past year while i was doing IVF, and even before i was doing IVF, i got the same ‘wonderful’ advice, “just relax cheryl” “just take a holiday”.. blah blah f-in blah… So anyway i didnt relax, no i didnt.. not for  a second… My last cycle i was as stressed as i have ever been, maybe even a touch more cause this was our ‘final’ cycle…

And wouldnt you know it – i say it again – i am pregnant… (Ekk! it is scary wonderful exciting when i say it out loud!)

But this is not the story… no no no… my story today is about being told that, yes in fact my family, friends, and strangers from the deep… were in fact correct, all i had to do was relax..

HUH?! you say?  But cheryl wasnt relaxed, she just said that she was as stressed as ever?!

Apparently the purchase of a puppy has made me pregnant… or relaxed enough to become pregnant…?!

WOOO hold on a minute, you say… a puppy, weeeeeeeelllll maybe they are correct then, maybe cheryl was distracted enough not to realise that the puppy actually relaxed her enough to make her pregnant?!

WRONG!!!!

I got the puppy on the 28 December…..

2ww begun on the 19 December…

I bleed and thought it was over on the 26 December…

so :p (that is me poking my tongue out at you)

The 2ww was over, and george was implanted BEFORE i got my puppy!

I will maybe accept that my puppy helped me get through the following couple of weeks, and i will definatly accept that my puppy is going to help me through the next 9 months…. But i WILL NOT accept “relaxing” or “being distracted” as a method of falling pregnant!

NO I WILL NOT!!!

I WILL NOT, take your “i told you so’s”, i will not take your whispers to my husband behind my back, and i will not take your “see – all you needed was a distraction” comments… BLAH!

The 2ww was the critical time, and yes i did things differently this time, yes i had more faith then i have ever had, but no, no i am not pregnant due to relaxing…

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.  Richard Carlson

Day 113 – Wordless Wednesday

Limbo Land Day Nineteen… Day 46 in the final quest to chase our little miracle

13.01

The heart has reasons that reason does not understand. Jacques Benigne Bossuel

Day 112 – And Today I #Pray

praying-handsLimbo Land Day Eighteen… Day 45 in the final quest to chase our little miracle

Today i pray, because while i have complete faith that what is meant to be will be, i am scared… I have no idea how i will face the next few days, i have to be positive, but i am still scared to let myself hope for fear of devastation.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for giving George the chance she has had, thank you for giving her the strength to grow each day, and each day showing me a new miracle.

I pray now that you continue to give George the strength to keep growing, i pray that you give our embryo a heart, the most beautiful heart that will grow to love you and your word.  I pray that Georges heart, the heart you give life to this week, grows stronger and stronger by the day and by the minute…

I pray that this miracle of ours proves that you are real, proves living each day by faith and trusting in you brings miracles, proves that we all can trust in the power of prayer…

Lord, as i do each day, i pray for all the ladies out there who have suffered or are suffering in a story similar to mine, i pray that you give them courage they need to continue, and most importantly peace within, and the ability to find happiness.

I also pray for the women out there who dont understand what it is like to appreciate life, nor see the miracle in each life that you give, i pray that somehow they find compassion and understanding as well as the ability to appreciate what you have blessed them with…

Lord, thank you for all you have blessed me with, and i ask once more that you be with George and give her all the strength that she needs…

In Jesus Name i Pray

Amen…

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

Day 106 – Yet another Wordfull Wordless Wednesday

Limbo Land Day Eleven

IMG_2433Nine days ago, i was okay with this, i was ready to go beyond IVF, i was ready to accept life without TTC for a little while.  My sketch of hope, faith and love, of my life beyond this mess, gave me the inspiration i needed, i drew this last week when i had finally accepted that this was over…

But now today, all i can do is question why it had to be like this.  And again ask where are you God? Where are you now?  How can i possibly continue to have faith, to believe in miracles, when they are given to me and taken away… A dear dear friend of mine told me that God is not in the business of taking babies, he is in the business of making babies… Then why oh why am i going through this again?  What have i done to deserve this and why must i hurt like this again…?

Maybe i am counting my chickens before they hatch, maybe i have lost faith too early… but how can i not, how can i possibly have hope when all the signs are bad, when i am once again in so much pain?

