One of you kind readers recently shared with me Laura’s blog, Walking in High Heels in Memphis. It’s a gorgeous style blog, and Laura is pregnant with her first child after IVF. She “came out” to her readers about her infertility and IVF in a cute pregnancy announcement post. Laura graciously agreed to be interviewed here today. Enjoy!
Q. Tell us a little about yourself.
I am an assistant credit manager, a full time grad student (who will graduate in 3 weeks, woohoo!) and a style blogger. I live in downtown Memphis on the river with my husband and 2 yorkies.
Q. How long did you try to conceive and what issues were you facing?
My husband and I have been together for ten years and have been married for seven. We started trying seven years ago when we were 24 because we thought it may take up to a year. After going to a fertility doctor, we realized we both had some problems that would make it unable for us to have children without IVF.
Q. Which books, quotes, websites, verses, movies, songs, etc. were an encouragement to you during your journey?
The Bible. We continued to pray, and I tried to stay positive, telling my husband that everything happens for a reason, and it will happen in God’s time. We were very blessed at the end of last year with a promotion for myself and only one semester of grad school left, so we finally decided to go in for an IVF consultation to see what the cost was. We had been getting the run-around at the OB-GYN and the urologist, so we honestly didn’t really realize we had any problems. They told us we were healthy, young and doing everything we should and also that 7 years was normal to try to have a child, so that is the main reason we hadn’t checked into IVF before. That, and we knew we couldn’t afford it.
Q. You wrote a blog post / pregnancy announcement that told your IVF story. Why did you decide to reveal your infertility struggles on your blog and what kind of reaction did you get from your readers?
I had told a couple of people I was going through IVF just a couple of months ago, and one of them emailed me back and asked if I would be sharing it on my blog. That completely took me by surprise. My blog is so public, and this entire journey has been incredibly private. It had never crossed my mind before, but once I thought about it, I remembered how alone I felt during the last 7 years. We felt like we were the only ones going through it while all of our friends easily got pregnant, so I decided I would do it hoping it might help someone else who is struggling and doesn’t know what to do.
I think my readers enjoyed that I shared my personal story with them. I had 100s of emails from people just in 1 day saying they are struggling with the same problems, and it meant a lot to them to be able to be able to read someone else’s journey or to ask me questions. I just recently met people who went through IVF over the last few years, so I felt like I was the only one dealing with this for the last 7 years, even though I wasn’t. I don’t want other people to feel that way.
Q. How did you take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually during your struggles?
I worked out almost every single day, prayed and just tried to keep my mind on everything else. Luckily, with an 85 hour a week work, school and blog schedule, it was fairly easy, but we still had our ups and downs some days. I just didn’t realize the small emptiness until now – now that it is filled.
Q. What advice would you give to women about to embark on their first IVF cycle?
Stay positive! My husband was pessimistic enough for the both of us, but I kept telling him that we had about a 0% chance to get pregnant over the last 7 years. Once we started IVF, that percentage went up to 35%. He had hoped for better chances, but 0% to 35% is great. It was the best chance we had ever had before!
Q. Anything else you’d like to tell my readers?
If you have any questions or want any advice or anything, I am no expert by ANY means, but I would be happy to help in any way I can. = )
Many thanks to Laura for sharing her story here. Please leave a comment below to let her know you appreciate her.
If you’d like to share your story in an upcoming interview, please let me know. You don’t have to be a blogger or share pictures to participate. You can see all my previous interviews here.
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