…or Begins. Depending on how you look at it. After almost a year of blogging all the news your womb can use, this will be my final week here at Fertility Notes and at b5media.

Sniff.

But don’t you be sad! You can still find me at my private blog (you can email me for details) and at www.nationalparksonline.net, our newly revamped blog chronicling Michael’s and my two-year road trip to all of the National Park sites across the United States and keeping you up to date on national park news. If you’re interested, I am working on some pretty neat things over at www.par.net for folks looking for autism or intellectual disabilities services here in Pennsylvania.

And here’s even better news: for those of you following my personal fertility journey, we received two very nice hCG (aka “pregnancy hormone“) numbers this week. While I’m wary of celebrating just yet, things are looking pretty good. We have an ultrasound (!) scheduled for later this month.

Since this will likely be my last post, I wanted to leave you with some of my favorite all time posts and helpful hints. Here is what I learned writing Fertility Notes:

• Even though some people can be mean and irrational, if you are struggling with or living with infertility, you never need to feel alone.

• Telling your partner he is “seriously F-ing with your fertility feng shui” tidies up the bedroom far faster than nagging.

• Acupuncture (and my acupuncturist) is awesome.

• Sometimes struggling with fertility gives us compassion and brings us closer to people in unlikely ways.

• You can still enjoy a fabulous foot massage from your husband while pregnant.

• This may have been the hardest post I’ve ever written.

• There is not nearly enough information available in schools regarding infertility.

• Estrogen is not all bad. In fact, sometimes it’s kinda nice.

• The end result is more important to me than how I get there.

• Cultivating my Qi is important. And it can be fun.

• It is possible for joy and sorrow to occupy the same space.

• You ladies love learning about herbal tampons.

• The Barren Bitches Book Brigade may be one of the best online meeting of minds I have ever participated in. A monthly opportunity to read, reflect, respond and most importantly gather the thoughts of beautiful, intelligent women. You should join the next one!

• Raising a child is relatively inexpensive, once you get to that point.

• I will never stop caring about Choice and the environment, getting angry about misinformation, or boycotting products that do not respect women (that means you, Tampax) And I hope to goddess that my children are rabble rousers too.

• My top ten random reasons for wanting to have a baby are still 100% accurate.

I invite you to comment here or email me at polchic@hotmail.com to tell me what you have learned. Don’t be a stranger!

Share This

Sigh.

I think I can squeeze in one more trip or two to the beach. I have to. I still have summer reading to do. I still haven’t finished the The Mind-Body Fertility Connection: The True Pathway to Conception by James Schwartz. Did I mention that I have some extra copies to share? Want one?

Let me tell you what I know: James Schwartz is a Board certified Hypnotherapist and founder and director of the Rocky Mountain Hypnotherapy Center in Lakewood, Colorado. He’s got a fertility program called, “Hypnosis to Promote Fertility” which focuses on “healing the mental and emotional barriers that can often prevent conception.” That practice is the basis of the book that I have for you.

If that sounds like something you’d like to know more about, email me at polchic@hotmail.com and ‘ll tell you more….

Share This

If you are still undergoing cancer treatments and think others at your oncologist’s office would benefit from this, you can use Fertile Hope’s Tell Your Doctor tool and they’ll take care of the rest.

A little over a year ago, when hubby and I finally realized that surely I must not be the only childhood cancer survivor who wanted to have a baby, (Hey, sometimes that light bulb takes a little longer to light for some of us…) finding Fertile Hope was the first glimmer of, well, hope for us. An earlier version of this Guide helped steer us in the right direction and connected us with the Reproductive Endocrinologist and clinic that still works with us today.

Even though we are not directly involved in a Fertile Hope program, finding an RE with at least a basic understanding of oncofertility was essential for us. I think that search would have taken much longer without Fertile Hope.

Here’s to hoping that this post shortens a search or two.

##

Speaking of Freebie Friday, You have until July 31st to enter to win a $40 Fertility Scope from  Miracle Light Labs. That’s tomorrow! Hurry!

Share This

In a Q&A published in  Saturday’s Calgary Herald

Urologist Dr. Fisch shared some info from the book he co-authored with Kara Baskin. Some of the pertinent points from the doc include:

“penis size doesn’t vary as much as people think. The average is 5.4 inches. Most men are between four and six inches. When you have less than three inches, then that’s a real problem fertility-wise — it’s too small of a penis to actually reach the cervix.”

“the larger the testicle, the better the fertility and the better chance to have a good testosterone level. Bigger is better.”

