So things are getting exciting here at Bambini Lotus HQ! I've just ordered the stickers to go on the subscription boxes and I've just lined up our very first guest expert for August!! But more on that to come later!
For now I wanted to share with you my 'why'. Why I created The Lotus Collective: Your Fertility Journey and what it means to me. My start to Mamahood was hard.... I couldn't even get to that point of becoming pregnant. I was 25 when my husband and I started trying for our first baby. At the time I had a feeling that things may be tricky but I was NOT prepared for the years of heartache. Whilst on my fertility journey, I was finally diagnosed with PCOS and Endometriosis. I knew that there was something going on with my cycles but it took more doctors and tests to work it out then I care to remember. You can read more on that part of my journey here.
It felt good to know what was going on, like I could tackle the problem with more knowledge. But it still took us 2 years to fall pregnant with our now vibrant and beautiful 5 year old daughter Teresa. We were lucky that I fell pregnant with her using our first round of IVF. I don't wish IVF on anyone! It's such a miracle and I feel so blessed to have IVF as an option but it's not easy on your body or emotional wellbeing. It's hard!
We decided after 6 months of trying with our second that we would again use IVF. We had embryos in storage and the process was not quite so involved with a frozen embryo transfer. It took us two rounds to fall pregnant with our now cheeky and caring son Valentino.
Throughout all of these years of trying I felt so alone. I didn't know anybody else that was going through what I was going through. No-one really understood the pain. The saying I got all the time: "You just need to relax and stop thinking about it and it'll just happen".... Like the magic baby fairies would come along whilst I wasn't thinking about it and POOF! It would just happen..... Oh I wanted to just scream every time I heard this. If only it was that easy. I needed someone to vent to that got it. I had no-one.
And then there were the babies. There just seemed to be babies and pregnant women surrounding me by the time we hit about 12 months of trying. I am a teacher as well and so many of my students had baby siblings on the way. It wasn't fair and I started to neglect to look after myself emotionally. I didn't give myself the love and self care that I deserved.
Hence The Lotus Collective: Your Fertility Journey. I don't want you to feel alone and I want to pamper you. Each month I want you to look forward to a little box of goodness and self care. I want you to have a safe space to vent and share your concerns. A place to learn from experts and learn from each other. Because everyone in this group is going to get you. They are you.
Whilst our journey may be slightly different, the feelings are the same. The pain is the same.
If you've made it this far then thank you for reading! I can't wait to launch this group with you! Stay tuned for when I share with you our first guest expert!
You can join the waitlist to have access to an exclusive founding member subscription price here!
All my love,
Rach xx