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Meet Molly!

Oct 16th, 2011
by Krissi.
2 comments

Meet Molly Wohlk! She is from WI and blogs at Adventures of an Infertile Nanny and tweets under @infertilenanny. Read on for her inspiring story!

1.  How long did you struggle through infertility? 

My husband and I struggled with infertility for 3 years and 8 months before we finally conceived our miracle.

2.  What did you go through (as far as treatments, different doctors, adoptions agencies, etc.)?

We started TTC in Sept of 2007 with high hopes. After charting for the first few months I realized TTC for us wasn’t going to be a breeze. According to my BBT I wasn’t always ovulating and when I did my cycles were way too long. At 9 months of TTC we decided to talk to our first FS (fertility specialist). Our first Dr. promptly started us on 50 mg of Clomid (CD 5-9) and diagnosed me with unexplained infertility. On our 3rd cycle of Clomid we finally conceived. We miscarried at 5 weeks. We were devastated to say the least and took 6 months off of TTC. After being unsuccessful by ourselves we went back to our Dr. and decided to try another 3 months of Clomid (same dose/days). We failed all three cycles. Distraught and disappointed we took another break. After once again being unsuccessful on our own we decided to switch to a new Dr. to try to get some answers. After talking to our second (new) FS she was shocked to find out we never ran any tests to determine why we were having so many issues. She ordered blood tests for me and a sperm analysis for Mr. Awesome (my husband). Mr. Awesome passed his test with flying colors but I failed mine horribly. We found out I had low progesterone and LPD. She started me on 50 mg of Clomid (CD 3-7) only to discover that my progesterone wasn’t rising enough. She upped my dose to 100 mg (CD 3-7) and we found that raised my progesterone significantly. I also started going to acupuncture once a week (I highly recommend this). When I was on my 5th cycle of 100 mg Clomid I started to blog. Although everything was going great we were still unsuccessful after 6 months of clomid. My Dr. recommended a HSG. Unfortunately our insurance wouldn’t cover it so we decided to take a break and concentrate on our finances. That was in January of this year. We started Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover to get our debt under control and after lots of talking we decided to save for adoption or IUI (after my HSG). I continued to use OPKs but after not getting good results for months, I decided to take a break from everything in April. On May 21st 2011 we found out we were pregnant with our miracle. We are currently 25 weeks pregnant with a very wiggly and healthy baby we affectionately call Bean. Bean is due on Mr. Awesome and my 10 year (dating) anniversary, January 26, 2012. 

 3.  How did you handle disappointments through your cycles (natural and otherwise) or months of waiting? And 4.) What were the ‘stress-free’ techniques that you tried that helped you get through the cycle or time (yoga, meditation, acupuncture, support through family, friends & on-line, etc.)? 

I really don’t think we could have survived almost four years of infertility without the support of our family and friends. And I know I couldn’t have survived without blogging. Blogging for me was such a great way to vent and talk about what I was going through and to connect with women/families who were going through the same thing as me. Acupuncture was another great stress relief.

 5.  If you could give advice for couples going through infertility now, what would it be? 

My advice for anyone still dealing with infertility is this: hang in there and don’t give up hope, miracles happen. And as much as you hate to hear it (I know this made me want to stab people) try to relax. The month we conceived we were completely med free, no OPKs were used, and we were just enjoying life. This baby was conceived on gin/juice and romance novels while my husband and I were laughing and enjoying  each others company.

“I’m not telling you it is going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it” -unknown

“You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it” -unknown

Thanks so much Molly! Check out her blog to follow her journey into motherhood!

 

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Power with Friends!

Aug 29th, 2011
by Krissi.
No comments yet

  So as many of you are aware, Hurricane Irene ravaged through much of the east coast of the US and hit Long Island yesterday. It left me this little present in my driveway and I am now without power.

But I wanted to send a shout out to all my friends who were in the path of Irene and hope that you are safe and sound. Sometimes it takes a crazy storm to help you appreciate life and all that you have.

Thanks to all my friends out here in computer land, blogging world and twitterville! I also wanted to say how much I appreciate all of you who took my poll, shared my survey with family and friends, and linked up and shared posts about friends in real life, virtual friends and furry friends! I may be without power, but I am empowered by all of you who have supported me and continue to support all in the ALI community!  ;-)

  That’ll probably be all the blogging I can do for Friends Month…

I’ll write more when I can!

