You thought you had weird cravings!

One our our local radio stations, Mix 94.1 have the number one morning show in Las Vegas, Mark and Mercedes in the morning. The show's co host, Mercedes recently gave birth to a beautiful little girl so that has caused a lot of pregnancy related show topics. One of my favorite was when they discussed pregnancy cravings and of course the strangest ones came up. When I say strange I am not talking pickles and ice cream, I am talking WEIRD!!

So here you go, here is a list of the top 10 strangest pregnancy cravings, this list is comprised from a survey that was conducted on Gurgle.com

1. Ice
2. Coal
3. Toothpaste
4. Sponges
5. Mud
6. Chalk
7. Laundry Soap
8. Matches
9. Starch
10. Rubber

Yes I know, people actually crave chalk and mud, are you serious! So I started doing some research and what I found is that its actually not that uncommon, it actually has a medical name, Pica.

Pica is the practice of craving substances with little or no nutritional value. Most pica cravings involve non-food substances such as dirt or chalk. The word pica is Latin for magpie which is a bird notorious for eating almost anything.

The reason that some women develop pica cravings during pregnancy is not known for certain. There is currently no identified cause; however, according to the Journal of American Dietetic Association there may be a connection to an iron deficiency.

Some speculate that pica cravings are the body's attempt to obtain vitamins or minerals that are missing through normal food consumption. Sometimes pica cravings may be related to an underlying physical or mental illness, see I bet you didn't know that weird pregnancy cravings are really because you are nuts! HAHA just kidding.

I know what you are thinking, isn't eating that kind of stuff bad for the baby? And the answer is yes it could be potentially harmful to both you and your baby because eating non-food substances may interfere with the nutrient absorption of healthy food substances and actually cause a deficiency. Pica cravings are also a concern because non-food items may contain toxic or parasitic ingredients. But don't panic if you do have pica like cravings remember it happens and is not abnormal. The most important thing is to inform your health care provider to make sure you have a complete understanding of the specific risks associated with your cravings.

Thanking God every day!

When I go back and read the posts that John has posted I literally get tears in my eyes. John and I are getting ready to celebrate four years together. It was four years ago on March 4th that John and I met and if someone had told me four years ago that I was going to move to Vegas and meet my husband within the first three months that I was here I would have told them they were nuts!

As much as I hate going through this fertility roller coaster I feel it has brought John and I closer together. John and I had a whirlwind before we got married, we moved in with each other pretty quick and then were engaged and married all fairly quickly, so I really like we are really getting to know each other and learning what the other is really made of. You really see a persons true personality when they are hurting. I have seen John cry and scream over this journey and he has seen me do the same. But in the end I we push on and we will succeed and we will be parents.

It was so funny the other night we were sitting at dinner at a casual dining restaurant that we go to all the time and I starting talking about IVF, and all the stuff that goes into it. ICSI, assisted hatching, PGD, PIO, and so on. His face was priceless he looked scared to death! Then I starting talking about twins and how wonderful it would be to have twins and what a blessing it would be. He looked very nervous at that time. As much as having twins would be a blessing I do think it would be difficult, can you imagine two of everything?!

John is always supportive and is my rock through all this, but I think the IVF talk was too much. I pretty much told him that I would just tell him when he needed to show up at the doctors office, and I think he is happier that way. Poor guy! I don't expect him to understand everything, that is my job! John is the type of person that wants to be shown two things and he will pick from there, so maybe I should show him two embryos and let him pick the ones he likes! HAHA
But my point is ladies, your husbands don't have to involved in every aspect of infertility in order to support you! It's just not their thing!

His Name WAS Liam

Hi, folks John here. Every now and than the geek in me has been revealed here in many posts and is about to be again.

I am fan of the TV series Battlestar Galactica and watch religiously every week. This weeks episode "Deadlock" hit home for me in a unexpected way.

To make a long story short for those of you who are not familiar with show, there is a race of artificial beings known as Cylons. The Cylons, originally robotic in nature, evolved into human versions. The human versions, or skin jobs as they are called by the actual humans, are not able to reproduce with themselves. Essentially, they are infertile.

