[beginning fertility issues]

Information for TTC Couples...

Written by TTC Couples.

 

Low-Tech Ways to Help You Conceive - Chapter 15

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Low-Tech Ways to
Help You Conceive

15. SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION AND HELP:

    15.1 Books

    15.2 Software

    15.3 Internet - WWW Sites

    15.4 Internet - Usenet newsgroups

    15.5 Internet - Email addresses

15.1 Books

Taking Care of Your Fertility is an excellent book says my wife. I have yet to read it but it is on my list. Author is Toni Weschler, published by HarperCollins. She works with Fertility Awareness Counselling and Training Seminars. P.O. Box 31111, Seattle, WA 98103.

We found it in a bookstore here in Halifax, Nova Scotia so it must be available throughout North America. Price on the book says $20.

A great book on the subject is "Your Fertility Signals: How to Use them to Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy"... i believe the author is [ ].

Also Nona Aguillar's "The New No Pill No Risk Birth Control" which is more about avoiding getting pregnant using temperature and [cervical fluid] signs, so if you wnat to get pregnant just do what she says not to... tee hee

I, too have used [Toni Weschler's] book. It was instrumental for me in helping me realize after only two months of "trying" that I really did have a problem, rather than just wait and hope for months or years. When I went to the doctor, I was able to give him a lot of information -- we could already ascertain that I had been ovulating before, but wasn't now. Also, a lot of the questions and concerns that I've seen on this group could be addressed if people knew their BBT's and/or [cervical fluid]. This book takes much of the mystery out of your cycle, and also lets you get information and give it to your doctor, rather than the other way around.

So, once again, a glowing recommendation for _Taking Charge of Your Fertility_ by Toni Weschler, MPH. BTW, I really don't recommend _Your Fertility Signals_, which I found to be too cursory to deal with the many questions women with fertility problems have.

By the way, does anyone know of a good book that talks about herbs and fertility?

You might try "Overcoming Infertility Naturally" by Karen Bradstreet.

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Years by Susun Weed
and
Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar

Subject: Re: Need good book on Male fertility

Try buying "The Couples Guide To Fertility" by Gary Berger, Marc Goldstein (who is a world renouned male infertility specialist) and Mark Fuerst. There is a chapter just on this subject. It starts on page 99-111. It also at the end of each chapter gives you some questions you can ask the doctor.

This is also an excellent book for anyone else. Lots of good info!!

You may want to look up ... Speroff's book, Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, an excellent text that can be found at most medical school libraries.

See Baker RR, Bellis MA. Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation and Infidelity. (1st ed.) London: Chapman and Hall, 1995.

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15.2 Software

Summary: WizeWabbit, a PC tool to aid in natural family planning

REQUESTING BETA-TESTERS FOR NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING SOFTWARE

I've written a computer program that can be used as an aid to natural family planning. The user enters onto a graphical monthly calender such data as the start day of each menstruation, basal body temperature readings, leutinizing hormone test results, and indicators of days when she experiences PMS and on which love- making takes place. From these data, fertile days and future menstrual cycles are calculated using algorithms developed after extensive review of the literature, especially World Health Organization data.

The program has a user-friendly interface, complete with hopping bunny cursor - the WizeWabbit herself - and runs on PCs running DOS. A beta-test version, functional until the end of 1996, is freely available from ftp.zipnet.net/pub/WizeWabbit or with your Web browser at URL ftp://ftp.zipnet.net/pub/WizeWabbit/ww-132d.exe Simply download one file (ww-132d.exe) to an empty directory on your PC, type `ww-132d' to extract the files, and `ww' to run it. Instructions for data entry appear in a key on the screen. A two section document is included, describing the use and theory of WizeWabbit. You can read it in a word processor, text editor, or by typing `type ww.doc | more'.

The author requests your feedback on WizeWabbit, to be e-mailed to wink@zipnet.net or, if of general interest, posted to this group. Also, if you'd be willing to share your data files for analysis after you have entered back and current data, please reply to this address. Suggestions for new features and improvements to subsequent versions would be greatly appreciated. If interest is expressed, I'll port WizeWabbit to a point-and-click Windows GUI version.

