…or Begins. Depending on how you look at it. After almost a year of blogging all the news your womb can use, this will be my final week here at Fertility Notes and at b5media.
Sniff.
But don’t you be sad! You can still find me at my private blog (you can email me for details) and at www.nationalparksonline.net, our newly revamped blog chronicling Michael’s and my two-year road trip to all of the National Park sites across the United States and keeping you up to date on national park news. If you’re interested, I am working on some pretty neat …read more

August? Already? Are you serious?
Sigh.
I think I can squeeze in one more trip or two to the beach. I have to. I still have summer reading to do. I still haven’t finished the The Mind-Body Fertility Connection: The True Pathway to Conception by James Schwartz. Did I mention that I have some extra copies to share? Want one?
Let me tell you what I know: James Schwartz is a Board certified Hypnotherapist and founder and director of the Rocky Mountain Hypnotherapy Center in Lakewood, Colorado. He’s got a fertility program called, “Hypnosis to Promote Fertility” which focuses on “healing the …read more

Why BRANDI! It’s you! You are this week’s Freebie Friday Winner!
Brandi is now the proud owner of a Fertility Scope – an adorable little contraption designed to test your saliva to determine the optimum time to try to conceive.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered.

Or so says a new book by Dr. Harry Fisch entitled, Size Matters: The Hard Facts About Male Sexuality That Every Woman Should Know.
In a Q&A published in  Saturday’s Calgary Herald
Urologist Dr. Fisch shared some info from the book he co-authored with Kara Baskin. Some of the pertinent points from the doc include:
“penis size doesn’t vary as much as people think. The average is 5.4 inches. Most men are between four and six inches. When you have less than three inches, then that’s a real problem fertility-wise — it’s too small of a penis to actually reach the cervix.”
“the larger …read more

You may have heard the term Oncofertility mentioned here at Fertility Notes before.
A Newsweek article that will be published in the August 4th issue of the magazine gives a great explanation of what Oncofertility is and why it matters so much to cancer patients.
According to Newsweek:
Of the 125,000 people under the age of 45 who are diagnosed with cancer each year, roughly half will receive treatments that will affect their fertility. The cancers that most commonly strike the young—leukemias, lymphomas and breast cancers—require some of the most toxic forms of chemotherapy, which target rapidly growing and fragile cells like hair …read more

Calling all RNs, NPs, LPNs, and other healthcare professionals specializing in reproductive medicine and assisted reproductive technology: there is a really good reason for you to take some time off in August and head to Vegas.
Smart ART IX, which will take place August 14-16, is a symposium that will “provide a unique opportunity for nurses and healthcare professionals involved in the management of infertility patients to learn about new agents, procedures, and counseling techniques contributing to the continued success of ART.”
Oh wait, did I mention? Maybe I didn’t…
Enrollment is limited to the first 450 registrants and is available on a …read more

When you have a few minutes (because it’s pretty darn long), go check out this article at Psychology Today entitled, “Who Stole Fertility?”
Originally written for the 1996 March/April issue of Psychology Today Magazine, this article stills feels timely and relevant. I’ve had this page bookmarked for a while and have been digesting it in bits. Don’t be turned off by the first paragraph which states:
Contrary to popular belief, there is no infertility crisis sweeping the nation. We’ve just lost all conception of what it takes to conceive. Reproductive technology has made us impatient with nature. So for increasing numbers …read more

To make up for those Fridays when you checked only to find Freebie Friday was on a little vacation, I have not 1 but 2 Freebie Fridays today!
FertilityLifeLines.com is offering a FREE 48-page booklet entitled, In the Know: What No One Tells You About Fertility
The 48-page girlfriend-to-girlfriend booklet was created to address this gap in the current resources available to couples seeking information about infertility. The booklet covers the broad range of issues that couples face when struggling with infertility, including a description of infertility in males and females, how to cope with the emotional stresses of infertility, an …read more

Check out this week’s Freebie: it’s called Fertility Scope and it’s designed to test your saliva to determine the optimum time to try to conceive. It’s about the size of a lipstick case and honestly, if I had any ability to ovulate, I totally would have snarfed this cute little thing up for myself.
According to Fertility Scope,
The premise of the product is that saliva forms a “ferning” pattern when dried, which indicates the biochemical and hormonal changes taking place in the body during ovulation. Unlike urine tests, saliva kits give you additional information before ovulation to increase the chances of …read more

Thank you so much for your well wishes! Please keep wishing a little longer – transfer is delayed just a few more days.
Sorry for the lapse in posting. I’ve been feeling a little woozy (and sleepy and bloated and crampy) since my doctor decided to ramp up my estrogen intake. My lining measured a measly 6 mm on Monday – not quite what it needs to be for an optimum FET (frozen embryo transfer). A thickness of 8 mm or more is preferred by most Reproductive Endocrinologists.

I won’t lie. I was disappointed, angry (at my body), sad. My nurse tried …read more