Helen Egan is a Pharmacy Manager Boots and is about to go back to work after having her first baby.
Once my husband and I decided it was the right time to try and have a baby, it took us about 12 months to conceive. We were so excited that we paid to go for an early scan to meet the baby straight away. There wasn’t a heartbeat. I was still exhibiting pregnancy symptoms, I had morning sickness, I still felt very bloated but I had had an early miscarriage after about 9 weeks.
We were devastated. I don’t think at that stage we had even thought about the possibility of a miscarriage – it hadn’t come into my head. We took a little break, then were lucky enough to conceive again quite quickly but experienced another early miscarriage. It makes you question yourself and everything you’ve done. You really do blame yourself.
We did all the tests and were told there wasn’t anything wrong with either of us so we should just keep trying. Which we did, then went back six months later with still no joy. We set a date for IVF though we weren’t keen on that route, because of the emotional and physical strain it would put on us, and tried some medication in the meantime.
It was at this point that we heard about DuoFertility – a tiny monitor you wear just under your arm that records your temperature and lets you know when you’re most likely to conceive. We bought one, and started sending my temperature daily to DuoFertility. They analysed the data and sent us a chart of our predicted conception days. Having that information and data made us both feel more proactive and it lifted us out of a really dark place.
On our second month of trying this method, we conceived. It was absolutely unbelievable! We’re really lucky in that respect as normally it takes a bit longer but now here we are with a six-month old. Looking at her still makes me smile. I can’t quite believe that this little creature is ours. She’s very, very special.
My advice to anyone going through anything similar would be to relax. The more stressed you are, the less likely you are to conceive. You really do have to stop trying and stop putting pressure on yourself.
Click here for Helen’s thoughts on childcare solutions, and her mixed feelings about going back to work.
