Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    My personal history:
    
    I went on the Pill at 14 because of haemorraghic bleeding during
    menses.  While the condition was diagnosed as fine when I was 18,
    I remained on a much nicer, milder Pill for contraceptive purposes.
    
    I missed a few days [my honeymoon, but that's a long story...] when
    I was nearly 20 and 8.75 months later had a beautiful daughter.
    Six weeks later she died and within two months I was back on the
    Pill again.
    
    When I was 25, we decided to flush out for six months and have a
    child.  One year later, nothing.  I got the standard "after a long
    time..." line, even though the last time I missed resulted in
    pregnancy.
    
    Six months later, I walked in and became 'more assertive' -- as
    my husband euphemistically puts it -- and we both underwent testing.
    And the problem was found.  It was categorically not my problem.
    
    So, while you can't do any of the temperature testing or progesterone
    levels from bloodwork while on the Pill; if you REALLY want peace
    of mind you can always check to see if your tubes are open and that
    there is no sperm-deficiency.  It's not comfortable, but knowing
    might help.
    
       Ann

    I believe I read that part of the basis for the belief that being
    on the pill for a long time reduces your fertility is that women
    who are in this situation are typically trying to conceive when
    they're in their late 20's or early to mid-30's, and it's just not
    as easy as it was in the early 20's.  Many couples get frantic when
    it takes more than a few months to become pregnant - I know that
    back when I was married and my wife and I were trying to conceive,
    we started going in for tests after four months or so of no results.
    It eventually took us nine months of "trying".  I later read that
    this amount of delay is actually typical and nothing to be worried
    about.
    
    From what I have read on the topic, plus experiences, I would say
    you shouldn't worry.  Just don't expect to be able to schedule your
    pregnancy.
    
    					Steve

    It also took us 9 months to conceive after I went off the pill
    at 24, tho I may have had an early miscarriage.
    
    However, there are cases where women have been on the pill for
    a long time where ovulation never starts up again. Some doctors
    take their patients off the pill every year or so for two months
    just to be sure that all systems are still functional.
    
    Bonnie

    Re: .4 (Bonnie)
    
>    However, there are cases where women have been on the pill for
>    a long time where ovulation never starts up again. Some doctors
>    take their patients off the pill every year or so for two months
>    just to be sure that all systems are still functional.

    You may want to consider the source, but Ortho has been running
    magazine ads claiming that there is no evidence to support the need
    for a "vacation" from the pill.  This IS common practice, though,
    and there's no real harm from it.
    
    				Steve

    	I've never gone off the Pill with the intention of getting
    	pregnant, however I did take a one-year break during which
    	time I didn't have a single period.
    
    	Sort of worried me, even though I was celibate during this
    	time, purely for health reasons and makes me wonder if I'm
    	still able to bear children.
    
    						Carla
    

    My doctors have always advised me not to go off the Pill. I've been
    on it for almost 13 years. They all have said the health risks
    associated with going off the Pill, i.e., getting pregnant (which
    is a *very* common result of a "vacation" from the Pill) are much
    worse than those caused by staying on it.
    
    Since I don't plan on having kids, I don't particularly care what
    the long term effects are. I am, however terrified of going off,
    and reverting to my earlier menstrual pattern, which was debilitating.
    

    Tamzen

    Me, too, Tamzen!!
    
    And since I am now 35, it is only a matter of time before the doctor
    takes me off the pill anyhow because of concern (on his part, not
    mine! - no one in my ancestry has ever had one) about heart attacks,
    etc.  That will be the end of my "normal" life style for another
    20 years or so, until I finally go through menopause, as my mother
    finally did only ten years ago (she is 30 years older than I am,
    so I figure I'd have 20 years of pure hell like I had in my late
    teens).  I *HATED* never being able to plan on going anywhere further
    than a half hour walk from the bathroom, never being able to plan
    activities ahead of time (such as vacations, going swimming, etc.),
    and having my life ruined by my unpredictable cycle, not to mention
    being anemic all the time, etc.  Ycch!!!

