Step One: Mild Surprise

I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when, two weeks after our first attempt at getting pregnant, I held negative pregnancy test in my hand. I wasn't upset. I was mostly just honestly surprised.

The next month I was surprised again, but a bit more so. Close to shocked this time, really. I had had every expectation that having kids would be a simple matter of boy meets girl, boy marries girl, girl stops taking the pill, girl gets pregnant. Never in my wildest imagination did I guess I'd have to try more than a month or two. After all, I came from a fertile family. My grandmother had produced 10 kids. My own mother had given birth to three kids, but with half a dozen other pregnancies. My own sister had easily conceived four children by this point. It was in my blood to be a child bearer. And my wide hips had always supported this assumption.

And yet here I was, month after month, getting negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test. Baffling.

But up to this point, I still maintained the firm belief that children were imminent. I was just too impatient to wait. So after the six month of trying with no luck, but increasing shock and concern, I broke down and made an appointment with the doctor.