Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Thu, May 31, 2012 @ 10:26 AM
RMACT Infertility Clinic | Fertility Programs and Events
It's been a big month here at RMACT -- Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut -- infertility clinic, keeping up with the myriad of fertility programs and events in the community and at our centers.
National Infertility Awareness Week.
A Family of My Own Conference.
March of Dimes Walk.
Stamford Women's Expo.
All that in addition to our regular programs and events, such as:
Fertile Yoga - Ongoing Classes
Pre-Conception Wellness Seminar - Tools for Fertilty Success
I am Pregnant, Now What? - Expectant Mother and Baby Health Seminar
Nutrition Grocery Shopping - Tour with RMACT Nutritionist Carolyn Gundell, MS
PCOS Women to Women - Peer Workshop
PCOS Teen to Teen - Peer Workshop
Ladies Night In - Peer Support Group
Tomorrow is June. And we're going to do it all over again!
Please consider that most of these events are open to the public; only a few are for RMACT patients only. And only a few have any charge at all associated with them.
Fertile Yoga will NOT meet for a few weeks in June. There will be no class on June 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 or July 5. We will resume classes in Brookfield/Danbury on Friday, July 6, 2012.
What will you try in June that you missed in May?
Something new? Something you are going back to?
Come join us.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Wed, May 30, 2012 @ 10:38 AM
Fertility Medications and Patient Commentary
There's a lot to organize and get right about infertility treatment, including fertility medications. When treatment includes injectable medications, sometimes it can feel overwhelming.
I've been listening to comments from women in the midst of fertility treatment lately. Here are some of those comments from women engaged in fertility injections.
Fertility Injections: Patients' Own Words
"The first fertility injection, I was nervous, then realized it was really no big deal."
"I prefer to do the injections myself, it gives me more of a sense of control."
"My husband gives me the injections; it makes us both feel that he's more involved."
"My belly was a better landing spot than my thigh. Even though I don't have a lot of belly, the injection was practically painless."
"The side effects of the medication, hot flashes and hormonal reactions were managable. Much more managable than doing nothing at all and not getting pregnant."
"Medications scare me and I usually have every side effect known to mankind. I had no reactions to any of the medications. It was a big relief to get them started and see that was true!"
"There was some bruising from the injections. It definitely looked worse than it felt. Got me lots of sympathy from my partner!"
"I was relieved to start the medications and know that I was moving forward towards having my baby."
Injectable Medications and Womens' Reactions
These are some of the reactions that patients have had to using injectable medications. Your reactions may be different. Please listen carefully to your medical and clinical staff so that you know if your responses are within the normal range.
It's not easy taking injections. It's also not easy sitting quietly. Sometimes, those are exactly the two things that need to come together.
We know that this can be intimidating and sometimes even downright scary. Let us know if we can answer any questions. Contact us.
We are here to help.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Tue, May 29, 2012 @ 10:42 AM
Infertility Support: Milestones, Birthdays and Holidays
Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays take on new meaning when you are waiting.
They are reminders that you are still waiting.
Waiting for our babies has it's own pecularities.
It makes us feel older than our years. Sometimes, it just makes us feel old.
Holidays feel heavier and less joyful when the baby you're desiring is still not in your arms.
Isolating and being apart from others feels more liberating than trying to pretend that you are feeling ways that you are not. Like happy. Or relaxed.
Birthdays become markers of what you have not achieved in the last year.
Loss is painful. Not achieving what you are dreaming and working towards is painful also.
Celebrations uncelebrated can feel like loss too.
If there's a birthday or holiday that you are dreading and wanting to avoid, consider a new kind of way to acknowledge it.
Perhaps not a party. Perhaps a small dinner out.
If you don't have your heart's desire on your birthday, dig deeper and see what you can appreciate.
It may be right there in front of you. It might be a memory.
It might be something brand new.
I'm going to try something new today.
I don't know what it is yet.
I'll let you know tomorrow.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Mon, May 28, 2012 @ 10:18 AM
Memorial Day Flags: Honor and Memory
Flags are flown at half staff until noon on Memorial Day in observance of those who have lost their lives in service to our country. Honor, respect, thanks and observance are what I associate with Memorial Day.
We have the extra day off, see the flags flying and know that it's more an observance, not a celebration. Yes, we observe, often with picnics or barbecues. We also observe with parades and a genuine show of respect.
