Bloggers

Anti-Depressants and TTC: Is It Time to Go Off Your Meds?

a blog by Beth and Tami of Pulling Down the Moon, Mar. 9, 2010

This month, a study released in the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology revealed acupuncture may be useful in treating depression in pregnant women. Depressed pregnant women have a higher incidence of postpartum depression and their children have been shown to have poorer cognitive and emotional development. Additionally, there may also be a link between depression and lower birth weight in babies. These are some of the reasons why appropriate mental health treatment cannot be overlooked during the TTC period.

We are often asked about holistic therapies that might help women get off their anti-depressants while they are trying to conceive or once they achieve pregnancy. Many patients express concern about birth defects or that medications will potentially inhibit their ability to conceive or carry to term. On the male side, patients have read studies that suggest SSRI anti-depressants can decrease erectile function and ejaculation and may cause a major increase in genetic damage to sperm. For those couples experiencing anxiety over the anti-depressant meds/TTC dilemma, this new study offers patients a compelling option.

TTC in Winter? Here's an RX

a blog by lashaundra, Mar. 10, 2010

Infertility is such a romance-killer. It can really stress a relationship, so much so that it makes it difficult to concentrate on your greatest blessing: your partner. The key to staying in check is to recognize your stress factors and try to lessen them, whenever possible.

Of course, to all of this, add winter's doldrums. S.O.S.!

Here's the bright side: Winter is a great time to have a couple’s massage, go on a trip, or just schedule some time together to reflect on what made you fall in love with each other in the first place. Most likely, it was long before either of you were involved in the trying and consuming world of infertility.

The ABC/Cablevision Standoff: What It Says About Infertility

a blog by David Kreiner, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., March 2, 2010

It was quite shocking on Sunday when Disney pulled WABC Channel 7 from Cablevision. Three million viewers in the New York Metropolitan area were affected. My wife was distraught. Her favorite television shows -- Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Lost -- were no longer viewable on our TV set. Not to mention the Superbowl of celebrity watching, the Oscars. Many were frustrated and depressed at the prospect of being denied the pleasure of watching the shows we have grown accustomed to expecting.

My wife and I never truly experienced infertility. We had a workup for recurrent miscarriages and it took us more than a year to conceive a healthy pregnancy in between our two boys and two girls. We were not denied the joy of building a family that we had learned to expect while growing up, observing our own, as well as our friends’ and neighbors’ families.

When Dreams of Baby Go Up in Flames

a blog by the editors, Mar. 8, 2010

Think about it: How desperate do you have to be to set fire to your own house?

Desperate. Last-resort Desperate.

Ralph Brown, it seems, was last-resort desperate to have a baby.

Brown, a volunteer with the fire department in Bennington, Vermont, is accused of setting fire to his own house on two occasions in order to collect insurance money to get his wife infertility treatment. Firefighters were called to his home on Feb. 26, around noon and again on Feb. 27 around 10:30 p.m. While the first fire was quickly brought under control, the second fire lasted longer and did more damage to the home. Brown has pled not guilty to numerous arson charges.

We read this story this morning and were struck by just how sad it is. Again, we were reminded just how inaccessible fertility treatment is to the average American.

Your TTC Diet: Fertility and the Sexy Avocado

by Cindy Bailey of the Fertile Kitchen™, Mar. 8, 2010

If you’ve been on the fertility journey long enough, I’m sure you’ve heard that avocados are THE fertility food. What is it about this fruit that makes it so? It’s sexy, womanly shape? Actually, the Aztecs used avocado as a sex stimulant, considering it an aphrodisiac, based primarily on how avocados appeared on the tree (as two testicles). Kid you not.

But, really, here’s why avocados are so fertility friendly: First, they’re packed with folic acid, a type of B vitamin that helps boost fertility in both men and women. Folic acid also helps prevent neural tube defects at birth. You want to get lots of folate.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Makes the News

Did you catch the news on MSNBC last night? No? Too busy watching Must See TV? Gotcha. That's ok -- the internet is magic and you can catch their overview of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) on their website right here: Diagnosing Health Conditions Before the Womb.

Secondary Infertility: The Invisible Disease

a blog by Deborah Moore, March 4, 2010

I'm lucky. I have a gorgeous, perfect daughter who will turn 4 later this year. She is a shining light in my life, bringing my husband and me more joy than I knew possible. And yet, during this time of TTC for a second child, I find myself melancholy, unfulfilled and despairing.

