4 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Fertility Treatments

Like many people, my husband and I had no idea that we would need fertility treatments when we started TTC (Trying to Conceive). After I was diagnosed with PCOS (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome) we both did lots of reading and research on the subject.📖 But there is nothing like first hand experience. Here are 4 things that I wish I knew when we started:

Be an Advocate:

Be an advocate for your own health, even if you have the best doctor in world, it is sometimes good to get a second opinion or get more information on procedures or medications before beginning a treatment cycle. If something doesn't feel right or normal speak up about it, it might be an abnormal side effect or a symptom of another problem. I always had tons of questions and would forget about ¾ of them when I was actually in the doctor's office so I started writing them down and bringing the list with me.

Be an advocate in your community, read up on new laws regarding health insurance, educate people and spread awareness about infertility.📑 Approximately 1 in 8 heterosexual couples of “child bearing” age have trouble conceiving. Even though infertility is very common most people don't know much about it and it is still a taboo subject.

Everyone handles the emotions differently:

It always seemed like my husband and I were in a slightly different place emotionally. For the most part I was much more emotionally invested in every step. I was also physically invested in each step. I was the one on medications, vitamins, shots getting the tests done, and having the intrusive procedures. 💊

A couple of times he would say something I would think “That is exactly what I was feeling about 6 months ago!” Seeing a therapist helped us with communication and learning each other's coping styles. ❤ Also talking with each other periodically about how we were feeling about the next step helped. Sometimes one of us would want to start a different treatment cycle before the other one thought it was time to move to the next thing. Sometimes one of us would want to take a few cycles off, to recover and save up some money.

Practice Self-care:

Although it would be wonderful if relaxing helped you conceive, it doesn't. 🧖‍♀️But practicing self care does make everything more tolerable. I used to make mani-pedi appointments the weekend of my pregnancy tests so even if it was negative (I had a lot of those) I had something to look forward to. I have a friend who took up pottery while she was going through fertility treatments. Some people plan a date night, either to take their mind off the negative test or celebrate a positive one.

You are not actually alone in this!:

This one is probably the most important one! You are not alone. 🤝There will be times that it seems everyone and their dog is pregnant. My first year of TTC I was a nanny and the raccoon that lived under the deck was pregnant. I was like “Of course she is!” 🙄😪 But as mentioned above, about 1 in 8 people struggle to conceive. I was shocked to find out how many people I knew had fertility issues once I started to open up about it.

There are also online forums like Assisted Fertility here in the Glow Community, and support and advocacy groups. It really does help to be able to talk about fertility treatments other people who understand. The Fertility Coaches with Glow Fertility Program are a great resource if you are in need of some support or just to vent. They have all had personal experience with infertility and they will understand- plus they can help you save on treatments and medication. It helped me so much to be able to talk and vent with other fertility patients. And if you're still in the early stages of considering fertility treatments, they can explain the ins and outs of everything and help you find a local clinic. Don't be scared to reach out- they're here to help. 

Lots of Baby Dust to you all!