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Furry Friday Friend Link Up

Aug 25th, 2011
by Krissi.
No comments yet

  Ok, here’s the link up for this week and the last one for the month! Write up your quick posts about your furbabies (or longer if you have the time to pour your heart out, we greatly encourage it!), and then link up here. If you’re here from ICLW, welcome and thanks for stopping by! If you’re confused about what’s going on, see more details in this Link Up post!   ;-)



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Toby

Aug 25th, 2011
by Krissi.
3 comments

  If you’re here from ICLW, welcome! It’s Friends Month and this week, we’re talking about our furry friends. Please write up your posts to link up! Here’s mine:

When I was first unsuccessful in the TTC area, we got our puppy Toby. He’s a boxer with lots of energy. As a puppy, he was a handful and oh so cute. So, there was of course, a lot of attention on him which was a pleasant distraction for me. When I did get pregnant finally, Toby was very protective. He would sleep right next to my side of the bed or couch and became a little more weary of strangers. And then, like the dog we always wanted for our children, when my daughter was born, he was gentle and loving. As she got older and more rambunctious, he was tolerant and forgiving and he still is today even when my twins crawl all over him! Despite his grossly smelling farts (seriously he can clear a room) and his crazy loud barks when he needs to go out and his obsession with chewing anything paper related, he really is a great dog! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

     

The first morning my daughter was home.

Write up your posts and get ready to link up! 
I will put up the list later so check back or leave the link in a comment here and I’ll link it for you!! ;-)
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Friday Friend Link Up ~ Furry Friends

Aug 23rd, 2011
by Krissi.
2 comments

  Welcome to all my ICLW bloggers! OK, so this is the last link up for this month and hopefully we’ll get more participants! It’s Friends Month on Stress Free Infertility. We talked about IRL friends (check out my poll) and virtual friends (read some heart felt posts). Now it’s time to pay homage to our furry friends, the fur babies that are near and dear to your hearts!

Here’s what you need to do:

  • Write up a quick post about your lovable 4 legged friend who has helped you through your infertility in some way
  • Include an adorable picture
  • Link back here to spread the word and get others to read the linked posts as well
  • Link up on Friday (*I will most likely put the list up by Thursday)
  • Have fun! ;-)
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Lovin’ Lauren, Damita, and Sarah!

Aug 22nd, 2011
by Krissi.
5 comments

  So, it’s ICLW time and in case you don’t know,  I do a little thing I like to call Blog Love Mondays where I pick bloggers at random off my blogroll. So, if you’re not on my list, let me know and I’ll add you on! At this time, I usually randomly select off the ICLW list but this week, since I’m featuring furry friends for Friends Month, I started reading and commenting until I found bloggers with four legged companions! So here we go:

  

First up, I’m lovin’ Lauren from Not Just an Army Wife. She has two pups, Bella (her crazy daschund) and Murphy (her lovable corgi). Read her  ICLW post to learn more about her. And, she is now 3 days past her IUI so go wish her some luck!

  Ok, next we have Damita from Digital-Damita.net. She has 3 cats Arthur, Kit, and Onion with pictures of them on a recent wordless Wednesday post. She has been trying to look for a job at the moment, so go wish her some luck as well! In other news, she’s been trying to get pregnant for a year now and is venting about “relaxing.”

  And last but not least, we have Sarah from The Rocky Road to Motherhood. She has two cats, Poppy and Lucy who you can see in her about me page. But even more exciting than that, she is a new mom and has adorable pics of her son! And she recently found out he has a heart condition and will need open heart surgery soon, so keep him in your prayers and send good wishes along.

Go send some ICLW love!

And don’t forget to write up your posts about your fur babies/furry friends to link up on Friday! ;-)

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Welcome ICLWers!

Aug 21st, 2011
by Krissi.
3 comments

  Hello! Welcome to my little corner of the Internet! I went through 6 IVF cycles to have my family and I wrote a memoir called Ordinary Miracles coming this fall. I write this blog to help all of you still on your journey to motherhood and I am looking forward to meeting new bloggers!

  On Sundays, I usually post a success story but I don’t have a new one this week. You can check out the success stories I’ve posted or if you’ve been successful, go to my Q & A for success stories post for all the info on how you can submit yours!

  This month has been a busy one! It’s Friends Month here on Stress Free Infertility. I posted a poll to see how honest you are with your friends in real life. Check that out for some interesting results! Also, I’m working on a new book for the fertile world. Please pass on this quick survey to your fertile friends and family members!

