all around you.

When you're infertile and want nothing more than to experience pregnancy and hold your baby in your arms, it seems as though everyone around you has the opportunity -- except for you.

I think any of us who have experienced infertility can relate to these experiences.  You're at the mall and every woman you pass seems to have a round tummy, is pushing a stroller, or is toting three kids through the crowds.  And you can't help but be jealous.  You can't help but envy what all of these women have because it's what you want and what, for some reason, you can't have.

Everyone around you announces their pregnancies.  And you have to react joyfully for them -- for each of them -- every time.  You say your  - Congratulations!  The - I'm so happy for you!  You ask the expected questions -- When are you due?  How are you feeling?  You compliment.  --You look beautiful!  You're truly glowing.

But inside you hurt.  Month after month you're faced with disappointment.  And month after month, they keep finding success despite your failure.  And each time, you're expected to be happy.  To be a good friend.

If you're like me, you want to be.  You want to feel joy for everyone who achieves what you cannot.  It is the most amazing thing one can experience in life, after all.  You want to be genuinely happy for these women who you consider to be your friends.  But it's harder than some might think.  After enough time passes, it's truly difficult to feel joy for others who achieve your biggest dream so easily.  While you're left further and further behind.  It's difficult to put on the expected show of happiness and excitement.  Because all you want is to feel that way for yourself.  Finally.  After so much waiting and heartache.  All you want is what all of these women are experiencing, and there seems to be no valid reason you can't.

Sometimes I'm afraid these building feelings of jealousy and envy and bitterness are harmful to me, too.  I fear that karma may get me (or is getting me) for my inability to always experience the kind of joy a good friend should.  I fear that the negativity finds a home inside me and burrows deep, and that's not the person I want to be.

I have yet to skip out on a baby shower due to my emotions.  I have yet to retreat from my friends because I'm not in the same place they are.  I have yet to hibernate and surround myself with my sorrow.  So I'm proud of these continued efforts.  But I just want to be normal again.  I want to be a kind, concerned, generous friend who feels true joy and excitement for the women who mean so much to her.  I want to join the club with them.  I want to feel included and back on the inside instead of the outside.  I want to experience everything that they are -- two years ago.  I want to be completely me again.

I hope my emptiness can be filled soon.  I hope my dark space can be brightened.  I hope my ability to truly be a good friend returns.  Because I don't like this.

conflicting information.

I am a researching freak.  I read just about everything ... Books, articles online, message boards, etc.  Especially when it comes to infertility, I want to be as knowledgable as possible.

I'm also susceptible to trying anything and everything to make sure this upcoming IVF cycle works.  Obviously there are no guarantees, but I'm one who will fall into the trap of any recommendation or suggestion that something specific will help my chances.  You say eating a pomegranate a day will have me ovulating in no time?  I'll do it.

Part of this approach is that I'm afraid if IVF doesn't work that I will find a way to blame myself.  If I didn't exercise properly in preparation for IVF and it fails, it will be my fault.  If I drank too many glasses of wine during this waiting period and IVF fails, it will be my fault.  If I didn't do acupuncture in the 12 weeks leading up to IVF and it fails, it will be my fault.

Totally irrational, but I know myself.  And that's exactly what I'll do.

So like I've said before, I'm exercising and eating "right" and getting the acupuncture.  I'm not drinking alcohol.  I don't use tobacco or any other drugs.  I've gained a couple of pounds of cushion because a former doctor told me that fat helps with estrogen production.

Maybe it's all ridiculous, maybe it's all for nothing.  But I don't know either way.

So in my quest for all of the information so that I can make informed decisions about my health and well-being during this wait period, I have stumbled across a TON of info.  Maybe even all of the information ... as I intended to find.

The problem is that so much of it is conflicting.  One study suggests women consume full-fat dairy products.  Another says women should stay away from dairy products.  One article says higher IVF pregnancy rates were found in women who took a gluten-free approach.  Other nutritional suggestions say to eat lots of whole grains.  One site will tell you to exercise daily, another will tell you to take it easy.  What the hell?!

My acupuncturist has made diet suggestions based on my specific issues.  She says that because I suffer from blood stagnation (Chinese medicine's diagnosis of an imbalance that causes endometriosis), I should eat warm foods.  They should all be cooked -- no raw vegetables.  I should drink warm drinks.  I should avoid wheat, dairy, and sugar.  I should eat a lot of leafy greens, high-protein foods, and fruits.  Makes sense...

I will gladly do all of that.  But is it true?  What about the studies that claim the opposite?  What if one way is detrimental, but I don't know which way that is?  What if I take the wrong approach?

By now you've all come to the conclusion that I'm a crazy person.  And I am.  But what do I do?  I'm the biggest worrier on the planet, and I have the best intentions.  This is my one shot, and I don't want to blow it.

Do I eat what I want within reason?  Do I allow myself the ice cream?  Do I keep eating pastas and whole grain breads?  Do I ditch the dairy?

(Don't even get me started on all of the meth-heads and processed-food junkies out there who are popping out babies like crazy.)

Ugh.