I Growing up, my mom grew marigolds in our backyard. They lined the side fences along Charlie and Florence’s yards, but sometimes, you could find them scattered around the front yard. Now they sit in a black pot, near my parents’ back door. II At a restaurant for my friend’s 48th birthday, dried marigolds hung… Continue reading Marigold Poem (unfinished)
Tag: IVF
This Spring Air
There’s a lightness, this spring. The heavy air that weighed me down in winter grief, isn’t completely gone, but it has mostly dissipated. Walking with a smile is an easier task and I’m able to see strength in my body, where I used to see weakness. One thing about infertility, is that it will push… Continue reading This Spring Air
Moving…Forward?
The bruises on my abdomen are gone, along with the dark blue and green ones that lived in the crook of my arm. There are no early morning appointments or amped up anxiety. Life is sort of calm, maybe quiet. On February 16 we transferred our only embryo, and a week or so later, we… Continue reading Moving…Forward?
After February 16
It’s been four months since our failed IVF transfer. Four months since I’ve been able to write about it or even have a meaningful conversation with others about it. Time has moved quickly, and not at all, at the same time. Immediately after learning that we weren’t pregnant, without my having to ask, my partner… Continue reading After February 16
“Home is a Sweater” (Finishing Line Press Book of the Day)
FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Home is a Sweater by Stefanie Wielkopolan ADVANCE ORDER: https://finishinglinepress.com/product/home-is-a-sweater-by-stefanie-wielkopolan/… Home is a Sweater reflects on ideas of #place, #infertility, #trauma, and hope. A series of poems explore memories held within specific organs of the body and others use tangible objects to reflect on absence and loss. Pieces take you… Continue reading “Home is a Sweater” (Finishing Line Press Book of the Day)
Inventory
I scan the bookshelf next to my side of the bed. The double row of books, like an artifact or exhibit of what my focus, our focus, has been the past five years. Memoirs about women, deemed infertile, who eventually got pregnant, books on how to make changes in your life so that you too… Continue reading Inventory
February 16, 2023
After a handful of cancelled embryo transfers, tweaks in protocols, tests, and delays, we were finally on track. February 16, 2023 would be our transfer date, for real this time. We felt that the date was a sign, as it was my grandma’s birthday, and the next day was my father-in-law’s birthday. Two people that… Continue reading February 16, 2023
Progesterone? Oh. Hell. No
Pittsburgh winters, in and of themselves, are a real jerk. Endless days of overcast clouds, cold winds that slap you in the face as you walk to work, and barely any snow to pretty things up are common ingredients for the months of November through March. Couple a string of grey days together, with a… Continue reading Progesterone? Oh. Hell. No
Into a New Year
The hardest part about writing this blog, for me, has been letting people I know I’m sad. It’s not so much that you know that I’m sad, it’s just this nagging feeling that I’m somehow being ungrateful by being frustrated, angry, and upset that it’s been 5 ½ years since we decided to start a… Continue reading Into a New Year
Irony? It’s Not Lost on Me
Recently, at one of the many 6:30 a.m. appointments at my fertility clinic, the irony of where the office is situated, was not lost on me. The fertility clinic is located inside a hospital for women. Makes sense, right? A place where women of all ages can come for wellness visits, fertility treatments, women’s health,… Continue reading Irony? It’s Not Lost on Me
Stefanie Wielkopolan 