   And last but not least, I’m having a little link up and I would LOVE your participation!Write up a quick post about your virtual friends (all your besties in the ALI community) to tell them how much you appreciate them and then link up to my Friday Friend Link Up post. Also, get some posts ready for your furry friends and link up this Friday!

Thanks for stopping by! ;-)

Show some love! Comment back!

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Friday Friend Link-up ~ Virtual Friends

Aug 18th, 2011
by Krissi.
2 comments

  So, I’m going to put this post up a day early so you have extra time to link up! If you’re not familiar with what’s going on, it’s Friends Month here on Stress Free Infertility! I would love for you to share the love and write a heart-felt post about one, more than one, or all of your internet buddies, your loyal & supportive followers on Twitter (and FB) and your besties all over the ALI community! Write your hearts out and link up! Don’t forget to link back here so that others can follow along, join in the fun, and read each other’s posts! Thanks! ;-)



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Virtual Friends Blog Love!

Aug 16th, 2011
by Krissi.
2 comments

  So the topic this week is Virtual Friends. So what makes a great virtual friend? Well, in my opinion, he/she supports you in every way they can. Perhaps they read and comment often on your blog, or link back to you in their posts, or retweet your tweets.  Maybe they are on Facebook giving you encouragement, or often wishing you luck on Twitter or they are always there for you in the message boards you frequent (which is where I had many virtual friends through my journey). Ultimately they are your cheerleader when you need it the most. There are many things a virtual friend does and perhaps, they don’t even know how much they are appreciated for the little things they do. Well, now’s your chance to tell them. This Friday, I’m having another link-up. Write a post about one or more of your best virtual friends sometime this week, tell them about it, and then link back here. And, SunnyMamma (a wonderful virtual friend who often retweets my posts) has a Sharing Hope link up, so if you are participating in that, you can do both this Friday by writing a post about how your virtual friend offers you hope in one way or another.

So, here’s my special Blog Love Virtual Friend Post for this week. It was extremely difficult to narrow it down to just 3! I am grateful for all of you! Truly!

   First up, I’m lovin’ Andrea from Life, Love & Pursuit of our Fairytale. She has been such a great friend supporting me on this blog. She was one of the first to subscribe to my RSS feed and religiously comments on my posts with such thoughtful and encouraging words. In fact, I recently gave her an award for being my top commenter! She has also offered to share her success story and write a guest blog post, hopefully coming soon. Thank you Andrea for being there for me! I appreciate it so much! ;-)

  Next up is Rebecca from The Road Less Traveled. Rebecca has also commented quite a bit on my blog with such kind hearted support. Also, she has shared her success story when she got pregnant, but sadly lost her daughter Lily. She now has her son Ian and I hope she will give us another success story when she can. Her blog posts are thoughtful (I love how she adds a quote or links to a song) and her strength is amazing! She is like a pillar of hope and encouragement! Thank you Rebecca!

  And last but not least is Keiko from Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed. She is someone who not only supports me through retweets and link-ups but she often features my posts in her Infertility Insights Daily e-newspaper! I also love how much she inspires me to be better and strive for more. She’s incredibly creative (have you seen her What IF? award winning video?) and she’s also a wonderful infertility advocate which is really quite admirable as she is still in the midst of her plight. Thank you Keiko for being such a strong voice in our community!

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Success, Info for friends, and a Survey

Aug 14th, 2011
by Krissi.
4 comments

     So, I have to admit that I’ve been dissappointed about no one linking up for a post about an IRL friend. I suppose it’s either because a) no one had time, b) no one is around/maybe vacationing, c) no one has an IRL friend that really supported them. But, that’s okay because you have a chance to redeem yourselves this week. I am 100% positive that you have made connections with virtual friends online! So, write up a quick post about one or more of them this week and link up on Friday, then you can get more readers and we can share the love!

  OK, this week, I don’t have a new success story. (If you’ve been successful, I would love to share your story! Go here for the details!) But I do have a great article I’m linking to that’s written by Ryan Jacobson who had success through adoption. It’s also a great resource to send to your friends as a piece of advice on things they can do for you. It’s just what I want to accomplish in my new book idea~(writing to the fertile world about the trials and tribulations of infertility, sort of a ‘guide’ on what to do and say and what not to do and say). And, with that in mind, I created a survey that I hope you can pass along to your fertile friends and family members. It will help me gather information for the book. Thanks so much! And don’t forget to write up those posts, honoring your virtual friends! ;-) By the way, have you taken my poll?

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