    You also have to remember that even without any physical problems,
    somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of couples trying to have children,
    are not fertile WITH EACH OTHER. No one knows why. Either of you could
    be fertile with another partner. There's just the fact that you are
    both fertile, but conception either doesn't occur or isn't maintained,
    due to some sort of incompatibility. 
    
    Of course there's only one way to disprove infertility, and only one
    easy way to prove it--by getting pregnant. And that doesn't sound
    like what you want to do right now. You just can't schedule pregnancy.
    
    Tamzen

I am infertile and have been undergoing infertility testing/treatment
for almost 2 years now.  I can understand your concerns and I know about
the feelings that go with trying to conceive and being disappointed
each month.

First, there are some statistics that you may find helpful.  Approximately
85% of the women that are sexually active and do not use birth control
will get pregnant every year.  After that, a small percentage will
conceive each month which is why doctors typically want a couple to be
trying for about a year before they start to see if something is wrong.
And the current standard timeframe for trying a particular infertility
treatment is 6 months after which something else is tried.  This is 
because 6 months is considered a reasonable timeframe to conceive 
when a couple is actively trying given the chances of conception.
Also, 1 out of 6 couples has some sort of problem conceiving, so you
should realize that you are not alone.  

I agree that the DES may be a concern, but your doctor can check for
the side effects that it caused in the children without knowing for
certain that your mother took it.  Tell your doctor that there is a
very good chance that she took that drug and let him/her do the 
appropriate testing.  I was fortunate in that although my mother was
a prime candidate for DES, her doctor didn't believe in saving a
potential miscarriage.  

You should use the basal thermometer every morning to chart your
temperature, record intercourse and record days of menstruation.
If you are uncertain about how to do this, call me and I will help
you out.  Also, your doctor can begin to do the fertility tests to
try to isolate the problem(s).  And if he/she finds a problem, don't
let the testing stop there.  There is no guarantee that there is only
one thing wrong.  In my case, we have already identified 3 distinct
problems (one of which is naturally the worst that can happen as there
is no way to fix it) and I haven't had the laparoscopy yet to check
for endometriosis (scheduled for November).  Also, your fiance will
need to have his sperm count and quality checked.  That should be done
at the beginning as men's problems are much more difficult to treat,
so you want to know if anything is wrong there.

There was an excellent discussion of infertility in the first version
of womannotes.  I have a copy of the note that was written that describes
all the tests, but I deleted the header so I don't know which note
it was.  You should check into that.

There is a lot of literature available that you can read.  I found that
by reading everything I can get my hands on, I have a better understanding
of the problems and treatment.  I had great difficulty dealing with
the "I wonder what's wrong" phase.  I am dealing much better with
the treatment since I know what we are trying to do and what to expect.
We have also set some limitations, so I know that if the next treatment
doesn't work, we will be throwing in the towel, and that everything will
be all said in done within the next 6 months.  I deal much better with
defined quantities, so having a plan and boundaries helps me a great deal.

You might also look into the organization Resolve which is a support
group for infertile couples.  I can give you the address if you want
it.

I have that this information has helped you. I have lots more that I
could share, but I could ramble on for days (I've become an infertility
expert in the past 2 years).  If you would like someone to talk to,
please feel free to call.  I can give you a feel for what some of the
tests are like, and tell you how it has affected my marriage and our
sex life ("are we scheduled for tonight, dear?")

Best of luck to you.

Cathy
DTN 268-3132

    
    
    Have your future husband checked before you get married - it may
    make a difference in your relationship.
    
    _peggy
    
    		(-)
    		 |
    			Some problems can be fixed and some can not
    			May the Goddess help you fix any you find.
    

    Re: .0
    
    My recollection is that the (unclear if it exists) problem with
    long term use of the pill is that ovulation does not resume.  I
    agree that a basal temp thermometer is a good way to check this
    -- it really shows quite dramatically.  I suspect if you're having
    regular periods that is a good indication that you're ovulating.
    