Through the course of the show we learn that humans and the human Cylon versions are able to reproduce. But eventually two human versions of Cylons are finally able to conceive.

Caprica Six, also known as Six after her model number, and Col. Saul Tigh, known to be one of the original 5, get pregnant. I have often joked with Shannon that we are Cylons since we have had such a hard time conceiving.

This episode had hit home for me as Caprica and Saul lose their baby. It reminded me of when Shannon had miscarried and we lost our baby. Reminding me even when do get pregnant again there is a chance we could miscarry again.

In a touching scene, between him and William Adama, Saul reveals the babies name WAS Liam, short for William. Although, Shannon and I will never know what the child we lost would have been we press on.

I look forward to see how the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica pan out and eagerly await how our own adventure comes to a climatic climax. I look forward to the day when I can say her name IS Claire or his name is Luke.

Inspirational Quote of Hope February 22, 2009

"The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure but from hope to hope."- Samuel Johnson

Inspirational Quote of Hope February 20, 2009

"Listen now to gentle whispers of hope."- Charles D. Brodhead

IUI #3 is done!

This morning was what I hope will be our final IUI. I have been feeling really bad going into this cycle, I only had 3 mature follicles and I usually have more. Then this morning I got a call from John saying that he thinks he did a crappy job with his collection. So all the way to the doctors I am thinking "great they are going to cancel our cycle and all the shots were for nothing." What a great way to think, right?

But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that John had put in his best numbers so far, 20 million post wash, which is great!

So I was totally wrong. The good news is that our doctor said we can get into the March cycle for IVF, because our transfer and retrieval will be after April 1st, which is when we have our new insurance. So I was happy to hear that I don't have to wait until May for IVF. So lets keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well with the insurance, we are almost at the 30 day mark for our insurance to kick in, we are in the home stretch now!

You are doing what?!

With all the talk in the news about the octuplet mother I have been getting a lot of questions. I am pretty open about our infertility journey- and some of my co workers know what's going on with us. Over the past two weeks I have been asked "well what would you do with your embryo's" and "how many embryo's would you guys transfer". I truly love hearing what others have to say about fertility treatments, because people really have no clue.

One of the most controversial topics that surrounds IVF is what to do with leftover embryo's which are mature and growing properly. Especially in young women so many eggs are retrieved that there are far more embryo's that are mature and able to be transferred. In women under 35 the average number of embryo's that are transferred are 2 or 3, not 6 as in the octuplet mother. Now every case is different, I am talking the average person undergoing IVF. Your fertility specialist will tell you what they feel is best and leave the decision up to you and your partner. Some couples only want to transfer one embryo, because they do not want the risk of having multiples.

So in the instance that you transfer less embryo's then you have growing and maturing you have to make the decision of what to do with the embryo's. Most couples choose to freeze the embryo's in the event that:
1. The first transfer is unsuccessful they can defrost the leftover embryo's and do another transfer
2. If the first transfer is successful then the remaining embryo's can be used down the road for a sibling

In the event that you choose to freeze your leftover embryo's and you have a successful first cycle then you can continue to keep your embryo's frozen and when you feel the time is right you can make a decision about what to do with your left over frozen embryo's. If your family is complete and you do not wish to transfer the remaining embryo's that you can choose to put the embryo's up for adoption, destroy the embryo's, or donate them to stem cell research.

So I am sure you are wondering what my opinion is on the subject and really I do not have one. I feel that each couple has to make the best decision for themselves. John and I are not quite to the point where we have to make these decisions, but if we did not have twins I would absolutely use my frozen embryo's to have a sibling for my first born. If we did have twins or we chose not to have another child I would look into donating them to stem cell research. I definitely could not destroy them or put them up for adoption, as much as I would love to help another infertile couple I just could not put my embryo's up for adoption.

People do not realize that this is a very controversial topic and one that should not be taken lightly, but every couple needs to take their time and make the best decision for them. Talk to your doctor and get all your questions answered before making any decisions.

Inspirational Quote Of Hope February 18, 2009

"Hope is itself a species of happiness and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords."- Samuel Johnson