My Fertility Journey

For about three and a half years I attempted to get pregnant, and finally, after working with California Fertility Partners in Los Angeles, was I able to get pregnant.  The following is my story and my advice to women who are trying to get pregnant.


Don't Waste Time With Your OB GYN
When I first told my doctor that I wanted to get pregnant, but wasn't having a hard time, I was referred to the "fertility specialist" in the office.  Other offices might be different, but this doctor was only the "specialist" because he threw different drugs at me.  I was first started on Clomid, which is typically the first drug doctors will start women on if they are having a hard time ovulating.  Each month I was given a higher dosage of the drug, but I was never able to ovulate.  After a few months, no one ever asked, "Why I wasn't ovulating?" but just assumed I needed more drugs.

I was then put on Menopur.  Menopur involves injections each night into either a fatty part of your leg or abdomen.  My first take with Menopur felt like someone throwing darts into the dark.  Every few days I would go in and have an ultrasound to see if my ovaries were responding. When no response was seen my doctor would just have me increase the dosage.  I began with 1/2 a vial and was injecting almost four at a time.  Again, there was no real monitoring going on or awareness that this amount of Menopur could be harmful.

After two weeks of the injections I began to experience an acute pain in my ovaries, which then became unbearable.  One night my husband took me to the Emergency Room and I was informed my ovaries were enlarged and had the potential of twisting.  The reason for this dangerous enlargement was because of the over dosage of Menopur.  Basically, my ovaries were freaking out.

After the trip to the hospital I was placed on bed rest for three weeks to ensure my ovaries didn't twist.  Once I was off bed rest I returned the doctor's office for a follow-up and learned I was pregnant.  Now, I wish this was the end of the story, but unfortunately, three weeks later, we were unable to see a heart beat and I suffered a miscarriage.  At this point we decided to stop working with this specialist and find out why I was not ovulating, why I did, and why I had a miscarriage?

How To Find The Right Specialist:
When I finally decided to consult with a fertility specialist I wasn't sure where to go. I was given a few recommendations, but probably the best advice I got was to do some research on my own and determine the answers to the following questions:
  

• How long has the fertility clinic's medical director been there?
• How long have the doctors and technicians been there? High staff turnover can be a sign of bad management and can contribute to mistakes.
• Which procedures do you do, and how often? Be sure the clinic has a wide range of infertility remedies available and is familiar with the latest technology, such as something called blastocyst transfer.
• Do you have age limits for treatment? If so, it's a good sign that the clinic is concerned about ethical issues.
• When you do an advanced procedure that involves fertilizing the eggs outside the woman and then planting them inside her, who decides how many eggs go back in -- the doctor or patient? Wisot recommends steering away from a clinic that gives complete control to the doctor. This is important because the more eggs planted, the greater the chance for multiple births.
• How many cycles per year do you do? Wisot notes that some clinics handle so many patients -- each of whom may be treated for multiple menstrual cycles -- that patients end up feeling like a number.
• What does treatment cost? While you don't want to choose strictly on price, it's good to know costs ahead of time so you know what you're getting into. Beware of clinics that offer a money-back guarantee if you don't get pregnant -- the doctor may have a financial incentive to treat you more aggressively than you want.

All these questions can either be answered on clinics' websites or with consultations. 

California Fertility Partners: 
Eventually, I chose California Fertility Partners because of their success rates, the facilities they had on site, the number of patients and because of Dr. Kelly Baek.  From my initial interview I felt like Dr. Baek was going to approach my case as methodical as possible, and was going to find answers to my ovulation and miscarriage questions.  

As before, Dr. Baek started me on Menopur, but with a small dosage and more visits to truly track my progress.  Eventually, after a few rounds she was able to see that my body took a long time to respond to Menopur, therefore, upping the dosage wasn't the answer, but longer periods of the medication.  Three times were able to get to the artificial insemination points, but each time I was unable to get pregnant.  

Dr. Baek then tried a combination of Clomid and Menopur, which got me a little faster to ovulation, and then used Progesterone, after the inseminations for added hormone therapy, or as an attempt to stave off a miscarriage.  Again, no success.  

At this point Dr. Baek was troubled because she couldn't fully diagnose me.  My blood work showed I was ovulating, but something was missing in communication from my brain to the ovaries.  Consequently, Dr. Baek ordered a MRI.  This decision was met with a lot surprise from her partners, me and my ob gyn, however, Dr. Baek was convinced I had a tumor in my pituitary gland, which was causing all my problems.  And she was right.  Apparently, the tumor was secreting a large amount of prolactin, which can cause you to experience headaches, which I did, not ovulate and can cause miscarriages. 

