Our little family having a lovely day at Perth Zoo

I met my husband, Warren, via an internet service and then moved to Perth from Brisbane. We married in 1999.

We spent most of the next few years trying for a baby using IVF. I had five embryo transfers in all. (For a more detailed description of my experiences with IVF, click here.)

My first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage at 19 weeks. We called our baby boy Jamie.

My second pregnancy was ectopic and I had to lose a tube.

My third pregnancy resulted in our beautiful son, Michael, who was born in December 2002. This was also not without its complications (if this doesn't take you straight to my story, scroll down to see my response to Philosopher13's excellent article on breastfeeding difficulties), but we couldn't be happier with our beautiful son. He brings so much joy to our lives, and we feel so lucky to have him.

I was a stay-at-home Mum since Michael was born (although I have fitted in some work during that time as well). When he started kindy in 2007, we started trying for another baby. We had five attempts, during which time I got sicker and sadder. Our last try was in May/June 2008, when we ran out of embryos and we both decided it was time to stop trying. This was for the sake of my physical health, as well as the mental health of all three of us.

After we gave up on IVF, I looked for a part-time job that would still allow me the time to be the best Mum to Michael I can be. And I'm pleased to say that I've found one. I now have a job doing admin in a local aged care facility (very, very close to Michael's school) for 15 hours a week, which I started on Monday, 1 December. Yay!

I have joined the IVF Support Group and the PCOS Group here on Minti in the hope that I can offer support and encouragement to other people going through what I went through.

For a bit of fun, offer your two cents' worth in the TV for Kids Group.

Two of my favourite quotes:

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow sometimes you gotta put up with the rain." - Dolly Parton

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." - Phyllis Diller