Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 06:28 AM
I am drawn in by titles, there’s no question. When I think of those of us treading the path of infertility, on our way to healthy fertility, I think of us as warriors, heroes. Often I practice Hero pose in Fertile Yoga. Virasana. We are warriors; we are heroes, those of us battling with infertility.
Phenomenal Women, yes, you. Because you are you, not what you look like, how thin/heavy you are, how important your job is, or even if you are a mother. Because a phenomenal woman is just that, at their core, phenomenal.
Said best by Maya Angelou
Phenomenal Women
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Have a fabulous Labor Day Weekend...Enjoy the stormy weather...Breathe Deeply...
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 08:48 AM
Imaginary friends. How come they disappear by the time you are eight or so? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I could really use an imaginary friend. Someone who shows up to play when everyone else is too tired, too busy, or uninterested. Someone who knows when to be quiet, when to cheer you up, and when to simply hold your hand. When I was first diagnosed with infertility, I could dearly have used that friend from childhood.
Maybe a diary would do it? A journal, for us grown ups. A place to send your inner most thoughts and craziest ideas. You get to write anything you want and it hurts no one’s feelings. You don’t get fired for writing about your terrible boss or business partner. You don’t get divorced for stating that your husband/partner/significant other really did do that, yes, again, for the 49,000 time. A place to complain about your in-laws, parents, friends, and colleagues who really found it necessary to ask you when you were going to have a child. As if you hadn't noticed there wasn't a child there. Or who asked if you were going to give your child a brother or sister.
Yes, indeed, I think a journal would be a lovely stand in for an imaginary friend. For all the above reasons. In fact, I have one. It’s a great place to vent. My journal has a companion. Pink suede, with a pencil sharpener attached and colored pencils on the inside, given to me by a sister of the heart. Whether I write in my other journal daily or not, I always write in this journal. Every night.
My gratitude journal. Oh yeah. Because even in my worst moments, I know that I have things to be grateful for. Sometimes they are so so so little. And silly. The shadow on the wall, for a brief moment. The trees still green. Having just one more bag of my favorite tea. You know. Little. Sometimes the things we find to be grateful for are the little things.
So right back to balance. Expressing the wide range of feelings that we have. Letting all of those feelings have a place, not calling them negative or making us ashamed of being angry, sad, frustrated, jealous.
For me, it’s a perfect balance. A place to vent. A place to say thank you. 
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 10:33 AM
At Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT) we are very proud of our team of professionals. One somewhat newer member has been with us just over a year and has really made huge strides forward with our lab protocol. This has extended out to our higher pregnancy rates as well. Take a moment to meet our Laboratory Director, Dr. Dawn Kelk.
Laboratory Director Dr. Dawn Kelk has worked in reproductive medicine and embryology for over 15 years and is responsible for all clinical laboratory functions in RMACT's laboratories, including embryology/ in vitro fertilization (IVF),andrology and endocrinology. She has an impressive track record of excellent pregnancy rates for IVF and andother reproductive technologies, and is a recognized expert in the areas of embryo biopsy for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) , intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), blast culture, elective single embryo transfer, in vitro maturation, fertilization and culture.
Dr. Kelk is board certified with H.C.L.D. certification in Embryology and Andrology, and has a Ph.D in BioMedical Sciences from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She earned a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics as well as a Masters in Science from the same institution. She is a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Reproductive Laboratory Technologists Professional Group (RLTPG) and Reproductive Biology Professional Group (RBPG). Dr. Kelk serves on the ASRM abstract grading committee for RBPG, RLTPG and SART, and has lectured widely throughout the US and Canada.
Dr. Kelk is a regular contributor to this blog. If you have any questions that you would like answered, please post them here. She is happy to answer!
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 @ 07:56 AM
Why not ask family and friends for support while you’re going through infertility treatment? Here are comments that I hear frequently in peer support groups that address that question.
