Browsing Articles Written by
Sheila Matthews

Sheila Matthews

Apart from undertaking all things vicar wifeish, Sheila enjoys spending her days drinking coffee with friends, cuddling cats, laughing until she cries, reading books and dreaming of exotic holidays. She was once a primary school teacher and may well be again. Sheila loves being a part of the Saltwater & Honey family and having the chance to share her journey through infertility.

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Take Up Your Space

By On 13 March 2019

Looking back, I don’t really have many regrets. I was never particularly wild as a teenager. I wasn’t overly cautious either so I tended to participate in the things I wanted to do. Perhaps there are some boys in my past that I wished I had kissed. Or some occasions where I missed a chance to put myself forward for…

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New Year, Same Me

By On 3 January 2019

I am an enneagram type 4. This won’t mean a lot to many people but if you know, you know. I have big feelings. So, when a year draws to close and a new one begins, I fall into a reflective mood. Perhaps I should backtrack a little. In the last few months I have said goodbye to the part…

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A painful ending and a new beginning

By On 6 September 2018

Re-imagining what life looks like when confronted by childlessness and infertility is a common theme throughout Saltwater and Honey. We are so grateful to guest blogger Sue who is sharing her personal story below. A few weeks ago, I had a full hysterectomy – everything out – tubes, ovaries and womb.  Nothing that unusual in this, it is an operation…

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Encountering Secondary Infertility

By On 12 December 2017

I’m writing this from my single room in a retreat house in the heart of Essex. I’ve just had dinner with a nun, a Rector and a saintly old lady from Suffolk. I am a fish out of water. Going on retreat has been a longing of mine for a while. I’m here for 24 hours after blackmailing Elis into…

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Can friendship survive infertility?

By On 31 October 2017

He that is thy friend indeed, He will help thee in thy need: If thou sorrow, he will weep; If thou wake, he cannot sleep: Thus of every grief in heart He with thee doth bear a part. These are certain signs to know Faithful friend from flattering foe. William Shakespeare – The Passionate Pilgrim One of the focuses of…

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Who is this week for?

By On 31 October 2016

Today marks the start of National Fertility Awareness Week. In the few years that this has been on my radar, I’ve often accompanied this announcement with a jingle or dance so please just imagine I am shimmying around as you read this. This year feels different for me. I could put it down to being a post-fertility treatment parent and…

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Turning the question around

By On 19 October 2016

“Have you thought about adoption?” This phrase has been running around my head throughout National Adoption Week. If I’m being completely honest, it runs through my head pretty regularly. I am thinking about it. When Elis and I were coming to terms with what azoospermia meant for us (“You can use a donor or adopt” said the consultant) adoption was…

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By On 16 July 2016

I always knew that Jennifer Aniston and I were similar. Our great hair and comic timing are just a couple of examples. But her recent blog for The Huffington Post confirmed our compatibility. She’s fed up. I’m fed up. Actually, I’m not fed up. I’m sad. I’ve been sad for a little while now. I thought it was the weather…

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Airbrushed

By On 26 March 2016

I love Easter. Not because of the chocolate (I’m not really a big chocolate eater) or the lovely long weekend (I generally am a big fan of any and all days off) but because it is the one point in the year when every church across the world will mourn. We gather together on Good Friday and we grieve. We…

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