http://www.benedictfamily.org The Life and Times of the Benedict Family and their battle with infertility - featuring the Infertility Podcast Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:58:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's been ages since I've done a show and tell but I'll give it a go today. School is going well for me. It's definitely an adjustment from being a stay at home mom. I'm enjoying learning again as well as the social aspect of it. This week, however, when ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-021010/ Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've decide to go back to school and have been very busy with making that happen. I will be starting on Tuesday and I'm both excited and nervous. It's been 22 years since I've officially sat in class. I do attend Judaic ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/shake-it-baby/ Doctor Geoffrey Sher, from The Sher Institute, was the pioneer to use Viagra to help a woman conceive. Rene Danford had been trying to conceive for several years and had been through several unsuccessful IVF treatments at a fertility clinic that advised her that she would never be able to ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/first-%e2%80%98viagra-baby%e2%80%99-turns-10-years-old/ This article from the Guardian, UK talks about an acupuncturist in the UK making great strides in helping infertile couples. She's having amazing success with older woman using their own eggs and they are conceiving naturally. Gives us all hope. http://www.benedictfamily.org/the-baby-maker/ A woman, who underwent IVF treatment and had another woman's embryo erroneously transferred to her in a lab mix-up, has given birth to a baby boy. I can only imagine how difficult the pregnancy must have been on her emotionally. It is very admirable that she was willing to ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/mom-gives-birth-after-embryo-mix-up/ So I finally got brave enough to try acupuncture. All I can say was that it was amazing. I can't get over how relaxed I feel. I really liked the acupuncturist. Believe it or not she is not Asian. She's a Russian Jew. She informed me that lots of people ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/first-acupuncture-visit/ It's been a while since I've done a show and tell (or a post altogether for that matter). I just needed a little inspiration. I made challah for the holidays today. Along with the usual round ones for Rosh Hashanah, this year I decided to get a little creative with a ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-091609/ A teacher is pregnant with a record-breaking 12 babies. Whether she will be able to carry them to viability still remains to be seen... Amazing stuff none the less. Update: According to Momlogic this women might just be a fraud who isn't even pregnant at all. Hmm. http://www.benedictfamily.org/move-over-octomom-here-comes-some-competition/ Our good friends over at the UK have come up with a new device to help track ovulation. They are promising 12 months and you are pregnant or your money back. The device is called DuoFertility, a state-of-the-art fertility monitor, that records a woman's temperature up to 20,000 times a ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/new-way-to-track-ovulation/ Tonight a little after midnight would have been my first child's 11th birthday. She was a full term stillborn. You would think the mourning would get easier over the years but it doesn't. This year Aaron and I are doing a very good job in communicated our feelings about the ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/in-memory/ One of the problems of infertility treatments has been the difficulty of freezing and thawing human eggs. It's much more complicated than freezing sperm or embryos. But, successfully freezing eggs could bypass ethical issues caused by freezing and storing embryos. Now, Houston scientists are testing a better method of freezing eggs. ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/new-method-for-preserving-eggs/ Rivky is really enjoying day camp this year and she's making some really nice projects there as well. This past week she made a ceramic jewelry box shaped like a mini dresser and a pretty stool too. The mini dresser fits very nicely on her real dresser next to a ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-072909/ We've mentioned before how chiropractic care and acupuncture might aid in infertility. Here's an interesting article discussing how reflexology might also help. http://www.benedictfamily.org/reflexology-and-infertility/ It's been a while since I've done show and tell. I was shopping in Boro Park - a neighborhood close to where I live in Brooklyn, when I came across this gorgeous fish tank inside an optical store of all places. It was so pretty I was brave enough to ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-070809/ I came across this article I found that talks about a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or C.A.H. The symptoms are somewhat similar to PCOS and some PCOS patients may have CAH as well. It is very treatable with the use of steroids but an often overlooked condition in the ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/a-culprit-in-infertility-overlooked-yet-treatable/ First of all Happy Fathers Day to all dads and want to be dads! I came across this article from The Times In India. It goes into detail how men are now seeking to become single dads through the use of donor eggs and surrogates. It's not