Take Back Your Period
Posted on October 13, 2008
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A friend of mine sent me the following details on a 10-week tele-class about how to manage your menstrual imbalances. It sounds like a great course for those dealing with PCOS. If you want the conference number and the passcode just leave a comment and I’ll email you the details.
Women who participate in the Take Back Your Period 10-week tele-class will:
- Know what is causing their menstrual imbalances emotionally and physically
- Keep work and play dates they previously canceled due to period problems
- Understand why certain foods exacerbate and cause hormonal problems
- Know which foods will decrease their symptoms and balance their hormones
- Get the support they need to make change possible
The class is $95/month. In 2009, the price for these classes will be $150/month. I encourage you to take advantage of this rate now. The October class is filling up - you can still enroll! Early enrollment for the November class begins this week. Both classes are 50 minutes each for 10 consecutive Mondays (with a 2 week holiday break for the November class - class price will not change). Classes begin:
October 13, 4pmEST/1pmPST.
November 17, 5:30pmEST/2:30pmPST.
Kristen is offering 3 FREE preview classes so you can decide if participating in the 10-week class is right for you. Here are the details for the free preview classes:
Friday October 10, 4pmEST/1pmPST
Friday October 24, 4pmEST/1pmPST
Friday November 7, 4pmEST/1pmPST
ALSO - Win a FRE Male Fertility Kit - a $154 value. Contest ends Wednesday. Want one? Leave a comment.
» Filed Under Resources, contest | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day-Oct. 15th
Posted on October 10, 2008
Reposted from: Antigone Lost. Please visit her blog and consider posting this notice on yours too.
October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.
Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce it’s incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.
On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.
» Filed Under pregnancy | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
I Knew Yesterday
Posted on October 9, 2008
Usually a few days before my period starts I have horrible cravings for chocolate. This month, no cravings. I had a few other “imaginary pregnancy symptoms” aka IPS as Malky from Benedict Family and Rachel from infertility.about.com have coined the term. So much so that I had almost convinced myself that I was in fact pregnant. It ludicrious for me to even think it is possible, yet every couple of months I convince myself that it’s possible.
Yesterday I went to the mall mainly to visit the See’s Candy Store. I knew that today was going to be a disappointing day. And I was right, because today has reminded that I will never be pregnant again, and it surely won’t happen via spontaneous conception. I’m not getting any younger, nor is my husband. And the fact that he doesn’t want any more children makes it almost certain that he hasn’t engaged in any activities or surgeries to fix his male factor infertility. More than anything I just annoy the heck out of myself and feel like such an idiot. It brings me back to the months when we were actually trying to get pregnant and I would be hopeful every single month only to be disappointed. It’s not the same today as it was then, but it is still a bummer.
On to more positive topics…
Only a few days left for your chance to win a FREE $154 value Male Fertility Kit. For the next week (Oct. 9-Oct. 15) all you need to do is leave a comment on my blog over the next week to be entered in the contest.
For those of you who are RSS subscribers you’ve probably noticed that I have a FREE ebook I’m only offering to you. I hope you download a copy and find valuable information to help you along your journey. If you want a copy of my ebook titled 30 Questions to Ask your Doctor about Infertility and Treatments subscribe using the RSS button.
Soon I’ll be offering another FREE ebook titled Managing Your Relationships and Your Sanity During Infertility to visitors of my blog.
» Filed Under Infertility, contest | 2 Comments
Using Acupuncture with Fertility Treatments (Twin Peas Pod Epsiode 18)
Posted on October 6, 2008
Are you using alternative medicines during your fertility treatments? Acupuncture is being touted as one of the best complementary medicinal methods for a fertility treatment cycle, whether it be IVF, IUI, Clomid, etc. What exactly is acupuncture and why should you consider it? Listen to what Joanna Wiscombe from Ancient Asian Healing Arts has to say about how Chinese Herbs and acupuncture can help you get pregnant.
