I am a unicorn

Recently Patient Subfertility wrote about the phenomenon known as an "infertility unicorn".

Awaiting Autumn describes it best:

An infertility unicorn is a woman whose story gives hope to so many other struggling women. She's the woman who - just when she was about to run out of money, hope, strength and actual eggs - magically conceives naturally and goes on to give birth to a beautiful miracle baby. 

The irony of the infertility unicorn is that very few people have actually known one... except for the know-it-all fertiles who relentlessly give you advice like "just relax". They always seem to know an infertility unicorn...

I'm not writing about being a unicorn to boast. I'm actually writing because I want to give hope.

Before I go further, let me say this; I never had a definitive infertility diagnosis. I wasn't really listed as unexplained infertility, either. It was assumed my age was a factor along with below average AMH (but normal FSH) results.

I would ovulate every month and have completely normal cycles. Sperm analyses were all normal.

My first RE hypothesized that the positioning of my cervix was an impediment (making it hard for sperm to get where they needed to be to fertilize and egg). My OB thought that theory was unlikely. And, it turns out, he was probably right.

Mostly likely, all I needed was time to get pregnant. But, at 38 (when we started), time wasn't something we had a lot of.

Ultimately, we did get pregnant naturally. And (coincidentally?), it did come when we had decided to take a break, spend time getting healthier before diving into IVF.

I had given up hope on getting pregnant naturally and was absolutely dreading IVF. But, I was going to do it because having another baby meant that much to us both.

Don't give up friends. Keep fighting the good fight and know I'm right here cheering you on. I haven't forgotten a single one of you still in the trenches working hard to get your baby.