Friday, March 18, 2011

1 week later - finally feeling better (and a side on infertility books)



I can honestly say today is the first day I feel more like myself & I'm truly feeling better - 1 week after my surgery date.

Yesterday afternoon was the last time I took any pain medication and I slept for 12 hours last night - I would say my body is exhausted. I'm still pretty sore (especially in bottom scar) but I can pretty much do anything I want to do now with little discomfort. I just do it a lot slower...one thing that's probably good for me from time to time. I'm someone that really enjoys being on the go and doing lots of different things - but lately, I can't walk any faster than I can walk - like if the house was burning down, I'm not sure I could RUN anywhere...I walked successfully last night around the entire 1 mile block with Richard & Sally and I think Richard and Sally both were like "Come on mom - can you move any faster?" but they were both really good about walking slow with me...I just told Richard "I can't walk any faster than this." Again - I'm looking at this as a positive because sometimes I need to just slow down, enjoy the ride and smell the roses.

Today I had lunch with a good friend that's going through infertility stuff too - it was good to talk with someone that is going through it (with the same practice that I'm going to) and be able to say "Do you ever feel like this?" and her to go "Yes!" :) It's very sweet to have such a large support system - from family, friends, co-workers (past & present), and even IVF bloggers. I have a friend that I met on one of the IVF blogs (we cycled together the first time) that just had a baby (baby Liam - love the name!) and he was born at 2 lbs...he's doing ok but I get updates from her most days and I really look forward to hearing from her - for those of us going through IVF treatment, while it's sometimes hard to attend baby showers etc, hearing success stories after IVF really makes it feel like it's all worth it & one day it will be our turn to enjoy our little baby boy or girl. I also just got a text from a friend who found out that it's the end of the infertility road with her and her husband - it's just not fair...sometimes I just hear things and it hurts my heart for those that I care about. I certainly know how my friends/family feel about "I don't know what to do" but just being there & being willing to listen if they need you is all you really can do. I'm very open about my infertility now - it's helped me - be able to talk about it without crying, be able to help people understand what Richard & I are going through, and it's also allowed me to meet so many incredible and strong women. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that I would get excited about hearing from someone 3000 miles away about her newborn baby (someone I've never even met!) - but it happens and it is really neat.

I just got done reading a book - "the infertility survival handbook" and it's about a woman that's gone through chlomid, IUI's, IVF and still none of it worked and she and her husband ended up adopting a little baby boy! So many times the books are written by women who eventually gave birth and ended up having the fertility treatments work - I like hearing from a woman's perspective where it hasn't worked (yet) and while she might try again with IVF or she may never try again, she writes the book in a different tone than most - I truly enjoyed her perspective and am glad Borders in Deerfield was having that sale on books :).

For those of you that wonder - I've read TONS of IVF & infertility books - I've even read books on surrogacy and adoption (as those are our next steps) - and some of them help a lot more than others. One I want to recommend to anyone who knows someone they care about going through IVF or find themselves going through IVF is IVF: The Wayward Stork (this is the Amazon site where I bought it - you're more than welcome to borrow my copy for any length of time!) - I gave it to family/friends to read when I first started going through everything and it really helps explain in very simple terms what IVF is, but it also tells about the emotional side of it - there's a part that is called "How to instruct your inner circle" and it is one of the most helpful 2 pages of any book!

Didn't realize I was going to go on & on about IVF books etc. but that's just what was on my mind today - fertility stuff - and I wanted to share. I've learned that through doing this on blogger and writing on a blog, I can have all this information saved in one place and share it with others if they need it! Kind of cool to click on "IVF" on the side and see all my postings that I've had recently - still not sure about how the best way to do everything is - but I'm learning & it is fun!

Thanks to anyone who's out there reading along with me! For the record - I added the picture up top AFTER I did the entire post - I thought it needed something and I had seen that shirt the other day and just thought it fit! It does suck - but I try to focus on the good things that have come out of it!

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