just women who ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/single-dads-by-choice/ A woman in the UK had a miscarriage misdiagnosed, had a D&C and the embryo still managed to survive. She thought she had miscarried and only found out she was still pregnant at 10 weeks gestation. Her daughter was born healthy despite her having had a D&C, taken painkillers, antibiotics, ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/miracle-baby/ A new study from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah reveals that the father's sperm delivers much more complex genetic material than previously thought. The findings could lead to a diagnostic test to help couples deal with infertility. Things are more equal in creation of an embryo ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/fathers-sperm-count/ Show and tell has moved to midweek so here comes another one for this week. Rivky had her first official school project. She had to pick something from history to display and write a short essay about. She chose "The Titanic". Quite a mature pick if you ask me. I ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-61109/ I liked this personal story of a women who got pregnant the with baby #2 on her own. With her first pregnancy she used heparin, steroids, progesterone jabs and IVIG to maintain the pregnancy. This time she's doing it all naturally. So far so good. She's reached 25 weeks. http://www.benedictfamily.org/second-baby-miracle-story/ It's been a few weeks since I've done a show and tell. Rivky was at a friends house a few weeks ago and had her first serious fall. She fell off a scooter and broke her two front teeth. We were all devastated by this. She also had a pretty bad ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-070609/ Some additional facts about In Vitro Maturation such as reduced cost and success rates so far. http://www.benedictfamily.org/in-vitro-maturation/ It's been a slow couple of weeks in infertility news, hence the lack of updates. I did see this interesting post on Sharon's blog that I thought I'd share here. I know a few people who went through this and might appreciate this info: What is the cause of Vanishing Twin ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/vanishing-twin-syndrome/ Good news for those of us that would rather use vaginal suppositories to get our progesterone vrs having to take shots in our backsides. A study was done by Columbia Laboratories that showed not only does suppositories work just as well as IM shots, but that rates of miscarriage where ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/vaginal-progesterone-verses-intramuscular-progesterone/ This Indian village has an unusually high amount of twins. The village is very poor and no one can afford fertility treatment. Interesting. http://www.benedictfamily.org/indian-village-with-250-sets-of-twins/ i had some leftover yarn from my afghan knitting project so I decided to make a sweater for Rivky's American Girl doll. It came out very cute. This project only took a few weeks - a lot less knitting involved. http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-050909/ Seems like alot of celebrities are having trouble conceiving baby #2. I thought it was cute that The Sun used the same term that our podcast was originally named. http://www.benedictfamily.org/the-sun-seems-to-like-the-term-second-time-around-as-well/ According to this article from Urology Times, varicocele repair greatly improves sperm health to allow pregnancies to occur without the use of IVF/ICSI. http://www.benedictfamily.org/varicocele-repair-may-obviate-ivf/ After a break due to cleaning for Passover, I finally finished painting the bathroom. It was more physical work than I imagined it would take that's for sure. The ceiling was definitely the most challenging part, although I managed not to get paint in my hair as one commenter warned ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-042509/ A new study published in the recent issue of the journal, Fertility and Sterility shows in, a randomized, double-blinded trial reports that assisted hatching  does not improve implantation, clinical pregnancy, or live birth rates during IVF in women younger than 38 years with embryos having ZP thickness of ≥13μm. It was ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/assisted-hatching-may-not-improve-ivf-outcome-in-women-below-38-years-old/ The afghan I've been knitting is finally done. I went back to check how long ago I started it and it was 9 months ago! I thought that was pretty funny - same length of a pregnancy. A little easier than a baby to give birth to though, lol. Rivky and ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-041209/ I was in Marshall's the other day looking for a new handbag. First, I must say, they have all kinds of wacky new styles since the last time I purchased one a few years ago. I was about to give up on finding anything that I liked when I came ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-040409/ The Telegraph, UK ran this fantastic article on the stress and emotions of woman going through secondary infertility. It relates how our husbands do not fully understand how we feel, our existing child putting pressure on us for a sibling. How hard it is to save or not save ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/secondary-infertility/ Barry Behr, PhD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Stanford University School of Medicine and director of Stanford's IVF laboratory, recently published findings on a way