From Book to Shirts

Hi all!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  Between the death of my beloved Opu, Super Storm Sandy destroying my parents' house and my father-in-law becoming ill right before Christmas, things have been crazy-busy around here.

The death of Opu, my first baby and a black labrador retriever in September, didn't only greatly sadden me, but also my children.  Funny, but it was my three year old son, Owen, who wanted me to bring him home from Kevin's house (clearly didn't understand that I was saying that Opu was in "Heaven" and instead that he was at Kevin's house in the clouds).

This was the genesis of my idea of putting "Opu" on a shirt for my children.  It was much harder and easier than I thought it would be.  I hadn't sewn since Home Economics class in Junior High and let's just say that anyone who knows me knows that I cannot draw.  However, I strongly believe in the age-old saying that if there is a will there is a way and well...I found a way to make the shirts for my kids.  I have gotten so much joy out of creating the shirts and positive feedback from people that I decided to open an Etsy shop.  We'll see what comes of it, but I've definitely have had fun making, not only the Opu shirt, but also the pirate ship, hammerhead shark and butterfly for my kids.

Here is a link to my shop KooCoo Say, if you would like to look at or purchase a shirt.

The name comes from my kids' favorite saying, "Koo Coo Sock."  Brian and I don't know where they got it from, but basically if you are being silly, they will call you a "Koo Coo Sock!"

My kids are giving me multiple requests each day, so by the end of the week I'll should also have a tiger, flower, whale and octopus up on Etsy.

I wish you all the best,
Laura

New Hope for Infertile Couples

An Embryoscope is a new device that is helping doctors deal with especially challenging issues of infertility.  It allows doctors to monitor an embryo's growth, almost minute by minute. And in doing so, help them select the best candidates for successful invitro fertilization.  It is similar to a high tech incubator and time lapse camera that captures the beginning of life.

Dr. Nina Desai, of the Cleveland Clinic explains, "Imagine you're able to see every minute of the embryo's development even before it's transferred to the uterus, before it implants on the uterine wall you're able to see this embryo. It’s never been possible before."  

Traditionally, Doctor Desai takes an embryo out of the incubator once a day to look at it under a microscope. but a lot can happen that she'd miss.  The Embryoscope keeps the embryos in a safe and stable environment and tracks every second.  That gives doctors an even better chance to catch even the most subtle changes.  

Dr. Desai continues, “It's a wealth of information we're learning so much that we hadn't realized happens to an embryo as it grows so we are just blown away by this, it's an amazing, amazing technology.  When pointed out, the ones that were growing well were definitely different from ones that were sort of stuck."

Here is a link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

Are Infertility Doctors Predatory Bankers?

A neighbor, a friend, a couple down the street will discover this week that they are infertile and that if they want biological children of their own, they are going to need in vitro fertilization (IVF).  According to treatment protocol, the woman will need to take powerful medicines to ramp up her production of fertilizable eggs.  One monthly cycle of this treatment will run around $12,000.  But most couples require more than one cycle to achieve their goal of carrying a child to term.  In other words, this couple could easily be looking at a bill exceeding $30,000 or $40,000.

And did I mention that this money could all come out of their own pockets?  Because not all insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization.

No worry though.  Their infertility physician informs them about a company he has worked with that specializes in infertility loans.  He even offers to have his office staff help the couple fill out the necessary paperwork.  Thanks to this assistance, the couple secures the loan and, with luck, will soon be rewarded with a healthy baby.

Infertility Doctors

Free market medicine at its finest, yes?  A couple with “skin in the game” learns about their health costs in advance.  They are given accurate data about the likelihood that any given cycle of treatment will work.  They even work with a loan agency specifically geared to meet their financial needs.

Would it bother you if you learned that the infertility doctor received a referral fee from the loan agency?  Would you be upset to learn that this couple was charged an annual interest rate of 22%?

Here's a link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

50 Million Couples Experience Infertility

On the Friday before Christmas an article appeared in HealthDay News regarding infertility rates.  It makes me sad to think that almost 50 million couples experience infertility.  However, I don't find it surprising, because I have so many friends who struggled to have their children. 

In 2010, nearly 50 million couples worldwide were unable to conceive a child after five years of trying, according to the study published online Dec. 18 in the journal PLoS Medicine.  For the study, researchers examined 277 national surveys in order to estimate the infertility levels in 190 countries between 1990 and 2010.

50 Million Couples Experience Infertility

The analysis revealed that in 2010, 1.9 percent of women aged 20 who wanted to have children were unable to have their first live birth (primary infertility), and 10.5 percent of women who had previously given birth were unable to have another baby (secondary infertility).

That works out to a total of 48.5 million couples worldwide, study leader Gretchen Stevens, of the World Health Organization, and colleagues explained in a journal news release.

Here's the link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

Infertility Treatments and Multiple Sclerosis

There is an article on WebMD, which discuss two studies that show that infertility treatments increase relapse rates for MS patients.  This makes me incredibly sad.  Infertility is hard enough and so is MS, but to have both and to know that infertility treatments may make your MS worse is just too much.  I wish the best for women who are suffering from infertility and MS.

