The Long and Winding Road

By now, a lot of you know the path Becky and I traveled to get pregnant. But, did you know that path was 118 miles one way? From our house to the Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health and Fertility in Cincinnati, OH is 118 miles. At the speed limit it would take about an hour and 50 minutes. Since I haven't driven the speed limit in years, we could do it in 1:35. The average visit would take 15 minutes including parking and walking into the office. Then another 1:55 back to Louisville (we weren't late getting back so we would go slower).

During the high points of the IVF cycles, they would require as many as three to four visits in a week (some were offset by getting blood-work done in Louisville instead). Becky's 'Bu' (the Subaru Forester) picked up a few thousand miles pretty quickly.

Given that 90+% of our visits to Cincinnati were done while we were NOT pregnant, we rarely needed to stop on the way. However, the last few visits were like a trolley hop. We stopped at every bathroom from Lagrange to Blue Ash. (note to the reader: my key worked last time but I packed an overnight bag for this post)

In all seriousness, on a few occasions we were given very bad news during our visits. The staff at Bethesda did their best to offer comfort when things did not go our way. No one can ease that pain. The long trip back to Louisville gave us an opportunity to cry, be mad, question things and support each other. We were allowed to grieve quietly and return to the real world better prepared. Quite often, the bad news would stay in the car; We would return to normal without sharing the news with anyone.