Joanna addresses:
- How long do you need to receive acupuncture treatments in order for it to help you achieve your dream of becoming a mom?
- How do you find an acupuncturist?
- Can acupuncture help male factor infertility?
And much more in this interview.
Creative Commons image courtesy of hradcanska.
» Filed Under Doctors, Infertility, pregnancy | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
Info You Need to Know about IVF
Posted on October 2, 2008
From News Moms Need, a March of Dimes blog, click here to go to their blog and get a copy of the report “Multiple Pregnancy and Birth: Considering Fertility Treatments.”
» Filed Under Infertility, Premature Births, pregnancy | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
Root & Sprout
Posted on October 1, 2008
Over the past few months I have found great websites and blogs for those going through infertility or resources on parenting blogs/websites that provide content for the infertile community. I contributed an article about my journey through infertility and IVF to one of those sites this month, Root & Sprout, click here to read it.
» Filed Under Infertility, Marriage, Premature Births, pregnancy | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
No Longer Envious
Posted on September 29, 2008
When Dave and I were struggling with our infertility it was difficult at times to be happy for our friends who had it easy getting pregnant and becoming parents. At one point I even declined an invitation to a friends baby shower because I just couldn’t go. It would not have been right for me to attend and bring a cloud of sadness with me to her bright and cheerful occasion. I know that this hurt her feelings. I’ve since apologized, but at the time I was not in a good space and it was truly best that I wasn’t there.
Then after our twins were born premature we had dinner with friends who came to visit us in the NICU. At dinner they informed us they were pregnant, of which we were very happy for them. At that time, as happy as I was for my friend I was envious too. Getting pregnant was easy for them. Yet, we were spending our days and nights at the NICU because our IVF twins had been born too soon. It was too soon for me to really embrace the fact that we finally had children and it no longer mattered how easy it was for everyone around us to build their families.
My counselor had told me that once we had kids that I would no longer judge people by how easy it was for them to have a baby or that I would no longer care. She was right and wrong. While my girls were in the NICU, it still hurt. It hurt that we had to struggle. It hurt that after our struggle to get pregnant, we had to manage the NICU experience - which might be worse than infertility, I’m still weighing that one - and deal with the stresses of managing two babies at once, and premature twins for that matter.
As my counselor predicted, as my girls have aged, I have become less worried about how long or how easy it is for those around me to get pregnant. I am thankful for my children and have somewhat gotten over how hard it was to get here.
So last week I joined a friend for happy hour. We were having a nice conversation and then she said so quietly that I almost had to ask her to repeat herself. But when I saw the tears I knew what had happened. My friend had one miscarriage about six months ago. It took her some time to get back into the swing of life and I’ve been trying to support her as much as she’d allow. There was a time where she wasn’t too receptive to getting together so I waited until she was ready. The tears told me what I had almost missed her say, she had a second miscarriage. She saw the heartbeat and her body had started to display the signs of pregnancy.
I am no longer envious of my friend who could get pregnant so easily. In fact, my heart bleeds for her. I truly cannot imagine how devastated she is and how sad it must be to loose a baby once life starts to grow within you.
I’m doing some research for my friend to learn more about miscarriages, what causes them, how to prevent them, etc. If you have any advice, articles or sources of information that might be helpful, please leave a comment with a link or way to contact you. Thank you!
P.S. Have you entered my contest for a FREE Male Fertility Kit from East West Essentials? Please send an email to info@twinpeas.com to enter.
» Filed Under Infertility, contest, pregnancy | 1 Comment
test post - please ignore
Posted on September 26, 2008
This is a test post. We are trying out some exciting new functionality to bring you even more fantastic content!
Stay tuned…
» Filed Under Uncategorized | Please Share Your Thoughts; Leave a Comment!