I wonder.
I wonder how mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and children feel about this observance--those who have lost someone in a war.
When I look at my struggles to have children, my own process in understanding infertility, I find it difficult to believe that losing a child, for me, could feel like any kind of an honor. I fear and believe that I would feel only the tragedy. I wonder how one moves past the loss of someone they love, especially a child, adult or not, into a place of peace. I hope that those who celebrate Memorial Day because of a personal loss have found a way to peaceful feelings. I hope that they feel the outpouring of thanks and love today.
I honor those who have lost someone that they love in a war. I hope that they feel pride and honor in how their loved one died.
I pray for each man, woman and child who has died because of war. I'm sending thoughts of healing and comfort out there to their families who are still grieving.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Fri, May 25, 2012 @ 10:19 AM
Make the Most of the Three Day Weekend
It's a three day weekend. You're in fertility treatment, or taking a break, or in the two week wait. And now, you have an extra day off.
That gives most of one extra day off this weekend, one day less to work next week.
What are you going to do with it? How can you get an infertility vacation?
Are you going to cram it full of more chores and errands?
Book more social events?
My basic question is this: are you going to emerge from this extra time off more exhausted than you did going into it?
Of course I'm asking because that's precisely what I've done.
I've overbooked.
And then, instead of feeling like time off, it just feels like more time on.
So I'm peeling back the layers and rethinking how to spend this time off.
Small Objects, Profound Objectives
A good friend has a cool thing in his office. He has a two big glass containers with ping pong balls. One has considerably less than the other. The container that holds many more balls is the estimated amount of vacations that he will have in a full, healthy life. The one that has less, the vacations that he has taken all ready.
You get the idea. When he goes on vacation, he moves the ball from the unused vacation time to the used vacation time.
What a great way to be mindful with our time--with our time off; with our time to ourselves; with our time with our loves ones. What a simple visual that time is not infinite.
This doesn't have to be about the vacation of your lifetime. This could be about your three day weekend.
This Weekend is Your Infertility Vacation
Make this weekend be a true vacation. Full of lovely things and full of nothing at all. Find the balance that is just right for you and let go of the things that you should do.
You have a day that is completely yours.
What are you going to do with it?
Me, I'm going to walk with my husband in the morning. Practice yoga, meditate. Eat a lovely breakfast. Wash my dog. Garden for a while. Read for even longer. See some friends. Have a yummy, healthy dinner.
That's my idea of a vacation day. And I will move the ping pong ball over to the container that shows vacation days well spent.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Wed, May 23, 2012 @ 10:18 AM
Fertility Acupuncture: Fear and Discovery
Ever since I experienced infertility and underwent fertility treatment, I've dreaded needles. I did many injections while I was in treatment and have avoided needles like the plague ever since.
That was quite a few years ago.
Since then, coming to work with Reproductive Medicine Associates of CT (RMACT), I've been meaning to try acupuncture. We have two experienced acupuncturists, Amy Matton and Jing Zhang, specializing in fertility acupuncture, who have been with the practice for six years. I've been here for four and a half.
For four and a half years, I've heard rave reviews about them. Patients and Fertile Yoga students talk about how relaxing, refreshing and revitalizing the acupuncuture treatment is that they receive from Amy and Jing.
All I can think about is that there are needles involved.
Laser Acupuncture in CT
At RMACT, we also are the only fertility program in Connecticut to offer laser acupuncuture. In well-researched, clinical studies, laser acupuncture has increased pregnancy rates.
Hmmm . . . not needles, but laser as in lights? Okay, I like that a lot more.
Only, I'm not really a chicken; in fact, I'm pretty brave--if you can consider it brave that I've made several appointments over the last four years and then cancelled each one. Maybe not so brave. Not when it comes to needles. Just don't like them.
When I was in the Stamford office recently, I bumped into Jing, who noticed my allergy suffering. It was pretty hard to miss.
Jing suggested that, since no other treatment in decades had worked without so many considerable side effects as to render the treatment useless, I try acupuncture.
I was miserable enough to say yes. Although, five minutes after I made an appointment, I wanted to cancel it! Wow. Maybe I am a chicken. At least when it comes to needles.
The Acupuncture Experience
Two days later, I entered Jing and Amy's sanctuary. Warm and softly lit, lovely music playing in the background, clean white sheets on a massage table. So far so good.