This is the hardest thing i have ever had to write, because i know that i will be told that it is not true, but no matter what you say, no matter what i am told, i will never ever forgive myself …

If i could go back in time, if i could take myself back a week, i would be able to stop myself from going for that run, and from doing that heavy workout, and maybe just maybe this woulnt have happened, maybe i would be sitting here writing how my life is so much better, how i am the happiest lady on the earth, but i am not, i am not because i made a mistake, i was scared a week ago, now i feel nothing but guilt.

I wish i knew why this was happening to me, and i wish i had answers, its not fair, it is just not fair, and no matter what i do, no matter how much i have faith, how much i believe, no matter how much i love God, and be the best i can be in Gods eyes, for some reason it is not enough, it is not meant to be, it is not my time…

I know i am headed beyond IVF and i have so much to look forward to, but for just one last time, i say – WHY ME? Why God are you taking this away from me, and why are you making this so hard for me?

And one last time i say grasping for one last breath of hope- maybe the chickens have been counted before they have hatched…

Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be. Anon


A final note, but not the final words…

100 days ago i began to write, 100 days ago i thought i would just be writing for myself, writing to express my emotions and writing to release some of my fears from my heart…

As the days went by and the time ticked on and as the words emerged, i never imagined that 100 days later i would have made over 100 new friends, i never imagined that i would have so many new people in my life who care SO much for me that they would stay awake just to see my news.  I never imagined that there were so many people out there who could care so much about a stranger.

thank youWhen you least expect it you will meet a stranger that will change your life forever…

I dont know what you look like, i dont know alot of your names, i dont know what you do and i dont know anything about your lives, your past nor your present, but i do know that you are my friends.  I know that now matter what happens, you care, and i know that no matter what happens, you will be there for me, and i know that no matter what happens i will always know where to find you – and for that, thank you….

I have said this before to other people, but today, today i mean it from the deep depths of my heart, there will never be enough words to say what i need to say, never enough for you to know jsut what you mean to me, never enough to express how i really feel.

For the times when you stayed awake to see my news – thank you.  For the times when you waited, your hearts beating as fast as mine – thank you.  For the times when you simply gave me a *HUG* a *MWAH* a :p and even a :D – thank you. Thank you for the past 100 days, for your support, for cheering me along when i needed it most, for praying for me when i thought i had lost God, for crossing your fingers and toes for me, thank you. And thank you for the comments that always made me cry…

I wish there was another word for thank you, because i still need to say thank you for just being you, and for just being there for me when i thought i was alone. Without you, without the experiences i have faced over the past 100 days, i would surely not know where i was headed, what to expect, and i would surely not be as at peace with my situation as i am today.

I will not lie, i am scared, i dont know where i am headed, there are no final answers as i had hoped… But i know that i have friends, friends that no matter what happens, no matter where my journey continues to, no matter what my life throws at me next, you will always be there reading and writing comments, helping me through the challenges.

The worst year of my life is now over, and again i say – i wouldnt change it for the earth.

I sit here and i welcome in 2010 with open arms knowing that i have strangers in my life who will be with me holding my hand chasing my miracle each and every day with me.

Once again from the bottom of my heart – thank you.

Love always Cheryl, the mother that may never be…

Day One Hundred of 100 – Is this where the real story begins?

Limbo Land Day Five

To my dearest little miracle,

georgeI thought that day 100 would bring me answers, i thought that i would begin the new year knowing just where i stood, and what my plan for 2010 would bring me.  I thought that day 100 would bring me a solid answer to end my journey.

But like many other days on this topsy turvy journey, i say – i was wrong.

There are no answers just yet, not today, not tomorrow, and not even the day after that, just waiting, hoping, praying, believing that you are inside of me growing.

Last night i cried, i cried for you my little miracle and i cried for me.  I cried because i dont know how to live without chasing you, and i cried because i am not sure if this is the end or if this is the beginning…

I cried to God and i asked out loud for peace and happiness, i asked why i cant stop thinking about you, and i asked why day 100 couldnt have brought me the answers i so desperately desired…

As i lay there crying, i turned to your father, i asked him why i couldnt just turn the switch off, why i couldnt go back to being who i was before i was chasing you, why there are never solid answers, and why even in a positive situation, there is still so much turmoil and heartache.  Your father turned to me and said the most sincere thing i have ever heard him say, he told me that God had turned the switch on, and right now, at this point in time, God wanted that switch to stay on.