It's a Boy! Will Our Son Be Infertile,Too?

a blog by murgdan, March 3, 2010

It’s a boy. The miracle we waited for, saved for, worked for, and wished for is a boy. Despite the fact that there are only two sexes to choose from, it still felt like a total and complete surprise to hear the ultrasound technician who performed our anatomy scan make the announcement. We are no longer pregnant with “it.” We can use proper pronouns.

After the initial revelation, after the tears of joy, after the “wows” and smiles, I had another thought. I had a thought that I am quite sure few mothers who have not experienced the ravages of infertility have. I had a thought that brought back memories of my husband’s urology appointments and our IVF consults.

Will our son be infertile, too?

Gluten: Could This Everyday Food Be Causing Your Infertility?

a blog by marie lee, March 2, 2010

Cereal in the morning? Bread? Pasta? Love those bagels? Believe it or not, what was once considered healthy may be lethal to your fertility.

I used to love Sunday bagels, but then I felt terrible for the rest of the day. Bagels are made with HIGH gluten flour and gluten can cause problems for people who lack the genetic ability to break it down into smaller amino acids that can be absorbed. Because it doesn't get broken down, the immune system recognizes it as a "foreign protein," and attacks it. Gluten can act as an intestinal abrasive.

Gluten can also aggravate a thyroid condition which is also tied to your fertility. Apparently, people who have celiac disease, a disorder in which your body makes antibodies to gluten (and is also linked with infertility), often have anti-thyroid antibodies, and vice versa. Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View had trouble conceiving until she was diagnosed with celiac disease and now she has *three* kids. A study from Harvard's Brigham and Women's hospital showed that people with anti-thyroid antibodies (also known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis) often can reduce the inflammation by following a gluten-free diet.

Given how important the thyroid is for regulating hormones (including fertility hormones), it seems like going gluten-free (not just wheat-free, gluten is the protein in wheat that is also found in oats, rye, spelt and is often ADDED to products labeled "wheat free") can't hurt and might help.

A Childless Life? Maybe Not Your First Choice.

a blog by kathleen puls andrade, Feb. 25, 2010

I was recently featured on a new PBS series that’s been showing locally here in Chicago called Health Secrets: What Every Woman Should Know, hosted by Paula Zahn. I posted the segment on YouTube and have received lots of great feedback. One woman, in particular, had a great perspective on being childfree by choice. It’s positive, direct and hopeful.

“Thanks so much for sharing the YouTube link to the PBS women's health piece. Paula Zahn was right: It is courageous and giving of you to shine a humorous light on all you have been through. I feel sad and sorry about your struggle.”

No need to feel sad about it really. I’ve come to terms with it and we’ve dealt with it through humor and positivity as time goes on.

“My husband and I are childless. I don't think there are many women out there who ever really imagine they won't have children.”

So true! When RE Tarun Jain spoke to the audience after my show, he said that people always refer to when you’ll have kids . . . not if you can actually have them. That’s the expectation in our society.

New Reasons to Mark Your Fertility Calendar

a blog by Ellen S. Glazer, Feb. 24, 2010

One piece of advice that I give to all my infertility clients is to “mark your calendars.” That may sound ridiculous to anyone who has dealt with infertility, since everyone knows how quickly one’s life can become ruled by the calendar. Months become “cycles” and cycles become measured by blood draws and ultrasounds. Some parts of the calendar are filled with appointments and activity; others slog by in waiting.

One thing is sure: infertility patients never forget their calendars. If they’re not planning cycles, they’re trying to figure out ways to avoid or cope with those dark spots on the horizon: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, Passover, a big birthday, a small one—all the times that remind them of what and who they are missing.

So why do I advise paying more attention to calendars?

If You've Got One Shot at Baby, Does Gender Matter More?

a blog by mikki morrissette, Feb. 18, 2010

A recent question from a newly expectant mom on our Choice Moms discussion board erupted into a three-headed monster. A generally friendly monster, but a nerve-wracking one nonetheless.

The controversial issue? A woman learned that her soon-to-be-delivered child was a boy, not the girl she'd always imagined. She felt disappointment about the gender of her child. As a single woman with waning fertility, she knows this will potentially be her only child, and she was mourning the baby girl she might never have.

Not an uncommon reaction. Even though we work so hard to become parents, some of us envision bringing up a boy or a girl.

