Merete

Wife, daughter, sister, friend. My greatest strength is my ability to connect easily with others and make them feel comfortable and understood. Marrying my husband and celebrating with our family and friends was my best day, hands down! My greatest challenge has been my journey to motherhood. Having a baby is supposed to be a wonderful and exciting time, but for those like me struggling, it is a rollercoaster of emotions. I catch myself thinking, "well we've been married for four years now, I thought we would have this many kids..." I've had feelings of hopelessness, failure and grief all at once. It can consume your day to day life. After a couple miscarriages, multiple cycles of IVF, countless shots and doctors' appointments, it can be exhausting, heartbreaking and stressful . I've felt inadequate at times and I've questioned what's wrong with me and my body. At first I was a bit more private about it; it's so personal not just for me, but for my husband too. However over time we started to open up to others. My husband and I started sharing the good, the bad and ugly on our blog we call Fueled with Love. Sharing has opened many doors for us to connect with others on a much deeper level and for that, I am grateful. I now remind myself that that life is truly a journey! I've always been a planner. I used to have a picture in my head of what the future would look like, but going through IVF, I've quickly realized that you can't plan a damn thing! I never would have imagined that we would be going through all this to have a baby, but there's a greater plan in place for us and we'll just have to see how it unfolds. I'm excited about my future! These challenging few years have made me stronger. I wake up SO grateful for my health, my amazing husband, our cute pup and amazing family and friends. Success is waking up and finding true happiness in the small things. Happiness comes from lots of love and gratitude. Beauty is found in someone who is confident and can be themselves. I am proud of myself for remaining positive through some tough shit and continuing to grow and become the best version of myself. I am Merete. I am patient, empathetic and courageous.