Your father then rolled over, and in the dead of the night said to me, this is not the end, this is the start of a new journey, its is not over, it is just a new beginning, a new day, a new year, and a new story to be told…

So my little miracle, this is not the end, this is the beginning, and tomorrow marks day one of the rest of my journey Chasing a Miracle, searching for you, hoping and believing that you are in me growing, gaining strength, just waiting to meet us.

Never forget my child, that i will forever chase you, as you will always be in my heart. If i never get the chance to meet you, i promise i will never forget the journey, nor the people i have meet along the way.  And as i have said many times before, know that your father and i love you more than anything on this earth and no matter what happened, no matter what challenges were thrown our way, we faced this journey chasing a miracle searching for you.

Love from a mother that may never be.

What we call the end is also the begining.  The end is where we start from. TS Elliot

Day Ninety Nine of 100 – The Real Limbo Land

Limbo Land Day Four

F102387To my dearest little miracle,

I am sorry, i am so very sorry. I thought i knew, i thought i was so sure that this was it, that this was the end, i thought it was over… I really thought i knew, i thought you wernt there… I thought this was the end for a while, i was ready to give up, but my little one i may be wrong, i may have taken you for granted.

How could i be so wrong, how could i not know? And how could i have been ready to give up? I am just so confused, so scared, so much in limbo land…

I want to have hope, i want to believe that this is it, that you are in me growing, alive and just waiting to meet me, but i finally got used to this being over, and now i am scared that if i hope, if i hold on to that little chance that this is my miracle, that you are here, i am scared that it wont be.  And if you are not, if i have ruined this chance because of my need to run and my need to push myself physically, because of my need to to all the things i was never meant to do, if i have broken this chance through stupidity – i know i will fall apart, and i am scared that i wont be able to pick my self up once more.

I love you my little one, and i promise that i will allow myself just a little bit of hope and faith for you. And my precious one i must confess to you that the other morning on my walk i dared God to show me a miracle.  Maybe this is God, proving to me that it is time for my miracle, and while day 99 nor day 100 of my search for you may not bring me certainty, it will bring me hope.  And in the end my love, this was a journey of hope, faith, and love…

Love from a mother that may never be

Hope, faith and love.  Without these three where would we be?

Day Ninety Six of 100 – I never contemplated that before…

Limbo Land Day One – Blood test not available until day 98, but in my heart i know it is over.

I never contemplated a life without children until this morning.

I know this is not the end and i know that there is a plan out there for me somewhere, but honestly i think it is time for me to accept the fact that i may grow up without my own child, without a child with my husband, a life alone…

I dont feel ready to accept this yet, there are other options.  And i know in my heart that this IVF journey, this is not over yet, its just on hold.  But i never really thought about life without children until this morning.

As i was walked along the road in the rain i honestly believe that i went through all the stages of grief but the last, and even right now, at this very moment as i type these words, those emotions are still so real and true to me… And yet at the same time i am so confused inside because i feel like i have no right to grieve, what am i grieving over? I have not lost a child, i have not miscarried, i have told myself this is not the end, but it feels like it is over? Why do i feel like this is the end, why do i feel like it is over?

Where has my hope vanished to?

ScreamI want to cry, i want the pain to come out of me though a scream, through a heartfelt soul bearing scream into oblivion, scream to the heavens, a scream so painful that God hears it, a scream so loud that God feels my hurt, so that the earth moves, and the trees shake and everyone know and feels the pain i feel, so that the world knows its over for me, so that i know it is over for me.

Because once this is over i can learn to live, love and hope once again, i can learn what carefree happiness means once more, i can learn once more to love myself for who i am, who i have become, not what i want, and what i cant have, once this is over i can hope for a better tomorrow, rather than hoping for something i may never have.

I must live for MYSELF, hope for MYSELF, and believe only in MYSELF and the life that i have right here and right now, with the people i have, right here and right now.

I must move on so my tomorrows are happy…

Life begins each morning.  Each morning is the open door to a new world – new vista’s, new aims, new tryings. Leigh Mitchell Hodges

Day Ninety Three of 100 – Christmas has come..

Day twenty six of the final full IVF cycle in our quest to chase our little miracle… Crinone 8% once daily

Christmas has come, in seven days the year will be done, and in 6 days i will know where 2010 is destined to take me…

This is my 28th christmas eve, and it sometimes amazes me that at this time of year, i always seem to think back on years past and remember what i was doing.

