A friend let me borrow her copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and I now consider it a must read for every female. The information in here is amazing, even when not trying to conceive. I don’t think girl doctors (my dad’s words, not mine) hide information from you, but the system is definitely built so that a lot of information is assumed to be known. Every year, I expect my visit to be really informative and enlightening. But it inevitably turns into a bundle of nerves irritated at being left waiting for almost two hours before being seen. I then rush through any questions I have, downplaying any concerns because I just know the doctor doesn’t have time to discuss these trivial matters and am then left to wonder again for another year. For instance, on my last visit I asked her what was involved with conceiving a child and she said, “Go off birth control, have sex every two days but not every day and call us if you can’t conceive.” My response? “Um, ok. If it’s that easy, why is infertility such a hot topic? Huh? Also, shouldn’t you give me a psych exam to make sure I’m a suitable parent. Shouldn’t this turn into a discussion where we decide together that I’m mentally stable and financially able to have a child? Isn’t this a huge life changing thing? And you’re just telling me to HAVE SEX EVERY TWO DAYS??!”

Of course, that was all mental. What I really said was, “Ok.”