You all know I have been very open in sharing our IVF journey. I remember being so nervous and not knowing if I should put such a personal side of us out there for everyone to read.
But the response and support and love we have received from everyone has been so incredible. Hearing how many other women have went or are going through the same struggles and how many people thanked us for making it OK to talk about – we knew we made the right choice.
And ultimately it led to the creation of The Kyle & Samantha Busch Bundle of Joy Fund where we’ve been able to provide funding to 22 couples to help cover the cost of their infertility treatments. And I’m so thrilled to say we have 11 Bundle of Joy babies born and one more on the way. That is so incredible and we are so thankful to be in a position where we can help others!
That leads me to where we are today. I am so excited to be working on a really special IVF related project! I can’t go into a lot of details yet (I will share as soon as I can, I promise!), but it will help us raise awareness about infertility struggles and hopefully increase our funding to be able to help more families.
You all have been so open with me in sharing your stories, and I would love to hear from you! I’m working on collecting stories from other women who have gone through the infertility journey. No details are TMI or too vulgar, trust me … here are a couple of my best IVF moments:
I, of all people, understand that the whole infertility journey is not funny at all. But I’m sure many of you can agree that, in retrospect, some of the things that you did throughout the process were actually quite comical.
For example, when I was on Clomid during my treatment, I was probably certifiably insane. I had a stage five meltdown and almost divorced Kyle when he didn’t start bawling during Titanic like I did. I also broke down in tears to the cashier at Panera read when they accidentally gave me the wrong dressing – like it was the end of the world!
And don’t even get me started on actually trying to have a baby the natural way. From odd sex positions to standing on my head (duh, gravity has to help those swimmers). We tried everything!
Below are some of the topics we are looking for, but feel free to add any other stories or experiences from your journey that you think would help others feel like what they are going through is normal!
- How you handled/reacted to Clomid or other fertility drugs
- How you tried to conceive naturally (sex and any other supplements/remedies you tried)
- How you coped during the process
- Your strategies for managing stress
- How your partner helped you (or … didn’t quite!)
- Who gave you the most support
- Something that happened that really made you laugh (or cry)
- How you did things (like giving yourself shots) that you never thought you’d be able to do
- The most important things you learned (about yourself, your husband, your marriage) during IVF
Please feel free to make up a fake name if you wish and know that these can possibly be used for publication down the road. Please send your stories to samanthabuschIVF@gmail.com.
It’s beyond time that IVF loses the stigma that it has and more people are open about their infertility struggles as it seems to be more and more common. This is a safe place for you to vent and know that others have gone through what you’re experiencing.
Lots of love to those of you still on your journey!
Samantha