    Re: .someone
    
    My doctor told me that having to go off the pill at 35 was baloney,
    as long as the woman is not a smoker.  smoking plus pill use after
    35 sends the risk of various things thru the roof.  not smoking
    and pill use after 35 does not carry an increased risk.  smoking
    and the pill amplify various risks, like taking some medications
    with alcohol.  The reasonm the original studies showed an increased
    risk from pill use after 35 was that the studied group included
    both smokers and non-smokers.
    
    

    Re .13
    
    You are correct in that one of the problems with long term use of
    the pill is failure for ovulation to begin, but having regular periods
    does not mean that there are no problems with ovulation.  I got
    the impression from .0 that she was having periods, otherwise, I
    would think her doctor would have checked into that before recommending
    using a basal thermometer or doing any other parts of the work-up.
    
    There are problems that can occur with ovulation even though you
    are getting periods such as not ovulating regularly or having bad
    eggs etc.  This is one of my particular problems, so I am starting
    to learn about it.  There are drugs that can be prescribed to correct
    this such as Clomid and Pergonal, but their usual side effects are
    multiple births (higher chance with Pergonal).
    
    

    Maureen,
    
    Forgive my curiosity, and you can certainly decline to answer this,
    but...  I find it strange that you and your fiance are going in
    for fertility testing before you are married or have (I am assuming)
    tried to conceive a child.  Why?  And what will you do if you
    find, for instance, that your fiance is sterile?
    
    				Steve

    RE:  .16

    	Steve....

    	Also, the other side of the coin in the same breath to be 
    	equal....

    		"What would/will HE do if she is sterile?  What  if
    		BOTH are?"  

    	Thanks,
    	justme....jacqui

    
    
    I have been reading this particular note for a while and I must
    say it has me concerned.  My first question to you is how long have
    you been on the pill?  I have been on it for 3 months and have planned
    to be on until I get married to my fiance and we decide to have
    children.  I don't want to encounter the same types of problems
    you have so I have decided to maybe find an alternative for birth
    control.  Am I being too paranoid or do you think it's a good idea?
    
    Tracy
    
    

    Re .19
    
    I find it really interesting that your doctor seems to have conveyed
    to you the feeling that he can do a test and determine if you will
    conceive.  As someone previously stated, the only to find out if
    you can get pregnant is to get pregnant.  There is no way for them
    to test and say that everything is fine and you will conceive. 
    Everything can be fine and you still cannot conceive.  All this
    leads me to wonder if your doctor is setting the right expectations,
    and if he is an infertility specialist (by the way, they don't call
    the inability to have children sterility anymore -- they call it
    infertility.  I think it sounds a little better).  If not, then
    that is the kind of doctor to see.
    
    And I am also wondering the same thing as another reply.  Why add
    the additional stress of trying to conceive with the stress of planning
    a wedding?  Have you considered pulling the wedding in or waiting
    til later to do the tests/treatment?  I know how stressful the process
    is, and I'm not sure you have realistic expectations about the whole
    thing.  They don't know a whole lot about infertility, and it seems
    as though your doctor has you thinking there is some way for him
    to give you a definite answer either way.  There isn't.  At least,
    not yet.
    
    As for the question from the woman who just went on the Pill, I
    think that your fears that the same thing will happen can be put
    to rest.  There is always that chance, but from what little information
    we have about .0, it almost appears that whatever the problem is,
    it may have already been there. Note that she is not waiting for
    her periods to return which is the side effect from the Pill that
    affects fertility.  And we don't know if .0 has had any other
    gynecological problems previously that may be contributing to her
    inability to conceive.  In my case, for instance, a history of
    gynecological problems and their treatment is suspected (note the
    word -- they don't know for sure) of having caused one of my problems.
    
    Hope this has helped a little.
    
    Cathy

    re.19, further to .20
    
    While I would have to agree that finding no problem does not guarantee
    that conception will occur within a specified amount of time, even
    the smallest and most correctable problems found would prevent
    conception were you not to know about them.
    