- I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me
- I don’t want to be asked questions when I don’t want to talk about things
- They won’t understand
- They will say insensitive things
- It’s too private a conversation
- I don’t want people looking at my partner and I differently
- They’ve never been supportive before, I wouldn’t expect anything different now
- I’m ashamed
Seems to me, they all boil down to number 6, one way or another.
We are ashamed. We are ashamed of our bodies not working properly. Of not being able to do what our bodies were meant to do. We are ashamed of being older, having had a sexually transmitted disease, of having tubes that are blocked, too few follicles, blood levels that are not just right.
We are ashamed that we need help in achieving what others so effortlessly achieve. A pregnancy. A child. A family.
I am meeting and talking with so many women these days. So many of you are not talking about your infertility with your friends and family. You are not talking about your hopes, dreams, fears, excitement either. Your friends and family are not only missing out on the sadness, but on all of it.
When I speak with you, I get to hear all of it. I see you light up when you are full of hope, and in tears when you are full of fear and sadness.
Here’s what I want to tell you; you are all beautiful women. Not just beautiful looking. Beautiful. And you are more beautiful in your vulnerability then you are any other time. You do not look broken or incapable, or diseased. You do not look less than. You look honest. You look genuine. You look compassionate and authentic. You look strong and determined.
You simply look beautiful.
Thanks for sharing with me. Is there someone in your life who might appreciate seeing you as you are right now, someone you feel safe with?
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 06:02 AM
How could I possibly resist reading an article called “My Vision is a World Without Infertility”? Then I noticed that the author is one of the most thoughtful and prolific educators in the field of infertility. So I dive in.
And yes, I did laugh out loud when my name popped up in her blog. Life is just funny when it multi-layers itself in all these different ways.
Evelina Weidman Sterling
speaks powerfully about how our language does not suit us well in our battle with infertility. She might even say that my previous sentence adds to the problem. It’s not that our language does not suit us well; it’s that we are not in the fight the way we need to be. That we use language like awareness and education and not language like “CURE” or “RID”.
That we discuss insurance coverage only as it pertains to having a baby and not the disease of infertility. Listen to Evelina’s words:
It’s easy to unintentionally support the “infertility treatments as a luxury” mentality by highlighting if you can’t afford to basics (i.e., medical insurance and care), how can you possibly afford a baby? The reality is, infertility extends beyond just baby-making. Infertility can be an indicator of overall health and wellness. Infertility can related to other serious illnesses and conditions, like cancer, tumors, mental health issues, nutrition issues, diabetes, high blood pressure, auto-immune disorders and the like. All of which need to be considered beyond their fertility implications.
I forget, often, in conversations that all of the above it true. Infertility is defined as the inability to become pregnant or carry a baby to term. That part of the definition is often what we become consumed with. As Evelina reminds us though, infertility is often much more than that, leads to much more than that, and as we discuss affordability and insurance coverage, it’s vital to keep at the forefront of the conversation.
As for me, I’m all for curing infertility. Interesting, thinking about changing language, new focus. Thanks Evelina!
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 11:13 AM
Focus. Obsession. The first is what many of us strive for, the second, what we try to avoid. How wide is the dividing line between the two?
Lately, in my own yoga practice, distinct and different than my teaching, I have been exploring focus. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the word used in class, I would be a very wealthy woman. It’s not only part of the language of yoga; it’s a term that I hear more and more frequently in many different places.
My personal take on focus has been inward and outward at the same time. Focus can be where you lay your eyes or your heart or your mind. Or your breath. Or your anxiety. And so on.
In yoga, where we lay our eyes, our visual focus, is called Drishti. A definition of Drishti is below:
Drishti literally means “perception”. Drishti is the specific point at which to look or focus the gaze when practicing yoga. Looking at the Drishti focuses the mind and brings the concentration inwards.
