5 Reasons Why Pineapples are the Perfect Symbol for Infertility (and my blog)

Why "Confessions of a Pineapple" for the name of my blog? I realize that pineapples, like many symbols, can carry multiple meanings. So today, I want to tell you why I've chosen the pineapple as a centerpiece for talking about infertility and pregnancy loss.

Here is a brief preview of my five reasons pineapples are perfect symbols for infertility and represent my blog:

1. Confidence and Self-Worth

2. Infertility Maze

3. Growing Pineapples

4. Formula for Growth

5. Friendship

Note: Before I jump into the main points of my blog, I do want to add a little clarification. As pretty much everyone knows, pineapples are full of nutrients and antioxidants. Not surprisingly, due to their nutritional benefits, there is a myth that pineapples help improve fertility. However, this myth does seem to have a lot of controversy about whether it is a fact or fiction. Perhaps, I will be able to do more research into this in the future and tell you more about it. However, I want to tell you why I think pineapples are the perfect symbol for infertility and that my blog has nothing to do with their potential health benefits.

1) Confidence and Self-Worth

Confidence and Self-Worth

If a pineapple could talk, what do you think it would tell us? It would say to us to be confident and proud of who we are, regardless of our circumstances. Those who have experienced infertility or a miscarriage can easily question their self-worth, feel embarrassed, or feel guilty for being jealous of a friend or family member who is expecting or recently had a baby. A famous quote in the infertility community comes from Katherine Gaskin, who said, "Be a pineapple: Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside." I realize that Pineapples don't talk, but they have become a symbol to help us be confident in opening up about our stories of loss and understand our true worth in the infertility community.

This quote resonates with me as it does for much of the infertility community. I know that I have felt many of these emotions of feeling worthless, guilty, or broken due to infertility and miscarriage. As I've started to understand these false beliefs, I want to share ideas and tips that may help you in your journey with infertility or pregnancy loss. Like the outside of pineapples, we may feel rough either emotionally or physically, but I know we are amazing people on the inside, like the sweetness of pineapples.

2) Infertility Maze

In 2008, the Dole Pineapple Plantation created the largest maze in the world. It was over 3 acres in size! Anyone who has experienced infertility can tell you it can be a colossal maze as you navigate through emotional ups and downs, infertility information overload, and figuring out how to pay for the cost of fertility treatments.

When I first suspected that we wouldn't get pregnant naturally, I had no idea where to start. I was scared. I felt alone and overwhelmed. Over the years, I've done quite a bit of personal research into infertility and pregnancy loss. I've come to love learning about the human body so much that I considered going to medical school. I know that I'm not an expert, but I have found many incredible resources and practical tips that I hope will serve as a map as you navigate through your infertility maze.

3) Growing Pineapples

Before writing this blog post, I didn't know much about pineapples and how they are grown. As I've been learning about them, I've found a couple more reasons why pineapples are the perfect symbol for infertility. I will do my best to explain how pineapples are grown and how they relate to infertility, but this video made by DOLE was fascinating if you want to learn more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpJHgXaPzFA

The video's narrator made a comment that stood out to me that pineapples take "time, knowledge, and patience to grow." Due to infertility, it can take time to have the family we always wanted. With infertility, knowledge is key to making the best choices for each situation. And as anyone who has experienced infertility or miscarriage, patience is one of the hardest lessons we learn in our journey.

The narrator also mentioned that growing pineapples couldn't be automated. Most of the work is "done by hand." It takes an entire team of people to grow pineapples.

In nature, hummingbirds or bats usually pollinate wild-grown pineapples. However, commercially produced pineapples require extra attention from the pineapple farmers to induce pollination. Pineapple farmers will use either a naturally occurring plant hormone called Ethylene or Calcium Carbide, which turns into acetylene gas. Either option should get the pineapple plant to grow a pineapple. Pineapples also absorb most of their nutrients through their leaves. Something I thought was interesting is that for those going through fertility treatments, we often have to take hormones via injections, medications, or creams to help us as we work towards growing a baby.

I hope you enjoyed learning about how growing pineapples is not unlike our experiences in trying to grow our families despite our struggles with infertility. Just as pineapples need a team to grow, we need a team too. I hope to build a support system as we educate and raise awareness about infertility and miscarriage. You could say I'm trying to grow my pineapple tribe. So, I hope you will share this blog with others so they can find information and support as they are going through their journey.

4) Formula for Growth

A flowering pineapple plant

In nature, we can find many examples of a Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical formula. Fibonacci is calculated by adding the two previous numbers together, for example, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc. The pineapple fruitlets (the geometrical shapes making up the pineapple skin), if you count them in diagonal rows, they usually are in a Fibonacci sequence. These fruitlets come from when the pineapple plant flowered. They start as many tiny flowers that bloom and then fuse into one bromeliad (plant family) berry as they grow: the pineapple.

I find this interesting about pineapples because it is a bunch of small things that make up the pineapple. Like in our lives, we are a fusion of our life experiences. Infertility does not define us. However, things in our infertility journey are a part of who we become. I've had times when I was angry with God, and I've had times when I felt his peace in my heart. Not any single experience has brought me to who I am today, but each piece of the journey has helped me become who I am. And your experiences are what have made you who you are. At times, it may feel that God is being unfair or unjust in giving us this trial, but he has a formula for who he wants us to become, and this is just another sequence to help our growth.

I hope to share with you on this blog some of the pieces in my journey, both the hard life lessons and the "tender mercies" from God that have helped me grow closer to God and better understand my need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If anyone is interested in sharing pieces of their spiritual journey with infertility or miscarriage, please reach out to me.

5) Friendship

In addition to being symbols of infertility, pineapples are also a symbol of friendship. When pineapples were first discovered in the new world, they became popular at parties and were given as tokens of friendship because they were so rare. Let's be honest true friendships can be pretty rare to find. When I started opening up and talking about my infertility journey, I found healing as I connected with family and friends. While I can't know what you are going through (not just infertility but any trial), and you can't know what I'm experiencing, we can find healing as we share our experiences.

Welcome to the Pineapple Tribe!

Family and friends can be a great support system for infertility or pregnancy loss. However, it can also be awkward and uncomfortable to help a friend going through infertility. Or know how to support those who have gone through a miscarriage. One of the most important topics I hope to write about on this blog is sharing guidance and tips for those who are here to support their friends and family who are going through infertility or pregnancy loss. And I can't do this alone, I want input from my readers, and I hope you can share this blog with your friends and family.

Pineapple Takeaways

I hope you've enjoyed learning more about pineapples and why they are the perfect symbol for infertility. In the comments below or on social media, I would love to hear why you think pineapples are the ideal symbol for infertility (and pregnancy loss)?

Finally, let's recap a few ways you can participate in raising awareness about infertility and pregnancy loss.

• Contact me if you are interested in sharing your experiences with infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, or adoption.

• Please take my survey to let me know what topics related to infertility or miscarriage, or stillbirth interest you.

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Thanks for joining the Pineapple Tribe!