Infertility Hat Trick
I grew up with a sports loving dad who had no sons. Hence, it is no surprise I love sports. Jeremy was quite excited that I got into Mountaineer and Steeler football each fall and that I love Mountaineer basketball. I even know a little bit about volleyball and softball because my sister played both. However, my dad was never much into hockey. I guess it just wasn't his game. My husband, however, is a different story.
Jeremy loves the Pittsburgh Penguins. He loved them in the Lemieux days of his childhood, during the dark days before Crosby and he loves them still. (To be fair, he has loved the Pirates since childhood... and finally got a bit of a payoff for the first time in 20 years.) During our marriage, he had long tried to bring me into his world of hockey, but I resisted. However, for Valentine's Day 2013, I bought him two tickets to a Pens game and told him he could take whoever he wanted. He picked me.
Long story short, taking me to a game is all it took. I fell in love with it. Now, we head to the arena any time the Penguins come to town, which only happens a couple of times a year. One of those times was last night. For my birthday, Jeremy made sure I was attired properly for the Pens game this year since I simply stole one of his shirts last year. He bought me my very own bling accented Pens shirt. Love it!
During the intermissions in the game, I began to think about, what else, but this whole infertility thing. It actually came to me because of a video I watched with Aisha Tyler talking about her infertility. She talked about her first steps to get pregnant--- pulling the goalie. That's a pretty straightforward one of the hockey analogies that exists with trying to conceive and infertility. However, in the spirit of hockey, I'm going for a hat trick.
1. It costs a small fortune to get involved.
Hockey is not a cheap sport you can just pop into. Skates, pads, sticks, pucks and all the other things involved are not cheap. In many places where icy ponds are not frozen hard enough for skating, you also have to pay to use the rink for ice time. It's all costly. It's not like basketball where all you need is a ball and a rim.
The same goes with trying to conceive. What is cheap for so many costs a fortune for the few. Meds, procedures, blood tests, ultrasounds, office visits and more all cost money. And, insurance covers little to none of it. Just like hockey, infertility treatments are not for the faint of heart.
2. Getting pregnant would be our very own "Miracle."
Much like the famed Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games (which, incidentally is the year both Jeremy and I were born), it would feel miraculous if we ever get pregnant. Infertility is not Communist Russia and our victory would not unite a nation. But, as long as we have been trying for a baby, a pregnancy would feel like we whipped our own Goliath and made our own kind of history.
And the final goal in the hat trick...
3. The odds are small, but you just keep trying.
Hockey is a low scoring affair. It's not uncommon to see 1-0 or 2-1 scores in the sport. They play 3- 20 minute period. That means, in most games, there is a whole lot of not scoring. Each time the players make a break down the ice, the odds of them actually scoring a goal are small. Yet, they keep skating and they keep shooting.
My doctors have reminded me just how small the odds of a pregnancy are in any given month (about 10%, give or take). That means far more people trying to get pregnant end up not pregnant than end of pregnant. After nearly 12 medicated cycles, we're definitely in that mix. But, much like those hockey players, we have a goal in mind. We know statistically it's a long shot that we'll even score one goal, let alone a hat trick.
Jeremy loves the Pittsburgh Penguins. He loved them in the Lemieux days of his childhood, during the dark days before Crosby and he loves them still. (To be fair, he has loved the Pirates since childhood... and finally got a bit of a payoff for the first time in 20 years.) During our marriage, he had long tried to bring me into his world of hockey, but I resisted. However, for Valentine's Day 2013, I bought him two tickets to a Pens game and told him he could take whoever he wanted. He picked me.
Long story short, taking me to a game is all it took. I fell in love with it. Now, we head to the arena any time the Penguins come to town, which only happens a couple of times a year. One of those times was last night. For my birthday, Jeremy made sure I was attired properly for the Pens game this year since I simply stole one of his shirts last year. He bought me my very own bling accented Pens shirt. Love it!
During the intermissions in the game, I began to think about, what else, but this whole infertility thing. It actually came to me because of a video I watched with Aisha Tyler talking about her infertility. She talked about her first steps to get pregnant--- pulling the goalie. That's a pretty straightforward one of the hockey analogies that exists with trying to conceive and infertility. However, in the spirit of hockey, I'm going for a hat trick.
1. It costs a small fortune to get involved.
Hockey is not a cheap sport you can just pop into. Skates, pads, sticks, pucks and all the other things involved are not cheap. In many places where icy ponds are not frozen hard enough for skating, you also have to pay to use the rink for ice time. It's all costly. It's not like basketball where all you need is a ball and a rim.
The same goes with trying to conceive. What is cheap for so many costs a fortune for the few. Meds, procedures, blood tests, ultrasounds, office visits and more all cost money. And, insurance covers little to none of it. Just like hockey, infertility treatments are not for the faint of heart.
2. Getting pregnant would be our very own "Miracle."
Much like the famed Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games (which, incidentally is the year both Jeremy and I were born), it would feel miraculous if we ever get pregnant. Infertility is not Communist Russia and our victory would not unite a nation. But, as long as we have been trying for a baby, a pregnancy would feel like we whipped our own Goliath and made our own kind of history.
And the final goal in the hat trick...
3. The odds are small, but you just keep trying.
Hockey is a low scoring affair. It's not uncommon to see 1-0 or 2-1 scores in the sport. They play 3- 20 minute period. That means, in most games, there is a whole lot of not scoring. Each time the players make a break down the ice, the odds of them actually scoring a goal are small. Yet, they keep skating and they keep shooting.
My doctors have reminded me just how small the odds of a pregnancy are in any given month (about 10%, give or take). That means far more people trying to get pregnant end up not pregnant than end of pregnant. After nearly 12 medicated cycles, we're definitely in that mix. But, much like those hockey players, we have a goal in mind. We know statistically it's a long shot that we'll even score one goal, let alone a hat trick.
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