Given my fear of the needles, Jing had me lay on my stomach. It was a great idea. I couldn't see the needles and it helped my breathing regulate. Thank goodness for yogic breathing!
Jing's soft, calm voice continued to set the tone.
Truth?
I could barely feel the needles go in.
Truth?
If I hadn't known that something was happening, I'm not quite sure what I would have thought the incredibly mild sensation was on my skin. There was the slightest of sensations, followed by a feeling of energy flowing.
Truth?
One or two did hurt, just the slightest, and Jing removed them immediately and repositioned them. When I say hurt, it was about a tenth of the feeling of getting bitten by a mosquito.
Jing put 28 needles in, including into my scalp. My scalp! With needles? You're kidding me.
When they were all in, Jing asked me about my comfort, made sure I was okay, wrapped me up, and sweetly and comfortably and allowed me to have the experience for about twenty minutes or so.
The best way that I can describe the experience is to relate it to twinkling lights. Or maybe the stars. There was a definite feeling of energy moving around, lighting up here, and then there, and then over there. It was a lovely, subtle feeling.
The removal of the needles was simple and easy, very smooth.
After Acupuncture
After acupuncture, with a huge thank you to Jing, I was on my way. With advice to drink lots of water and stay warm and perhaps avoid very strenuous exercise.
The entire rest of the day I felt relaxed, calm and as serene as I feel after a restorative style yoga class. My body felt as peaceful as my mind. My breathing was even and without any constrictions.
Allergies have been far less of a problem than they have been in over twenty years. No sneezing, no red eyes, no inability to be outside near grass. I've tried everything under the sun before acupuncture and none of it worked particularly well, without exhausting side effects.
No red eyes, no sneezing and lying out on the grass on a sunny day.
So glad I found enough courage to face my needles. I mean, my demons.
And now, I can speak intellegently about fertility acupuncture with Jing and Amy.
My sage words of advice?
Try it! It was truly a wonderful experience.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Tue, May 22, 2012 @ 10:17 AM
Weather Report Accuracy: What Do You See?
It's been a while since I've written about the weather, so bear with me, please.
Could you please, please, please not call this drippy, rainy weather ugly? It hurts my ears, it hurts my heart. At least don't say it to me.
Could you please try to appreciate how much we need the rain? We don't live in a desert, we live in lush, verdant, green Southern New England. We need the rain, we don't need a drought.
Is it possible to notice how much more saturated the colors are when it rains or is grey? How much more depth there is in the eight trillion shades of green that the world has turned.
How atmospheric and dreamy the world turns when it's raining. The visuals of the rain invite the world closer even as it seems further away.
Hear the sounds of the rain, the different melodies that are played out, depending on the style of rain--drippy or sheets of rain or just a sprinkle or any other variation on a theme.
The sounds of cars traveling on roads, voices walking by, bird calls, all have a different tone heard through the rain or splashing through puddles.
Fertile Rain, Fruitful Vision
How is this a fertility weather report?
It's all in how you see something.
You see ugly weather? How does that make you feel about the rain? How does that make you feel about your day?
I see beautiful weather, gorgeous possibilities in the rain. How do you think I feel when I look outside? About how my day is going to go?
The rain keeps the earth fertile and growing. Nothing grows without the right kind of nourishment. As you nourish your fertility cycle, your follicles, your hopes and dreams, so is the earth being sustained by the rain.
Have I mentioned that it keeps raining during the work week and then sun shining on the weekend? I've appreicated that tremendously. Have you?
I haven't even mentioned the clouds. Look up, the sky is beckoning.
And there are the ten thousand shades of grey. The color grey, with so many variations, with so many possibilities.
Fertile rain. Let's decide to enjoy it.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Mon, May 21, 2012 @ 10:23 AM
Riding Out Fertility Treatment Challenges
You're in fertility treatment. And you're actually feeling okay, even pretty good. The medications are going pretty well, the injections not all that big a deal. The fertility treatment cycle is going pretty smoothly, one step at a time.
Your best friend calls you. She got married 5 minutes ago and is pregnant.
Okay, yes, an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.
Needless to say, you feel differently now than you did a little while ago.
Infertility Can Take You for a Ride
Infertility can do that to you. You can get down pretty darn fast. Go to the mall, see all the babies and it hurts. Get that phone call about your best friend or yet another invitation in the mail for a baby shower. These things hurt. Sometimes they take your breath away. Sometimes they take your hope away.