I’ve heard Drishti discussed, by David Swenson, 
an Ashtanga guru, as looking out into the infinite as a way to see into the most inner part of ourselves. That the gaze (or Drishti) looks infinitely out and infinitely in. This is me, paraphrasing what I have heard from David. These are not his words; they are my understanding of what he has said. Below is part of a poem by Kahlil Gibran that is on David’s website. I feel that it gives me permission to give my understanding of what David said, regardless of the words that he actually spoke.
Coming back to focus, to Drishti, to infinitely out and in, to obsession. My Drishti has moved to the front of my practice lately. My breath feels reliable and available and while I continue to have it be the moving force behind my practice, I feel ready to let in other layers of my practice.
My Drishti becomes my entire universe. Whether it is a small blending of light and shadow on a leaf on a tree, or a smudge on the wall, or the smallest piece of the carpeting, I see it and feel it as my entire universe. Letting everything else fall aside, bringing the focus into the tiniest piece of something that speaks to my heart and brings my balance into place.
In those moments, my focus could be considered an obsession. Fierce determination with a soft heart. Letting all other pieces fall away, letting only what I am gazing at matter in any significant way.
Our focus can become our obsession. And there are times that it is appropriate and necessary for that to happen. I know that I need to be very precise about that depth of focus. I know that, for me, that level of focus is highly elevated; it’s something that I am just starting to experience. Gazing at a tiny spot, feeling my breath, heart and mind know that it is the entire universe. Where everything else becomes, not blurry, but non-existent. The entire universe.
And I am starting to awaken to what is not the entire universe. When focus is softer and not even close to that which could be considered obsession.
I’ll talk on Monday about how this relates to infertility. Join me before that with any comments that you might have. When have you been over the edge? Wanting information, perhaps? Results? Answers? When have you seen, absolutely known, that your focus has become an obsession? Please, join the conversation. I need more minds than mine to examine this.
A weekend thought for you:
Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”
Say not, “I have found the path to the soul.”
Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line; neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
Kahlil Gibran
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 07:42 AM
A friend of mine sent me a link about sources for diminished infertility that I do not believe that I have posted about. Thank you David! Note to all of you, much appreciate if you see something that could be of value to the folks reading this blog or to me for my own education.
The link talks about “natural” supplements. Supplements that the FDA does not have to approve. Supplements that do not have warning labels affixed to the bottles. Please do not misunderstand this post. I am NOT suggesting that you stop talking supplements that you have discussed with your health care provider, or if you are in the midst of infertility treatment, your fertility doctor (Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist).
What I am suggesting here is assuming that natural herbs, flower tinctures, botanicals or other things that are certified organic are mild or harmless is a mistake. So, first, make sure that you do let your health care provider or doctor know everything that you are taking, even if not on a regular basis. If you are taking evening primrose oil to help with PMS, even just 5 days a month, let your health care provider know.
From the Women’s Education Center:
Hormone imbalance may be provoked by some plants, foods and herbs that mimic estrogen. This is also an alternative medicine point of view that herbs can be bad for you under the wrong circumstances just as eating the wrong mushrooms are bad for you. It is not that mushrooms are bad. It is that the mushrooms even though natural could be poisonous.
An example:
Pomegranate: The Greeks used this plant as a contraceptive. Modern research confirms strong estrogen activity. It is still used in India, East Africa, and the Pacific as a contraceptive. Female rats fed pomegranate seed and paired with male rats had a 72% reduction in fertility. Guinea Pigs fed pomegranate seeds had a 100% reduction in fertility. (This is from the Encyclopedia of Birth Control by Vern Bullough).
Conclusion
Just because you buy something at the health food store and it is natural does not mean it is good for you. Many plants exhibit hormone properties. Typically, plants are estrogen mimics, progesterone blockers, or estrogen blockers. Very few plants are progesterone stimulating. As a result, most hormone active plants will cause estrogen dominance.
From BabyandBump.com
Better safe than sorry?
