One of my friends is currently going through fertility treatment. She has been trying for three years, and everything is against her - her age, her medical history. Every month she has the awful moment when she realises that no, she isn't pregnant and the realisation that her dreams of becoming a month are slipping further and further away. It is becoming too late for her to adopt.
My heart goes out to her, not least because the odds were stacked against me becoming a mum, too. I had endometriosis, PCOS, a pituitary tumour and suffered a miscarriage. When I was pregnant with No 1 Son I developed hyperemesis, and to be honest it was touch and go for a while.
And that's why I never, ever take motherhood for granted. I never forget that children are the most precious gift, even when they're being naughty or driving you to distraction and you're having to count to 10 not to lose your temper with them big time. (My grandmother used to say 'never go to bed on an argument' and that's always been the rule in this house.)
So today, Mother's Day, I'm thinking about those women who can't have children but so desperately want to be mums. The women who die in pregnancy and childbirth. Those whose children are sick or who have suffered bereavement. And the mums who weren't able to see their kids grow up.
Lucky doesn't even come close.
Happy Mother's Day xxx