Dr. Fisch goes on to explain a number of misconceptions related to size, virility and the importance of belly fat (too much in men reduces fertility). The Calgary Herald notes,

Guys reading all of this may freak out a little.

To which Dr. Fisch responds:

I don’t want them to freak out. I want them to buy the book and to read to see what questions women are asking, because we’ve got to get men to understand what women are thinking.

Share This

A Newsweek article that will be published in the August 4th issue of the magazine gives a great explanation of what Oncofertility is and why it matters so much to cancer patients.

According to Newsweek:

Of the 125,000 people under the age of 45 who are diagnosed with cancer each year, roughly half will receive treatments that will affect their fertility. The cancers that most commonly strike the young—leukemias, lymphomas and breast cancers—require some of the most toxic forms of chemotherapy, which target rapidly growing and fragile cells like hair follicles, sperm and eggs.

The good news: patients who would like to become parents have a growing array of options. Men are benefiting from a procedure that allows urologists to find a single live sperm to bank, which can then be used in an in vitro fertilization method that requires just one sperm. Women can freeze eggs or ovarian tissue, though success rates are still low. Those with partners (or donor sperm) can freeze embryos, the procedure with the best track record, though, like egg freezing, it’s available only to patients who have two to six weeks before starting treatment. On the horizon are less toxic chemotherapy agents as well as methods of shielding eggs and sperm from harm.

But can I just ask that you, dear docs, take a little more care in those “methods of shielding eggs and sperm from harm?”

Before I started the radiation segment of my treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease, someone thought that by pulling my ovaries behind my uterus (which would be shielded from the radiation by a big lead block), that would be good enough. Instead, it took years and several confused ultrasound technicians to finally locate those ovaries again - which were anything but shielded from harm.

I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, this is a nice article in mainstream media that’s not the NY Times (who has had fertility-related articles in nearly every Sunday edition for the last several weeks.) I dig it.

Share This

Many, many thanks to reader Amy Kreydin for setting me straight. Here is her advice on getting a foot massage while expecting:

As a board certified reflexologist and a DONA trained birth doula I can tell you having a foot rub from your husband isn’t going to bring on labor. He would have to work deeply to the point of causing him discomfort and would need to hold points for greater than a minute each. A good old-fashioned foot rub is just the thing I encourage my expecting clients to receive from their loved ones.

To clarify which points you may not want to put much pressure on (since acupressure and reflexology are two completely different systems), the reflex point for the uterus is located on the inside of the foot near the “ankle” bone. So, if you were standing up it would be about half way between your heel on the floor and the bone a few inches up from it. Pressure here should be gentle and nurturing.

For more information on reflexology during pregnancy read this article with studies by a UK OB/GYN: http://reflexology.suite101.com/article.cfm/reflexology_and_your_pregnanc

So, I was happily, happily proven wrong. Thank you!!

Share This

I always think that I’m going to enjoy the mandatory “don’t do anything” for the 24-hours immediately after transfer. But after the first few magazines, boredom can easily set in. Here’s how I whiled away my “don’t do anything” time this time around:

1.) Read about half of this great book I picked up at a used book sale this spring.

2.) Had a “discussion” over whether or not lying on my side or stomach was allowed, or if bedrest really meant “flat on my back.” (update: on the side = ok. on the stomach = notsomuch, at least not for the first 24 hours)

3.) Enjoyed some subversive cross stitch. Really enjoyed the subversive cross stitch. I may need to get more.

4.) Tried to mentally weigh every item in my apartment. Did you know that when they say, “don’t lift anything over 10 lbs.,” that equates to roughly a gallon of milk??? My laptop and cord = just slightly under 9 lbs. My beloved dakine hemp bag with all of my stuff in it? 10 lbs. Argh.

5.) Saw that Michael’s heart rate accelerates and his palms get sweaty anytime he is asked to cook. It’s not that he won’t. He’s just terrified of “messing up” as he puts it. Luckily in-laws and my mom were around this week to lend some hands.

6.) Started some Christmas gifts early (but who haven’t I given a scarf to yet? Anybody need a scarf?)

7.) Had another “discussion” over whether or not pulling open the door to our elevator counts towards the 10 lb. limit. (update: nurse says, no. not really. Take that hubby.)

8.) Found out that progesterone suppositories don’t count when they say, “nothing in the vagina for a week.” Nope. No such luck. They’re a gift that keep on giving.

9.) Fell in love with our new bed all over again.

10.) Realized that I really can unplug from my computer and not think about work for a 24 hour period and everything will still be OK.

Share This