FBbaby
ttc our Little Prince
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For my 40th birthday (last November) my mom wrote a book detailing the story of my grand parents (her parents). I have just read it tonight and it made me cry so much...
My grandmother was born in 1905. She grew up in a upper middle class family and was expected to marry into a well off family. She wasn't interested, an artist at heart, but at 25, she had no choice. Her husband expected her to be a good housewife, looking after their home and giving him children, but she wasn't interested. She enjoyed the high class life, but 7 years later, she had enough of her husband affairs and demanded a divorce. At 32, she was single, and took on a job at the British National Museum. There she met a wonderful researcher and they fell madly in love. The problem: he was married and had 3 children. They started an affair, stangely with the approval of the man's wife who accepted her presence in his life (she actually invited me and my mum once and was extremely welcoming). Not sure whether this was more common then, but this went on for 8 years. Unfortunately, all went wrong when at 37, my grandmother got hit by the desire to become a mum. Somehow, she had never fallen pregnant by her lover until then, clearly showing that couples managed to stay protected without the pill before its introduction when they wanted to!! She asked him, begged him, saying she would expect nothing of him, but he absolutely refused. This built a wedge in their relationship and they parted shortly afterwards. This followed with the start of WW2, going back home to her dad and helping with the red cross. At 41 years old, in a country ravaged by war, childless, a divorced and love affair behind her, she must not have felt too good about life.
Then one day, she was introduced to my grandfather. He was a soldier, who had lived in France most of his life. She looked after him after he was hurt and he fell madly in love with my grandmother. He was 46 and had never married nor had children. They married a year later and moved to France. My granddad wasn't overly keen on becoming a dad at that age, but seeing how much it meant to my grandmother, he went ahead with it. She fell pregnant at 43, that is TWO years after they married (and so I assume started ttc right afterwards if not sooner). Unfortunately, she miscarried a few weeks later. She was devastated. Still they continued ttc, and a year later, at the grand age of 44, she was pregnant again. There were no tests at the time, the risk of miscarriage and genetic problems were high, but she gave birth at term to my mum only two days after her 45th birthday, a perfectly healthy baby.
My grandmother was an amazing woman, but reading her story made me realised how determined and strong she was. She wanted something desperately and never gave up on it. There were no fsh, ovulation kits, clomid and scans then, but it didn't stop her. She believed and never stopped.
I know how tough ttc is and how demoralising it is when AF showed, so I thought I would share this true story and hope it gives a bit of hope to some of you
My grandmother was born in 1905. She grew up in a upper middle class family and was expected to marry into a well off family. She wasn't interested, an artist at heart, but at 25, she had no choice. Her husband expected her to be a good housewife, looking after their home and giving him children, but she wasn't interested. She enjoyed the high class life, but 7 years later, she had enough of her husband affairs and demanded a divorce. At 32, she was single, and took on a job at the British National Museum. There she met a wonderful researcher and they fell madly in love. The problem: he was married and had 3 children. They started an affair, stangely with the approval of the man's wife who accepted her presence in his life (she actually invited me and my mum once and was extremely welcoming). Not sure whether this was more common then, but this went on for 8 years. Unfortunately, all went wrong when at 37, my grandmother got hit by the desire to become a mum. Somehow, she had never fallen pregnant by her lover until then, clearly showing that couples managed to stay protected without the pill before its introduction when they wanted to!! She asked him, begged him, saying she would expect nothing of him, but he absolutely refused. This built a wedge in their relationship and they parted shortly afterwards. This followed with the start of WW2, going back home to her dad and helping with the red cross. At 41 years old, in a country ravaged by war, childless, a divorced and love affair behind her, she must not have felt too good about life.
Then one day, she was introduced to my grandfather. He was a soldier, who had lived in France most of his life. She looked after him after he was hurt and he fell madly in love with my grandmother. He was 46 and had never married nor had children. They married a year later and moved to France. My granddad wasn't overly keen on becoming a dad at that age, but seeing how much it meant to my grandmother, he went ahead with it. She fell pregnant at 43, that is TWO years after they married (and so I assume started ttc right afterwards if not sooner). Unfortunately, she miscarried a few weeks later. She was devastated. Still they continued ttc, and a year later, at the grand age of 44, she was pregnant again. There were no tests at the time, the risk of miscarriage and genetic problems were high, but she gave birth at term to my mum only two days after her 45th birthday, a perfectly healthy baby.
My grandmother was an amazing woman, but reading her story made me realised how determined and strong she was. She wanted something desperately and never gave up on it. There were no fsh, ovulation kits, clomid and scans then, but it didn't stop her. She believed and never stopped.
I know how tough ttc is and how demoralising it is when AF showed, so I thought I would share this true story and hope it gives a bit of hope to some of you
just gave me a pick me up when I needed it xx