Echinacea is used to enhance the immune system, ginkgo biloba to improve memory and St. John's wort to treat depression. In a recent study high doses of each of these herbs have been shown to damage reproductive cells and prevent fertilization of eggs in laboratory hamsters. There have been no studies to date that show their effect on human fertility but you may want to reconsider using them while you are trying to conceive.
Investigate the supplements that you are using, ask your doctors; make sure that you are not taking things that will inadvertently negate your chances of conceiving or keeping a pregnancy. The last thing you want to find out is that you have been getting in your own way.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 @ 05:31 AM
If you have begun most types of infertility treatment at a fertility program then most likely you will need to be taking some type of medication. Whether you are doing an IUI cycle (Intrauterine insemination- a technique that transfers sperm directly in to the uterus. It bypasses the vaginal and cervical defense mechanisms of the female reproductive tract and allows better sperm delivery to the fallopian tubes. This allows the sperm and egg to interact in close proximity. It is a very common treatment for mild and moderate deficits in the semen analysis. IUI is typically used in conjunction with medications that increase the number of eggs per cycle and triggering of ovulation. The goal is to have more “targets” for the sperm (eggs), perfect timing and better sperm delivery) or IVF (In Vitro Fertilization-A powerful procedure to help patients conceive pregnancies. IVF entails stimulating your ovaries to develop multiple follicles. This is achieved with injectable medications. The goal of IVF is to produce a large number of growing follicles, then harvest the eggs inside the follicles through a short surgical procedure performed in our office. The eggs are then inseminated with sperm in the laboratory, sometimes using ICSI, in order to create embryos that can then be transferred back to the endometrial cavity (the womb) of the patient. The name in vitro fertilization refers to the fact that the oocyte is fertilized by the sperm in the laboratory, rather than inside the female reproductive tract), keeping track of your medications will be of primary importance.
Read below for information about what to do if you do not have the infertility medications that you need.
What do I do if I don't have my meds?
The medications used for an IVF cycle are highly specialized and often not available at local pharmacies. It is extremely important that you check your inventory of medications prior to starting your IVF cycle to assure that you have the correct dosage of medications. If you are unsure of this, please contact your nurse during normal business hours to review.
- Many Mail order pharmacies can ship your medications the next day. If you run out of medications, your prescription can be called into one of these pharmacies.
- If your insurance does not participate with this pharmacy, you may have to pay for the medication out of pocket and submit to your insurance to be reimbursed.
- If you don’t have medications for the same day, you may have to skip that day’s meds and receive your medications the following day. This could negatively affect your cycle, so keeping track of your inventory is very important.
- Also please note that you have refills on most of your medications. You can call your pharmacy to receive these refills once you realize you are running low.
- It is extremely important that you stay on top of your medications before, during, and after your cycle
Please don’t panic if you realize that you either don’t have a medication that you will need to use or you have less than you need. Call us, we will figure out a solution so that you can start on time, with the medications necessary for your cycle. That’s our job.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Tue, Aug 24, 2010 @ 08:06 AM
Very suddenly it’s gotten cold. Wet. Chilly. In the midst of the heat and humidity of deep summer, we are having a reminder that autumn will be here, perhaps sooner than we thought. The changes of the seasons mark other changes as well. Often the changes of seasons signal endings and beginnings.
The end of long, lazy, summer days. The end of vacation time, more casual clothes, easy out door activities. The end at least, for this summer. Most of us realize and have become accustomed to the cycle of the seasons. Summer will be here once again, we will have it to look forward to. Just as on the hottest, most humid day of the summer, I at least, was longing for the chill and crispness of December.
Autumn is a wonderful time for beginnings just as summer is a lovely time to slow down, take it easy in the heat. The crispness of the air in September makes us feel more fully alert, awake and aware. September has always made me feel more determined. Spring cleaning, I get, definitely, but I also feel geared up in September. Maybe it’s that foundation that’s built into us with the waxing and waning of the school year.
