Infertility Awareness.....Silent and Unknown Struggles

It has been so wonderful to see these blog posts helping other ladies in their journey. So many people are sharing these blogs and their friends are commenting on them with their own stories. It has truly been a rewarding project knowing we have spread awareness and shed light.

A lot of times women suffer in silent. Their struggles are not known to us or anyone else. They struggle in silent and sometimes they appear to be the strongest people we know.We all deal differently and we all approach out journey differently. The key part is that there is no correct way to deal with these topics. There is no right way to grieve. There is no right way to deal with floods of emotions when someone else shares pregnancy joys and you are struggling.

Always know you do not have to do it alone.

 Meet Hadley and Ivy

Hadley and her husband began trying for a child. After about eight months they would learn that she was pregnant but lost the baby at the same time. She never knew she was pregnant since it was around 6 weeks gestation. In fact many miscarriages early on like this are not even known and are extremely common. In addition to learning this news, Hadley was also told that she probably couldn't conceive easily or carry a baby naturally due to a blood clotting disorder. Six months later she became pregnant again. She had a smooth pregnancy and her sweet little girl Ivy. Despite the ease of getting pregnant again and having a smooth pregnancy she still faces challenges in her journey. The hardest part has been learning it doesn’t always go as planned. Since having Ivy I’ve struggled with being disconnected from her, my husband, and even myself. Sometimes my thoughts get the best of me. And I struggle with thinking am I doing this right, or what can I do to be better. I have become more self conscious. My sense of confidence has become very blurred and I have often found my self over thinking little things. My biggest support has been AJ. He has kept me on track and taken initiative to step up and be my biggest fan when I need it most.
In fact in a world where mom guilt is so thick I love what she says: We should all be there for each other, because everyone is struggling with their own things. It can be the smallest thing or the biggest thing but everyone has a thing.

Meet Shannon

Shannon came out to the shoot after her friend shared the project with her. Shannon is waiting for the arrival of her second baby. When talking with Shannon it was neat to see her view of her journey. Shannon's first daughter is 5 years old. She had no issue conceiving her. When it came time for number too it took longer than expected which was hard some days for Shannon. I asked her if she struggled with infertility to which she replied: We weren’t preventing it if we did get pregnant but we also weren’t hard core trying to conceive. I’ve never knew my ovulation schedule until recently I really started tracking it before getting pregnant this second time. I never thought of it as infertility. I honestly thought that God didn’t think I was good enough to raise a second child as much as I wanted another one I was just in a dark place.  Yet despite her struggle in silent she shared this touching thought: God’s plan is so much better than what we think our life should look like. I’m extremely blessed for this new baby. My daughter being older is able to experience this whole pregnancy with me. She’s super excited for her brothers arrival and will be the best big sister. I would never have had any of this if my kids were closer in age so I’m grateful for the age gap.

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National Infertility Week...Special Project {Brevard County Photographer}

If you've followed me for a few years you know that I am very passionate about infertility and the struggle women face to get pregnant AND the struggle women face to stay pregnant and raise their babies. Having struggled myself with infertility for years, I know the emotions, the pain, the unanswered questions and more that surround these women.

I know that despite the fear and the shame you tell yourself, that there are other women going through the same journey you are. That you are not alone and that there is hope and support for you.

This special project came to me in the midst of my own struggle. As I sit in the middle of my second season of infertility with so many questions and heartache, I wanted to be a light to others in the same boat. I wanted to reach out to these women and just remind them that this does not define them. As this idea played in my head for weeks, I decided if I was going to talk about infertility, I was going to talk about loss, and the other struggles that come with this journey of motherhood.

So I went to facebook and put out a very sensitive post asking for women to help me. Asking women to be a part of an even that would tell others their story. I wanted the world to see the faces behind these statistics. We hear all the time that 1 in 8 couples struggle with infertility. But sometimes we don't even know what that means until we ourselves become the statistic. And for some that may never happen. For others, they might know someone and sadly for many they are that statistic. Yet many people don't even know. They hide their feelings, the smile through the endless questions about expanding their family, and they keep their struggle to themselves.

We need to change this. While there are so many advances in the medical world to help women conceive, we are still not there are a society to openly talk about it without making people uncomfortable. We don't just tell the ones who are struggling we are there for them any way we can be.

So as I share this week with you, please take heart that these women have opened their hearts and shared their story. We will be highlighting those who struggle with infertility, loss and more.

I cannot thank the brave women who showed up and made this possible. We had such an amazing support from those walking the same path as us and those who never experienced any of it but wanted to see this vision come to life and support the women who were brave enough to open up. SO THANK YOU!

If you are struggling and you want to talk, please reach out to me. I am very open about my own struggle with infertility and want to be there for you in this journey.

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