Pardon the brief post, but I keep pondering: which came first the chicken or the egg? Oh wait, not that question... this question:
Are Type A** women more likely to be IF or does IF make you Type A?
Let's face it, even before a full-fledged diagnosis of IF, a woman is likely to get caught up in charting, temperature taking, mucus observations, trying desperately to use fertile days, becoming more aware of pregnant women around her, etc. Then once doctors are involved, there's remembering to take all the meds and matching them to cycle days, scheduling appointments, fighting with insurance, and even more pressure to time intercourse just right.
It seems to me that an awful lot of IF women I know could be described as Type A, myself included. I've been Type A my whole life, but one data point is not enough to answer the question. I can definitely see IF bringing out the worst of my Type A Characteristics, so I'm left wondering which came first. What do you think?
*Disclaimer: this post contains gigantic, sweeping generalizations, so if you're offended, please consider that I was not in any way whatsoever talking about you.
** For the purposes of this post, I am describing Type A people as organized, planners, driven, possibly status conscious, and just a little bit compulsive (or should that be obsessive? maybe both?). In an IF context, the status a woman is most aware of is childless and/or not pregnant.
Are Type A** women more likely to be IF or does IF make you Type A?
Let's face it, even before a full-fledged diagnosis of IF, a woman is likely to get caught up in charting, temperature taking, mucus observations, trying desperately to use fertile days, becoming more aware of pregnant women around her, etc. Then once doctors are involved, there's remembering to take all the meds and matching them to cycle days, scheduling appointments, fighting with insurance, and even more pressure to time intercourse just right.
It seems to me that an awful lot of IF women I know could be described as Type A, myself included. I've been Type A my whole life, but one data point is not enough to answer the question. I can definitely see IF bringing out the worst of my Type A Characteristics, so I'm left wondering which came first. What do you think?
*Disclaimer: this post contains gigantic, sweeping generalizations, so if you're offended, please consider that I was not in any way whatsoever talking about you.
** For the purposes of this post, I am describing Type A people as organized, planners, driven, possibly status conscious, and just a little bit compulsive (or should that be obsessive? maybe both?). In an IF context, the status a woman is most aware of is childless and/or not pregnant.
Interesting question. I consider myself Type A, probably before IF. I think being in the midst of IF made it worse, but lately I am trying to fight my Type A tendencies...too draining to live this way.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I used to be type A and now I am becoming more like type B, especially when it comes to IF. I feel like I have become more lazy in my charting/observations and kind of shrug at my childlessness right now.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if us Type A's are just more likely to blog or seek comfort through social media (i.e. Facebook). Maybe there are a bunch of Type B's out there suffering from IF, but they don't make their presence known online. I don't know. Just a thought I had.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about what you've written though. Am I so obsessed with being pregnant that the stress I'm causing myself is the one thing preventing it from happen? Probably not, because I do have physical issues that make pregnancy difficult. But maybe the stress causes my hormonal imbalances which leads to things like endometriosis and infection?
I wish I could just stop being Type A sometimes, but just the thought of that stresses me out. Hrmmm... maybe I just need a good massage or a week off. :)
Interesting! For the purposes of your research:-), I'll have you know that I am not Type A. I read some article about how there are 2 types of women when it comes to IF, the avoiders and the doers. I proudly declared to my husband that I was "a doer" and he laughed in my face...it seems I'm Type A about IF but much else.
ReplyDelete