Infertility Graduates
"Infertility Graduates" that's the name of the secret group I have belonged to on Facebook for almost five years now. I joined the day (almost the moment) that I saw those two little pink lines for the very first time.
It's a group of women with similar backgrounds as myself; we check our temperature multiple times a day, track our ovulation and buy pregnancy tests in bulk on amazon. You can typically find us crying on the bathroom floor each month after mother nature has once again reared her ugly head and reminded us of our empty wombs.
But now, we're graduates! We have peed on a stick without crying tears of sadness but tears of joy! We should be different women now...right? ...that's why we call the group "graduates"
Some of us have prayed for years for the miracle of life growing inside of us, some of us have drained our bank accounts in the hopes that science can make us mothers. Whatever our path or reason for infertility, we all have waited for this gift.
In months and years to pass, I have realized that one never really "graduates" from infertility, no matter how many babies we may go on to birth or adopt.
Infertility follows you through pregnancy and motherhood. It's not a curse in my opinion, but a blessing.
It's the smile that comes across your lips when you catch yourself grumbling about your kids waking multiple times a night. It's the jump in your soul when you see another woman learn she is pregnant when she thought it would never happen. I never in a million years thought I would be thankful for the dreaded wait and journey it took for me to become a mother, but I am so thankful. It's made me the woman that I am and the mother that I am. It has as well made me the Doula that I am.
When I became a Doula I knew that my heart would hold a special place for other women who had walked in similar paths as my own. While I am equally passionate about every mother and baby, a light shines inside when I sit down for an interview with a couple who quietly shares with me "We had been trying for four years" Rather you've waited for this child for years on end or he/she was an unexpected surprise, each life is cherished and you can guarantee will be celebrated by each of the Birthing Tree Doulas.
