First Day of School Photos
I wished, every single day, that I would just be able to hold a healthy baby in my arms. So to all of you out there who are avoiding those photos, we see you.
Holiday Angst
Holiday tables filled with rude and insensitive family members you don't regularly see can feel like walking into a landmine. The memories can be impossible to forget.
Bad News After Bad News
“I really thought I was going to be pregnant by this year, and now I just don't know what to feel. I'm angry, sad, and numb most of the time. I hardly go out. And I don't even know if I can go to shul on RH.”
Circumstantial Infertility and Being Single
We share these heartbreaking words with you so that you can understand a little bit more about how hard it is for them to be carrying the weight of not being married AND not having children.
Hopeful During Holidays
Someone in one of our support groups recently asked, “A part of me is just hopeless when I think about the holidays. How do I stay hopeful during this time?”
Shana Tova Message
“It’s a New Year. I sit here and reflect where I was last year at this time. The hope that the one healthy embryo from our retrieval would implant and turn into the baby we dreamed of.”
Rosh Hashana Prayer
There is a concept in Judaism that if you pray for someone else to have _______, then that blessing will be bestowed upon you too. So, I'm asking all of you to pray.
Support Not Suggestions
It's important to share this message any time of year, but especially now when so many of you are seeing friends and family who may not know the intricacies of your situation.
Guilt Versus Shame
When we feel bad about something we did (or didn’t do, we tend to experience guilt. When we feel that *we are bad* for something we did (or didn’t do). We tend to experience shame.
Forgive Yourself
We want G-d to forgive us for all our sins, but He can only do so if we are also gentle with ourselves. Look inside and be kind to the you that is hurting.
It’s Yom Kippur Again
On behalf of everyone at IWSTHAB, may this be the year where no one suffers, and Hashem answers all of your prayers. Gmar chasima tova. Xoxo, Aimee
Lighting a Candle
I know I preach about #youdoyou a lot, but it’s because I truly believe it and it’s the way I try to lead my own life. Do what feels right for you, not because others are doing it.
Simchat Torah
I have a pit in my stomach. A feeling of nausea mixed with sadness that gets stronger each day. Simchas Torah is coming. A day usually filled with unbridled joy and exuberance makes me want to curl up in my bed.
Simchat Torah & Infertility
“Simchas Torah So many emotions surround this day. A day we celebrate torah. Fathers dance with their kids. Round and round the bimah. Holding torah scrolls.”
The Problem Isn't Us
We, in the fertility community, are not the problem. We talk about our pain. We talk about our struggles. We educate and sensitize people to what we are going through.
Life With Grief
Huge thanks to this anonymous follower for giving us a glimpse into her world over the last few weeks. 💔 (some details have been changed to protect her anonymity)
Functioning at 30%
To those of you who are functioning at 30% right now, we see you. We know how hard it is to get through another day. But know this - You are seen. You are loved. And you are safe here.
How Do I Know When I’m Healed?
“We just learn to carry it better. There isn't a ‘remission’ for us per se or one specific day where I suddenly get to say I'm over it because I'll never be ‘over it.’”
At Some Point
Grief is the thing that underlies all of the work that we do. Grief about the lost expectations of what your life was "supposed to" look like. We are here for all of it.
Dear World
There is a so much pain in our community. People feel isolated and so distant from what is going on around then, because of everything they are carrying on the inside.