Taking a Forced Break from Fertility Treatment?

a blog by tori, Feb. 12, 2010

We're on a forced break from treatment and, the good news is, there's been one unexpected benefit: Our relationship is hot.

Let's face it, fertility treatments are hell on a marrriage, not to mention what they do to your sex life. You're either too hormonal to be interested in sex or too worried to "do it" because you’ve just had your procedure done. Or maybe you and your partner are just too down in the dumps to care about it. Sound familiar?

Well, I'm happy to report that over the last couple of weeks my husband and I have regained our semi-newlywed, mid-20’s sex life. We’ve also had lots of fun just flirting, laughing, watching movies, and playing games without worrying about the all encompassing, ever looming "treatment schedule."

Mum’s the Word

a blog by liz, February 8, 2010

I’m not embarrassed about having difficulty conceiving. It’s one of those things I had as little control over as my natural hair colour (that problem, with a little color, is a lot easier solved than my genetic inability to conceive).

The majority of my friends and immediate family know what’s going on. In fact, one of the reasons I started my blog is so my friends can keep up to date with what is happening in my life whilst ensuring that they don’t ask the wrong question at the wrong time and reduce me to a blubbering wreck.

There are people in my life who don’t know.

World Health Organization Defines Infertility as a Disease

a blog by Pamela Tsigdinos, Feb. 2, 2010

Barren. Unfruitful. Infertile.

These words offers up many shades of gray, don’t they? They certainly did for me, in particular, "infertile." I still remember the first time I saw the term in a brochure in an OB-Gyn office. I was much more naïve and younger then. My brain didn’t know how to process it -- going from “what’s that?” to “oh, not me!”

In time, I became embarrassed and shamed by the word. It wasn’t discussed openly. It was whispered about. Accordingly, I felt guilty about it. Condemned by it.

Society seemed most comfortable keeping the word shrouded in stigma. Until one day -- that being November 30, 2009 -- it was brought out of the closet. Held up under a different light and with the stroke of a pen it moved from a shadowy term with judgment hanging in the balance to an altogether new category:

Infertility = Disease

Yes, it was on November 30 -- just a few short months ago -- when the World Health Organization stepped forward to declare for the very first time that infertility is a disease.

Surrogacy Done Right

a blog by Theresa Erickson, Esq.

By now, you’ve either heard or read about the New York Times article written by Stephanie Saul. When I first read it, I was shocked by how the writer created fear in the minds of all intended parents, prospective or otherwise. She created an almost “Glenn Beck” style frenzy behind a child-building option that is often the only option for some. But bad stories sell, not the thousands with beautiful endings. Apparently the Times needed to sell some papers.

My New Identity: the Parent-to-be.

a blog by joy, Dec. 28, 2009

Two people in the last week have asked me if I’m excited about having a baby. And it wasn’t “Aren’t you excited?” It was more like “Aren’t you excited?!" The first friend to ask told me that I never sound excited when I talk about having a baby. I told her that when you’ve been through what I’ve been through, you sort wait for that other shoe to drop. She told me to “get over it.” This conversation really bothered me, so I decided to talk to other friends about it. Another friend said she “could see how someone might think that” about me.

Holy crap. People think I’m not excited? Am I excited? The truth is, not all the time.

An Interactive Q&A with Stirrup Queen Melissa Ford

> ABOUT THE BOOK
> ABOUT MELISSA FORD
> READ EXCERPTS
> BUY THE BOOK

We're willing to bet that you already know Melissa Ford. Well, you may know her by her moniker, Stirrup Queen, or by her nom-de-type, Lollipop Goldstein, but anyone who's dealt with infertility for a nanosecond has come across Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters, Melissa's popular blog.

Melissa's also recently written a book, Navigating the LAND of IF: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options (Seal Press 2009). It's an excellent "how-to" that will help you confront the options (and obstacles) you face when dealing with infertility. We've read it cover-to-cover and have invited Melissa here to discuss it with you.

Dirty Little Secret

a blog by Brenda

How about a little Confession Time!! I’ll go first.

• I "hide" plastic eggs filled with treats for our dogs every Easter (and on other occasions throughout the year when I am home alone with them).

• I claim to hate all reality TV, but am really a closet addict of The Hills.

• My husband and I went out for “dinner” this week … to Dairy Queen … and we both had Blizzards.

• I have not told my family about our infertility.

Gasp. Groan. Sigh. Moan.