Stress

I find that I have been feeling stressed over this whole mess quite frequently. Some days are good, and some days are not so good. The not so good days I dwell on all the negative things and I really hate that. But sometimes its just hard to get out of the funk. I found this little excerpt about stress and infertility from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. 

Stress Causing Infertility- Though infertility is a highly stressful experience, there is very little evidence that infertility can be caused by stress.  In rare cases, high levels of stress in women can change hormone levels and cause irregular ovulation.

Infertility Causing Stress- Research has shown that women undergoing treatment for infertility have a similar, and often higher, level of "stress" as women dealing with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.  Infertile couples experience chronic stress each month, first hoping that they will conceive and then dealing with the disappointment if they do not.

Why Infertility Is Stressful- When diagnosed with infertility, many couples may no longer feel in control of their bodies or their life plan.  Infertility can be a major crisis because the important life goal of parenthood is threatened.  Experience has shown them that if they work hard at something, they can achieve it.  With IF, this may not be the case.  IF testing testing and treatments can be physically, emotionally, and financially stressful.  A couple's intimacy is often reduced by the IF experience which further contributes to increased stress levels.

I found it quite interesting that women undergoing infertility treatments have a similar or higher stress level than women going through life-threatening illnesses. I think that ties in with the 3rd point that speaks about the goal of parenthood being threatened. It just seems like such a natural and easy thing to be able to do. I mean millions of people do it every year! Have sex, and next thing you know 9 months later.... baby! Right?? Well here I am 2 years later, and no baby. Try and try with all our might, no baby. I do have faith that it will happen, but I would like it to happen sooner rather than later! Some other recent reading said that fertility starts to decrease after 27, seeing as 28 is coming up in a couple weeks we gotta get this baby started!!!