I hope you find WizeWabbit useful!

BBTchart Spreadsheet for Excel 5.0 or Later, description under web sites.

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15.3 Internet - WWW Sites

RAH - The URL below is the address for Travis Low's Infertility Resource List -- this is in my opinion the single best one-stop place to go for further information. You can also send email to Travis to get the file if you can't access the website -- see Sec. 15.5 below. - RAH

http://www.vais.net/~travis/firl.html

Xytex Corporation Atlanta, GA
visit our web site at www.mindspring.com/~xytex

You can now quickly find the information you need by searching the Atlanta Reproductive Health Center website to find the information you need.

http://www.ivf.com/search.html

If you can, check out the RESOLVE or INCIID web pages. The web addresses are:

RESOLVE : http://www.ihr.com/resolve/

INCIID : http://www.mnsinc.com/inciid/inciid/html

http://www.mnsinc.com/inciid/inciid.html
a non-profit group dedicated to the exchange of infert. information.

http://www.givf.com/givfhome.html
The Genetics and IVF Institute

http://nytsyn.com/med/Pregnancy/346_121295_090555_10385.html(NY Times / Cosmopolitan item)

http://www.hookup.net
Toronto Center for Advanced Reproductive Technology

http://www.seamless.com/talf/ftc/55.html
an FTC site with guidelines for what you should look for in an infertility clinic

http://www.geodesicmeditech.com
various items of information about and aids to fertility

The Healthy Living Channel -
http://pathfinder.com/HLC/lookitup/conditions/infer.html

http://www.missionnet.com/~mission/cathlc/ccl/bresf.html
talks about breastfeeding as a contraceptive

I just got a mailing from the "Infertility Network" in Toronto, and it has some wonderful information in it. The
address is
http://www.cdnfertility.com/fertility

PillowTalk's Stork Site is Here!
http//www.storksite.com
"Sensible, Practical, Realistic" and lots of Fun!"
Your Personalized, Interactive Pregnancy and Childbirth Guide

For a good (detailed) on-line discussion of male factor infertility, check out:
http://www.ivf.com.shaban

Dr. Shaban is an expert in male infertility.

There is a web site for acupuncture and it has testimonials of successful infertility treatments:
http://lwww.Acupuncture.com/Experiences/Exp.htm

It has an international directory:
http://www.Acupuncture.com/Referrals/Ref.htm

I've been cured of weight problems, amenorrhea and we conceived after 18 months of trying in our first IUI, no drugs but Chinese Herbs. (Male Factor at that time).

Being a bit of a computer junky, I spent a little time with a friend coming up with a BBT chart for Microsoft Excel 5.0. It's based on the charts in Toni Weschler's _Taking Charge of Your Fertility_ only I removed the birth control line, temp count line, added an OPK/LH surge line, gave more space for miscellaneous notes, increased the number of days to 43, and added boxes for miscellaneous aches and pains.

The way it's set up is to allow you to either print it and use it to write on, or you can chart your data in Excel (and probably any other spreadsheet program that is compatible). Excel will connect the lines between temps for you. I like things neat, so my plan is to leave one in the bedroom to write on, and then convert it to Excel to give to the doctor.

You can find the link to it at:
http://www.fertilityplus.com/faq/toc.html

There is a regular version and a longer version. The fields I have set up are: cycle day, day of week, intercourse, time temp taken, temp count, waking temp, cervical fluid, vaginal sensation, cervix position and feel, cervical fluid description, OPK results/LH surge, ovulatory pain, miscellaneous notes, and at the bottom boxes for cramps, bloating, headaches, breast tenderness, and emotional.

The long version adds fields for hormone levels, follicle sizes, and fertility medication. It also has a slightly longer miscellaneous field. I recommend printing this one on legal paper unless you have great eyes . . . the short version is fine on letter-size.

All the charts work for someone with up to a 44-day cycle before having to continue to a new sheet.