I dont remember a lot from my past but i do remember the Christmas’s my family and i celebrated in Paris, and even then it is quite hazy.  There is one christmas i treasure with all my heart but i remember it only because i have this silly photo of my sister and i in these silly princes costumes my mother made for us.6

I remember that christmas because it was the year our mother made so many costumes for us, and my sister and i played for years and years with the dress ups, and we always had so much fun creating characters, and showing our mother little skits that we had come up with, ok ok skits that my sister had come up with and had made me her little actor that she got to ‘direct’

I would have been about 7 or 8 and i remember i also got a little something extra that year.  My mother made me a cape.  I just loved that cape, it was navy blue on the outside and red on the inside.  It was the same one that my favorite cartoon character wore, i have no idea what that cartoon was called but i remember that it was a woman in a cape that swung from building to building saving the world.

That year i also had begun having nightmares.  Specifically one about a crocodile chasing me in the forest, but i couldnt run.

One night not long after christmas i got one of these nightmares again, my mother of course came running to my room to calm me down, only this time she brought my cape.  she wrapped the cape around me and told me that i was this cartoon character and that i could fight the crocodile and that i didnt have to be scared because i was a super hero now that i had my cape on.

And right now i am sitting here with tear steaming down my face, memories coming flooding back, and i am wish so hard, so hard, that i had remembered this story when my mother was still alive, so that i could have said thank you.

Thank yo for watching those stupid shows my sister made me do, thank you for spending hours making a silly cape just so i could sleep at night, thank you for staying with me and stroking my hair until i feel to sleep, telling me that i was a strong super hero, thank you for taking the time to think of something that would help me sleep, and most of all thank you for giving me memories that i now treasure with all my heart.

If it is one thing i have leart in my life, it is that christmas is for memories, so this year, no matter the situation, no matter the heart ache you have faced, no matter the physical or emotional pain you are in, no matter what the future holds, stop, just stop and breath and remember that tonight is the eve of when Christ was born, and no matter how old or young you are, Christ is watching out for you making sure that these years are the years you will remember and have memories to cherish for the rest of your lifetime.

I pray that you and your families have the most joyous and memorable christmas. Rremember that 2010 is going to be a great year, so put away your woes, raise your glasses and toast to the best last week of the worst year.

Merry Christmas.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Day Thirty Six of 100 – It's just another day, but for me it is day 36…

Day 7 FET Cycle -Progynova 2mg 3x daily

For some reason today i’m not that inspired… Maybe it is because i am simply living my life at the moment?  It is quite weird, i set out on my journey not looking really to gain anything, with just the thought that i would write down how i am feeling to maybe help me through my emotions personally.  I never really imagined that 35 days later i would have many new friends and feel this content…

It’s like i dont feel alone anymore.  I feel like no matter how hard it is, no matter how depressed i feel, there is someone, many ones out there thinking of me and hoping for me just as much as i am hoping for them.

It’s no secret that i am a woman of God, and i have found a different strength each day being able to pray for others instead of me, and my family.  I have found that i have purpose being able to pray and hope for others in the same situation as me, a sense of purpose by giving little snippets of advise, trying to be funny, and also asking for help when i needed it.

And you know what?  Who knew that the worst 36 days of my life, was really the best?  And i know at the end of my 100 days, no matter the out come i will still be sitting here, saying the same thing, that the worst 100 days was really the best 100 days of my life.

Of course i have no idea what is going to happen in the next 64 days, at this point in time i am hoping that i will be sharing the first 64 days of my first pregnancy, and at Christmas finally telling everyone i have a “bun in the oven” but again, i dont know.  I may be sitting here in 64 days crying over the fact that it is over, that i may never get to be a mom…Or that my 100 days will turn into 200 days?

And as my boss would say “where is the gift?” This is the adventure in it all i think, finding the gift and following the challenge i have set myself, giving myself something to keep me going emotionally and physically.  Giving myself and believing in a “reason” for my infertility.

I have to say again, and i am sorry for repeating myself, but i really never imagined that i would get this far in so little time, feel this content, or feel like suddenly i am living my life again, trying new things, learning new things, giving little parts of me out to the wide world, making me feel like i have purpose and that i am not just an infertile waste of space….

And you helped me do that, and i really want to thank you for the past 36 days, and also the next 64…

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt