When you are experiencing infertility, it can seem like everyone around you has a rosy, fairy-tale ending with their healthy pregnancy and baby—even if they had difficulty conceiving at first. You wonder, “how will my story end? How will I recount this chapter of my life?”

Navigating the “trying-to-conceive” (aka TTC) world can be a crash-course in foreign-sounding words and a litany of abbreviations. We’re here to help break it down and make it understandable.

The holidays are here, which may make you excited, or the thought of all the shopping, get-togethers, and festivities may send you running for cover—especially if you’re also trying to add one more thing to your to-do list: get pregnant. Here’s what you need to know about stress before you get under the mistletoe this year.