I decided to go ahead and post these charts in Celsius [as well as Fahrenheit] for everyone outside of the U.S. (and our non-metric temperatures). I hope that'll make things easier for people.

The charts can all be customized (I have 4 versions up there now) for a different range of temperatures -- meaning shifting all of the temps higher or lower, but without increasing the *size* of the range. The Fahrenheit range in 96.9 to 99, the Celsius in 36.1 to 37.15 (as close as I could match it to the F degrees).

BBTchart also has a help file to answer usage questions, although it is really pretty simple to fill out and use. The files are about 62K zipped up, so a very short download (extracted the files are bbtchart.xls, bbtchart.hlp and readme.txt). We also provide e-mail support at rsw@fertilityplus.com (Rebecca).

Oh, and these are all a fast download. They vary in size from 60-65K, and take about a minute at 14.4. And it's also free -- we're not asking for money or giving a demo -- I figure that us infertility folks are beingsoaked enough financially!

I would like to invite you to visit our new site devoted mostly to women, health, mental health and fertility. Of interest:

    Cyclic: a menstrual calendar and planner; it keeps records of menstrual history, makes predictions for up to 12 months, checks if you are late... (great to plan vacations etc.).

    BabyPlan: a computerizer tool for parenthood planning.

Cyclic, BabyPlan and other programs that will follow are made available from our WWW page called Plumeus' Kingdom of Freebies. We have a special section for women dealing with various health issues. As the title indicates, you can get a lot of free stuff: evaluation copies of our software, free psychological counselling, and psychological tests.

http://www.interlinx.qc.ca/~plumeus

Here are some infertility web sites I have run across, listed in no particular order.

Two new web sites to explore:

Happy surfing!

http://www.directiondesigns.com/onna The ONNA (Oh No Not Again) web site

First view the web page and get to know the doctor...

http://www.bcl.net/~car/hilgers.htm
Then contact the Institute for the miracle of your life.
Mike Grady car@cis.net

I found this site interesting. My Roman Catholic friend (a Canon Lawyer well versed in the religious rules of their faith) told me they were using a special clinic in Omaha, Nebraska to direct their infertility workup and treatment. She never would tell me the name of the place, but I think this MUST be the place. The Pope John Paul VI Institute is where this web page goes. (Also has some family planning web sites linked.)

Actually they gave her a nice [cervical fluid] and BBT temp chart. I did kind of gag noting that the charting method uses little baby cutouts for charting fertile and non-fertile times of the month. Green babies are fertile times. I'd go nuts seeing those babies if I were doing that chart.

Anyway, for those that are strict practicing Roman Catholics (or know someone who is) and if you are unsure about what is and is not allowed with fertility treatment, then this place should be able to clue you in. There are several restrictions in what is allowed. Fertility drugs are okay.

We've tacked on a new feature to the Interactive Pregnancy Calendar that predicts ovulation times (based on menstrual cycle length and LMP dates) for the next couple of years and shows what the due dates would be if you get pregnant during one of the cycles. To use it go to the Pregnancy Calendar, fill in the LMP date and the menstrual cycle length, but choose the What-if (ovulation) calendar instead of the other calendar's. It isn't as accurate as taking your temperature and using kits, but for those casually trying to get pregnant it might be helpful. The URL is:

P.S. We're also working on a due-date registry that would let people publish their due dates and a naming database that will allow people to add and/or search for baby names and definitions of those names. The due date registry should be finished next week and the names database within a couple weeks. Of course, it is and will always remain completely free.

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15.4 Internet - Usenet newsgroups

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15.5 Internet - Email addresses

travis@vais.net Fertility Resource List anyone can send me mail with the subject "send resource list" and I'll reply with it.

wink@iii.net -- WizeWabbit software

Send an e-mail message to info@rxfertile.com and you will receive back by e-mail an index of papers written about Infertility Topics. Good resource material for those interested in this area.

This information was put together by the clinic at Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco, where Dr. Geoffrey Sher is located. The info contains chapters of a book on IVF among many other topics.



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