    Knowledge, in such a case, _IS_ empowering.
    
    From my own personal experience, both with planning weddings and
    with infertility testing/counselling, I'd say if you can stand the
    stress of planning a wedding the rest is simple.
    
    If you are fearful, as you indicate, any information that you _can_
    have will go a long way toward peace of mind.  No matter what the
    news is.
    
    I feel very strongly that you are extremely fortunate to have both
    your doctor and your fiance sympathetic to your concerns in this
    matter.
    
      Ann

re .19  > Im scared to death of finding out that either one of us is sterile...

    I assume you feel this way because you'd rather have a child
    that is genetically yours than adopt a child.  I used to feel
    this way--when you go through the physical discomfort and
    pain of pregnancy and labor, you know in your bones that baby
    is *yours*.  (Tangentially, I'm in the middle of Joseph 
    Campbell's _The_Power_of_Myth_, where he likens pregnancy to
    the journey of the archetypical hero.  Wow!)  However, since
    I've been married to my husband, I've found that the idea of
    adoption appeals to me rather more:  he and his only sibling
    are adopted, and over half of his cousins are adopted.  It's
    given me a different perspective.  If this is part of what's
    bothering you, you might ask around...you'd be surprised how
    many people you probably know are adopted, or have adopted a
    child.  I certainly was.

    In any case, good luck.  I for one understand why you're
    starting now:  some of those tests take ridiculously long,
    when you have to wait for one or several normal monthly
    cycles between, and then try something else, and so forth.
    And you'd probably like to have a baby before you're 40!

    -- Linda

     At the age of 20 I still hadn't started menses so my doctor put me 
     on the pill and I then mensturated every month on schedule.  After I 
     got married and couldn't conceive my infertility specialist told me that 
     being on the pill for a couple of years actually decreased my fertility.  
     Birth control pills supress ovulation and since I was anovulatory 
     (didn't ovulate) the pill had caused more harm than good.  Since you
     have been on the pill for awhile and therefore have not been ovulating
     it may take your system awhile to adjust and begin ovulating again.
     I agree that you should keep a basal body temperature chart to see
     if you are in fact ovulating again.  The other thing to consider
     is that your first husband might have had a problem that you were
     unaware of which might have been a factor in your inability to
     conceive.
    
      
     I tried for years to get pregnant.  I had a laparoscopy, had my
     tubes blown, had several D & C's, and took fertility drugs.  I
     even went so far as to eat raw oysters (yuck!) and practically
     stood on my head after intercourse to try and conceive!  To make
     a long story short after finally giving up, I gave birth to a
     healthy 9 lb. 6 oz. boy in my mid thirties.  Justin will be 5 in a
     few weeks and I appreciate him more than anything because I waited
     so long to have him.  I guess the point I am trying to make is that
     there is always hope and modern advancements in medicine have made
     it possible for many infertile couples to conceive.  You don't know
     that you and your future husband can't conceive so my feeling is that
     you should relax and stop worrying.  There is no reason to suspect
     that you won't be able to bear children.  In my case I knew going
     into the marraige that my chances were slim because I didn't
     menstruate but after 10 years of not using any form of birth control
     I was pleasantly surprised. 

    I wish you all the best for motherhood is truly a joy that I'm glad 
    I didn't miss.      
    
      - wendy -

    Just in the for what it is worth department...
    I was on the pill for 2+ years, was told that it normally 
    would take up to six months to become pregnant after ceasig the
    pill... so, I counted when I wanted to have a baby, +15 months,
    and stopped the pill... boy was I surprised when I got pregnant
    the next month!.. both times!!!!!!

1 - The Pill
        
    The pill affects different people differently, and that's as scientific
    a saying as anything else!
    
    I started on the pill when I was 17, to regulate my menses, and
    make them less painful. It worked, and I'll always be glad I took
    the pill. The pain disappeared and, later, when I met a man I loved
    enough, I didn't need to start looking for protection from pregnancy;
    I had it already, and that freed me both mentally and physically.
    
