A Year in the (Infertility) Life

By:  Nikki Zurawski

Infertility. It usually takes a year or more of “trying” to get pregnant to get to that word, and no one wants to hear it. Once the doctor says it out loud, life can change as you know it. Poking and prodding. Early morning appointments. Ovulation tracking. HSG dye tests. Ultrasounds. Expensive Consultations. Fertility drugs that you can’t even pronounce. Painful procedures. Fertility clinic referrals. Treatment cycles. Intrauterine insemination. Polypectomy. Too many follicles. Cysts. Injections. Hormone Support. Surgeries. Consultations on in-vitro fertilization. Even loss. That’s just the physical side of it. The emotional side? Trying to navigate rescheduling work meetings for last-minute appointments based on baseline data each cycle. Tough conversations with friends, family, and your boss. Deciding when to allow your body a “break” from treatment cycles, even if just to give your health savings account a chance to catch up. Overthinking. Sleepless nights. Worrying that in the end, none of it will work. Trying to find a way to stay sane in the midst of all of it while literally filling your body with hormones.