Keeping up With the… Social Medians

I started playing around on social media back in 2006 or 2007, can’t remember which to be exact.  It began with My Space, then switched over to Facebook within a year or so.  Initially upon setting up my FB account, I remember only a handful of my friends were on it.  Now, everyone & their mom (literally) is on there.

After each silent loss we had, I would go through spurts of deleting my FB account and/or people off it.  I would get rid of the account itself because I couldn’t handle the constant pregnancy announcements, mixed in with the continual infant updates and toddler tantrum advice inquiries.  I got rid of some of the people simply because I hadn’t talked to them in years, or didn’t consider myself that close to them-it really wasn’t personal at all.  I was going through something, and if you can’t understand that, well, I won’t bother explaining it in further detail for you. The good news is I am over all of that.  Finally, after the 3rd loss, we decided to “come out of the closet” and create this blog, a new form of social media for us.  We decided to break the silence of our IF and RPL by linking this blog to our FB account.  It felt like a weight had been lifted off of our shoulders when we told the FB world about what we had been going through.  I also created an Instagram account around that time, but it was not related to IF or RPL…it was simply for fun. However, as our blog and our FB page grew, I began to connect with our IF friends on Instagram & decided I might as well switch that account over to being part of our IF journey, too. And so, I did.

That brings us to the present time. Social media has become such a huge part of our life. And let me tell you, keeping up on it takes time! But, I must say, I enjoy it highly or I wouldn’t do it. Right now, discussing and writing about IF, IVF, and RPL is my passion. This being said, seeing those pregnancy announcements & the such on FB or Insta doesn’t bother me like it used to.  Our accounts now have a clear purpose, and in our opinion, that purpose outweighs the occasional “stings” that come along with having it. And, although I dont say much to all the preggos & new moms out there (too hard for me still), I am truly happy for these ladies, as I wouldnt wish IF on anyone.  Plus, I’d want them to be happy for us too if the situation was reversed.

Anyways, between this blog, our FB page, and Insta account, I stay super busy at home after work, reading, commenting, and replying to fellow infertiles.  Don’t worry-my hubby helps me respond to many of the messages and/or reads the stories with me when he can.  Most recently, I have joined some private TTC groups through FB. We are considering sharing our story further, over the air (audio only!) perhaps. All of these social media outlets have been such a great release for us. We have become part of a community where we feel like we know each person so well, following their day-to-day challenges, yet we have never even met them.  If you are reading this, and you too, struggle with IF, IVF, and/or RPL, I encourage you to join this wonderful community if you haven’t yet.  In fact, it is so wonderful that my husband & I were just talking about how it would be hard to imagine actually getting and staying pregnant because of what we have become a part of here with IF. That might sound crazy but it crossed our mind! Don’t get me wrong, of course achieving and sustaining a pregnancy is the goal of everyone in this community. But I think some of you members know exactly what I am saying…once this eventually happens, things naturally change-a new chapter begins, and another ends.

As for my current Word Press TTC sisters, I am already friends with many of you on Insta and/or FB, but I would like to be friends with ALL of you!

Here is our info, find us…

FaceBook– Surviving Infertility: IVF & Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (or scroll down here & click “like us” on the right hand side)

Instagram– Surviving_INfertility

Twitter-have one, but not really using for this purpose. Any TTC ladies using it? Details please!!

tumblr-have one linked to this blog, but seems like a lot of work to make it pretty & really use it.  Images dont automatically upload over, each post opens in new link, etc.  Advice here? Might just can this one.