Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Can I get a Do-Over?

I have been in a slump since my last IVF cycle failed. I know I'm in a slump, and I feel powerless to change it. Positive thoughts? bah! That doesn't really work for me. I feel like I need a big change in my life - new job? new house? new baby? I am stuck in a rut of sadness and exposing and identifying the various causes of my sadness each day is like peeling back an onion. There are just so many layers upon rotten layers, and it all winds up to missing my baby.

I am caught in a rip tide of sadness. I feel as if I need someone to straighten out my life and say 'That's it - that's what you should change and you'll start feeling better.'

  • I work from home as a manufacturer's sales rep. I love sales, but working from home is tough when I wake up sad and can't get motivated to make those phone calls. On the other hand, if I get pregnant and have a live child, this job would be perfect. I am home 2 days per week and on the road locally the other 3. (lately, I'm home a lot more often.) Perfect for a small child at home. I sought out this job because I wanted to work from home when I was pregnant and started my family. It also works for infertility/IVF treatments because my schedule is so flexible and nobody is in my business. Starting and having a family is and was my #1 priority. 3 years later, I'm still without a live child and I'm working in a job where my MBA is being wasted, I'm not motivated and have too much time to be sad, I'm not interested in the industry or the products I sell, and I have generally 'dumbed' myself down professionally. Not sure what to do here, since I'm still not pregnant and now hate my job and the people I work with. I've started to look, but can't commit to commuting 1 hour to NYC for a 'real' job when I might be pregnant in November.
  • My home is a brand new townhouse that backs up to the beach. My deck is 80 feet from the Atlantic ocean. How can I beat that? We have a really nice place that we love very much. Except, its full of sadness. This house reminds me of being pregnant with Kara, and of grieving so hard for her when we lost her. Everywhere around me are reminders of happier days. We talk about moving up to Westchester for a while and renting out our place, but Kara is buried here in town and moving an hour north of here....I just can't bring myself to leave her. How could I live an hour away and not be able to visit her whenever I wanted to? I don't know if I could do it. But a change of scenery sounds appealing sometimes. I don't think I can do it.
  • I have failed IVF so many times I can barely count anymore. Kara was our 3rd IVF attempt and she was a miracle. Since losing Kara, we've failed 4 additional IVF cycles in 1 year and I'm exhausted emotionally and physically. I hate my body and can't get back into fighting shape. I've been soft and 10-15lbs overweight for 3 years since starting Infertility treatments. I never used to go above 135lbs - e.v.e.r. NOW I'm 154. ugh. I work out 4-5 times per week and I eat healthy - I just can't lose without starving myself. So I cry about that too. My self-image just sucks and I've devalued myself as a woman and as a person by letting IVF kick my ass. At least I've started W.eigh.t W.atch.ers this week. That's one thing I feel like I can control - counting those damned points. I feel like I'm on the right path here. Come November, I'm hoping to be pregnant anyway (see, it always comes down to that - I might be pregnant next cycle....this is how I live my stupid life.)
  • I am grieving the loss of my first and only child, Kara. 37 1/2 weeks and her heart stops?! WTF? I am angry at God, angry at my body, and overwhelmed that I will never get to do the things I had planned with this special little person. She was already such a huge part of our lives when I was pregnant with her, how can one watch her dreams disappear in one sentence 'I'm sorry, there is no heartbeat. ' HOW??? All of my dreams went up in smoke that day and all the days since. Everything I had planned for this little princess was gone. And I have no living children at home to distract me, or to make me want to live again. All I live for is the next IVF cycle, hoping that I get 1 good embryo. I miss her with every breath, and will for the rest of my life.
  • I am grieving the possible loss of motherhood. I can't continue on this IVF-path much longer. Emotionally, I am spent. Physically, I am shot. If someone could tell me that 10 IVF cycles later, I'll definitely have a baby - then I'd do it. But to keep going on this emotional rollercoaster is insanity. Every three months, Estrogen, Progesterone, Gona.l-F, Men.opur, Cet.rotide, Lu.pron. Ultrasounds;, ooops, there are only 5 follicles. Retrieval; only 3 mature eggs. ICSI; 3 fertilized. 3-day update, 5-day update, PGD testing, 24-hr wait until we hear the news "I'm sorry, all embryos tested abnormal." Each milestone builds up your hope just a tiny bit, until you're actually thinking positive at the 3-day update, thinking 'yeah, this just might be it.' You begin to read deeper into the doctor's voicemails..."maybe because he called me in the evening last time, it's good news this time. He hasn't called yet and its the next morning - it MUST be good news!" nope. it's all bad news.

