Is exhausted your word for the day? If so, know you're not alone. A lot of us are feeling pretty exhausted - especially those of us who are struggling with fertility challenges. Staying on top of life in general often feels tiring, but once you add fertility treatment to it...exhausted may be the exact word to describe how you're feeling right now. Taking the first step on a fertility journey is tough, but manageable. Find a fertility clinic. Schedule your first appointment. Go through fertility testing. Start fertility treatment. Keep going, one step at a time... Skip to a specific section: Are you tired of trying to get pregnant? Tips to Fight Infertility Fatigue Find Your Community Reach Out to a Fertility Counselor Take a Break Infertility is Exhausting More Infertility Resources

As a reproductive endocrinologist who works with fertility patients every day, I hear about a lot of the insensitive “tips” given to them. Patients will tell me they've heard that if they just stop worrying, they will magically get pregnant, or that a specific diet will help.

Infertility and fertility treatment are often compared to either a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel, and for good reason. Throughout your journey, there are many twists and turns, ups and downs - and it often feels like the entire thing is out of your control. That got us wondering, “If all the pieces of fertility treatment were like rides at an amusement park, which ones would they be?”

Taking a break during fertility treatment can be a real gift to yourself (if you can bring yourself to actually take the time off). One might even think of "time off" as, gasp, a vacation! A vacation from the doctor's appointments, monitoring, testing, procedures, blood draws, and more.

When journalist Amy Klein got married and started trying to get pregnant, it was 2011. She was 41, and she was met with a distinct lack of fertility support. While patients struggling with fertility today have the benefit of online communities on Facebook and Instagram, the best that Amy could find were “mommy boards” - chat forums where women would talk about fertility treatment secretly, using initials rather than names.

Infertility has been likened to a rollercoaster, a merry-go-round (though it's hard to find the merry when you’re in the middle of it), a see saw and many other analogies. You get the idea - lots of ups, downs, swoops around, and general uncertainty. Because of this, life can feel out of control.

As little children, the holiday season is a time of wonder. Gifts, twinkling lights, and tons of holiday sweets and treats - who could ask for more? However, once we grow up, that childlike wonder is often replaced with financial woes, stress about sourcing the perfect present, and dealing with distant relatives asking far too many personal questions. Aunt Muriel, please stop asking when we're going to have kids!

You're waiting - counting the days until you can share your pregnancy news. We're taught that sharing pregnancy news is safe at 12 or 13 weeks but that telling anyone before that milestone is iffy, at best. Where did we learn this? And what are the facts behind miscarriage, pregnancy, and silence?