Impatiently Waiting for our Miracle(s)

I have debated writing about this topic, because I’m certainly not the expert. And I didn’t want this to come across as “I have issues in my life, so you should work on yourself so that you can help me.” But honestly, whether your fertility-challenged friend admits it or not, they need you. I’ve heard so many times along this journey, “I just don’t know what to say” or “how can I help you? Tell me what I can do.” Whether you have been one of those people or not, I’m going to give you my advice. These are the things that have helped ME throughout this process. We are all individuals, with different personalities, so this is not a one-size-fits-all, but hopefully some of this advice will help you help someone else who is struggling. Listen. You can learn so much about how to help just by listening. If you are a good enough friend to be reading this, you probably know your friend well enough to pick up on those cues. Are they quiet? Maybe they don’t want to talk about it. Distract th...

This post has nothing to do with infertility or pregnancy loss, other than the fact that we won’t be getting pregnant this month. I’ve alluded to the fact that Reid has some chronic health issues. 3 years ago in June he was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). Ulcerative Colitis you’ve probably heard of, it’s a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, which cases him some discomfort and pain. PSC is a chronic, long term disease that slowly damages the bile ducts in the liver. According to the American Liver Foundation, PSC “causes bile to accumulate in the liver, where it gradually damages liver cells and causes cirrhosis, or fibrosis of the liver. As cirrhosis progresses and the amount of scar tissue in the liver increases, the liver slowly loses its ability to function. The scar tissue may block drainage of the bile ducts leading to infection of the bile.” So that one is a little scary. Since his diagnosis, we have learned so much more, as ...