Fertility
Another major reason I wanted to start the blog is to share our journey with infertility. We have been trying to conceive since January of 2017. While we were also dealing with Dan's transplant, we tried to be patient, knowing that we really needed to focus on that first.
I said in the first post that we have struggled feeling guilty that we are upset with our situation when we know that there are others dealing with worse. That's why this first post is so important to me to get off my chest. There are a couple of things that we want to make very clear about sharing this with others.
First, we want to remain humble and empathetic towards others dealing with sickness, infertility, loss, and other difficult situations.
We never want this blog to feel like it is just about us. We have close friends dealing with cancer, sickness, loss and infertility, and we try so hard to focus on how we can love on them through these things. However, we have also realized that we need to find ways to cope with our situation as well. We need to deal with the emotions that come along with sickness and infertility in our own family. Writing these feelings can be so freeing, so that is one of the original reasons for the blog. It is hard for me to focus on our family struggles because I never want anyone to think that I don't care what they are going through.
So, just know that this blog is our outlet. This is where we can have a small space to let out frustrations and emotions of our own. We would never write anything to hurt anyone, so please know where our hearts are in this blog. We do not want anyone else to feel like we are so focused on ourselves that we don't care what you're going through, but know that we just need a spot where we can get some of these things out.
Second, we want to share our story to help others, not to get sympathy.
A topic for a whole different blog post would be the frustrations of seeing others sharing their struggles for attention. Unfortunately, there are people out there who exaggerate what they are dealing with, or share because they want attention. This is extremely frustrating to others who are dealing with difficult circumstances.
Please know that we are not sharing this for attention. This is our place to deal with emotions, to talk them through with each other in writing, and hopefully, to help others.
As I have been contemplating starting this blog, I was talking with a sweet friend about it the other day. She told me that when she started sharing her own journey through a blog, she did have some backlash. However, she also had many people reach out to her who wanted to talk about what they were dealing with. It's 2018! Infertility should not be a taboo topic anymore. I have seen, though, how many people deal with this quietly because it doesn't feel like something you should share.
A post came up on Instagram yesterday that actually gave me the courage to officially get this started. It was from Jenna Kutcher (https://jennakutcher.com/) who is a photographer, educator and blogger. She has been open in sharing her journey of miscarriage and difficulty becoming pregnant. She shared a message she had received from someone awhile back. Through Jenna sharing her journey, a stranger reached out to her to tell her that she was pregnant and thinking of terminating the pregnancy, but because of what she had read from Jenna, her attitude changed and she realized how grateful she was for her baby. Jenna shared this as part of her why and her journey.
I know that I do not have the influence that Jenna Kutcher does, but if my story could help one person make a better decision; if it could help one person validate their own feelings; if it could help one person learn how to trust God through these difficult times, then it will be worth it.
So, please know where our hearts are in sharing about our difficulty conceiving.
Please join us as we pray for future Baby O'Connor. We trust in God's timing, but waiting is still difficult.
I said in the first post that we have struggled feeling guilty that we are upset with our situation when we know that there are others dealing with worse. That's why this first post is so important to me to get off my chest. There are a couple of things that we want to make very clear about sharing this with others.
First, we want to remain humble and empathetic towards others dealing with sickness, infertility, loss, and other difficult situations.
We never want this blog to feel like it is just about us. We have close friends dealing with cancer, sickness, loss and infertility, and we try so hard to focus on how we can love on them through these things. However, we have also realized that we need to find ways to cope with our situation as well. We need to deal with the emotions that come along with sickness and infertility in our own family. Writing these feelings can be so freeing, so that is one of the original reasons for the blog. It is hard for me to focus on our family struggles because I never want anyone to think that I don't care what they are going through.
So, just know that this blog is our outlet. This is where we can have a small space to let out frustrations and emotions of our own. We would never write anything to hurt anyone, so please know where our hearts are in this blog. We do not want anyone else to feel like we are so focused on ourselves that we don't care what you're going through, but know that we just need a spot where we can get some of these things out.
Second, we want to share our story to help others, not to get sympathy.
A topic for a whole different blog post would be the frustrations of seeing others sharing their struggles for attention. Unfortunately, there are people out there who exaggerate what they are dealing with, or share because they want attention. This is extremely frustrating to others who are dealing with difficult circumstances.
Please know that we are not sharing this for attention. This is our place to deal with emotions, to talk them through with each other in writing, and hopefully, to help others.
As I have been contemplating starting this blog, I was talking with a sweet friend about it the other day. She told me that when she started sharing her own journey through a blog, she did have some backlash. However, she also had many people reach out to her who wanted to talk about what they were dealing with. It's 2018! Infertility should not be a taboo topic anymore. I have seen, though, how many people deal with this quietly because it doesn't feel like something you should share.
A post came up on Instagram yesterday that actually gave me the courage to officially get this started. It was from Jenna Kutcher (https://jennakutcher.com/) who is a photographer, educator and blogger. She has been open in sharing her journey of miscarriage and difficulty becoming pregnant. She shared a message she had received from someone awhile back. Through Jenna sharing her journey, a stranger reached out to her to tell her that she was pregnant and thinking of terminating the pregnancy, but because of what she had read from Jenna, her attitude changed and she realized how grateful she was for her baby. Jenna shared this as part of her why and her journey.
I know that I do not have the influence that Jenna Kutcher does, but if my story could help one person make a better decision; if it could help one person validate their own feelings; if it could help one person learn how to trust God through these difficult times, then it will be worth it.
So, please know where our hearts are in sharing about our difficulty conceiving.
Please join us as we pray for future Baby O'Connor. We trust in God's timing, but waiting is still difficult.
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