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	<title>Top Stories Pittsburgh &#187; fertility</title>
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		<title>Five years ago &#8211; an infertility journey</title>
		<link>http://www.topstoriespittsburgh.com/news/five-years-ago-an-infertility-journey/</link>
		<comments>http://www.topstoriespittsburgh.com/news/five-years-ago-an-infertility-journey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fertility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[infertility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pittsburgh]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">b0bba41e-d661-4ee3-b0f2-678371fd1450:11056</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://pittsburghmom.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/pittsburghmom/heatherstarr02.jpg" style="margin-right:5px;" align="left" alt="" />&#160; Five years ago today was a very important day in my life. I woke up that morning with a heavy heart. After a year and a half of trying to have children, we were on our last cycle of IUI (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/iui.html" onclick="urchinTracker('/outgoing/www.fertilityplus.org/faq/iui.html?referer=');">Intrauterine Insemination</a>) and were scheduled to begin a very expensive journey into IVF (<a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation" onclick="urchinTracker('/outgoing/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation?referer=');">InVitro Fertilization</a>).</p>
<p>I woke up that morning with the great ache in my heart to have a child of my own and the fear that I&#39;d never be able to have any children.</p>
<p>That weekend we had traveled to Trax Farms with our neighbor.&#160; They had a 2 1/2 year old son at the time. I wrote the following in my journal:<br /><i>We had the best day. Our neighbors invited us to go with them to a big
farm outside of Pittsburgh (Trax farm) that has corn mazes, pumpkin
patches, petting zoo, basically everything you could think of. Their son is 2 1/2 and was just an absolute JOY to watch. We took a
scenic hay ride and let him play on the pumpkins, pet the animals,
etc. It was so fun. <b>I can&#39;t wait to have kids...</b></i></p>
<p>I had had what was considered to be a rather unsuccessful month at my fertility clinic. My course of injectable medications (several shots a day in the stomach, ouch) yielded only one &#34;possible&#34; follicle and there was much debate over whether it was a follicle or a cyst. I was convinced it was a cyst.</p>
<p>But then the evening of October 11, just on a whim, I took a pregnancy tet.</p>
<p><b>And it was positive.</b></p>
<p><b>And my life was forever changed.</b></p>
<p><img src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs241.snc1/8833_525080299416_170501054_31308500_3510859_n.jpg" style="float:right;border:1px solid black;margin:5px;" height="324" width="271" alt="" />I try to remember what those days were like, when I was so unsure, so sad, filled with so much longing.&#160; I think it&#39;s important to remember, to be thankful for what I now have and to help those out there that are still dealing with the pain of infertility.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, after our first ultrasound, I sent an email to many
friends and family with the title &#34;Do you believe in miracles?&#34; and
attached an ultrasound picture. A former student coincindentally emailed me today to
tell me that she remembers that day and still has that email, that it
really touched her.</p>
<p>Today we made that same journey to Trax Farms.&#160; This time we were there with our two amazing children. As they rode the train and climbed on pumpkins I took a moment to thank God.&#160; </p>
<p>Because I do beleive in miracles.</p>
<p></p>
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<div id="refHTML"></div><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://pittsburghmom.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=11056" width="1" height="1">]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://pittsburghmom.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/pittsburghmom/heatherstarr02.jpg" style="margin-right:5px;" align="left" alt="" />&nbsp; Five years ago today was a very important day in my life. I woke up that morning with a heavy heart. After a year and a half of trying to have children, we were on our last cycle of IUI (<a  href="http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/iui.html" onclick="urchinTracker('/outgoing/www.fertilityplus.org/faq/iui.html?referer=');">Intrauterine Insemination</a>) and were scheduled to begin a very expensive journey into IVF (<a  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation" onclick="urchinTracker('/outgoing/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation?referer=');">InVitro Fertilization</a>).</p>
<p>I woke up that morning with the great ache in my heart to have a child of my own and the fear that I&#39;d never be able to have any children.</p>
<p>That weekend we had traveled to Trax Farms with our neighbor.&nbsp; They had a 2 1/2 year old son at the time. I wrote the following in my journal:<br /><i>We had the best day. Our neighbors invited us to go with them to a big<br />
farm outside of Pittsburgh (Trax farm) that has corn mazes, pumpkin<br />
patches, petting zoo, basically everything you could think of. Their son is 2 1/2 and was just an absolute JOY to watch. We took a<br />
scenic hay ride and let him play on the pumpkins, pet the animals,<br />
etc. It was so fun. <b>I can&#39;t wait to have kids&#8230;</b></i></p>
<p>I had had what was considered to be a rather unsuccessful month at my fertility clinic. My course of injectable medications (several shots a day in the stomach, ouch) yielded only one &quot;possible&quot; follicle and there was much debate over whether it was a follicle or a cyst. I was convinced it was a cyst.</p>
<p>But then the evening of October 11, just on a whim, I took a pregnancy tet.</p>
<p><b>And it was positive.</b></p>
<p><b>And my life was forever changed.</b></p>
<p><img src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs241.snc1/8833_525080299416_170501054_31308500_3510859_n.jpg" style="float:right;border:1px solid black;margin:5px;" height="324" width="271" alt="" />I try to remember what those days were like, when I was so unsure, so sad, filled with so much longing.&nbsp; I think it&#39;s important to remember, to be thankful for what I now have and to help those out there that are still dealing with the pain of infertility.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, after our first ultrasound, I sent an email to many<br />
friends and family with the title &quot;Do you believe in miracles?&quot; and<br />
attached an ultrasound picture. A former student coincindentally emailed me today to<br />
tell me that she remembers that day and still has that email, that it<br />
really touched her.</p>
<p>Today we made that same journey to Trax Farms.&nbsp; This time we were there with our two amazing children. As they rode the train and climbed on pumpkins I took a moment to thank God.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Because I do beleive in miracles.</p>
</p>
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