I needed to make peace with this situation, which meant making peace with Shannon. To make this turn of mind, I relied on the feedback of my friends. My closest friends, JoAnn, Linda, Tracy, and Ann, helped me reflect on how I could escape from my pity party. In addition to those women, I also had the help of an amazing group of women from around the United States and Canada.Originally we’d met on an IVF message board. When the pregnancy was certain, I told them first because they all had undergone IVF in order to have their families, so they had a better understanding than most of my friends of what I was going through. The news shocked them, but they rallied quickly and consistently. Most of them I had never met in person, but they became my sanity check. Many times a day we’d convene in a private Facebook group where at least one of them was always available to help me sort through my emotions and reactions. I called them my “Reliable Girls,” and their support was priceless.Suzanne, my Atlanta Reliable Girl, was the one who organized the Facebook group.
