How to Deal When You’re Struggling to Get Pregnant
Infertility majorly sucks. According to the CDC, 7.5 million women have some sort of issue that impairs their ability to get or stay pregnant. If you’re one of those women, it can be frustrating when your friends are filling their Instagrams with pretty little pics of their angelic newborns, their bulging baby bumps, and their positive pregnancy tests. Hey, no one blames you for getting upset. Instead of letting the stress of infertility take over your life, check out these ways to beat the hard-to-have-a-baby blues.
1. Share your feelings. Stuffing your infertility fears and feelings deep down won’t do you any good. At some point, there won’t be enough room for all those emotions — and what happens next won’t be cute. Talk to someone about what you’re going through. Whether you chat with your S.O., BFF, mom, doctor, or therapist, sharing your feelings is a way of caring for yourself. It puts you in control and stops negative feelings from taking over every aspect of your day.
2. Write them down. You let the flood gates open and started talking about your feelings, but then you couldn’t shut them down. Now you’re obsessing about your infertility and telling random people (the bagger at the grocery store and the perfume lady at the mall) about your struggles. Whoa. Pump the brakes. It’s perfectly okay to talk to your close friends and family about what you’re dealing with, but if it’s all that you talk about, try writing down your issues instead. Take a day to get your story out, or start a daily journal. This lets you release your feelings and then move on.
3. Keep up your connections. It’s beyond easy to let your infertility frustrations take over your life to the point where you cut all social ties. You’re in baby mode 24/7, and it’s putting your bestie’s birthday and your coworker’s weekly margarita night on hold. Severing your social life isn’t the way to relax and destress. You need your friends to take you out and help you focus on something other than getting pregnant. Make plans, keep texting, and actually go out and see your people!
4. Find a new hobby. Sitting on the couch binge-watching TheWalking Dead is *not* a hobby. You’ve got plenty of time on your hands right now, so use it. Hopefully, you’ll be pregnant soon, and that means your free time will vanish. For now, use your time wisely, and find a new hobby — whether it’s knitting, cooking, or learning a new language. You’ll occupy your mind and learn something totally new.
5. Talk about something else. Sometimes you just need time with your S.O. that doesn’t involve talking about getting pregnant. Maybe it’s a date-night rule or maybe you verbally rope off specific times of the day. Just make a point to enjoy each other’s company without talking about your infertility struggles. Talk about that great summer vacay you’re planning, your S.O.’s exciting work project, or anything that doesn’t involve your basal body temperature or cervical mucus.
How do you take your mind off infertility?Share your tips and tweet us @BritandCo!
(Photo via Getty)