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How to Start a Fertility Journal
Keeping a Fertility Journal Could Help You Conceive
By Teri Brown
Having trouble conceiving or undergoing fertility treatments is a little like starting a new job: confusing, emotionally taxing and often overwhelming. Information flies at you from all directions, medical terms that you've never heard of are bandied about and you feel like your emotions have gone on a never-ending roller coaster ride. One way to track all the information and process your feelings is by keeping a fertility journal.
Michele Cervone Scott, mother of one from Downingtown, Pa., kept a journal as an outlet for her feelings and to document her journey to parenthood. "The journal provided a means to express my hopes, frustrations, disappointments, prayers and preparations around becoming a mother," she says. "And since I created mine as a scrapbook, it was a creative outlet that gave me something to focus on during my childlessness."
Rachel Gurevich, mother of two from Jerusalem, Israel, also kept a fertility journal. "I started to keep a journal for two reasons," she says. "One, I found it amazingly stressful to go through all the tests and waiting without having somewhere to cry and scream about the unfairness of it all. Also, I was charting my temps, CM [cervical mucous], CP [cervical position] and so on, and it felt strange to keep track of these physical symptoms and not record my emotions. I heard that anxiety can lead to an increased risk of miscarriage, and I hoped that by writing out my experiences, I may be able to lessen my anxiety and increase my chances of a successful pregnancy."
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