As I mentioned before, our new fertility clinic had a picnic today for its patients. LJ was so excited to go, and we were hopeful that perhaps we'd get lucky and win 1 of 2 prizes; the first being a $5,000 credit toward an IVF cycle, and the second being $1,000 off.
When we got there, we were surprised by the sheer size of it. So many people had RSVP'd that they provided shuttles to get to the park and had police directing traffic. When we got there we were promptly greeted by a family from my neighborhood. It was so strange seeing them there, and it made me slightly uncomfortable. I'm not really sure why, but I guess it goes along with me trying to keep my IF life away from the generalness of my everyday life. We aren't close to this family, but of course we recognized them and stopped to exchange niceties. Once we made it up to the many pavilions set up, it began to set in: All these people are in the midst of this horrible struggle that is TTC. It was a very sobering experience. While on the shuttle, I recognized one of the nurses from the clinic who told me that over ONE THOUSAND people had RSVP'd. So many people! It helped me see just how many people this affects, and it made my heart hurt. It was so humbling to me.
LJ had a blast. They gave her a teddy bear when we got there, and then ushered her to the bounce houses and play area. They provided lunch and desert for everyone as well as endless popcorn and cotton candy (DH was in paradise. Can you say "Candy junkie?") As I sat and watched LJ play, I began to notice how many kids were there. Not quite as many as I would have expected. What bothered me was how few pregnant women I saw. For once in my life I was hoping to be surrounded by them. I wanted it to be a type of reassurance something like:"if all these women can get pregnant with this clinic, so can I" Unfortunately, that was not the case. Nevertheless, we had a great time and I don't regret going. We will find out who the winners of the drawings are on Monday.
Wish us luck!
4 comments:
Good luck, I hope you win the drawing. Keep in mind that by the time a pregnant woman is showing, she will have been away from fertility clinic happenings for about 5 months. They boot them out early. And also, if I was pregnant and showing, I would not want to attend such a thing out of respect for those having a tough time dealing with the sight of a pregnant woman.
I hope you win in the draw! I imagine that the experience must have been a little surreal. We walk this road feeling very isolated most of the time, so to see so many IFers all in one place would be almost overwhelming.
Hi hon!!
Sorry-I thought I had commented on this post. I understand you not wanting your neighbours to know about your IF journey. It is so hard to have even a little bit of privacy and I know you may not want to talk about it with them. I really hope you win the draw!! But if you don't, I guess there's always another IUI. I'm not sure what sort of cycle you are doing this month but I am thinking of you anyway and crossing fingers it is *the* cycle for you!
Luck, luck, luck!
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