Initially, Dr. Baek tried the drug Bromocriptine, but we still saw high levels of prolactin in my system.  I was then referred to Dr. David Geffner, an endocrinologist, who put me on Cabergoline.  This drug finally brought my prolactin levels down, and for the first time, without drugs, I was able to ovulate.   Once I saw ovulation, Dr. Baek performed an artificial insemination and four weeks later we found out we were pregnant.  
 
I understand my story is not like everyone's else, but what I can say from the experience is this: 

1. If you are serious about being pregnant - go to a specialist.  They'll have you do blood work, perform x-rays to see that your fallopian tubes are working and open, will closely monitor the process and get results.
2. Don't give up. Unfortunately, with infertility each test, each round takes weeks, months - don't give up.

San Francisco

A few weeks ago the husband and I traveled up to San Francisco for a long weekend trip.  If you haven't had the opportunity to explore this city I recommend making the time.

First, transportation around and inside San Francisco is incredibly easy.  We flew into SFO and then took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) directly into the city.  Buying tickets was very intuitive and stops were very clearly marked.  Then, while we explored the city, we utilized the public busing system.  For two dollars we were able to travel across the city, and because the initial tickets are good for four hours, we were able to jump back on the bus and cross to another part of the city.  I found the buses to be extremely clean and again stops were clearly marked.

For accommodations we decided to stay close to Union Square because there's a BART stop there, a trolley that travels all the way to the Wharf starts there and its close proximity to all tourists sites in the city. (ex: Chinatown, The Wharf, Market Street etc.)  We ended up staying at the Sir Francis Drake.  This hotel was built in 1928 and offers a great view into the glamorous history of San Francisco.  The lobby is absolutely gorgeous and the room, though small, was elegantly furnished.  In retrospect, I do wish the rooms had been slightly bigger for the price we were paying.  The sink, though very cool, offered no space for a toothbrush and if you wanted to use the bathroom there wasn't much space between the sink and the toilet.  However, again the location was fantastic.

As for sightseeing San Francisco offers an incredible wide range of sites.  Here's what I recommend:

Alcatraz: 
Alcatraz Cruises is the official ferry provider to Alcatraz and back. Departures start at 9:30 AM and are available every half an hour throughout the day. However, please note that these cruises frequently sell out, so as much as possible, plan and book your cruise in advance, especially in the summer and on holidays.
To purchase tickets, view the schedule and/or for more information, visit the Alcatraz Cruises web site at www.alcatrazcruises.com.

Golden Gate Bridge:
Pedestrians including wheelchair users and bicyclists can go on the sidewalks of the bridge during daylight hours but roller blades, skateboards and roller skates are not permitted. There are vista points on both north and south sides of the bridge with parking lots.

We decided to rent bikes through Blazing Saddles, which we were able to rent right at Union Square and ride across the bridge to Sausalito and then back through Golden Gate Gardens, Haight-Ashbury and back to our hotel.  Sausalito is a great little town and we had a delicious Italian sandwich at Venice Gourmet.  After a long bike ride it was great to enjoy a good sour dough sandwich and watch the town go by. 

Ultimately we ended up paying a little over seventy dollars for the day, and was definitely the best way to explore the city.  There are a bunch of bike companies around the city and all offer a daily rate, a great comfort bike, a detailed map and the option to take the ferry back once you reach Sausalito.  I would recommend forgoing the ferry because riding back is easily marked and the gardens are definitely worth seeing...and the ride back is mostly downhill.

Fisherman's Wharf/Ghirardelli Square:
The Wharf offers fishing boats, sea lions basking in the sun, seafood stalls, steaming crab cauldrons, seafood restaurants and sourdough French bread bakeries.  It also offers souvenir shops and historic ships with detailed signs detailing the history of the Wharf. The historic F-Line streetcar and two cable car lines terminate in the area and sightseeing boats and boat charters link to Alcatraz ("The Rock") , Angel Island and other points around San Francisco Bay.

Ghirardelli Square is worth visiting for the free samples the Ghirardelli store offers, or if you want to wait in line, you must try one of the many concoctions of goodness the Ghirardelli kitchen prepares. 

Haight-Ashbury / Chinatown:
Both of these areas can be easily reached through a public bus, through renting a bike or walking.  There's not a lot to do in these neighborhoods, but they are worth exploring to just see the different sides to San Francisco.