Multiple Sclerosis and Pregnancy

Here is a link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

Obesity Damages a Woman's Eggs

Obesity has long been associated with infertility as well as lower success rates with in vitro fertilization, and now researchers think they understand why: Obese women are more likely to have abnormalities in their eggs that make them impossible to fertilize.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital infertility researchers examined nearly 300 eggs that failed to fertilize during IVF in both severely obese women and those with a normal body weight. They found that severely obese women were far more likely to have abnormally arranged chromosomes within their eggs compared with women who weren’t overweight, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Human Reproduction.

Researchers still don’t completely understand why obesity might lead to structural problems in eggs, but it could have something to do with higher levels of hormones like leptin, which make chromosomes more fragile.

Previous research has linked similar abnormalities to aging eggs, which could at least partly explain why women over 40 have a much harder time getting pregnant than those in their 20s.

While women can’t do anything to turn back the clock, they may be able to improve their egg quality by achieving a healthier weight, said Dr. Catherine Racowsky, study co-author and head of the Brigham’s IVF lab. “Many obese infertility patients in our program wind up achieving successful IVF after they lose weight,” she added.

The women in the study were severely obese with a body mass index of at least 35 -- or 210 pounds for a 5-foot, 5-inch person -- and it’s likely that moderately overweight women who carry just 20 or 30 extra pounds don’t have the same increase in egg abnormalities.

But those at the extreme end of the weight spectrum who are attempting infertility treatments should make an effort to nudge their weight closer to a healthier BMI. Obese women who lose just 5 or 10 percent or their body weight may see enough improvement, according to Racowsky, to help them achieve a successful pregnancy with IVF or natural methods. By the same token, underweight women, who have a BMI under 18.5 -- or 111 pounds for a 5-foot, 5-inch person -- are also at risk of infertility and might increase their pregnancy odds by gaining a few pounds.

Here is the link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

Wrong Sperm Inseminates

I feel so poorly for the women who had fertility problems and trusted their doctor.  In Ottawa Canada, a renowned fertility specialist Dr. Norman Barwin allegedly artificially inseminated three women with the wrong sperm. Barwin currently volunteered to surrender his license which is now restricted.

In 1985, a woman went to Barwin to beinseminated with her husbands sperm, which had been frozen prior to starting cancer treatments. Later giving birth to a baby boy, later to discover the child was not her husbands.

Another lawsuit pending against Barwin, in 2007 Ottawa resident Jacqueline Slinn said she seeked Barwin’s help in 2003, selecting a donor from Toronto sperm bank. Slinn did conceive after a series of inseminations, giving birth to her daughter in 2005. Later Slinn joined a registry to make contact with other mothers who had been inseminated with the same donor. Three of the children were DNA tested, and discovered that none of the children had the same biological children.

The full article is here.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

US Women Like IUDs for Birth Control

When I saw this article I wasn't surprised.  I spent a good chunk of my early twenties taking the birth control pill.  I loved it.  I knew exactly when my period was coming and for how many days.  It didn't care that I really had no need for the pill, except that without it I rarely menstruated and my doctor thought that it was a good idea.

Now, however, if I needed birth control, I would definitely choose an IUD.  I have a couple friends who have one and they don't get their period at all.  That sounds marvelous.  No tampons; no cramps; no oopsies I forgot and sprinting to the bathroom.


For the full article click here.

FIVE STRANDS OF HOPE ebook at Amazon

5 Stands of Hope Free on Amazon for the Holiday

Hi Everyone!
Happy Labor Day weekend.  I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend.  School starts for my kids on Wednesday.  I'm happy and sad as every parents has probably felt when their child started kindergarten.

Labor Day 5 Years Ago

I can't believe it's been less than a year since I started to write my book and then published it and only 4 months since I started my blog.  I guess I've accomplished more in the past year than I thought.  Scary to think that the picture was from June.  I feel like I took it yesterday!

Last Day of School in June

Five Strands of Hope is free on Amazon for the holiday weekend.  I hope you get a chance to read it and that you enjoy it.

Five Strands of Hope (FREE eBook)

Happy Holiday!
Laura

Sperm Grown from Skin: Infertility Hope for Men

Wow!  That's all that I can say after reading an article from the Daily Mail (UK) about doctors/scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  Scientists succeeded in using slivers human skin tissue to grow early-state sperm.  Thousands of infertile men may be able to fulfill their dream of fatherhood with their own biological children.

Male Sperm

The scientists use chemicals to turn back the biological clock in skin cells, which gives the cells chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells.  Then nutrients transform the cells into round ones and appear to be genetically normal.

Click here for the full article.


Five Strands of Hope on Amazon

Childhood Obesity and Infertility

Sorry, I've been radio silent for the past week or so.  We had our floors done and what I thought would be an easy home-improvement proved to be much more challenging.  Without going into boring detail, I'll just say I don't know what the floor guy was thinking when he told me we could stay in the house while the floors were being done, because he wedged our leather couch between the refrigerator and the island!

