Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Welcome and Intro for ICLW

Hello to everyone, including everyone coming for ICLW.  In case this is your first time stopping by, let me tell you a little about myself.  I'm a SAH mom to a 13 month old baby girl after trying for three years to start our family.  We went through 6 IUI's, one surgery, one miscarriage, and a chemical pregnancy before we finally got our BFP that stuck.  We've already started thinking about trying again to get our Bean a little brother or sister and I think we'll be back in the RE's office very soon.

I started this blog because I realized after almost a year of being a mama, that I was still dealing with a lot of the baggage that comes from infertility.  I didn't have anyone that I felt like I could really talk to about it all, so I decided to reach out to the community that I had been reading and watching from afar for years.  I cannot tell you how glad I am that I did that!

I have to admit though that I've been a bit of an absentee blogger recently and before that I was a little scattered.  I've been sharing bits and pieces of why that is, but I'm ready to tell you all about it now.  There are two main reasons that I haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like.

As I've mentioned before, my parents are in the process of getting their house cleaned out to move closer to us.  So we've been busy helping with that.  And, as I also mentioned, my Aunt was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  She's started chemotherapy and while she's doing okay, she's in her 70's and it's wiping her out.  Emotionally she's just starting to really realize what's happening and the fact that her hair just started falling out I think is the real physical manifestation of what she's going through, and it's hitting her hard.  So I've been trying to be there for her as much as I can even though we live a few hours away.  It makes me sad that she's spent her life taking care of other people and now she doesn't have that many people to take care of her.  I want to do as much as I can, but it's definitely hard to find enough time in the day.

The other reason that I've been super busy, that I'm really excited about, is that I started my moms group!  Right after I started blogging I was testing out some moms groups and was having a really hard time feeling like I fit in any of them.  So I started thinking how great it would be to have a moms group for people like me who had started their family either through infertility treatment or adoption.  I thought and thought about it and finally just went for it.  And it's been so great so far!  We've had two play dates for our kiddos and I've had a great time.  We've talked about all the typical mom stuff but we can also talk about infertility and support each other.  I finally feel like I have some people who I can see face to face who understand where I've been and where I'm probably going again very soon, and that feels really good.  It's been a lot of work though that's for sure.  But it's worth it, for me and Bean. She's been having such a great time and I love having her have the chance to play with other kids.

So that's what's going on here!  I'm committing myself to blogging for the next week though and to seeing what's going on with everyone else in the blog world.  Because this little blog is what got me started with this idea.  The support I felt from people all over the world, made me realize what a difference reaching out to this community can make, and it gave me the confidence to go do it in the world immediately around me.  So welcome!  I'm so glad to have everyone visiting and I promise to have lots of new posts for you to read.

12 comments:

  1. I LOVE that you have an IF moms group! I'm in two different moms groups, but it is definitely different when they don't know about IF. Some of them are already pregnant, and I'm trying hard not to let my IF-envy take over...I'm in a better place now that we have our little monkey, but still, I'd love to experience an accidental pregnancy and not need another round of IVF cycles!

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  2. I also love that you started an IF moms group. There's a special bond that IF moms have. It would be so hard to watch people easily conceive in a regular group. I wish I had a group like that around here!

    ICLW 33

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  3. Hi from ICLW!

    Its SO helpful to have people face to face that you can talk to. I am lucky enough to have two different moms that I know (I used to teach their kiddos at preschool) who offered to help give me shots during my upcoming round of IVF if I need the help. Granted its helped by the fact that I will tell anyone who will listen that we are doing IVF so everyone knows :)

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  4. Hi from ICLW! It usually takes awhile to get used to blogging regularly, especially with a 13 month old! You are doing great :)

    ICLW #7

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  5. Hello from ICLW :)

    With a 13 month old, it's a wonder you do any blogging at all. Sounds like you have a lot going on right now - glad you have people to connect with and talk to.

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  6. Here from ICLW - an IF moms' group is such a good idea! That's so great that you were able to find a group of people to do that with.

    I'm still a fairly new blogger myself, and I do find that sometimes it is hard to know exactly what to write about. I've also found that people are willing to listen about whatever I want to talk about, so I hope that works for you too.

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  7. ICLW 69
    I'm interested to hear how you got your mom group going! I moved a couple years ago and still don't have many friends, let alone ones that understand where I've been and what I've been through. Kudos to you for stepping up and doing something about it!

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  8. I'm here via ICLW and I have to say I've also been a bit of a struggling blogger lately and I think it'll be good for me too. I'm not part of the same "community" as you are but the sense of solidarity you find from sharing experiences and receiving support, friendship and information from those who do walk a similar path is something I hope most bloggers find. I never could have anticipated how much I've gotten out of blogging or what could happen because of it but sometimes I think blogging saved my life.

    It's nice to "meet" you.

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  9. Hello from ICLW!
    Thats great that you have started a moms group! Being a parent after dealing with infertility and loss is tough, but it is so wonderful at the same time!

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  10. Hi from ICLW!!

    I am so glad that I am getting a chance to read all of these new blogs!! I am so excited to meet all these new amazing people and learn about their experiences and struggles with infertility. Reading all the success stories really gives me hope that, when the time is right, my husband and I will finally have our family, even if it may not be the way we would like it to happen.

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  11. Thank you for stopping by my blog! Loved your proposal story also. I love my mom's group and know the momma's (at least a few of them in our group of 100) whom have had to deal with IF. It's wonderful to be able to talk to them about it...Blogging for me has been my outlet to not boring or scaring my fertile friends to death...

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  12. So it seems that I'm not alone in telling you that you are a rockstar foe setting up an IF moms support group. Freakin Awesome! Can I have one to??? Please tell us more about how you did it!

    Im your newest follower, looking forward to enjoying your journey as a mama.

    take care - Foxy

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