If you’ve been taking a break from infertility treatment, you may be switching gears and getting ready to cycle again, in sympathy with the world’s changes. You may be thinking about what the next step is in trying to conceive. You may have gathered the energy from more restful, peaceful days to move ahead again with doctors appointments.
Or you may have realized that you have been trying to conceive for a year and it hasn’t happened. The cycle that you were hoping and expecting didn’t happen. Infertility is a disruption in the natural life cycle of human beings. With this next season, we can move on.
The seasons are changing; the earth is getting ready for a rest from all the abundance she’s been producing all summer. The earth’s explosion of summer abundance is our rest time; warm, slow days. Now it’s her time to rest, our time for action.
Gather in your resources, your energy and your support and let those things create the buoyancy needed to move through the autumn with confidence. May your fall days be full of cool weather and a firm resolution.
Posted by Lisa Rosenthal on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 07:01 AM
I’m just going to cut to the chase. If you’re having trouble conceiving and you’re a man, often there is little that you can do. Even if it’s male factor infertility (problems in the male reproductive system), often it is still the woman that will need to be stimulated. To get the shots, go for bloodwork, have ultrasounds done, embryo retrieval (if treatment includes IVF- in vitro fertilization) and embryo transfer. Certainly there are men out there who are enduring surgeries and procedures, I don’t mean to suggest otherwise. However there is only so much that needs to go on with the male in the equation; we need to get the sperm, essentially. Even if it’s just one sperm. After that, what goes on is in the woman’s court.
And what do we give up, we women? Caffeine (not always), intense exercise, alcohol, recreational drugs, certain types of fish. And so on. Many of us give up nitrates (hot dogs, other cured meats), sushi, baby showers (too painful), vacations, etc. The list is as long as my arm and just as personal as the woman involved.
Read the article below about male factor infertility. Is it the best research out there? Not sure about that from what I was able to read. Not sure how the well documented the research is or how many men were studied. The research is from a well known infertility program in Argentina and I’m sure with further digging, more information could be found. I will look more.
Meanwhile, here is what’s being reported. I jumped to the conclusions as that was my biggest concern. It’s Monday after all, and I’m into the bottom line this morning!
A vital bit of information on why having your lap top on your lap is not the greatest idea for our men.
The direction of this research was provided by Conrado Avendaño, a biochemist specializing in Andrology. He was accompanied by a team of Ariela Mata, a specialist in Reproductive Biology and Chief of the Laboratory of Embryology, Cesar Sanchez Sarmiento, medical director, Andrew Juarez Villanueva, head of Gynecologic Endoscopy and Valeria Martinez, laboratory specializing in Andrology and Embryology.
Results. There are three factors that were examined to study the sperm quality: if the sperm were alive, if they moved and if the sperm DNA was intact. “The study showed that exposure to these devices did not cause the death of sperm,” said Avendano.
Meanwhile, the analysis of mobility, it was found that in the group exposed to WiFi radiation, there was less sperm that are moving faster and an increase in the amount of stationary sperm.
“This is a sobering if you take into account that the sperm are moving progressively to finally be able to reach the egg and fertilize it, and then form an embryo,” said César Sánchez Sarmiento.
Finally in terms of sperm DNA integrity, was found through a study known as “Tunnel”, which both groups of spermatozoa had a significant difference. “In the fraction exposed to radiation had a significant increase in sperm with fragmented DNA (broken),” said Avendano. Sánchez Sarmiento argues that the importance of this aspect is that reproductive medicine has proven that “one of the causes of changes in fertilization and embryonic development is therefore the break in the DNA molecules of the sperm.”
Ok, I looked further. Here's some information from the University of Stonybrook, echoing what is posted above:
Men and teenage boys should think twice before placing a laptop computer on their laps as they can lower sperm counts and reduce your chances of fathering a child. If you are male, thinking about having a family, or even a decade away from planning a family, you may be better off placing your laptop on a desk.
A concrete, solid suggestion is offered. Gentlemen, get your laptops off your laps and onto a desk.