    At age 24, I - we - decided to have a child, and I stopped the pill,
    after 7 years without interruption. I was pregnant the month after I 
    stopped, to my surprise and - if truth be told - annoyance: from what 
    I had heard, I had expected it would take me about a year to conceive, 
    and we had "planned" it this way (in Geneva, you need a minimum
    of 18-24 months to find a decent appartment that doesn't cost the
    earth!)
    
2 - A Possible Problem
        
    I don't think anybody else has mentioned that, but a desperate wish
    to have a child can sometimes act as a psychological block in becoming
    pregnant. This is verified by quite a few pregnancies happening
    after the parents have decided to "forget about it" or have adopted
    a child. It happened to our neighbours: the woman worked part-time
    for several years, as she did not want to get too involved in any
    job she would have to quit when the baby was born... As the years
    passed (5 in all), they both went through lots of tests, which came
    up "normal", though one of them had some sort of "minor" problem.
    They finally realized all the testing, and charting, and making
    love at the right time was putting an enormous stress on their
    marriage, that children, though they desired one very much, were
    not the centre of the universe for them, and stopped everything.
    She took a full-time job at a publisher's which involved her in
    fact more than full-time, and got pregnant within 6 months. 3 years
    later, she is expecting her second baby.
    
Note: the two points I make here are points which proved valid for me and
some people I know, and I am just giving them here as "food for
- a little - thought". 
    
Joana 
        

    My experience:
    I started on the pill in 1968 (aged 17); about ten years later,
    I had a 4 months' pause - it went like this: last period WITH the
    pill, ovulation 4 weeks later, period another 2 weeks later - the
    whole cycle just had been postponed for two weeks.
    As I'm 37 and smoking, I decided to stop taking the pill. I had
    my tubes cut in April 88 (after almost 20 "pill years"). In May,
    I did have something like a weak period, then nothing for two months;
    I watch my base temperature to know what's happening, and it's just
    beginning to be ALL NORMAL AGAIN - it's a great thing to watch your
    body after 20 years without ovulation! 
    I asked my doctor why it took me so long this time to "go normal"
    again, as it had been so easy in 1978; he said it makes a big
    difference how long you've actually been on the pill, and that age
    also makes a big difference - after all, it's ten years later now...
    
    Maureen, I hope you don't mind getting a reply from a woman who
    does NOT want to get pregnant. I just want to show you that it might
    take some time. You really should watch your base temperature.
    
    Pony from Munich/Germany
    

    re. 26
    
    I too know of a couple who wanted a baby desparately for years.
    They tried for four years when she finally decided it might be the stress
    from her job that was preventing the pregnancy so she stayed home
    for a year and a half and tried some more.  Still no pregnancy occured.
    They were both tested, she charted her temperature etc.  They did
    everything.
    
    Finally they decided that they were tired of trying so hard.  She
    went back to work and within 6 months she was pregnant at age 37!  Her
    Healthy boy is 4 now!
                  
    re. 0
    
    I think a lot may have to do with the psychological stress couples put
    themselves through.  A family is important granted, but relax.  Enjoy
    this time in your life without children.  There is plenty of time
    to work out the problems, so don't try to put yourself through a
    lot of stress.  Things will work out - I wish the best of luck to
    you and your future husband.
    
    Suzanne

My husband & I are trying to have a child - actually, we just started
    this month (September) - but this did not go unplanned....I've been
    charting my temperture & keeping track of everything since March.
    I can't make heads or tails out of the chart, it doesn't seem to
    make any type of pattern.  I guess I'm worried more about how badly
    I want to have a baby & all the *horror* stories I keep hearing
    about people not being able to conceive because of a "mental attitude"
    or "self-induced stress" over the whole thing.  What's worse, I'm
    not only anxious to have a baby - my husband is in the Navy & leaves
    to go overseas in 3 months so if it doesn't happen NOW, we have
    to wait for 6 more months.  That means starting all over again and
    it could take another....who knows how many months to conceive.
    I know it's OK to have a child late in life - but I don't want to
    have one late in life....but I don't want to wait that long - I
    want to have kids while I young.
    
