Turtles and Frogs and Baby - Oh My!

After finding out the baby’s gender last Tuesday, I scoured the internet for nursery themes and ended up ordering a nursery bedding collection that appealed to me.  It is called “Mr. and Mrs. Pond,” and it is a sage green, baby blue and chocolate colored turtle and frog theme.  Here is the advertisement picture for the collection I bought (I just have to add...my walls will NOT be that color...whatever that color is).

 Why did I choose the Mr. and Mrs. Pond theme?  (She says, as if repeating a question asked by the masses who could actually probably care less).  Well, I knew as soon as I heard that I was having a boy that I wanted a “turtle” theme.  When I was a child, one of my favorite fables was the story of the tortoise and the hare (later remixed into the turtle and the rabbit).  For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the VERY short version is that the annoying over-achiever rabbit and the pokey but persistent turtle had a foot race.  The rabbit was so fast, it seemed obvious who would win.  So obvious, in fact, that the rabbit decided to take a rest, be lazy and do other things along the way, to show that the rabbit could beat the turtle without even trying.  The turtle, undeterred, kept saying his mantra “Slow and steady wins the race.”  And…as you may have guessed…(spoiler alert) the turtle did win the race, teaching the rabbit and onlookers a valuable lesson.

Throughout my life, I always identified with the rabbit.  Most things came easily to me.  I always thought that the point of the story was to remind yourself that things that come easily to you don’t necessarily come easily to others…so you should try not to be obnoxious about your talents or abilities and should not take your gifts for granted.  But then I was diagnosed with infertility and I realized that there is a whole other set of lessons in the fable…lessons learned from the turtle’s perspective.

When I was going through infertility treatments, the turtle’s mantra kept popping in my head…for years – Slow and steady wins the race.  I learned that in any endeavor the road is harder and seems longer for some people…even good people.  But if you tuck your head down and keep plowing ahead, believing that you can get to the finish line, one day you will.  You have to forget what is going on with all the “rabbits” around you, who seem to be able to, without much effort at all, get the things that are so difficult for you to come by (easier said than done...I know).  The victory is so much sweeter for the turtles in this world.  That is what I came to take from the fable. 

 I am at the finish line now, having been a turtle for years, and I appreciate the little victory in my belly so much more than any other achievement in my life.  Baby Hamish wasn't easy to come by...but he was worth every painful step of the journey. 

And that’s how I came up with the turtle theme…well…that and Fertile Myrtle…which is a story I’ll leave for another day.  Do any of you have a story, fable, etc. that has touched you during your infertility journey?  Any matras that help you through dark days?  I'd love to hear your ideas.