A Family Comment That Sparked Thoughts About “Completing Your Family” The other week, my aunt came over for a quick visit. She gave me a hug, saw my daughter, and couldn’t get over how much she looks like me (my aunt used to watch me when I was younger). On her way out, she asked…

The Quiet Shift No One Talks About in Secondary Infertility No one tells you what it feels like to stop trying… without really deciding to stop. When my husband and I first started trying for our second child, we naively thought I’d be pregnant by the third month—at the very least. I remember when three…

The other night as I was putting my daughter to bed, she told me that at school two caterpillars had made their cocoons next to each other like “sisters.” I chuckled and said, “Like me and you are sisters.” She looked at me and said, “You’re not my sister. Bunny is my sister.” Bunny is…

Bedtime Routines and the Emotional Journey of Motherhood Since my daughter was born, she has had a bedtime routine: reading books, cuddles, and one of us staying in her room until she fell asleep. Even though she’s had her own room for a few years, she hasn’t actually slept alone most nights. My daughter is…

A Quiet Kind of Openness During Secondary Infertility Lately I’ve been thinking about IVF in a very different way than I expected. Not obsessively. Not urgently. Just… quietly. I’ve done two cycles of IUI, and both failed. After my second IUI, my fertility doctor mentioned trying another round—except this time I would take a pill…

A Common Comment About Only Children That Stuck With Me This past winter break, my little family and I took a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida with my parents-in-law. My daughter loves Disneyland (and so do I), so we were especially excited for this trip—particularly because I had never been to Disney World…

While Navigating Secondary Infertility When Family Asks, “When Are You Having Another?” About a year ago, my husband, our daughter, and I went to Hawaii over the summer with my in-laws (my husband’s parents). At the time, my daughter was four, and my sister-in-law—who didn’t come on the trip—was pregnant with her second child. Naturally,…

Navigating secondary infertility for the past two—going on three—years unexpectedly changed my relationship with my daughter for the better. It didn’t just change how I felt about having another child; it changed how I showed up for the one I already had. Before Secondary Infertility: When Motherhood Felt Simpler For the first three years of…

Starting Fertility Treatments While Working Time After a year and a half of trying, my husband and I finally decided to make an appointment with a fertility clinic. Both of us work, so we cleared our schedules for phone calls and in-person appointments. At first, it felt exciting—like starting treatment would bring us one step…

Living with the Uncertainty of Secondary Infertility About two to three times a year, my husband has to travel out of town for work conferences, meetings, or retreats. When he’s gone, I’m “solo parenting” and in charge of everything—cooking, cleaning, school drop-offs and pick-ups, and putting our daughter to bed. Even when it’s only for…