Our first intrauterine insemination (IUI) was our introduction to the challenges of juggling two full-time work schedules in order to accommodate Mother Nature. When the ovulation predictor stick turned blue, we had to have our IUI the next morning. It did not matter if that fell on the weekend or on a day when one of us had a meeting.
Because my cycles were longer than the average woman’s cycle (anywhere from 29 to 36 days) and fluctuated by over a week, both my husband and I had to keep every single work day in “tentative mode” that fell anywhere near a possible ovulation date. We had to have a backup plan for any meeting or task for which we were responsible.
I chose to tell my boss that we were seeing a fertility specialist, and I gave him a “head’s up” that I would be missing a half-day of work at some point over a week’s period. (My job hours were 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., so even the earliest appointment kept me out of work for half a day.)
My husband chose to keep our struggles private at his office, which made scheduling doubly difficult for him. He managed to dodge conflicts for months through sheer luck. Eventually, the stick turned blue on the “wrong” day, forcing him to confide in a coworker when requesting that he cover an important meeting. The coworker had been through infertility himself, so he asked no questions and gladly pitched in to help.
I am the type of person who lives and dies by my schedule. I have a calendar that tells me where I am supposed to be throughout the day. Uncertainty in my schedule for an entire week on a monthly basis was extremely stressful for me.
I have mentioned before that I am a control freak. Scheduling around my cycle made me feel even more out of control, which caused me to feel even more stressed out. I never did adjust to having my life revolve around my cycle.
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