    I really didn't think I had myself that "worked up" over the whole
    thing until this month when I was *SOOOOO...* excited that I had
    such a lite (almost NO) period --- I just KNEW I was pregnant....but,
    unfortunately I was wrong (just found out yesterday).  My periods
    have been very regular since I stopped the pill in March.  I always
    have a REALLY heavy flow, bad cramps etc.,...and this time it was
    close to NOTHING.  I had a blood test done at what should have been
    about the 10th-11th day of my cycle & it came up negative :-(..........
    What do you think the chances are of that test being false???  The
    nurse at the Lab said that different people have different levels
    of hormones & some people take longer than others to show up in
    a Pregnancy test........maybe I went too soon.....
    
    what do you think?????
    
    Mrs. T

    OOPS...  I didn't mean to say the 10th-11th day of my cycle...I
    meant I had the test done on what we figured would/should have been
    the 10th-11th day after conception.
    
    Mrs.T (who_has_trouble_going_directly_from_brain_to_keyboard :-)
    

    
    
    I think you should listen to the nurse.  She's the one with
    a medical background.
    
    I also think you should develop some patience.  It will be
    good practice for when the baby actually arrives-God knows,
    you'll need tons of it.
    
    You've only tried for one cycle (if I read your note correctly).
    If you don't conceive before your husband leaves, well, you'll
    only be 6 months older when he returns, unless you are aging at
    alarming rate.
    
    Babies come along when they are supposed to come along. They
    often surprise even the parents (mine did)...  Relax.  You really
    haven't given the conception process much of a chance yet.
    
    Deb
    
    

    Please realize that out of 100 women who have sex with no protection
    for an entire year (at whatever the average frequency is), only
    80 will get pregnant (according to the official chart of the
    effectiveness of various birth control methods)
    
    Be patient...please...stress will do you no good.
    
    -Jody
    
    

    
    Actually, both you and the nurse could be right.  You could
    have conceived, but no longer been pregnant as of ten days
    later (and I thought testing was not plausible before the
    twelfth day anyhow).
    
    Pregnancy is a lot iffier business than most of us have been
    led to believe.  A study done in Great Britain in the early
    1970's (as relayed to me by Dr. Tony McCall of Mass. General)
    determined that only about 10% of conceptions made it to birth!
    Most of them fail in the blastoplast stage or thereabouts,
    frequently due to trisomy; i.e., it's not anyone's "fault".
    (What?  A translation into English?  Sure.  Because the chromosomes
    didn't match up perfectly when the sperm penetrated the egg,
    the result was given up on as a bad job while it was still a
    bunch of cells, and few enough cells to count by hand.)
    
    So relax, and look forward to trying again.
    
    						Ann B.
    
    P.S.  About your basal temperature chart:  A friend of mine turned
    in her chart, and remarked that she couldn't find a peak in it.
    The doctor assured her that he (representing all of Medical Science)
    would be able to deduce her fertile time from it.  ~Well, all
    right,~ she replied, ~but I tried second and third Fourier
    transforms on it, and nothing showed up.~  She was right.  The
    basal temperature method was not useful to her.

    < Note 145.33 by REGENT::BROOMHEAD "Don't panic -- yet." >
                           -< Clinical information >-
    
>    The doctor assured her that he (representing all of Medical Science)
>    would be able to deduce her fertile time from it.  ~Well, all
>    right,~ she replied, ~but I tried second and third Fourier
>    transforms on it, and nothing showed up.~  She was right.
    
    I love it!  I wonder if the doctor ever heard of Fourier transforms?

    What is "Fourier Transforms"????
    
    Lisa

    a mathematical (calculous-related) transformation that is often
    done when dealing with electronic results - helps with circuit design
    and other data analysis.
    
