Amber Stone Williams made a pregnancy announcement with a difference recently.
While sharing her own good news, she acknowledged how hard it can be to see these announcements for those going through fertility problems.
"I get it," she wrote on Facebook. "I know the feeling. That gut-wrenching, hard to breathe feeling. Because I was that girl."
Amber said she was the girl who was crushed every time she saw another pregnancy announcement, "who was sick to her stomach because she wasn't the one doing the announcing. The girl that was so angry that you didn't even have to try".
"The girl who would cry behind closed doors because my heart was so broken that my body wouldn't produce a miracle like yours would," she wrote.
Amber said she thought it was important to acknowledge the pain, and to say sorry for making them feel that way. "I know your heart is breaking into a million pieces all the while you are digging way down deep to express just an ounce of joy for the parents-to-be," she wrote. "I know the ugly jealous feeling all too well."
Although that difficult time in her life was a cycle of hope and despair, Amber says she learned to have faith. "Let's be real: conceiving is an absolute M-I-R-A-C-L-E," she wrote. "But in my waiting, my eyes have been opened... I have seen the other side, and I get it."
She went on to dedicate her pregnancy announcement to those who have experienced fertility challenges. "So, this is for the girl who got another negative pregnancy test this morning … to the girl who has no idea why this is so hard for her … to the girl whose heart is so bitter … to the girl who has lost a child due to miscarriage or heartbreaking circumstance … to the girl whose adoption process has failed once again … to the girl who has one child but can't seem to get pregnant again. I am so sorry you are going through this, and I know it's just not fair."
"[It took] 476 days of infertility
Thousands of dollars in medical bills
11 months of Clomid
Injection after injection
Prescription after prescription
Ultrasound after ultrasound
Hundreds of needle pricks
5 IUIs
Months of failed treatments
And 2 pink lines to remind me how faithful my God is in the midst of it all and that was worth every single second."
The post resonated with many women who have been through their own fertility problems.
Many used the post to tag friends and offer words of encouragement, starting conversations of support and love. Others shared their success stories.
One mum-to-be wrote, "1065 days of infertility for me. When I saw the positive pregnancy test I cried, and then I facetimed my husband at work. 18 weeks pregnant now, haven't been this happy in years."
Another shared her story, "It has been eight years since they told me I would not have babies! I cried and waited and begged. I wanted to know why everyone else got to have babies but not me. I have been unexpectedly blessed with a miracle and am happy to say I am 11 weeks! And worry everyday about miscarriage and thank god every day that goes by and nothing happens. Praying for a healthy baby."