A Visit from My Fairy Godmother

I heard a fairytale while sitting at my hairdresser’s salon over the weekend. Another woman came in early while my hair was being finished, and my hairdresser immediately told me that this woman was a grandmother to twins (we had been discussing my twins). The woman, G, managed to tell me within 5 minutes that her grandkids were IVF twins, though she did not ask me about the origin of mine. (Kudos to her daughter--she must have taught G well that infertiles hate that question.)

Well, G elaborated just a tiny bit to say that both her daughter and son-in-law had a combination of problems leading them to turn to IVF after many, many years of trying. They had healthy twin girls. After their birth, G’s daughter was asked by her OB about whether she wanted to go on birth control pills. The daughter laughed, asking-- what is the point???? A year later, G’s daughter started feeling very tired. Very, very tired. Sure, she had twins and a full-time job, but this was a different kind of tired. So she took a home pregnancy test one night. And it was positive. She went on to deliver a healthy boy, and they lived happily ever after.

Secondary fertility. It is the bedtime story that H and I tell each other. I think about it with a longing in the same way little girls think about being rescued from an evil stepmother or kissing a frog and turning it into a prince.

H and I will not resume birth control after the birth of our twins. I just hope we won’t be too disappointed if our prince charming never shows.

Wrapping up my hair appointment, G, who kinda resembles a plump fairy godmother, proceeded to randomly refer me to a little-known restaurant that I might want to try close to my house. (It just so happens I’m trying to find a nice but local place to celebrate my impending birthday, but she didn’t know that). When I went home, I googled the restaurant and checked its menu--it happens to serve exactly the type of food I’m craving and it's not the typical menu you'd find near me. And looking at the restaurant’s pictures…the décor is just my style. Aah, I’ll have to schedule my hair appointments to run into this lady again! I felt refreshed all day.