    -Jody
    

Fourier transforms convert between information that is time-related
(your temperature was 98.6 on Sep. 21, 98.7 on Sep 22, 98.4 on Sep 23)
into information that is frequency related. (your cycle is 27.4 days long
and you'll be fertile on October 14)

The temperature-measurement theory is that there is a change in body
temperature when the egg is released.  By plotting your temperature
on a chart for a few months, you can predict the duration of the
monthly cycle.  Fourier transformations perform this calculation
automatically (and can deal with a situation where several cycles
interact with each other).

Consider the cycle of ocean tides: they're affected by the moon, the
sun, the time of year, and the local weather pattern.  By measuring
the tide for a long time, you can extract the cyclical information, and
ignore the noise-effect of local weather.  You end up with two collections
of information that are essentially equivalent:

-- the predicted tide height for a given date/time.  (time-related data).

-- the duration and amplitude of the moon, sun, and yearly pattern
   (frequency-related pattern).

Fourier transformations let you convert between these representations.

Martin.

    I remember from when we were trying to get pregnant with what
    turned out to be Steven, there was nothing more frustrating
    than people telling me to be patient.  It wasn't *them* going
    through all this!
    
    It took us almost a year to conceive -- ten months, to be exact.
    My doctor told me that in his experience, the average time from
    when a couple started trying to conceive to when the woman
    actually conceived was 9 months. 
    
    I started doing things like going on a healthier diet, reducing my
    salt intake, getting more exercize, etc.  I doubt that they helped
    me conceive, but they helped me relax because they made me feel
    like I was doign something and they helped me get through the
    pregnancy in better shape. 
    
    Oh, by the way, my basal metabolism chart isn't any use, either.
    It's got four temperature peaks on it and none of them correspond
    to ovulation. 
    
    --bonnie 

    I've just started rereading "Infertility:  A Guide for the Childless
    Couple" by Barbara Eck Menning (I highly recommend it for anyone
    undergoing infertility treatment), and ran across some statistics
    that I thought were interesting, and might lend some hope to some
    of you that have just started trying to conceive.
    
    	25% of couples having sexual relations without birth control
    will conceive in the first cycle.
    
    	60% of such couples will conceive within 6 months.
    
    	85% of such couples will conceive within 1 year.
    
    Also, for the folks that keep saying relax to those of us that are
    infertile because you know someone who finally conceived after giving
    up, please understand that it is very frustrating to have people
    say "just relax" when you already know there is something physically
    wrong.  And in 90% of the couples that have undergone infertility
    testing/treatment, a *physical* problem is found.  What happens
    a lot of times with those folks that gave up and got pregnant is
    that they join that 5% that are part of the "spontaneous cure rate"
    where something seems to change and pregnancy occurs.
    
    I'm a little sensitive to this area today, especially after my husband
    had a conversation with his sister this weekend who asked him if
    we were ever planning on having children, and he told her again
    that I am infertile to which she responded "Yeah, I know that." Talk
    about insensitive.  And she went on to explain she thinks that
    adoption would be good for us and that it is relatively inexpensive, 
    so couldn't understand that there might be other factors involved in 
    adoption other than cost (like the long wait and the fact that we
    are not sure that adoption would be the correct route for us).
    
    Cathy

    Well, I entered a couple of replies in this note (hysterically worried
    that I would *NEVER*  get pregnant ( :-D )  and just found out (about
    1 hour ago) that I am six weeks along ( :-D  :-D  )  I can't express
    how excited I am!  So, I wanted all of you to know right away
    (actually, I have a confession to make -- and some people may really
    think this is terrible, but....)  I havent even told my HUSBAND
    yet!!!!!  :-O  (oh no!)  I was absolutely TOO excited and just could
    not wait till tonite to tell someone!
    
    Lisa Thompson

    
    That's great news!!!
    
    Nanci

    Congratulations also! :-)
    
    Bonnie

    Congratulations!!  I'm so happy for you!
    
    -Tracy
    

    How lovely for you!  Congratulations and good luck!
    
    						=maggie

    Congratulations, Lisa (.40).....    
    
    My husband was about the 5th person I told when I first found out.
    I couldn't keep it inside either.  
    
    Anna