Dr. Gary Steinman author of Womb Mates (Twin Peas Pod episode 17)
Posted on September 25, 2008
Dr. Gary Steinman is the co-author of Womb Mates, A Modern Guide to Fertility and Twinning. Dr. Steinman is a practicing Ob/Gyn in New York. He delivered a set of idential quads and his interest in twinning started along with his extensive research in this area. His book is very interesting as it provides both technical details about twins as well as some of the soft-topic information.
As you may know, I’m a big proponent about providing information on the risk of a twin/triplet pregnancy. Although I truly believe and advocate for the right to assisted reproductive technologies (ART), I would love to see a reduction of twins because of the risk to the mom and the babies. I think you’ll enjoy the information Dr. Steinman provides in this podcast about spontaneous and ART twinning.
A few items we discuss in this podcast are:
1. What increases your chances for conceiving twins with spontaneous conception (vs. ART). We briefly discuss how IGF applies (or doesn’t apply) to ART. Dr. Steinman talks about calcium - something you might want to discuss with your RE. Di d you know that ICSI results in the highest rate of ART twins.
2. In spontanous pregnancies, age plays a role in twinning, but the reverse is true with regard to ART. Hear his thoughts and scientic information on both the man’s and woman’s age and fertility treatments.
3. His advice - be cautious when undergoing ART to minimize the risk of a twin pregnancy.
Insurance coverage - Dr. Steinman believes it would reduce the rate of twins. He agrees that one of the problems in the U.S. with regard to ART is the financial drain to couples. Hear what they do in Israel - you’ll want to move there!
His book is available at Amazon.com, click here to buy a copy!
» Filed Under Infertility, Podcast, Premature Births, pregnancy | 5 Comments
This and That
Posted on September 23, 2008
Okay, so I’ve been avoiding making a phone call I know that I need to make because I am afraid of what I might hear. My dad has promised me that he is going to visit for my twins 4th birthday. I talked to him 10 days ago and he was making his reservation while we were on the phone. He was supposed to email me his flight info, of which I have yet to receive. My mom keeps asking me if I’ve heard anything and when I say, “No,” she asks when I plan on calling him to see if he’s actually coming.
It’s been two years since he has seen my girls and I will be terribly disappointed if he flakes out on me again (he’s been saying he’ll come visit for the last year or so). Hopefully I get up the nerve to call him tonight. So inline with the “Trying to Let it go Tuesday” that my friend Mommy Meryl has created, I’m trying to let go of being disappointed. If he chooses not to visit it is he who is loosing out on the relationship and joy of my girls.
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Mommy Meryl has also bestowed an award on me, my first in the blogosphere. I’ve been procrastinating posting the blogs I am to award this too. It took me a few days to decide who I wanted to pass the award along too because lately I haven’t been very good at reading other blogs on a regular basis. So here is my list, in no particular order:
1. Benedict Family - a blog and podcast on infertility, secondary infertility and parenting
2. A Million Moments of Kindness - positive stories about the good in the everyday acts of ordinary people
3. Mom to Twins Plus One - the life in the day of a busy mom after infertility
4. Rain’s Authentic Blog - always full of positive inspiration
5. GNMParents (okay, so I contribute to this one…it has good reading)
6. A Soldier Girl (life) - a blog I enjoy every time I stop by during NCLM or ICLW
The rules of the award, pick 7 of your favorite blogs and post their names and links to their sites. The award is a photo so you just need to copy it (I hope it shows when I click “publish”).
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Last, but not least. I’ve been running a contest for you to win a FREE 30-day supply of The Male Fertility Kit with East West Essentials. I’ve been telling folks to use the RSS to enter the contest. We’ll I just found out that I cannot see individual RSS subscribers — I am so bummed and feel really dumb for not knowing more about this darn technology. So, if you have already entered the contest using the RSS or email options, unfortanatuely I don’t have any way to determine who you are. So PLEASE send me an email to info@twinpeas.com with your name and email address so I can enter your name into the drawing (must send me an email by October 15th). Thank you and sorry for the hassle!
» Filed Under Personal Growth, contest | 7 Comments
