Who is Rhian?

I’m a Wirral born and bred girl and total home bird. I love spending time with my friends and family, enjoying good food and getting out and about with my husband and dog.

How did you become inspired by sober living?

When our first round of IVF resulted in 2 failed embryo transfers and a miscarriage, it was incredibly hard. With only one more round left on NHS funding, I took my reduced alcohol intake a lot further. This time around I stopped drinking completely a lot earlier in the treatment process, as well as reducing alcohol intake overall in the run up to treatment starting. I wanted to do everything I possibly could to make this round a success, produce some great quality embryos and not have any “what ifs?”looming. My husband joined me on the journey too!

What is your favourite sober experience?

Whilst deep into the stimulation injection phase of treatment, I attended my best friends hen do. We danced the night away in Revs de Cuba and I had the best time celebrating with her - 0% alcohol, just lemonade and water! Being sober didn’t stop me having fun and enjoying myself and it’s always nice to wake up hangover free!

How do you connect with the outdoors?

We have a Cockapoo so we get out and about at least twice a day with her, walking round our local village and parks. On the weekends when we can venture a little further, we go on hikes and enjoy the sea air at the beach - maybe even have a little paddle board. We love the fruits we grow in our garden so spending more time out there is now higher up our to do list. It’s so satisfying being able to grow and eat such fresh fruits and knowing exactly where they come from. Nothing beats being in nature after a hard/stressful day to ground you, it’s something that’s really helped in the IVF journey.

Where are you heading next?

Having found such great alcohol free alternatives and seeing the difference in how I feel, I’ll be keeping up my reduced alcohol intake. Hopefully this will prepare me for our next embryo transfer and then I’ll be tee total for quite some time if all goes well!