Cycle 17 is Already a Bitch

17. 17 cycles and I'm still not pregnant.

I didn't even cry when my period showed yesterday. It was as if I expected it to. It's second nature now, that dissapointment. I had some hope this last cycle, which I kick myself for now. No spotting until the day before FP showed and FP showed late. I figure any made up "symptoms" were created by my body to merely to mess with my head.

This became an even bigger slap in the face this afternoon when a former BOTB regular on the Nest showed up today to announce her second BFP. I remember her first BFP and while I liked her, I just couldn't muster up a congrats in her announcement post.

Because it just isn't fair and I'm tired of being bitter and sad.

I've Been Tagged

From JackiTiger's blog...

"The Meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet $10 that he could sum up his life in six words. His were- "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."

These things are always difficult for me. Can I really sum up my life in 6 words? It's quite the challenge. After thinking about it for a while I came up with an Emily Dickinson quote which seems to summarize much of my life and currently the bane of my existence.




Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


Hope is something that I think I've had my whole life in one way or another. I started out on the hopes of others. I wasn't supposed to make it, I wasn't expected to last the day but as my mother and family hoped I would, I made it.

As a child I hoped my life would get better, that I'd find a peace in my world and someone to love me. Abuse has a way of stealing hope but I came out on the other side stronger than I could have imagined, and just...a little bit broken.

As a teenager, I hoped I would come into myself, that my eccentricities would be valued, that my looks be appreciated. I hoped that my self confidence would blossom. Through theatre it did. With adulthood, I learned to love me, well most of the time.

I had hope through relationships and hardships that I would make it through, that I would succeed. I've accomplished both at least a little bit.

That hope is now squarely focused on being a mom. There is nothing I hope for more than having a baby. Whether that hope is realized remains to be seen but I'll try to keep the hope alive, I will indeed try.

So my meme is: Hope is the thing with feathers

I will now tag:

MayT
Adkins
Mandybr
T-Bird
AlpacaBunny

"Who Against Hope Believed in Hope"

Hope is a double-edged sword. On one hand I want to have hope, and on the the other I wish it to be gone because, with hope, comes disappointment and heartache. This past cycle hope found me again and then left me battered, bruised, and literally bleeding at the end of it. Once again no baby for me, no hope, no real chance.

It was then that I thought of a song from my childhood.

I received my copy of Glory and Praise I got off of Ebay, today and wanted to share the first two verses of the song I sang at my First Communion. I've always loved it, but it has come to mean so much more for me now, especially as I deal with the pain of IF.

It is a religious song (actually taken from some words found written on a wall at Auschwitz) though I think it could have some meaning for many people.

I Believe in the Sun

I believe in the sun, even when it isn't shining.
I believe in love, even when there's no one there.
And I believe in God, I believe in God,
Even when he is silent.

I believe in miracles, I believe in light.
I believe there can always be a way.
I believe that nothing is impossible, I believe that nothing is impossible.
That all things are possible with God.