Infertility
Infertility-fertility: why can't I have a baby?
By Sandra Robertson
Why can't I have a baby? That was a question I used
to ask myself all the time. When you want a baby so badly, it
seems that every other woman in the world just has to blink her
eyes and presto! She's pregnant. You're left marinating in your
own thoughts of failure, unworthiness, and not deserving to have
what you consider to be the most rewarding and joyful experience
of your life.
I spent six years trying to have a baby. It goes without saying,
that's a long time! But during those six years, I learned a lot
about myself and about the way I attract what I want in my life.
Initially, my husband and I decided to pursue fertility treatments.
We tried medications, inseminations, and IVF (in-vitro fertilization)
twice. The medications and inseminations didn't work at all, and
the IVF's ended in miscarriage and the removal of one of my fallopian
tubes. We decided to discontinue our fertility treatments because
we had spent about $25,000 and wound up worse off than when we
started. But, after doing much research, I realized that even
though I was over 40, I still could get pregnant. Just because
my fertility treatments failed, it didn't mean that I couldn't
have a baby, it just meant that the ‘high tech' route was
not the answer. Afterall, I had always been an advocate of "clean
living"—I rarely took medications, and I've always
been one that enjoyed an "all natural" lifestyle. It
should have been no surprise that fertility treatments didn't
work. All the drugs and hormones associated with fertility treatments
basically bombarded my system with what I now consider to be toxic
chemicals. Is that anyway to try to bring a child into the world?
Not for me.
Now, just for the record, let me say that some women do need
fertility treatments depending on their diagnosis. For instance,
if your tubes are totally blocked, the only way to get around
that is IVF. But for many people who fall into the "unexplained
category", fertility treatments may not be the answer. After
much research, I developed a "pregnancy protocol" which
resulted in four pregnancies over the age of 40! Once I started
getting pregnant, my problem became miscarriage, not infertility.
The first three naturally conceived pregnancies ended in miscarriage,
but as I refined my protocol and as I got healthier and more hormonally
balanced, I finally carried my last pregnancy to term without
complications. I was 44 when I had my beautiful daughter.
One piece of my pregnancy protocol was changing what I call my
‘pregnancy mindset”. When you're struggling with infertility
or miscarriage, you start to believe that a successful pregnancy
is impossible and you fall into the “why me?” trap.
You become a victim of infertility and “victimhood”
is very disempowering. Instead you need to change your thoughts
to thoughts of success. Instead of saying “I can't have
a baby”, you need to be happy and joyful that your baby
is on the way. You need to open your heart and your mind and tell
yourself that your baby will come when the time is right. The
problem is that when you're so far down, it's hard to climb out.
It's hard to get your hopes up only to deal with the constant
disappointment of either not getting pregnant, or miscarrying.
If you were a new soul ready to make your journey into the world
(or in this case—into the womb), wouldn't you prefer to
come into an environment that was calm, peaceful and receptive?
When you're struggling with infertility, you're usually in a place
of anger, disappointment, jealousy, and frustration. Is this the
environment you would choose? Honestly, I think that's one reason
that some couples get pregnant after giving up their dreams of
having a family or after deciding to adopt. They finally let go
of their ill feelings and move into acceptance. They quit trying
to force things in to place which makes room for success. Believe
me, you can't force babies into anything. They will do things
in their own time, on their own schedule.
One technique I used for changing my mindset was visualization.
I would picture my baby in my mind. I would hold her, I would
play with her, and I could feel the love for her deep down in
my soul. My visualizations were so strong that I would find myself
smiling without even knowing it! When you have such loving thoughts,
your mindset is automatically lifted and this becomes your point
of attraction. Alternately, when you're feeling angry and deprived,
your point of attraction is heartache and pain and this is what
you manifest in your life. I brought myself to a place where in
my mind I already had a baby. If I saw other pregnant women, instead
of being jealous, I would look at them and think, they have such
a miracle inside of them, just like me. I planned out my maternity
wardrobe, I planned my nursery, it was a done deal. When you're
in the right mindset it's easy to succeed. It becomes hard to
fail!
Don't be afraid to picture success. Don't fall into the trap
of thinking you're going to set yourself up for disappointment.
These thoughts may be keeping you from the very thing you want
so much. You can create what you want in your life whether it's
having a baby, or anything else. If you go back and examine your
past, think of all the things you've achieved. Can you see how
you manifested them? Take credit! It was no accident. Your point
of attraction was success.
Copyright © 2006 Sandy Robertson
About the Author:
Sandy Robertson is the author of You
Can Get Pregnant Over 40, Naturally. She is a stay-at-home
mom who also writes and teaches part-time at a local community
college. She has volunteered for her local infertility organization
as the women's support group leader and continues to speak to
women and couples struggling with infertility and miscarriage.
She recently started the Get
Pregnant Over 35 and 40 online support and discussion boards.