Internet Blind Date

30 May 2010

Yesterday I felt like I had entered the world of internet dating when I met up with 5 amazing ivf.ca women at the Vancouver meet-up. We decided to meet at a restaurant, and the organizer of the event just happens to go by the webname “impatient”. Fortunately she made the reservation under her real name, but we all got lots of laughs out of asking for the impatient table -maybe our food would be served quickly? As we trickled in we introduced ourselves and it was like meeting up with a bunch of people you have known for a long time. We had fun decoding each other’s real names, and began talking, and talking, and talking.
The waitress kept coming back to take orders and none of us had even thought to open a menu. At one point, she made a comment that she understood what it was like to get together with a bunch of friends that you haven’t seen in a while. I thought to myself -wow if she only knew that we’ve been in regular contact online, but never actually met in real life before!
Everyone had a chance to share her frustrations, worries, fears, but what struck me most is how many laughs we had. Each one of us has had a different experience but despite the horror stories, there we were, smiling and laughing like a bunch of long lost buddies! Thank goodness for the background music and loud atmosphere, because I’m sure we would have made the whole place very uncomfortable if everyone could hear our candid conversations about our uteruses, our husband’s sperm, and stabbing ourselves with injections. It reminded me of the girls in Sex and the City meeting up in the New York cafe and talking openly about their sex lives, except our “sex lives” had been taken to a whole different place than we’d have ever dreamed possible in hopes of making a baby.
We were definitely not an impatient table. When we did finally get some food, the conversation did not stop. All of a sudden I looked at my watch and we had been there for over 2 hours. I knew I would miss the last ferry home if I didn’t get up to leave. I caught a lift back with the woman who introduced me to ivf.ca after finding each other on another site. I ended up arriving at the ferry just in time to buy the last ticket home!
On my journey back I kept trying to read the book I brought along, but my thoughts of these amazing people I had just met kept creeping in. I am so fortunate to have found this support network. Honestly, what did people do before the internet. How did they cope? I hope we will get a chance to get together again soon. It will be like a sequel of our very own “Dr. Assisted Intercourse and the City”. I wonder where will each of our stories take us in part 2?