The moment my eyes zeroed in on “This Is Not the Life I Ordered” during a rummage sale at Third Place Books, I knew I would buy it. My heart responded with an immediate and emphatic damn straight! I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover (or title), but in this case, I needn’t have worried. “This Is Not the Life I Ordered” is written by four middle-aged women who, over […]
This week is National Infertility Awareness Week 2020 and as part of it, RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association started a five day photo challenge. I’ve posted the photos on Instgram and Facebook, but also wanted to share them here. We all have our own fertility journey. You’ll notice that I always refer to mine as a fertility journey rather than an infertility journey, because I prefer the concept of moving towards something positive rather than […]
I have found it surprisingly easy to both talk about and write about my first miscarriage. Maybe because it was the beginning of everything. It’s easy for me to start things, to set the scene, to introduce the characters, to begin. When I was in school, I always wrote great introductions for my papers. Finishing things was harder. I have a lot of half-finished projects, a lot of unrealized aspirations. Finding a clear path through […]
I discovered RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017. I realize I was late to the party, but I have since made up for my delinquency by watching every season… multiple times. This was in the immediate aftermath of my fourth miscarriage, so I felt utterly broken and was not sure I wanted to go on trying to have a baby (or doing much else). Remarkably, RuPaul helped curb my depression. Apart from realizing that Drag Race […]
My husband and I arrived at our first 8-week appointment a little frazzled, a lot anxious, and very late; but our doctor was lovely about it. We gave him our history and talked to him about my symptoms (they were few, thankfully). And after a bit of small talk, he said “alright, let’s see how things look.” He didn’t say anything for a long time after starting the ultrasound, then he asked if we were […]
Several years ago my mom’s friend recommended I read “The Untethered Soul: A Journey Beyond Yourself.” It’s a beautiful book about the relationship between your thoughts and emotions and your true self. I read it after each of my last three losses, and it helped me experience my grief without being consumed by it. I pulled it out again this week, because the Covid-19 crisis has challenged my sense my control and triggered old anxieties. […]
This week marks the anniversary of my sixth and most recent miscarriage. The pregnancy was realized through a round of IVF using a genetically pre-screened embryo. When I learned the implantation took, I was so excited and nervous that I put myself on voluntary lock-down (not unlike the social distancing I’m currently practicing). I refused to travel for work or do anything strenuous. My levels looked great, and I began experiencing the wonderful bouts of […]
My sister’s friend lost her father two weeks after I lost my fourth pregnancy. He developed a relatively rare cancer, and though he fought valiantly, died much too young. I felt so sorry for her. I am close to my father, as was she, so I could easily imagine her heartbreak. I also felt like she was more entitled to grief than I was. Afterall, she was grieving 30-some years of memories of her father. […]
Many women struggle to talk about their experience of miscarriage, in part because many women don’t share the news of their pregnancy before the loss. But I also think it’s because as humans, admitting we’re in pain puts us in a position of vulnerability, and that feels uncomfortable and threatening. I felt isolated and ashamed. Nobody within my immediate circle had lost a pregnancy so I constantly wondered if I’d done something wrong. My close […]
My husband and I have been together a long time. We met in college and got married when we were 26. We were ambitious young professionals who enjoyed our independence. We traveled a lot on the weekends and socialized a lot in the evenings. We didn’t want to be young parents. Besides, people in our generation were having kids later these days anyhow, right? Right??? Sometimes I wonder if I had known then, what […]