How to go on like this? Will another pregnancy and a live child actually help pull me out of this funk? Do I need a life change? How about a new life? (that sounds good - can I get a 'do-over'?)

8 comments:

Hope's Mama said...

I'm so sorry Kara's Mom. I miss your little girl with you, and all the joy and laughter she should have brought your way.

Alison said...

I am so sorry you are going through this. I can say I know totally what you are going through, but I don't. I only know part of what you are going through. We lost Moira and she was our miracle as well. We had tried to get pregnant for 15 months and did after 3 rounds of clomid and iui and then she was born at 40 wks 2 days and we lost her 4 days later. Some days I am a mess and other days I am OK. We are trying again naturally this cycle and then next cycle we'll do clomid/iui again if we need to.
Anyway, I am so sorry, sorry you are going through this.

Mirne said...

Can I have a do-over too? I'm so sorry that you lost your precious girl. It's so hard to get motivated about anything when you're having to do without the most important thing of all. :-( I hope for you that this next cycle works and you get a healthy, happy baby.

Eb said...

Oh such sadness. My heart breaks just reading your post. I wish that the beauty around you forces itself into your eyes and heart very soon. That the sadness is calmed and the hope returns.
EB

-clevergirl said...

**HUG**

I am here, always listening, always here for you, I wish I could take away your pain and bring her back!

**HUG**

forward tumble said...

hey Babette

I'm with you on this one. It seems we have such identical paths (just a few 1000 miles away from each other) and such similar thoughts. We've decided to relocate. For us it's a good thing. Maybe it's that much easier having been told not to ttc again. I have everything crossed here for you. I want that baby for you so bad, and for me too, I want a baby for you for me, so I can keep my faith.

biggest hug and lots of love
xx Ines

Unknown said...

Hi. I found your blog and was moved, to say the least. Last October, I lost a friend named Daniel who had cancer. He had 6 months from the time that he was diagnosed until he passed away. His death hit me hard, and I was a newlywed at the time. Of course, my thoughts turned to my husband, and the amazing amount of grief that I would feel if I lost him. I was struggling with how to love him with everything I have, but not to hold on too tightly, or to feel that I was "owed" a certain number of happy years with him.

Shortly after Daniel's death, a sweet family from my church lost their 9 day old daughter to an undiagnosed heart condition that she was born with. Again, I was struck with the painful sting of loss, and my sympathy for them, especially for the mother (Sarah) was overwhelming. I had to do something with my emotions during that time, as I felt useless to try to comfort them, or even imagine what they were going through.

I am an artist, and I saw an image in my mind of a little girl playing in a field with her Dad. He lets go of her hand and she's running, but smiling back at him with love. I knew that this was an image I was supposed to paint. It is a painting about fleeting moments and intense love. It's about loss and perspective. I guess you could say that it is my answer to the question of how to love deeply, but hold lightly to my husband (and my future children).

http://theartistoflife.com/images/fine art/mine for a moment.jpg

I cannot imagine the grief that you have been dealing with after your loss. I read your blog and wanted to send you this image, along with a link to its full story on my site: http://theartistoflife.com/stories/moment.html. In the month since its completion, it's moved many people and my hope is that you'll find some comfort in it.

I hope that you do.

People have asked me about buying a print of this painting, "Mine For a Moment," so I'm getting information for that this week. Let me know if it's something that interests you or if you know of friends who may want one. I will be setting up an endowment fund in Daniel's name through Livestrong with proceeds from the sales.

I hope that this email finds you well.. today.

Warmly,


Kelly O'Neill

aliza said...

this life without our babies is so shitty. and all the memories are everywhere in my home too. and on the streets where i see all these women who were pregnant when i was but they walk around happy snuggling their babes. i know that i need a new life too. and i'm seriously thinking of moving. i have lost my faith and trust as well. but i do hope that we get to be mom's to living children- one day soon.
sending you love