Ten Years Later

So I tried to get on to post this yesterday, but I couldn't remember all my log in info.

I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that my infertility journey began the week of September 11, 2001. What a week that was!

My sister got married to one of my husband's best friends the Saturday before. I thought that had disaster written all over it at the time. I put on my dress, donned my best smile, and kept my own secrets so as not to tarnish her day after months of planning.

Several weeks before it had been decided that I would have a laparascopy to see if pain that I had been experiencing was due to endometriosis. Well, I was having dizzy spells and what I'll call "microblackouts" as well. However, at least I had enough notice to sit down in a chair when my ears started ringing just before my world turned black. Since I'm a teacher this needed to be investigated, and many of my symptoms pointed to endometriosis. I think I was actually dreading the six months of lupron more than the surgery though. Medical menopause just doesn't sound like fun, and it's something people in their twenties don't think about.

Anyway, I kept all of that quiet through the wedding. My family had been under enough stress since my parents house was struck by lightening and caught fire in June. (Yeah, on my fifth anniversary actually.) My sister's wedding dress had been inside their house. If the fire department had arrived ten minutes later they would have lost everything. They owe their photos to someone who had called 911 while driving by. They did lose their pets.

Now I don't remember when I shared the news of my upcoming surgery with my family, but it wasn't until after the wedding.

My parents freaked out on September 11, 2001 because my sister was in Mexico on her honeymoon and couldn't get home. I told them she was perfectly safe outside of the United States, but they were looking into chartering a plane. Isn't it ironic that ten years later they wouldn't be so safe in Mexico?

So, looking back it took 9 years for us to get our family. Ten years later I'm holding my second baby and looking forward to her first birthday this week. I hate to think about the time I lost with my family due to infertility, but I know I wouldn't have the same girls if they had been born at any other time.