If you’ve been trying to conceive for a while you probably already know that infertility can wreak complete and utter havoc on your sex life.  When you’ve spent months or even years obsessively charting your BBT, checking cervical mucus, injecting yourself with insanity-inducing drugs, pinpointing the exact microsecond of ovulation, making your husband “save it up” for days on end and having sex on a rigid schedule, it can be difficult to initiate or enjoy spontaneous sex.  Trust me, I speak from experience.  Most couples go through ups and downs in their sex life, but when you’re trying to conceive, it can make the downs much, much harder to recover from.

In my experience, one of the best ways to spark things up is to take a little trip.  There is something very magical (and sexy) about getting out of your house.  When you’re home there’s always something to do or somewhere to go.  By leaving your normal environment, you eliminate all the “have to’s” which frees you up to do nothing.

For your trip I recommend buying something new to wear to bed.  It can be really sexy or just really cute but try and get something a little out of the box for you and make it a surprise for your partner.  This will definitely enhance the magic of your getaway and get you in what I call “spontaneous sex mode.”  At the hotel, you can take a bubble bath together, order snacks and champagne from room service, get massages.  Do things to pamper and relax yourselves so you can unwind and can enjoy the weekend.  And whatever you do,…DO NOT TALK ABOUT BABY STUFF.  That is a surefire way to kill the magic of the weekend.  Try to let it go for just a day or two – there will be plenty of time for that when you get back home.

If your budget is a little tight these days you can still get away.  Consider a one night trip up to the mountains or to the beach if it’s within driving distance.  Or, you could book a night at a hotel in your own town.  Maybe you have a friend with a cabin or a beach condo who would be willing to let you stay free for a night.  Be creative – it doesn’t have to be an entire weekend or a five-star fancy destination to have an impact on your sex life. 

If you’re feeling like your sex life during infertility is in the dumps or perhaps even non-existent, understand that you’re not alone.  It’s normal and common to become disconnected from your body and from sex when you’re struggling to conceive.  Take charge and create change with my weekend getaway idea.  The magic of the weekend has a way of following you home.  When you get back, be sure to let us know how it went. ;)

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Working through infertility grief is one of the most important things you can do for your emotional health while trying to conceive.  That means feeling your feelings all the way through no matter how painful or uncomfortable they are.  The more you try to avoid feeling pain, the more that pain festers and grows.  What can make this process even harder is when you feel like you have no right to your grief – like you didn’t get the right stamp of Approval. 

Maybe it was a comment that made you feel this way such as:

A well-intentioned friend:
Thankfully you were only 7 weeks along, it could have been SO much worse.

Your well-meaning spouse:
Why are you so upset?  Let’s just move on and start our next IVF.

Your well-spoken doctor:
You had a blighted ovum so technically speaking there wasn’t ever a baby.”

Any of these comments (as well as lots of other things) can lead you to believe that you don’t have a right to grieve.  That you don’t have a right to feel loss.  That you don’t have a right to be devastated.

This is utter, unadulterated crap.

The bottom line is only YOU can decide what needs to be grieved and for how long.  No one – not your doctor, your spouse, your neighbors, your friends or your infertility chat room buddies – can possibly know exactly how you feel (even if they’ve been through infertility themselves).  Grief, pain and loss are extremely personal and highly individual so only YOU can determine how you feel.  Not sure if you need to grieve?  There are no hard and fast rules, but you may need to make time to process grief if you

  • Are often on the verge of tears
  • Feel sad or upset a lot of the time
  • Feel like you’re pushing down painful feelings
  • Get choked up often and/or at odd times

Just remember you do not need anyone’s permission or a specific reason to feel what you feel.  You do not have to meet any kind of “pregnancy loss criteria” in order to feel sorrow and heartache.  For many women, in fact, every menstrual cycle is a new loss that needs to be mourned.  My post on infertility grief talks more about this topic and provides some guidelines for how to process grief.  I hope you decide to honor yourself and your losses and keep yourself emotionally healthy by grieving what needs to be grieved.

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Infertility Etiquette for Friends and Family

January 8, 2010

So many of my clients tell me horror stories about things friends and family member have said about their fertility issues (and I have lots of my own examples, too).  My clients have heard things like “You’re still young.” and “My cousin tried for 13 years and finally had a baby when she stopped trying.“  And [...]

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The Continuous Change Cycle of Infertility – Easy, Breezy Square Four

January 7, 2010

Over the past few week’s I’ve been describing each of the four squares of Martha Beck’s change cycle.  So far, we’ve talked about the pain and suffering of Square One, the returning hope and joy of Square Two and the tough nuts and bolts work of Square Three.  Today I’m going to talk about the [...]

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Arizona Infertility Support Group a Big Success!

January 4, 2010

Saturday was the first meeting of The Fertile Ground Coaching & Support Circle – an Arizona infertility support group.  Thank you to the wonderful women who attended – we got some great work done!  We’re looking forward to this group growing as we move through 2010.  Our next meeting is Saturday, February 6th at 10:30am.
If [...]

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Infertility and the Inevitable Holiday Meltdown

January 2, 2010

Yesterday, New Year’s Day, I received a card in the mail from a friend I haven’t talked to in a couple years.  The cover of the card featured a picture of her with an enormous (and exposed) pregnant belly; her husband’s hands resting lovingly on it.  The card said Happy New Year.  I felt anything but happy.
Before I [...]

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Infertility Nutrition Tips for PCOS and other Fertility Issues

December 30, 2009

Check out this fantastic infertility nutrition website created by a woman who overcame PCOS naturally.  It’s very well-written and offers great advice & information on how to start eating “Real Food” to enhance your fertility.

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Infertility’s Continuous Change Cycle – The Trials & Tribulations of Square Three

December 27, 2009

In last week’s post I discussed Square Two of Dr. Martha Beck’s change cycle.  To recap, we are always moving through one of the four squares of change in every area of our lives.  Square One is the meltdown phase where you suffer greatly as your old idea of yourself burns up.  Once you’ve grieved [...]

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Infertility’s Continuous Change Cycle – Moving into Square Two

December 17, 2009

In last week’s post I introduced the concept of the change cycle as described by Dr. Martha Beck.  I talked about the difficulties of Square One – the death and rebirth phase of the change cycle.  This week I want to talk about what happens as you move out of the pain of Square One [...]

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See the Movie “Fresh” at AcuHealth in Scottsdale

December 9, 2009

Fresh is a documentary about the state of our current food system and how our food ends up on our table.  There’s a complimentary screening of the movie at AcuHealth Integrative Wellness Center in Scottsdale next Friday, December 18th.  I’ll be there!
http://www.freshthemovie.com
FRESH Synopsis
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. [...]

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