Right back at ya, Universe!

I think at some point all of us dealing with infertility feel at some point that the universe is flipping us a giant bird by arranging for constant reminders of what eludes us at every turn. I am having one of those weeks - and given that I'm under the influence of Lupron - not dealing with it well. May I illustrate…

Yesterday, after doing a careful inventory of my left-over meds from IVF #1 to send to my coordinator in preparation for IVF #2, I logged onto my e-mail to send the list her way. There, in my inbox, was an e-mail with the always clever "Hello Stranger" subject line from a former co-worker with whom I have not spoken for at least 2 years. Since I've made it my New Year's Resolution to try to reconnect with former friends who have faded away due to time and circumstance, I eagerly opened it. The first part was harmless - just telling me about her change of jobs. The second part read as follows:

"I also have some personal news... I am having a baby in about 3 months! We are very excited for our little surprise! I guess life happens :-)"

Why yes, I suppose life does happen. Just not to me -- at least with respect to surprise babies... Not even with drastic medical intervention come to think of it. I was surprised by the funk that this e-mail kicked off. Up until now, I've been pretty lucky in that I could genuinely say that pregnancy news in others didn't kick of a maelstrom for me, but this was different. I think it was the "whoopsie" like manner in which the news was presented. (In fairness to this person, she has no idea what we're dealing with this, so this wasn't an issue of insensitivity - just bad timing.)
The second reminder is a little harder to compartmentalize, because I’m in the throes of dealing with it at work. I work in HR and manage a team of 9 – all women. As of today, I have 1 person out on mat leave (in Canada no less, where mat leaves are a year – definitely a topic of another post), 1 going on mat leave in February (also in Canada), and 1 who just let me know today that she will not be returning from mat leave. Much of my time at work as of late is trying to figure out how I’m going to cover for all of these – particularly since given the economy, it’s likely I won’t be able to replace some or all. The irony of simultaneously feeling both horribly put out from a manager’s standpoint and personally jealous is not lost on me. I don’t begrudge any of these women (2 of whom did not have an easy road getting there) their happiness, but enough already. You know how when you buy a new car and just about every 3rd car you see on the road is the same as yours? Well, here’s the deal, universe – I haven’t bought the car! I’d appreciate a little break on the pregnancy reminder drive-bys!