Second chase.

It was Jon's turn to ring Cardiff again today, now the Christmas break is up. Still no joy. I seem to remember GP told us wait was 6 - 8 weeks for first appointment, and we're at that now.

It's difficult to stay calm when you can't get hold of anyone who will explain to you what the state of play is, or the rules of the game. It has been very difficult to get through to anyone at IVF Wales on the phone, as well. There is a call queuing system but sometimes when you get to the front, you are sent back to the start again.

I expect this is fairly normal NHS stuff. We're lucky enough never to have dealt with it before.

The problem is that one wants to be proactive and keep pursuing the matter. But each chase and each phone call raises the stress levels, which is not to be recommended. My aim is to keep myself as calm as possible, and continue to enjoy my life. Calling monthly is our current battle plan. We'll see how we go....

Tongues loosened. + 1.5 months

Drunken and fun New Year led to us spilling our hearts out to a couple of people we barely know, and another we don't know at all!

First time I've felt totally at ease discussing the fact we can't pop a sprog. Odd, isn't it? The 'stranger' couple said they'd had a long wait before getting pregnant. And I know another couple at the party suffered at least one miscarriage. In fact, I'm conscious of quite a lot of people who have struggled with fertility and childbearing.

Given that, I can't see why I hear so many conversations like this:
"So, how many kids would you like?"
"Oh I don't know, 2 or 3"
"Planning on starting a family soon?"
"Not yet, possibly in a year or so when we're settled at work and have bought a new house."

And none like this:
"So, how many kids would you like?"
"Oh, I don't know. We'll have to see what happens. Any would be lovely."
"Planning on starting a family soon"
"We'll probably stop using contraception in the next few months but that doesn't mean anything will happen."