CNY Fertility Support Meetings for January 2010

This month we will hold Support Group Meetings at all three of our CNY Fertility Center locations – Syracuse, Albany and Rochester – we will gather in the reception area at each location. This month we are trying something new to create a more positive and fun environment, come join us!

For our CNY Fertility Center addresses and phone numbers click here.

Circle of Hope Support Group Meetings:

Join us in sharing and creating a supportive community with others on their path toward fertility. We welcome you to join us for an uplifting evening of sharing thoughts and ideas as well as delicious refreshments: pizza, salad, and drinks. We offer our Circle of Hope Support Group Meeting every month in the reception area at our CNY Fertility Centers. Our group provides support from others going through the same experiences, the opportunity to ask questions, discuss how best to cope with the emotional aspects of infertility, and to learn about different paths toward parenthood. This is an open group forum and all are welcome!

SYRACUSE – CNY Fertility Center
Monday, January 11th, 2010, 5:30-7pm – Please RSVP to Meg at mmarnell@cnyfertility.com

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LATHAM – CNY Fertility Center
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, 7-8:30pm – Please RSVP to Eileen at eclark@cnyfertility.com

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ROCHESTER – CNY Fertility Center
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010, 5:30-7pm – Please RSVP to rochregister@cnyhealingarts.com

April’s Journey to Fertility: Week Thirty

April is a CNY Fertility Center patient and has been on her journey to fertility for approximately two and a half years. April will share candid stories and a unique perspective on the fertility challenges many women and couples face.

Week 30: Counting your Blessings
As 2009 winds down, many of us are probably experiencing a variety of emotions. Personally, I am upset to have not yet achieved a pregnancy and I have recently been overcome by the many common “what if” feelings women undergoing fertility treatments experience. As we begin to seriously consider IVF options and payment plans, I know that there is a possibility the entire process may not work. However, I also know that not trying is not an option, and we will never know unless we move forward.

One constant challenge I have as we move through this process is remembering that although I may not yet be a mother, there are many other prosperous aspects of my life. Serving as an adviser for my school’s service club this holiday season has helped keep me focused on my many blessings.

When I called one grandmother to let her know that we would be providing for her entire family of nine, I introduced myself and began the conversation by asking her how she was. Her reply, “blessed.” The reality of this woman’s situation is that she would have had every right to reply with a bitter or depressed response. After all, she is elderly, caring for eight grandchildren and living on a limited income. Once I let her know that our service club would provide plenty of food and gifts for her family, she was incredibly thankful. She began to explain a bit of her situation –this year had been harder than others, she had always been able to provide for her family, but she needed some help this holiday season. Her enthusiasm and genuine gratitude left me smiling for the rest of the day. Read more

Words of Support and Encouragement Week of December 28, 2009

Good morning, and I hope you had a wonderful holiday!  This Friday we will be welcoming a new year, and new decade.  This is usually the time we wrestle with the idea of a resolution, and often they have a negative connotation (I won’t eat sugar, I will finally get rid of this extra weight, I won’t spend too much money, etc…).  This year (and decade!) why not try a positive life change?  Instead of ‘resolving’ what you perceive as a problem area, make the commitment to nurture and enhance a particular area in your life.

This way, if you feel you are not keeping the promise, you won’t be so inclined to become negative with yourself.  It is not an immediate change you are trying to make.  Instead, you are working towards supplementing your life, which you will naturally be inclined to do.  So what healthy and positive promises am I talking about?  Spending 20 minutes a day just for yourself, picking up a new creative hobby, planning one date night a week, really anything that makes you happy and you don’t currently do on a regular basis.

This is a wonderful time to start really loving, and caring for yourself.  This new year is a wonderful opportunity for you to start a new, healthy relationship with yourself.  You just need to commit 21 days to the promise for it to become a habit!

Take care,

Lisa

Lstack@cnyfertility.com

315-744-8073

2010 IVF Specials

2010 IVF Specials

$6,000*
• Up to 2 IVF cycles.
• $3,000 deposit at retrieval.
• 12 months interest free financing.
• $250 monthly payment deducted from credit/debit card.
• If a pregnancy is achieved prior to 2nd cycle, contract is completed.

$9,000*
• Up to 4 IVF cycles.
• $4,500 deposit at retrieval.
• 12 months interest free financing.
• $375 monthly payment deducted from credit/debit card.
• If a pregnancy is achieved prior to 4th cycle, contract is completed.

$13,500*
• Up to 6 IVF cycles.
• $6,750 deposit at retrieval. Read more

Patience vs. Impatience

“I wonder if we might pledge ourselves to remember what life is really all about-not to be afraid that we’re less flashy than the next, not to worry that our influence is not that of a tornado, but rather that of a grain of sand in an oyster! Do we have that kind of patience?” ~Fred Rogers

Did you know that it takes two to three years for a grain of sand in an oyster to be covered with a thin layer of nacre, the substance that makes a pearl and five to seven years to make a bigger and more valuable pearl?

