This infertility story began as a love story… and it still is a love story.
I like to hear about of how couples met. I like to tell people how we met. It started as a grade 9 crush. Dustin was in grade 11, had curly blonde locks, and played in a band. Of course, he had no idea who I was. But as luck would have it, our families ended up attending the same church and we finally met. Fast forward a few years, when I was 19 and he was 21, and we started running into each other out and about. Still had a crush on him, but I was a “serial dater” back then and I always seemed to have a boyfriend. Fast forward a few more years, the stars finally aligned, and Dustin took me out on our first date. It was January, -40 outside, and we went for drinks downtown. I think I knew on the first date that I was going to marry him. On March 17th, he asked if we could “make it official” and said he chose St. Patrick’s Day so that he wouldn’t forget our anniversary.
We dated for a year and a half and on New Year’s Eve 2011, Dustin proposed on a beach in Los Cabos. He was planning to pop the question on a yacht, but the yacht turned out to be a catamaran with all you could drink Corona. So instead, he had the resort staff set up a table on the beach with champagne and flower petals and the whole bit. He told me we were going to have sunset pictures taken. So, I got all dressed up and walked down to the ocean and that’s when I saw the setup. The proposal was beautiful, and I was over the moon. We didn’t want to spend years planning a wedding, so we got right to it. We had a large but simple wedding on June 2nd, six months after we got engaged. As I mentioned in my previous post, all my grandparents and our parents were there. It was an amazing day.
At the end of July, we travelled to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. We had more adventures than I could have imagined, including repelling, ziplining, hiking, surfing, quadding, getting stranded on a broken-down quad 3 hours from our hotel, and almost sliding down the side of a cliff in our rental car.
When we returned from our honeymoon, we encountered two of our first hardships together. First, my mom had invasive surgery to remove cancer in her colon. Second, my grandpa had fallen while out for a walk and broke his neck. I was able to visit mom and grandpa in the hospital at the same time the day we got back from Costa Rica. Grandpa passed away the next day. Looking back, I think these two events prepared us for our challenges to come. When it felt like my world was collapsing, Dustin was there. Sometimes when we’re faced with adversity, we want to run… Dustin and I have never run from each other. Challenges have brought us closer together.
It Might Be Something Better Than You Planned
At the beginning of September, Dustin had to take our dog, Pieces, to the vet. She has an underactive thyroid (just like me!) so, she is on daily medication. When her prescription runs out, she needs to have blood work done (also, like me!) to make sure there are no adjustments that need to be…
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It’s Still a Miracle
I was chatting with a friend a few months ago about this blog and my Icing and Animal Crackers Instagram page. She asked if I was going to continue writing, even though we are no longer trying to have children. I started the blog in August 2021 after our second donor embryo transfer ended in…
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Team 11
Last Friday, we celebrated our 11th anniversary! It’s hard to believe it’s been 11 years; as they say, time flies when you’re having fun! But if you have read my blog from the beginning, you know the last 10 years have not all been “fun”. You’ll also know that seeing a counsellor has been important…
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National Infertility Awareness Week 2023
This week is National Infertility Awareness Week and honestly, it crept up on me this year! I remember the first year that I made a social media post for NIAW. I was so nervous for what people’s reaction would be, but I also wanted to make people aware that this is something that affects 1…
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There’s No Good Answer
I apologize in advance; this is not going to be an uplifting post! But I wanted closure for this part of our story before I write about how we continue to rebuild our life after all we have gone through. So, here it is: March 1st, 2022, we transferred two donor embryos. March 14th it was…
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Not the End
It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. I’ve sat down a few times between now and November and attempted to write. I’ve started a few and not finished. I’ve finished a few and decided I wasn’t ready to post. The following is a post I started writing back in October. It has…
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Celebrities: They’re Just Like Us
A monumental event happened this week in the infertility world, specifically for the childless community. Jennifer Aniston did an interview with Allure Magazine and spoke openly about her infertility. On my Icing and Animal Crackers Instagram account I follow other fertility related accounts. Let me tell you, my feed was blown up with posts about the…
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Third Time is Not a Charm
Everything was different in our third transfer. My body was responding well to the medication now that it was being regulated. My ultrasound results were better than they had ever been. We found a donor with two very high-quality embryos. We spent a few days relaxing by the ocean after the transfer. When we got…
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To Twin or Not to Twin
From September to January, I monitored my thyroid (TSH level) through lab work. In January, my naturopath felt I was in a good range to begin prepping for our next donor embryo cycle. When choosing our first and second donor embryos, we prioritized characteristics that were similar to ours. In our third cycle, we asked…
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This Summer
Time flies! It’s been over a month since my last blog post! If you’re a teacher, you know how crazy June is: the kids are antsy, report cards need to be complete, parent meetings are taking place, classrooms are being cleaned, everyone in the school is ready for a break! This June was a little…
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The New Plan
People with infertility go through a lot of experiences that others don’t have to, experiences many people aren’t aware of. One of those experiences is having to continually go back to the lab for bloodwork to monitor your HSG level back to zero. Going into the lab for that initial blood test to find out…
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Cheers to 10 Years
On Thursday, June 2nd we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! This milestone anniversary got me thinking about our lives over the last 10 years. I came to the realization that for 95% of our marriage, we have been trying to have a baby. That’s 9 years and 6 months of doctor’s appointments, ultrasounds, bloodwork, surgeries,…
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Donor Embryo #2
I started this blog in September 2021, less than a month after our second donor embryo… after our second miscarriage. This week would have been our baby’s due date. My second last blog post has almost brought us full circle to the reason I started this blog… So here is the story of our second…
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Mother’s Day
I know Mother’s Day is a few weeks away but it’s a day that is on my mind right now. I have a very complex relationship with Mother’s Day. Growing up, Mother’s Day was just like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and birthdays. It was a day that grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins came together for a…
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It’s all Part of the Plan
I’m a planner and a problem solver by nature; it runs in my family. I don’t like to dwell on problems for too long. I’m always in search of a solution, a way to move forward, the next step. For planners like me, infertility is your worst nightmare. You plan, the plan doesn’t work, you…
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Icing and Animal Crackers 
Lovely beginning.
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Beautiful story
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Love stories are my favourite, it’s so clear you two were meant to be there for each other.
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