to "profile" the eggs to determine which are more likely to result in pregnancies. The technology evolves metabolic testing reveals trace molecules remaining ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/sciencedaily-your-source-for-the-latest-research-news-and-science-breakthroughs-updated-daily-science-news-share-blog-cite-print-email-bookmark-new-method-of-assessing-womens-eggs-could/ I generally wear contact lenses but in the house I sometimes wear glasses. I've had the same pair for the last 13 years. For many years I haven't wanted a new pair because the lens style was so small I couldn't imagine being able to see out of them. This ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-032109/ Good news for couples living in Milton Keynes, England who are struggling with infertility. A proposal could see the age range for NHS funded IVF treatment in Milton Keynes change from between 34 and 37 to allow applications from women aged between 30 to 34. I think this makes so much ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/nhs-proposing-to-help-more-couples-with-ivf/ Another news report of a woman mistreated at work for needing time off for fertility treatment. I think this is such a disgrace. Some basic standards need to be set up in work places to accommodate this medical need. Infertility is not going away. The business world has to respect ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/woman-suspended-for-taking-time-off-from-work-for-ivf/ Rivky will be dressing up as a cheerleader this Purim which falls on Monday night/Tuesday this week. She's very exited about it as you can see. http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-030709/ I liked this story posted in the People.co.uk of a woman's 20 year struggle to become a mom. She tried many ART cycles and never successfully carried a baby to viability. After she had lost all hope at age 44 she conceived spontaneously and had a healthy baby girl. Just ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/women-has-baby-at-44-naturally-after-multiple-failed-ivfs/ A women in Australia is claiming that her doctors lost one of her frozen embryos. Interesting - I wonder if it's true. A pretty sad state for that docs reputation if it is. http://www.benedictfamily.org/woman-says-ivf-clinic-lost-last-embryo/ My therapist suggested I try to come up with some projects to do around the house while Aaron is away on his many business trips. Our apartment is in dire need of a paint job. If anyone of you have priced what professionals charge for painting an apartment you will ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-022009/ The Telegraph, UK had an interesting news piece about a draft proposal in allowing women to store frozen eggs for up to 55 years. The current standard is 10 years. If the proposal is approved, this can mean great things for women who have cancer or who know they will ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/women-may-be-able-to-freeze-their-eggs-for-55/ So I watched the Dateline interview with Nadya Suleman the mom of the famous octuplets. I have such torn feelings about this whole situation. On the one hand I don't think people have a right to judge her and call her all kinds of insulting names. On the other hand ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/octuplet-mom-on-dateline/ I bought my husband Aaron a gift this week. it wasn't his birthday, our anniversary or any other particular day in which he would expect a gift. I got it for him "Just Because". When we go through infertility, we sometimes get so wrapped up in it and depressed by ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-020709/ This article talks of a new IVF study that does not look all that promising for older want to be moms. Chicago fertility experts however claim this study is misleading and that IVF can still increase the odds of having a take home baby for women over 40. http://www.benedictfamily.org/ivf-should-still-give-older-women-hope/ So we've gotten yet another snowstorm in NYC. Because really we haven't seen enough of the white stuff this year. Rivky had a few days off for mid-winter vacation. Rivky and I both went to a new dentist - always fun but good to take care of while she had ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/snow-and-mid-winter-vacation/ The year was 1989. The place was Central Park, NYC. I was 19 years old, my sister in the picture was 16. I had recently broken up with my first real boyfriend and was sad since we had gone row boating a few times at that exact location. It was ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/show-and-tell-013109/ My friend Mitzi sent me a similar new item a while back. I thought I'd post it here now. In 2006, Prof. Nava Dekel of the Institute’s Biological Regulation Department, together with doctors in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) unit of the Kaplan Medical Center, made the surprising discovery that performing ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/biopsy-before-ivf-has-positive-results/ The Los Angeles Times has an update on how the octuplets are doing. So far so good. http://www.benedictfamily.org/update-on-the-octuplets/ A woman gave birth Monday to eight babies, only the second time in history octuplets have survived more than a few hours. The doctors were only expecting 7 babies. Number 8 was a surprise. All the babies seem to be doing relatively well. They made it till 30.5 weeks gestation. ... http://www.benedictfamily.org/woman-gives-birth-to-octuplets/