Lastly, I recommend coming up with a plan ahead of time for food.  There is literally amazing options on every street and it can be slightly overwhelming.  A few things we enjoyed were:

Crab at the Wharf:
Right along the Wharf you can buy a whole and very much alive crab.  They'll steam it right there for you and offer a loaf of bread along with the meal.  The husband went down this route and was blown away by the taste and size of the crab.

Cafe BaoNecci:
Located in the Italian district of San Fran, this was an outstanding dinner.  We started with a light Italian salad that literally tasted exactly like the salads we enjoyed when we traveled Italy and then chose two pizzas with prosciutto and fresh basil.  All the servers spoke Italian and the food was fast and hot.

Super Duper:
This casual burger place was fantastic.  I got a chicken sandwich with an amazing aioli sauce and the husband went for their classic double patty burger.  I loved the laid back atmosphere and only regret not trying their shakes.

Overall, this was a great trip and I will definitely be back. 

Century City Mall

Last weekend the husband and I went to Century City to grab some dinner and see a movie. Sadly, this was my first trip to Century City after living in LA for five years. What can I say, Santa Monica is just that cool - and I'm just that lazy.

I got to admit that I found the mall at Century City to be a very cool alternative to Santa Monica. First, there is an incredible amount of parking, and they have great deals with movie validations and allotted times of free parking. If you have lived in LA longer than a week, you know parking situations can be deal breakers - so rest assured this won't be a problem.

Second of all, outside of the great options for shopping, the outdoor mall also offers great options for getting food. Compared to the new mall at Santa Monica, the restaurants available at Century City are considerably better. For example, Gulfstream Restaurant offers an awesome menu of seafood and a very cool ambiance, and if you are feeling a little more casual, but still want a great meal, the mall has the Counter and Pink Taco.

The Counter is probably one of my favorite restaurants. Instead of dictating an order to the server, you are given a clipboard of options to build a meat or chicken burger with endless toppings and sauces. It might take two trips to get the order just right, as I learned with the mountain of grilled onions, but once you got your groove this will become a favorite. The Counter also offers a huge platter of fries (sweet and regular), onion rings and some of the most creative milkshakes. Each month they feature a milkshake. I recommend October for the churro milkshake.

As for Pink Taco, last weekend was my first try of the iconic LA establishment. To begin with I found the salsa to be just right. (For me, this can make or break a Mexican restaurant) and the service was awesome. I chose the Mexican cobb salad. I got to admit, it wasn't the best thing I've ever had. I was feeling like a traditional Mexican salad, but I found the blue cheese to be a little overwhelming. The husband chose some chicken enchiladas with a verde sauce, and I'll admit I was a little jealous. As for portions, it wasn't your typical Mexican restaurant. Things were slightly understated and not covered in cheese and grease - which I prefer. Overall, I would like to try Pink Taco again, but just order something different.

After dinner we headed over to the movie theater, which offered a lot of options and very comfortable seats. (What, I have strange levels of criteria.) We ended up seeing The Hunger Games. Our friends had reserved seats ahead of time. I might be doing this from now on when buying tickets for the movies. It was so nice to just walk in and know we had some seats. As for the movie, I was a fan. I had read all three books and had very low expectations for the movie, but I found the adaptation to be spot on. My husband even turned to me and said, "I'm actually liking this movie." For someone who hates all "youth books made into movies" I think that was saying something.

So, if you are in the LA area and you want a cool night out check out Century City. You might even be lucky enough to see some celebrities.

Nook Color

For Christmas I got a Kindle, but returned it because I found it hard to read without really good light. Therefore, I decided to get the Nook Color from Barnes & Noble, which I've found to love and hate. Below are my pros and cons of the Nook.

Pros:
1. Great screen size and very easy to read.
2. Internet connection is fast and loads pages well.
3. Good amount of storage for a lot of books and apps.
4. Compatible with files I can download or buy off Barnes and Noble.
5. Creates bookmarks for you without indicating them.

Cons:
1. Battery life is not great. If I read the Nook for most of the day I'll be out of battery. I think I've found I can get about six hours out of the thing.
2. I haven't figured out how to go back on things. For example, I was writing an email the other night and by accident I pressed something that presented options to cut, paste, select all etc. I had no idea how to get back to my email. Instead, I had to press the home button, go back into the internet, log into my email and find the draft.


Overall, I really like the Nook, but if I was making the purchase again I might think about the Kindle Fire, or wait for the Nook to work out its first edition glitches.

An Alternative To iTunes

I've debated about advertising this little gem, but since I know I have so many readers, who depend on my opinion, I feel it is my duty to share.