I found this interesting article in The Jerusalem Post about childhood obesity and infertility.  “The issue of so many humans being obese is very recent in evolutionary terms, and since nutritional status is important to reproduction, metabolic syndromes caused by obesity may profoundly affect reproductive capacity,” said Patrick Chappell.

Obesity can Lead to Infertility

But in general, puberty appears to be starting earlier in girls. It is being accelerated.

This may have several effects, scientists have found. One theory is an impact on kisspeptin, a recently characterized neurohormone necessary for reproduction. Normal secretions of this hormone may be disrupted by endocrine signals from fat that serve to communicate to the brain.

Another possible affect on pubertal timing, and reproduction in general, is disruption of circadian clocks, which reflect the natural rhythms of night and day. Disrupted sleep-wake cycles can affect the secretion of hormones such as cortisol, testosterone, and insulin, researchers have found.

Here is the link to the full article.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope ($0.99)

Should Schools Teach About Infertility?

There is an interesting article in The Guardian (UK) that discusses teaching infertility in schools.  It asks the question:  "Why doesn't sex education cover infertility, when five children in every class are likely to experience it?

I am not ashamed (and hope no one is) that we had to turn to fertility treatments to have the family that we do.  I plan to be very open with my children (why I wrote the book) about the path we took to have our children.  However, do I really want them to learn about infertility in high school?  Do I want them to be scared that they will struggle to have kids when they are still kids themselves?


No, no, no...I do not want my kids to have a class in high school that teaches them about infertility.  I want them to focus on high school, college and to find a career/vocation that they love.  I don't want them thinking that they should have children in their late teens/ early 20s, because they might suffer from infertility.  


When my children enter their 30s and don't have children then I will discuss infertility with them, specially my daughter.  I will educate her about freezing her eggs and other options that she has.  If I am not around to talk to her, I will hope that she will be comfortable with the internet and search engines and will be able to find out all the information that she needs regarding infertility.


I'd love to know what you think about teaching our high schoolers about infertility?

Here's the link to the full article

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope ($0.99)

Here are links to previous blog posts: 

My Beach Days Have Changed Forever

90% Divorce Rate for Parents of Triplets

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

Natural Remedy for PCOS

Infertility and Alcoholism

Acupuncture Improves Your Chances

Stress Kills Your Chances

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?

Ode to Opu

My First Baby - Opu

Opu Summer 2011 - Enjoying the Sprinker

Opu is our very much loved black labrador retriever.  I got him when we was 40lbs and 4 months old.  Now he is eleven years old (yikes) about 90-95lbs.  He has arthritis in all his joints, but his right shoulder is the worst.  He started complaining (moaning and refusing to go up and downstairs) in January.  

My veterinarian, my beloved cousin, Jen, prescribed him some medicine and it seemed like I had my puppy back.  However, at the beginning of this week, he started yelping, crying and moaning again.  Dr. Jen let me double up his medicine and he seemed ok for an afternoon.  The last two nights, he woke Brian and me up with his cries and moans.  It's sad and breaks my heart, because I know additional medicine is only going to pro-long his life by months - not years.  

Opu has seen me through tough times.  He dealt with my single life in NYC - the ups and downs of dating.  The death of my Godmother, who meant the world to me.  He listened to me when we were planning our wedding.  Helped me deal with my migraines when I was pregnant with Gavin.

Opu and Me (pregnant with Gavin)

Opu, much to popular myth, loved Gavin from the moment we brought him home.  Opu would sleep right under Gavin's crib and curl up next to me on the couch when I was feeding Gavin.

Opu - Love at First Site

Opu sat next to me and kissed my legs, when I cried over a miscarriage or failed IUI.  He consoled me continuously through the triplet pregnancy.  Always sitting right next to me and giving me encouragement.  

Opu and Brian enjoying the Pool

My beloved lab shares the trait of most labs.  He is happiest near food and drink.  At this very minute, he just finished moaning, so he could walk over to the to the deserted plate of waffles.

I'm hopeful that the new medicine he is on will help him enjoy the summer - probably his last summer.

I will always love you Opu, my very first baby.

**Opu passed away on September 24, 2012 - exactly two months before his 12 birthday.  I started a new post about all his crazy adventures during his.  However, his death is still too painful - maybe next month.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope 

Infertility and Alcoholism

Infertile Women are Twice as Likely to be Alcoholics

Here is some more information from the Danish study I talked about last week.  The study, which looked at 100,000 women who had visited a fertility clinic, revealed that those who were never able to get pregnant were twice as likely to be hospitalized for alcoholism or substance abuse and 47 percent more likely to display signs of schizophrenia or be hospitalized for an eating disorder.

Study leader Dr. Birgitte Baldur- Felskov emphasized the fact that this study only takes those who were hospitalized into account. Factoring in those women who may have been treated as an outpatient, or not at all, could shed even more light on this problem. It’s also important to note this affect of infertility on mental health doesn’t appear to be a temporary condition

The full article is here.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope

Here are links to previous blog posts: 

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

What is the "Right" Number of Children to Have?

The Baby Making Project: IVF

Acupuncture Improves Your Chances

Stress Kills Your Chances

Smoking's Bad

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

The Holistic Approach to Infertility

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?