April 21, 2015

Infertility Awareness Week: An Infertile Home Tour



As part of preparing for Infertility Awareness Week, I've been thinking about how infertility impacts my daily life because, well, it does.  Specifically I've thought about the reminders around my house.  So in case you're wondering what my particular brand of infertile home looks like (although I doubt you have), here you go (as always, please forgive my poor photography skills, an artist I am not):

1. The Medicine/Vitamin Shelf.  It started out as a corner on the kitchen counter, but eventually grew to be too big.  Then I moved it all to an edge of a shelf in my pantry, now it takes up over half (you can see what remains of my baking shelf behind some of the bottles), and I'll probably be needing to clear more space soon.  In case you're wondering, I would say at least 90% of this is fertility related, with the other 10% being things we take daily for general health, or were intended for that and then discontinued (like the women's one a day, no folic acid allowed for this MTHFR defect haver).  Cold/flu/miscellaneous illness medicines and remedies fit in a nice little drawer of their own.


2. The Kitchen Counter.  Of course I didn't completely clear off the kitchen counter.  It still harbors (going right to left ish) both the Hubs's (on the bottom) and my (the blue one on top) pill organizers (because we're officially 80 years old), my cycle calendar (to more easily plan what meds to start and stop when), which is stacked on top of my cycle plan and medicine list for ease of reference, droppers/ measuring tools for one med that gets diluted in water, a couple vitamins I keep out to remember to take with me during the day (I don't have a lunch pill case yet), and the large bottle with the measuring spoon is a vitamin in powder form that also goes in water... so complicated.  Lastly, my bottle of Tylenol, since I avoid any other kind of pain killer for fear of causing LUFs, ugh.


3. The End Table.  Ok, kind of a cheat, but the end table holds the books I'm attempting (or intending) to read right now.  Right now the book about St. Gerard that the Hubs gave me for Christmas is hanging out waiting for me to get through it. The Creighton manual has also been hanging out there for my perusing if when my cycle gets confusing (though I do put it away when company comes over).


4. My Dogs.  Well, this one was following me around as I took pictures, so I figured the dogs should get an honorable mention.  Again, not strictly infertility related, but we probably wouldn't have the dogs if we weren't on this journey.  That reminds me, I should share the story of how we got the dogs, but that's a story for another post.  So anyways, the dogs occupy the 3rd bedroom/ den during the day and then get to run around in the backyard when we're home (we're extra cautious because of coyote issues in the neighborhood).  Silly dogs have all sorts of fun.  

Not pictured due to mess/laziness, but here's a cute dog :)

5. The OPK/HPT Stash. (under the bathroom sink).  Ah, what would any TTC household be without these.  I have to have my Ovulation Prediction Kits (OPKs) and Home Pregnancy Tests (HPTs) available just in case.  Since starting charting with Creighton I actually haven't used these much, to the point that they have expired before being used up (except for the more recently purchased first response tests). Oh well.




6. The Shower. While we're in the bathroom (that's where the Opk/Hpt stash is) check out the shower. Yep, that stuff is all natural, and fragrance, phtalate and paraben free (at least supposedly, I just recently check the brand and apparently there are some issues, I'll be switching when they run out). No, I'm not crunchy (though I have nothing against crunchy people). My doctor thinks it helps egg quality, so in with the natural stuff. (I do keep the good, chemically stuff around if I want to feel super clean, but I try to keep it to once a week or less). And I always have my handy razor around, as any PCOSer dealing with hirsutism might :(.  



7. The Guest Bedroom.  This one isn't as obvious as the others.  This room what we hope one day will be the nursery.  For a while after we moved in, it solely functioned as storage.  We resisted for a while, but finally re-purposed it as a guest bedroom(/storage still).  I was hoping we could skip this in between step, but eventually I had to accept that we had to use it as something for now.  Its was difficult, but what can you do.
Again, not pictured due to mess, here's a poorly taken picture of the door instead

8. The Night Stand.  The Hubs's night stand to be precise.  That's where the Creighton chart stays, along with the folder/stack with most of our fertility related medical records.  This makes it easy for the Hubs write down my observations at the end of (most) days.  



So there you go, that's what infertility looks like in my home.  How does it look in yours?

10 comments:

  1. Almost the exact same here!! Even down to the dogs! We have 3!

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    1. I love it! The Hubs and I have been talking about a third dog. I think its just a matter of time at this point, haha.

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    2. Third dog is a whole other level of insanity! We had the first, six months later got a puppy, then six weeks later got the third! It took a long time for them to finally figure out their places in the pack. It was wild! I truly feel God brought these dogs into our lives to teach me patience! I was never around kids a lot my whole life and had we had children I think I would have been extremely impatient with them! I'm not one for testing driving a family with pets, but God didn't give us any kids so I guess that's how it is for us! I keep praying - half jokingly - for a baby before we end up with a 4th dog!! Our dogs have been a source of joy for us! I can't wait to see if you get your 3rd!! Love reading your blog!!

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    3. Haha, we're spacing dogs about a year and a half apart (yes, I realize I sound like a crazy person), and now its been a little over a year since we got the last one. I also agree that I probably needed to learn patience with pets before kids come around (if they do). And yes, it'd really be nice if God gave us a baby before we end up needing to move to the country to keep a herd of dogs in ,lol. Thanks for reading!

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  2. Replies
    1. Glad to know there's others like me out there :)

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  3. HAHA.. Sadly my house looks like this too.

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    1. Aww, I guess my post is pretty representative of all of us then

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  4. Something else around my house - a stockpile of period supplies, because. It being pregnant AND having to go to the grocery store is just too much at the beginning of a new cycle.

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    1. Good point! I should've added that, because I definitely do have a stockpile too. I can't tell you how many times I've bought pads and pregnancy tests at the same time :/

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