For about two years I've been using the site: www.gomusicnow.com to download my music. It's completely legal and I do pay for the songs, but the best thing about this site is this: songs range from $o.15 to $0.09. Yep, you read that right. AND, if you buy the entire album they usually discount it by 10%. Now, I know what you are going to say, "Do they have current albums?" Um, they actually have albums that haven't even been released on iTunes yet. "Is the quality good?" The download quality is actually a little better than iTunes. "How do you pay for the songs?" I set up an account from my debit card and with my account it keeps a great catalog of my downloaded songs and the amount of money I have left to spend.

So, here's what I do. I go to iTunes because I like the structure of this site. I like that you can see what are the most popular songs, preview them and then even find bands that are similar to what you like. I then find the songs I want to buy and then head over to my site and download. I would say the only downside, and this is the only one, is that sometimes for whatever reason they don't have particular albums. For example, they have an awesome live recording of Adele in London, but they haven't posted her 21 album, which has won a thousand awards. So, I'll admit it's a little random, but in the end, if you are willing to wait, almost everything you want will be posted.

So, if you are willing to walk away from the grips of iTunes and stop paying $0.99 for a song come on over to gomusicnow.com.

Malibu Golf Club

A few months ago the husband bought off groupon.com a groupon for two rounds of golf at Malibu Golf Club. With the groupon we were able to save about fifty dollars and had no trouble getting a tee time.

Malibu Golf Club is located up in the mountains of Malibu off Encinal Canyon Road. We decided to take PCH from Santa Monica and then traveled about fifteen minutes in the canyon until we came to the club. Before I talk about the golf, let me just say this drive is gorgeous. Encinal Road winds through the mountains and opens up enough so you can see the ocean and the expansive coast. The husband and I have ridden this road a few times on our bikes and it is definitely one of my favorite roads to drive or ride.

Okay, the golf. The course is nestled right in the middle of the mountains in this beautiful valley of rolling hills and trees. I didn't find the course to be overly complicated and definitely found the distances to be manageable for someone at my level. I did find each hole to be quite narrow and deeply forested on each side. The starter let us know to just stay left each time and we would be fine. His advice proved to be correct and each time the left side seemed to be the safe bet. There was not much in the way of water. The only difficult water hazard you have to navigate is on the 9th hole and if you hit a good drive you should have the distance to pop one on the green. The water isn't very long but snakes across the entire hole.

Overall I really enjoyed the course for these reasons:

1. The carts have GPS and were about 99% correct in your distances.
2. A lot of the tees are set up high and give you a great look down the hole and into the beautiful course.
3. There weren't a lot of bunkers, which I sort of hate, so approach shots were a little more forgiving.
4. Distances of the holes are manageable but challenging.
5. The club is organized well and we didn't have to wait for the groups ahead of us.
6. The club house has great chili. Just saying.

The cons:
1. The greens seem like they are in pretty bad shape. I have seen municipal courses with better greens. There's a lot of bumps and patches.


If you are looking for a great drive and a great course check out Malibu Golf Club.

Jersey Boys

If you don't have a particular show in mind when you get to Vegas, but you know you want some form of entertainment for the night, I recommend getting up early in the morning and hitting one of the tix4tonight kiosks located around the strip. These are great because they offer shows and buffets, for that night, at almost half the price. We decided to try the one located in Fashion Show Mall, which was close to our hotel and wasn't too busy. While waiting in line they offer great assistants that can let you know what is available and what is worth seeing. We decided to see Jersey Boys, and ended up paying about 40% less had we bought the tickets ahead of time. We also we were able to get great seats up in the second level.

We decided on Jersey Boys because of the amazing reviews on yelp.com and because the employees at tix4tonight said it was a guaranteed good show. In my opinion, which is obviously incredibly important, I found the show to be incredibly entertaining. The changing sets were dynamic and easily took you through the different places Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons experienced throughout their career. Also, the music was awesome. I had no idea The Four Seasons had written so many songs I was familiar with and had grown up hearing. The man who played Frankie Vallie had a ridiculous voice and sounded almost exactly like the original guy.

I would say the only disappointments of the show were, and this really wasn't the fault of the show, but the theater was almost empty. Therefore, I felt bad for the performers because there was almost no energy in that place. (A guy in front of us actually slept through the entire thing.) And lastly, I definitely wouldn't recommend this show to families. The language and comments are pretty intense and definitely could be slightly uncomfortable for families to hear.

Outside of those riveting opinions if you are looking for a good time in Vegas, on the cheap, try tix4tonight and check out Jersey Boys.