We all know that what goes up, must come down.
The inverse is also true.
What goes down, must go up.
Did you know that part?
Fertile Yoga Reminders
My beautiful, courageous, delicious Fertile Yoga students remind me of that. I often see the tensions, sadness and anxiety on their faces in the beginning of class. The tightness around their eyes and mouths. Holding it all in. Then we get to talk a bit and we share the stories. The friends that announced their pregnancies this week or the cycle not going as planned. Or the mother/mother-in-law/sister/friend/work colleague that asked the question with an arrow aimed right at the heart.
And their faces start to soften.
Then we do Fertile Yoga.
It turns out what goes down, does go up.
Their faces get lighter and brighter. Relaxation flows into their shoulders and they soften away from their ears. Breathing becomes smoother and less controlled.
Relaxation enters.
Healing begins.
If only for an hour or so, the roller coaster is on the top of the track and the view is glorious.
Yes, what goes down also goes up.
Hope is what propels us all. Breathe into it.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Fri, May 18, 2012 @ 10:18 AM
We--those of us who have undergone fertility treatment--know what you have to give up.
It's a long list.
It starts with giving up your dreams of how you conceive, how to tell your family, the joy of seeing the little stick turn the right color and/or shape.
It proceeds from there to giving up your privacy, coffee, liquor and more.
Today, this blog is about the treats that you get from infertility and being in fertility treatment.
Ready?
You get to be sober from not drinking alcohol--seeing the gorgeous, glorious greens of this spring with wide, open eyes; feeling the gentle caress of the breeze and the sweet, subtle smell of phlox and lilacs--with nothing between you and the experience in front of you.
You get to be calmer from not having caffeine jitters. You get to experience what it feels like to be tired when you are tired and wide awake when you are wide awake with less artificial stimulants. Sleeping will become easier as you settle into the more natural rythmms of your body.
Experience the greens, reds, oranges, and yellows of your food as you make healthier food choices. It's strawberry season! What a glorious red, what an unbelievable taste. It makes processed sugar just plain silly.
There's the opportunity of getting to know your partner, friends, family and even your work colleagues in a more intimate, genuine way, as you share what you're comfortable with about your fertility experience. You will be surprised at who is comforting, who offers tender and helpful advice and who can listen quietly and lovingly.
Use this experience, that you did not choose and did not want, to learn about your boundries. Find out what the term privacy means to you and how to enforce it in ways that keep your heart and mind open to compassionate support. Learn more about yourself than you ever thought you would, as you see yourself navigate sadness, disappointment and hope and elation.
It's Friday. It's gorgeous out. Stunning. The greens of spring this year make the shades of fall look tired. Look up, look out, and bring it back in. It will light you up from the inside out.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Thu, May 17, 2012 @ 11:28 AM
Pregnant After Fertility Treatment?
At Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT), we know that you have many questions after fertility treatment works and you are pregnant. Of course you want to make decisions that are good for you and for your baby. There's so much information out there though, that sometimes it's difficult to know who to listen to.
You can trust the information that you get at this seminar. Jocelyn and Carolyn work together to bring you the most up to date, relevant and proven information to keep you and your baby as healthy as possible.
Please do join us next Wednesday, May 23, 2012. And please RSVP. These events do fill up. So sign up and come find out what you need to know as you move along on your journey to become a mother.
“I am Pregnant, Now What?” | Ensuring the Health of Mother and Child
This seminar will discuss the key components of a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, including appropriate maternal weight gain, physical activity, essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals, environmental toxins and risks, and food safety. Common concerns such as diet, lifestyle, morning sickness, constipation, anemia, gestational diabetes and hypertension will be addressed. Conducted by Jocelyn Crespo, RN & Carolyn Gundell, MS:
Location: RMACT Norwalk Office, 10 Glover Ave, Norwalk, CT
Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2012, from 8:00 am – 9:30 am
Please come early to register. Both partners are welcome to attend.
Kindly RSVP to Justine at 203-750-7484.
These medically-based seminars are considered as part of your treatment plan and will be billed through your insurance. Please bring your co-pay, if applicable. Patients who have high deductible plans will be billed through their insurance.
Pregnancy seminars are also scheduled at RMA Danbury. See our RMACT events calendar, accessible at www.RMACT.com.