Happy to have helped

I'm now 25 weeks and looking obviously pg. I'm sure you're bored of hearing this by now, but i still feel taken aback by way things have gone. I feel sure our luck has to run out at some point as i've gone from advice we'd never have children of our own to having my wonderful little boy and now a second pregnancy. In my darker moments I worry that this little one may have something wrong with her. How could we really be this lucky? Surely something has to drag us down again. After all, that's the way life has gone so far. Perhaps that's just the mantle of IF that i'll never shake. The belief that we're just not meant to have it easy. I think there's a large helping of survivor's guilt.

Things aren't easy for Mr G and I on the financial front. We've been struggling pretty well since B was born and Mr G has had some bad professional luck over the years since we married. I'm not going to go into it as that would not be right, but it's enough to say that whilst we've had some lucky breaks in our family life, it hasn't crossed into that side of things. Having been through the IF mill though, i'm very aware of my blessings and would not change a thing. You realise what's important when you've fought for fertility.

The story i wanted to tell - and i'm sorry for digressing so far, was about meeting someone in the playground today. I'd travelled to a different area to meet a friend today. Barney and I were playing on one of the big toy cars when another mum and her 2 and a bit yr old came over to share it. She and I got talking and it turned out we were pretty well the same age and had been to neighbouring schools. For some reason - i'm not sure why - i told her that Barney was as a result of several IVF's. She told me her little boy was also an IVF baby - her first attempt, but one she waited 6 months for as her ovaries had not cooperated until she did 6 months of Chinese herbs/acu.puncture etc. She'd been at the evil clinic that told me not to bother.

I told her i'd written about our IF experience in a newspaper and her eyes filled with tears when she told me how she'd read each one and how much it had helped her and her husband. Her parents had refused to talk about it but had also read our columns. I welled up too. I was so pleased that we were able to touch others going through the same thing.

She's been told she shouldn't bother trying for a second child and is having a really hard time of it. I know how she feels but didn't feel there was much I could say to help her. I had all of her feelings, but how can I stand there with a belly full of baby spouting sympathy. It would seem patronising, so I kept schtum. I did tell her to get a consultation at my clinic. Her clinic is all too ready to write off the bad cases in case their numbers are affected, but she might as well get a second opinion. I think a key to all of this is to keep on trying. If i'd given up on their advice, who knows where i'd be now.