Week Three of fertility treatments generally began with having an intrauterine insemination (IUI). This was when I would start to get hopeful. The doctor would say that we had a good specimen. The sperm wash would enable the sperm to live longer and (hopefully) enable me to conceive. The doctor was placing the sperm directly into my uterus, where I knew my egg was coming because I had just had a shot in the bottom the day before to ensure this. It seemed like conception ... more

Week Two was always a busy week for me during fertility treatments. By week two, I would have already completed a round of Clomid, and I would be suffering from the side effects. The migraines would blessedly have ended, but they would be replaced by hot flashes. (See Taking Clomid While Dining at a French Restaurant for an amusing tale about ... more

The first week of fertility treatments is very busy if you are using hormones. You need to contact your doctor right away to call in a prescription for whatever hormones you are taking at the beginning of the month. Then, you need to make sure you start taking the hormones on the correct day of your cycle.

When I was taking Clomid, I needed to begin taking the pills between days 2 through 6 of my cycle and then stop taking the drug after 5 days. Logistically, ... more

When I was going through fertility treatments, my doctor gave me a pamphlet that talked about the "infertility roller coaster." Boy does that analogy apply. There were so many ups and downs each month, with the "ups" of hope and the "downs" of grief. I would sometimes feel like I was going crazy and that the roller coaster would never end.

There was definitely a pattern to the ups and downs. Being aware of the pattern can help you navigate the rough waters of fertility treatments. When you know what is ... more

I am a recovering control freak. I have been on the wagon for...I don't know...maybe a week? I have always been the kind of person who wants to plan out my life. I live and die by my schedule. I want to know everything three months in advance.

So, you can just imagine how well I took my inability to conceive a child. We were supposed to get pregnant in August, or maybe September, and have a Spring baby. Simple enough. It was on my calendar. I WROTE IT DOWN!

No matter how desperately I tried ... more

I just finished reading a fascinating book about reincarnation. I always believed that reincarnation was a silly concept (somehow I cannot see myself as a cockroach), but I found this book fascinating nonetheless. I cannot say that I am convinced that I have lived multiple lifetimes (and definitely not as a cockroach), but I did find a lot of underlying wisdom in this book.

The author talked about people having past lives (as humans, not as animals) and that our spirits have lessons to learn in each lifetime. The lessons are ... more

When I went to a Reiki appointment recently, I noticed a flyer called "Yoga for Fertility" posted on the bulletin board. I have gotten into yoga over the past few years, but I never did any yoga while I was going through fertility procedures. I find the thought of using yoga to assist with conception fascinating.

The flyer starts out talking about what yoga is and then talks about the frustrations of infertility. According to the flyer, the "meditative nature of yoga" can be helpful in healing both the body and the mind. It ... more

Women who have never been able to conceive a baby or carry a baby to term have what is known as primary infertility. Women who have had one or more successful pregnancies but are later unable to conceive or carry a baby to term have secondary infertility. Both women suffer an enormous amount of pain, but, in some circles, women who struggle with secondary infertility are left out in the cold.

I wrote a post about Secondary Infertility in ... more

Testosterone is the male hormone that affects sexual features and development. The amount of testosterone in a man's body is controlled by the pituitary gland. If the level is low, then the pituitary gland releases luteinizing hormone (LH), which tells the testicles to make more testosterone. An issue with either the pituitary gland or the testicles can result in a low testosterone level. See Testosterone for more on this subject.

If a man has low levels of ... more

Most fertility screening is uncomfortable if not downright painful. Some of the easiest screening you will go through involves having blood work done. Your doctor will draw some blood, analyze it, and then call you with the results. For the woman's side of fertility screening, that's about as easy as it gets.

What kinds of hormones will the doctor be examining through your blood work?

Estradiol (E2)

This test helps to evaluate whether your ovaries are functioning correctly. See ... more

Varicoceles are a common cause of male factor infertility. My husband's reduced sperm count was due to a varicocele, and having the varicocele removed solved his fertility woes. (However, since he was still married to an infertile woman, solving his fertility issue still did not result in his conceiving a child.)

A varicocele is a varicose vein in the testicles. A varicocele causes problems because it holds a pocket of blood and keeps the ... more

For those of you who are winding down your fertility procedures, you might wonder how you will feel down the road if you never conceive a child. Some of you might be considering growing your family through adoption or fostering a child. Others might be deciding either to lead a childfree life or to more fully embrace the children you already have in your life without trying for more. Once you have ended fertility treatments, how will you feel in the long run?

I started trying to conceive in 1996, and I became a mother through ... more

When I had exhausted our fertility procedures and was waiting to adopt, a friend of mine was starting her own fertility journey. I had already reached a place of making peace with never getting pregnant, but my friend was just starting to face that she might never know what it feels like to become pregnant. She learned about a program called the Snowflake program and asked me what I thought about it.

The Snowflake program is one of several services available that ... more

If you are struggling with infertility, be sure to have your thyroid checked. This was one of the first tests that my fertility specialist administered when he started trying to figure out why I was unable to conceive. Your doctor can determine if your thyroid is to blame through a simple blood test, so it is one of the least invasive fertility screenings you can undergo.

What is a Thyroid?

Your thyroid is the gland responsible for most of your metabolism. It is located in your neck. If your thyroid ... more

Endometriosis is a common cause of infertility in women. According to Fertilitycommunity.com's article Endometriosis, 30-40% of women with endometriosis will likely have problems conceiving. I am one of those women.

So, what exactly is endometriosis? Endometrial tissue is the tissue in your uterus that provides a soft cushion for a fertilized egg to attach. Women with endometriosis have endometrial ... more

I have undergone two laparoscopies for diagnosing my infertility as well to clean out endometriosis and scar tissue. They are not fun. Here are the things I wish I had known before having the procedure performed:

1. Be careful about what you eat after the surgery.

I made the mistake of eating Chinese food after the surgery, and I spent the next several ... more

In my last post, TV Show "Friends": Final Season and Infertility, I talked about how unfair it was that Monica, who had always wanted to be a mother, was unable to conceive while her friend, Rachel, had a surprise pregnancy. Monica was married, and her "nest" was all ready for a baby. Meanwhile, Rachel was a single woman who was focused on her career, and her surprise pregnancy was very much a situation in which she had to rise to the occasion. I ... more

I have always been a Friends fanatic - well, since the second season, anyhow. (The monkey in the first season always creeped me out.) I own several seasons on DVD, and watching any episode is always guaranteed to put a smile on my face. So, when I was scanning channels the other day, I stopped as soon as I saw a Friends rerun. It was clearly from the last season, which was not the strongest season but still enjoyable.

This episode happened to be the one where Chandler and Monica found out that they were very unlikely ever ... more

When I told my sister that I had been hired to blog about fertility, the very first thing she said was that I had to share my French restaurant story on my blog. My husband and I are Chick-Fil-A kind of people, and we were invited to dine at a very expensive French restaurant with his company. For anyone who knows us, this is amusing enough. I happened to be taking Clomid at the time, and the side effects made for quite an amusing story.

The entire ... more

Infertility definitely puts stress on a marriage. The stress can become even more pronounced when one person is diagnosed as "the reason" that a couple cannot become pregnant. The person who is infertile can struggle with all sorts of insecurities, not the least of which is whether his or her spouse would have chosen the marriage if the infertility issues were known ahead of time.

Rather than viewing infertility as "his" or "her" problem, I strongly advise couples to view infertility as "our" problem. It really does not matter whose ... more