A community for all

I am new to this blogging world and as such, am just learning about the huge community out there welcoming all who are trying to conceive, trying to pin down their fertility, or struggling with infertility.  It is funny how you find these things.  It seems like an underground world almost.  I didn't find any of the more prominent, well written blogs by a simple google search, but rather by referral.  After a ranting email typed furiously to my friend in the wee hours of the morning, I received a link for a moving post.  The post was from a blog she follows, having dealt with infertility issues herself.

The writing definitely spoke to me as I read about the author's struggle to hold herself together in a grocery store parking lot--the exact place I seem to have an uncanny knack for loosing all possible composure.  But even more than that one post, is the community that I discovered with this blog.  I know many who visit here are from TCOYF, which is, itself, a wonderful community.  But did you know there was more out there?  I am elated by this news!  If you're anything like me, TCOYFers, you're on the computer always anyway, right?  Checking your chart, counting days, scrolling through the Forums, searching for a pregnancy chart that resembles your own?  : )

Maybe I am the only one who hasn't run across this, but I still feel a duty to share these sites in case you are looking and lost, much like myself.  So, if you are searching for outlets and a community to share your emotions and struggles, it is there.  The two blogs I have recently added have proved incredible.  They are Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed & Stirrup Queens.  In my explanation of these, I hope I do them justice, as I am just beginning to explore them and the blogging world myself.
              
Stirrup Queens is a great resource that will link you to all of the ALI (adoption, loss, infertility) blogs out there.  Here is a link to the blogroll she runs, which includes 52 categories and 2712 blogs!  Who knew there were so many others out there!  A big shoutout to Mel at Stirrup Queens for providing this lifeline!

                Stirrup Queen's Blogroll

She also runs a page called Lost and Found and Connections Abound, which certainly speak to the ALI community.  Here, people can submit news which is then compiled in a newsletter and published.  It is a quick and easy way to see news about new blogs, reach people, and stay up to date on people's journeys.

                 Lost and Found and Connections Abound

Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed is actually from the creator of the What IF? video you may or may not have seen.  If you have not viewed this video, you must.  It speaks so bluntly about every what if running through the minds of those dealing with these issues, you will feel as if it could be your very words.

I encourage everyone to check out these blogs, knowing that they opened my eyes up to a much larger forum, while simultaneously bringing a bit of relief.  Here is the link to the What IF? video, but before you click play, please go get your tissues!