What triggers stress, and how can you reduce it, when you are living with infertility? Maybe the correct question is, what doesn't trigger stress when you are living with infertility. Charting, vitamins, minerals, doctor visits, medications, injections, friends, family, co-workers, emotions, and list goes on of what can trigger stress day in and day out. What can you do to help reduce the stress that you feel from all of these triggers?

Try changing how you look at the trigger. If daily injections trigger daily stress, it could be due to how you are "seeing" the injection affecting your life. If you are taking injections to prepare for IVF or some other procedure, are you looking at the injections as positive steps towards a future pregnancy, or doomed to failure? If you can "see" each injection as a preparatory step that will lead to a future pregnancy, the stress that you feel both before and after each injection can be reduced.

Each month millions of women get their periods, but for the woman living with infertility, this can be a very emotional and stressful event. By viewing your period as a failure to conceive, you are doing yourself and your partner a disservice. There are many ways to combat this type of stress trigger. You should see your period as another opportunity to eat right, exercise, and get into the best pre-pregnancy shape possible. Take a day or two off from trying to conceive and charting, but do continue to take your daily vitamins, and any medications that your doctor has prescribed. Indulge a little bit with a hot bath, or a visit to a local spa for a massage or facial.

With the holidays approaching, family members will soon be gathering and along with family comes "those questions". Just thinking about dealing with the questions that will be asked can trigger stress, and the family has not even arrived yet. One way to reduce this type of stress is to begin preparing yourself early. Think about all the possible questions they could ask, and get your answers ready now. If you haven't done so already, you might want to read What Should I Say?. This article will give you some ideas and tips on how to answer different questions.

So what is the best way to reduce the stress that you feel from living with infertility? That all depends on you, what your triggers are, and what makes you feel good. Because you just can't stop being infertile, you have to look at your diagnosis in a different way. If you can't remember the last time you and your partner went out on a date, it might be time to do just that. Make reservations at your favorite restaurant, call your partner and ask them out to dinner, and get dressed up. Make a night of it, and stay at a local hotel to really get away "from it all", at least for a night.

Doing little things, like going out on a date, getting a massage, can do more than you would imagine to reduce the stress you are feeling. Treat yourself, treat your partner, and indulge once in a while.