Don’t forget the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show Selfie Scavenger Hunt!
Not only is this week the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show and Catholic Writers Conference Live, but it’s also National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. I’ll be away at the show/conference, but I’m hosting postings from a few fellow members of the Captive Panda Club: those of us follow Church teaching on fertility but who nevertheless bust that super-fertile Catholic stereotype and get and stay pregnant as often as your average captive panda. 
This week, I’m honored to host the following guest bloggers:
7/21 Erin McCole Cupp (surprise!)
7/22 Rhonda Ortiz
7/23 Carolyn Astfalk
Reader, do you have an experience with subfertility to share with your fellow Captive Pandas? Did you go from infertile to subfertile, experience secondary infertility, or experience a different path all together? What’s the hardest part of being a Captive Panda Club member? What keeps you going in faith? How has God sustained you through it all? What have been some unexpected blessings you’ve found as a result of trusting in Church teaching on fertility? Talk to us in the comments below!
PS: Don’t forget the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show Selfie Scavenger Hunt!
Erin McCole Cupp 
I’m not sure I fit in here exactly because I have a large brood, but between # 7 and #8, God took me on a deep journey into the desert. I suffered a bunch of miscarriages and had to deal with a body which was less than cooperative in the charting department. I got lots of advice that conflicted with the call from that still small voice, but ultimately I am so glad that I trusted. All of the suffering was worth it as it drew me closer to the cross. God bless every woman who is a mother at heart, especially if God is asking her to carry the heavy cross of “captivity”.
“Captivity” indeed: aren’t we all captives of some sort without the cross? Thanks for checking in. Whatever our crosses, let’s support each other in love.
Love this idea! I often feel left out of the “NFP wars”–not that I want to be in a war, of course, but I’m left all alone, feeling that people are wondering why I don’t have kids yet, but not wanting to complain lest I offend someone who is “really” infertile. It took us a year from the time I started working on fixing my cycle to be allowed to try to conceive by my obgyn, and another six months beyond that to get a positive pregnancy test–using a method where most people who use the system to conceive get pregnant in 1-3 months! But, through the grace of God and the miracle of modern medicine, our napro baby just made it into the second trimester! Praying we get to keep him/her. 🙂
Please God, yes!!! We will add you guys to our family rosary!!! St. Gerard, pray for us!