Book Shower - So Close by Tertia Albertyn

You've heard of bridal showers and baby showers...

Well, this is a book shower, thrown by Mel of Stirrup Queens in honor of Tertia Albertyn's book So Close: Infertile and Addicted to Hope.

Tertia is a South African infertile who is one of the most popular bloggers in the infertile blogosphere. Tertia is a phenomenal writer who isn't afraid to share her true thoughts and feelings regarding infertility, boob jobs, motherhood, and marriage on her blog. Many people read her blog because she is so blatantly honest in ways that so many can't be. Her following is also significant because every infertile can relate to at least one part of Tertia's complex and intriguing story -- most likely because Tertia has been through it all -- numerous IVF cycles, miscarriage, twin pregnancies, prematurity, bedrest, newborn death, and now, the elusive "normal" pregnancy.

Tertia's blog - So Close - was one of the first blogs I found when I began to achieve my Google M.D. in "Infertility Relations" and one of the infertile bloggers that I credit for inspiring me to start my own blog and share my story.

Tertia's book was recently published in the United States and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I read the entire book in less than 24 hours and that is quite the feat for me these days. I already knew Tertia's story from her blog, but the book is amazing. If you are an infertile or know someone who is struggling with infertility, I highly suggest you buy them a copy of So Close: Infertile and Addicted to Hope and direct them to Tertia's blog. They'll thank you later.

Mel graciously provided a list of questions to spur our thoughts for Tertia's book shower. When I read this question, I knew it was the question I had to answer:

"On page 20, Tertia has a moment where she predicts that her journey to parenthood may be more difficult than she thought even though nothing has happened yet to point in that direction. Have you ever had a moment of premonition like that and if so, did it come true (this moment of premonition can be about fertility or any other aspect of life)?"

Yes. Before Mike and I were even married, I asked him repeatedly -- "What if we can't have children?" I knew the basics of infertility and I've always had a "feeling" or a "premonition" that we would have difficulty conceiving. I had no real reason to feel this way, but it has always been one of the many worries swirling around in the back of my head.

I am sure that at the time, Mike thought I was just crazy. Why on earth would this skinny, 21-year-old girl, be worried about having children? He assuaged my fears but I am sure in the back of his mind he was saying "crazy!".

When I was pregnant with my ectopic, I blissfully lived in ignorance for a few days thinking that I was indeed pregnant. However, when I started bleeding, my Google M.D. and I immediately decided it was ectopic. However, everyone else, my "real" doctor included, seemed to pass off my intuition... hum...

I told Mike before our first IVF cycle that it would be our 3rd fresh cycle before we would get pregnant. And said that we would be pregnant with twins when we tried again. I've also predicted friendships falling apart, people dying, major life changes...

I guess you could say I have a "sixth sense" about some things... Typically, I state my prediction and am labeled as "crazy." But then it happens. And it doesn't seem quite so crazy anymore...

Tertia is my kind of crazy. :) Buy So Close: Infertile and Addicted to Hope it's worth every penny.