Infertility is scary.

There, I’ve said it. There’s no way to spin it into a positive and there is no tap dancing around the bad stuff. If I tried to tap dance, I’d probably trip. I’m kind of a klutz.

Allow me to introduce myself.  I’m Stephanie. I’m the new Community Manager for Attain Fertility, a blogger more often known as Lawyer Mama and a recovering attorney. (The recovering part is important.) I’m also the not-so-proud wearer of the infertility badge. Oh, and yeah, I fall down a lot.

Eight years ago I was where so many of you are now. Wanting to have a child, not sure if I could, depressed, scared and hopeful, all at the same time.

I was lucky. My husband and I went on to have children. We have two beautiful little boys keeping us on our toes and teaching us more about love than we ever expected.

I want that miracle again.

So now, at an age closer to 40 than 30, I’m trying again. That’s a huge admission for me and not just because I’m still publicly insisting that I will never be older than 30. Trying again means opening myself up to heartbreak and loss all over again. The many miscarriages that still haunt me become impossible to ignore, the pregnancies of friends and family become milestones of joy and pain. Trying again is scary.

My husband and I have been trying for a little over a year now and it’s time for us to seek help. I’ll be sharing all that we go through and a bit about how we got here on the Attain Fertility Blog, Facebook and Twitter. I may share too much information about my cervical mucus, my secret addiction to home pregnancy tests and all of my klutzy falls, but I’m hoping that you’ll overlook that and keep coming back to share your stories and experiences. Together we can talk about infertility openly and honestly and create a wonderful community of support. We’ll get through the scary stuff together.

Last fall we launched our Fertility Focus blog featuring our resident fertility expert, Maureen Gill, RN, with the goal to offer timely and relevant information to those trying to get pregnant and have a baby.

Fertility Focus complemented our online community on Facebook, where we’ve had hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of conversations about what’s important to you, your questions and the emotional journey that’s part of trying to conceive.=

We’ve learned much from you as you shared your own stories. Over the last several months we added to our blogging team and expanded our blog topics to include emotional support and words of wisdom from our Attain® IVF Customer Care team as well as personal stories from others who are along their own path to becoming a parent. We also invited guest bloggers with specific areas of expertise to share their knowledge with us.

It’s been an incredible journey with you and I’m excited to share even more exciting additions and changes! First of all (and most obvious, I’m sure) is that our blog has a new look which matches our new informational website. We also changed the blog name from Fertility Focus to Attain Fertility so it’s as easy as possible for you to find us.

One final announcement we have to share with you is that we have a new member to our team, Stephanie Himel-Nelson, who is an independent consultant that will be our Community Manager on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and our blog.

Stephanie has been active in the online community for a number of years and you may best know her as Lawyer Mama. Stephanie has a special interest in fertility because she, too, is trying to conceive and is encountering many of the challenges that our community is facing.

We’re very fortunate to have Stephanie join us as she shares her personal journey, tells you about happenings at our network of fertility clinics, and provides you access to helpful fertility information – all with her trademark wisdom and humor.

Please join me in giving Stephanie a big “hello and welcome to our world!”

Dr. Ku is an infertility specialist at Dallas IVF, one of the nations’ leading infertility centers that consistently has among the highest success rates in the United States.  (www.DallasIVF.com)

Last week we discussed the evaluation your infertility doctor might perform to determine your ovarian reserve.  This week, we will discuss the anatomic evaluation your infertility doctor might perform in order to elucidate the etiology of your infertility.

Determining the health of the pelvis is essential.  Abnormal female anatomy may lead to infertility or recurrent miscarriages. Dallas IVF has a wide array of state of the art imaging and operative equipment to evaluate female anatomy, specifically the uterus, tubes, ovaries and pelvis.  At Dallas IVF, at least one, if not more, of the below described studies will be requested by one of our physicians:

Transvaginal Ultrasound: The principal diagnostic study employed by reproductive endocrinologists and gynecologists to determine the overall female anatomy is the transvaginal ultrasound. The ultrasound will help assess the condition of the uterus and ovaries. Ovarian masses and uterine fibroids can commonly be seen through this simple diagnostic study. Endometriosis, unless it involves the ovaries and is large, cannot be visualized on ultrasound.

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It’s Thursdays with Sharon and I am happy to share this information with you.

At the Attain®IVF Call Center, we speak with people who are currently in treatment and are contemplating switching physicians for various reasons. Getting a second opinion is important if you feel your treatment has been unsuccessful, you suspect an error in diagnosis and/or you lack confidence in your physician’s advice.

The first step would be to do some research and obtain referrals for other physicians in the area of expertise you require. You may ask your primary healthcare provider for a recommendation, or seek referrals from other sources.

The second medical opinion should be from a doctor who has as much, or greater expertise as your primary health care provider. Prior to scheduling your first appointment, you may want to check in with your individual insurance plan to learn if and to what extent, a second medical opinion will be covered as well as any prerequisites needed to obtain such coverage. Many insurance plans will pay for a second opinion to the extent they cover infertility treatment and diagnosis. When you schedule your first appointment, ask what previous records are required and other medical information you may need to bring to the new office.

Here at the Attain IVF Call Center we are affiliated with 40 Attain Fertility Centers with over 125 locations across the country. The Practices are staffed by renowned experts in Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproductive Technology. If you are considering changing Physicians, please give us a call. We will be more than happy to assist in scheduling your new appointment and provide all the necessary information to make the transition as smooth as possible.

I hope this information as been helpful to you.

Until next time, all my best.

Dr. Ku is an infertility specialist at Dallas IVF, one of the nations’ leading infertility centers that consistently has among the highest success rates in the United States.

This week we will discuss ovarian reserve testing.  Many women are curious about whether they are fertile or not.  There are some tests that the infertility doctor can order that will help determine your ovarian reserve and, thus, your fertility potential.  At Dallas IVF, we perform these tests to help our patients identify the reason they are having difficulty with conceiving.

A woman is born with her lifetime supply of eggs. Unlike men, who are constantly producing new sperm, a woman does not create any more eggs after birth. Throughout her childbearing years, a woman will ovulate the healthiest eggs first. Furthermore, as the quantity and quality of eggs decline through the childbearing years, the remaining eggs may not be as healthy. The eggs that are ovulated at a later age have a higher chance of containing abnormal chromosomes which helps explain why the ability to conceive declines with age. This also explains why women have a higher chance of miscarriage and babies with chromosomal abnormalities after the age of 35.

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