When my husband and I hit the three-year mark on our journey to create our family, man oh man, looking back I was out of my mind with impatience.

Impatiently, I waited for orders during a treatment cycle, my mantra in my head held an impatient tone, including the internal dialogue with the child I wanted!

“Why wouldn’t he/she just come?”
“Why don’t they just call already with my orders?”
“Why doesn’t Mark just get what I’m feeling?”

These are just a few of the impatient comments or questions that I would sometime mutter out-loud and quietly in my head! I never really thought of myself as an impatient person, being a preschool teacher and running a school for fifty-one children a day for ten years patience was a mandatory virtue. But, it seemed that when fertility doubt and fear crept in my ability to be present in a moment flew out the window and impatience blew in. Read more

Words of Support and Encouragement Week of December 21, 2009

Good morning!  I hope you had a nice weekend, and you are enjoying this holiday season.  This time of year we can easily become distracted and overwhelmed with buying and exchanging material gifts.  While it is fun and festive, there are some other ways to give – to ourselves, and to others.  I have created a small activity to get our minds and hearts thinking about what is most important.  For this exercise be sure to actually write down your answers, don’t cheat by quickly answering in your head!  It is important to spend the time actually writing each question out, because it forces you to spend a few moments really thinking about your answer, and committing it to memory.

Take a few moments to first reflect on the holiday season, and what it means to you.  Then, answer each question thoughtfully and try to incorporate your responses into this year’s celebration.

1. List three of your most fond holiday memories.
2. List three of your favorite holiday traditions.
3. Name one tradition you miss celebrating.
4. Name one tradition you would like to begin.
5. Who do you love spending your holiday with?
6. Name five people you are thankful for having in your life.
7. List five ways you could show them your love, whether big or small.
8. Name one person you miss, and would like to reconnect with this holiday.
9. How could you reestablish that relationship?
10. Finally, list five ways you could love and care for yourself this holiday.

I hope you enjoy that quick exercise, it is supposed to get you thinking, and loving!

Happy Holidays,

Lisa

Lstack@cnyfertility.com

CNY Fertility Donor Portal

Dr. Rob Kiltz Encourages Yoga for Fertility in Recent Article

Below is an excerpt of a recent article published by The Examiner and written by Corey Whelan in which Dr. Rob Kiltz provided a quote regarding Yoga for Fertility.

Click here for full article. Click here to see our Yoga Calendar.

Excerpt of Yoga off the mat – words of wisdom from Brenda Strong:

Brenda Strong may best be known to the American public as the doomed character of Mary Alice Young on the hit TV show, Desperate Housewives.  But, for many people who have struggled with issues concerning fertility,  intimacy, and even menopause, Ms. Strong is better known for her work as a yoga practitioner and also, as the national spokesperson for The American Fertility Association (AFA).

In a recent blog entry for The AFA,  Ms Strong stated, “I realize now after having dealt with infertility that stress isn’t something that goes away once you are a parent, or even, a yoga teacher.  It is something that one needs to manage daily. So how do we pursue our dreams of building our family without killing ourselves with stress?  Learning to sit with the discomfort of life’s uncertainty is key”.

Can yoga help with that?  Studies at the Mayo clinic have substantiated that assertion and other research studies done in the U.S. have given strong indication that yoga can actually change how genes respond to stress.

Dr. Robert Kiltz, founder and director of the CNY Fertility and Healing Arts Center agrees that this may be so.  Dr. Kiltz states that “Yoga for fertility is a powerful practice that helps men and women reduce stress and anxiety, become more mindful and centered, and therefore, improve the body’s ability to conceive”. Click here to read more.

Dr. Rob’s Book of the Month, Creative Visualization

Holiday Support Guide: The Winter Months

Sometimes, the holidays can be challenging, especially when you are trying to conceive.  Families often gather together to catch up, and children are typically the focus of attention (either the ones physically present, or in the form of the typical ‘So when are you going to start trying?’ question).  It does not matter if you welcome the holiday as a celebration, or you experience more solemn emotions.  They are your emotions; they are perfect, and normal.  (Grief is a common emotion and process around the holidays, at the bottom of the article I have also posted a second one, focusing on the grief process specifically.)

The winter holidays focus on gifts of family, heritage, and faith.  While this is a time of reflection and celebration, some of the traditions may cause sadness and anxiety.  Exchanging gifts with children, and watching them celebrate such a festive season can trigger many unexpected, and unwelcome emotions.  While we cannot eliminate the sadness and anxiety completely, we can prepare, and create new traditions that are a bit more conducive to your situation.

Here are some brief suggestions to help prepare and cope with the holidays (while they are similar to the Thanksgiving suggestions, please consider trying all of them again as the focus on these particular holidays tend to be a little more child oriented).

1. Be your best friend:  You are not required to be anywhere or do anything you are not comfortable with.  You Read more