30 Day Infertility Blog Challenge: Day 1

A fellow blogger created the Infertility 30-Day Blog Challenge.  I haven't done one yet, and thought I would give this one a shot.  Beat me if I am missing a day!!!


1.How did you and your partner decide when you were ready to start trying to conceive?
2.Discuss the most ridiculous thing you ever heard about conception. Where did you hear it? Did it work for someone else? Did you try it?
3.When talking to your fertile parenting friends, what is/was your favorite “perk” of childlessness to rub in their face? Sleeping in? Vacations? Hot pre-pregnancy body? Come on, confess!
4.Besides Mothers Day, what is the hardest holiday for you as an infertile?
5.Write a letter (one that you never have to send) to a fertile in your life. Did they hurt you? Support you? Tell them how you feel, all the things you can’t bring yourself to say in person.
6.Discuss how you found your way into the ALI community, and what being part of it has meant to you – good and bad.
7.If you had gotten pregnant that first month you started trying, how would you have been a different parent? What changes have you made to your parenting style (either current or future) in the time you spent trying to conceive?
8.Share a recipe for your favorite alcoholic drink (or, if you don’t drink, it can be non-alcoholic but make it fun!), and your favorite comfort and/or post-bfn food.
9.What was the first baby or pregnancy-related purchase you ever made? Was it before or after you started trying to conceive? Or was it after you were already pregnant?  Why did you choose that particular item to buy first? If you haven’t purchased anything yet, why not?
10.Other than the song “I Would Die For That,” post a video of a song that has special meaning to you and your infertility journey. Explain it, if you’re comfortable doing so.
11.Post your favorite pre-ttc picture of yourself. Why is it your favorite? If possible, talk about that day/moment.
12.Talk about how you chose your RE.
13.Post the list of potential baby names that you seriously considered, but can no longer use because someone stole it/it became too popular/whatever reason.
14.If a very observant stranger were to walk into your house, what clues could lead them to believe that you have struggled with infertility?
15.If you are not yet pregnant/a parent: What are you MOST and LEAST looking forward to after that first beta? If you are already pregnant/a parent: What was the most pleasant/unpleasant thing about pregnancy? If you have taken the childfree path: What pregnancy symptom are you happy to have avoided, and which one do you wish you’d experienced?
16.If you are not yet a parent: What are you MOST looking forward to about parenthood? If you are a parent: What is the most surprising thing about being a parent? If you have taken the childfree path: What is the most surprising part of living childfree after infertility?
17.Tell us your funniest Clomid/Femara/Injectibles mood-swing story. If you don’t have one, tell us your funniest general infertility drug story.
18.Tell us about a pre-ttc pregnancy “scare.” With your current partner, or with an ex.
19.What tv show/movie/commercial/print ad has bothered you the most since you began trying to conceive? If possible, post it here. Tell us why it bothered you so much.
20.Have you ever bonded with someone IRL over infertility, even just for a few minutes? It could be a family member, friend, neighbor, or even the clerk at the grocery store who noticed your OPK and vitamin purchase. Tell the story.
21.What is your favorite infertility-related quote? It doesn’t have to be explicitly related to infertility, but one that means something to your personal journey.
22.Were you the product of infertility? Was anyone you know the product of infertility? How do you know? Or do you just suspect based on circumstances like age differences between siblings, time between marriage and conception, etc.
23.Does your religion (or lack of) help/hurt/affect your infertility journey? Have you found religion? Lost it? Does it affect what treatments you do?
24.How has your financial situation affected your infertility journey?
25.Talk about a time when you made someone in your life understand more about infertility.
26.What do you use the “nursery” for right now? If you already had a baby, what did you use it for before pregnancy?
27.If you had known that you would have trouble conceiving, what would you have done differently in life? If you already knew, did that knowledge affect your other life choices?
28.Have you ever done something “non-traditional” in order to help you conceive?
29.Tell us about a friendship you lost or a relationship that changed for the worse because of infertility.
30.After a month of infertility talk, we need a distraction. Give us a link to one of your favorite non-infertility-sites, or tell us about your favorite distraction activity/book/feel-good movie.


Day 1: How did you and your partner decide when you were ready to start trying to conceive?


When Hubby and I first started dating we were employing the very safe method of contraception known as PULLING OUT.  I was late the next month.  I hadn't tracked my cycle for about 4 years at the time(not terribly necessary when married to a woman, LOL) and didn't realize that was normal for me.  So, I said, "What if?"  And he said, well, if it happens, it happens.  


We ended up deciding to wait...it was too early yet.  But once we decided to get married, we decided to start trying a couple months later. I was 30, and he would be the day before the wedding.  In other words, the biological clock was tick-tick-ticking.  I worked at a school-year camp, and if I could manage to be pregnant by September, I would have a built-in maternity leave.  Plus, as our wedding was in September, we thought it would be an awesome announcement to make at the reception.  I even had a way picked out to tell everyone.  It was the only time we knew that our whole family would ever be all in one place.  Alas, it was not meant to be...