Thursday, March 26, 2009

"All of us, whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the past. It is not a case of coming to terms with the past. That is not possible. It cannot be subsequently modified or undone. "
~Richard von Weizsaecker~


Last night I dreamt I was pregnant.

I am finding no matter what point you come to in this life, there are just some things you never get over - or perhaps, some things are like a bad habit, one you just don't know how to or just can't break, a knee jerk reaction - one that comes before you even have time to think about it. Pushing up the glasses you haven't worn since you got contacts. Checking the calendar to see when your "monthly gift" should arrive - even though it hasn't for six months now and won't ever again. Finding out someone I know is pregnant and feeling it like a kick to the stomach. That sudden, sickening, lurch. Those old feelings come back so easily, haunting me. A little pink bundle in the store - and overwhelming pangs of what might have been, what could have been, what should have been, follow me all the way out the doors and to the car and back home.

And I am one of the fortunate ones. Me. I can't even tell you why. Because I know I am no better nor worse than anyone else. No less or more deserving. Things just worked out this way. And I feel guilty. Even now, my past is trying to rob me of my happiness. That which I worked for, bled for and cried for - even now, it wants to taint my joy. And I feel guilty.

A friend who chuckles when she "confesses" to being almost through the first trimester "I thought we were done. Guess someone had other ideas!" And me, trying vainly, still trying to fit in, to belong somewhere, says "I thought I was done years ago . . ." and another friend who says "That is what happens when you are fertile." And I laugh - I have to laugh and I choke on that laugh. She with the children spaced far enough apart that you wonder if there is a story to that, a reason - a painful secret perhaps? Because I know those backstories, and those reasons, and those painful secrets. She doesn't know I know. So I tell her. I tell her my first babies are fertility drug babies because I didn't work right, my body didn't do what it was suppose to do. I tell her that personal bit of "dirty laundry" that my ovaries didn't put out eggs without prodding them with injected drugs. That they didn't for 12 years and then, when they were supposed to stop working as efficiently, they suddenly got it figured out. I tell her this, but I don't tell her that there were more than four fertility drug babies. I don't tell her of my angels. And I feel guilty. I feel embarrassed. ashamed. Why? It is a hard thing to admit sometimes - a hard thing to say I am imperfect. I didn't work right. I got myself pregnant with babies I couldn't keep. Couldn't hold on to. I still think of them. I still mourn them. I still wonder about them. And I don't mention them because I have babies I did manage to hang onto, obviously, and I mustn't appear ungrateful. And I feel guilty. It seems unbelievable at times. Amazing. And I lived it, I was there, and sometimes even I wonder. What was I thinking? Was any of that real? Were they real?

For those few weeks, a mere matter of months, they were mine.

I may not know what they looked like - whose nose they had, what color their eyes were or if they would have let me sleep through the night or not; but I remember how they made me feel. I remember how it felt to know they were there. For that, I would never change one thing.

And I feel guilty.

8 comments:

Violet said...

I am in tears, wonderful post. I have had 2 early miscarriages, between 6-7weeks and then I had three healthy children, including a set of twins. I am so blessed. We found ourselves pg again at a time when we thought we were done, a hard time in our life when we didn't think we could do it again. But we decided that we could do it, and we were finally excited. And then 2 weeks ago at 14 weeks 4 days I went into labour. I delivered my baby girl at 11:30pm, never to breathe a breath on this earth. And it's devastating, but I still want the world to know, SHE WAS HERE! you can't see her, but she was here.

big hugs and love to you.

~Ireland Lila~03/14/09~

Mrs. Spit said...

I'm sorry Julia. Infertility and baby death really are the gifts that keep on giving, aren't they?

Hugs and comfort.

Kristin said...

Oh Julia...there are so many times I could have written this exact post. {{{Hugs}}} and remember that you are not alone in this.

loribeth said...

They were real. And you shouldn't feel guilty. (((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Beautiful post. Very moving.

Unknown said...

Very moving. I know I have too experienced some of the same emotions, although I have never had a miscarriage, I've have longed for another child even though I have two health girls that light up my life. And for that, I feel guilty sometimes.

You are an amazing and strong woman. I wouldn't have half the strength you have shown.

CLC said...

Beautiful post. I get the guilt. I don't think it will ever leave me.

Lut C. said...

Popping in from the crème de la crème list.

Infertility is in itself a ghost that is hard to shake, even after making it to the other side.

Would you still be you if you didn't mourn those lost babies?