and if you have read and used it, what has been valuable to you that has come from this tome? I ask b/c I am using a lot of the insem timing information in the 15th chapter to help time my at-home insem and IUI. Also, I've been following a lot of dietary and supplement suggestions (vitex, fish oil, etc..). What has been relevant or not about this book for ya'll?
I am really interested to read what other people respond. I (of course) read The Book, cover to cover _months_ before we started trying, but by the time we got around to our first cycle had forgotten everything. (We used alot of the info in there about having conversations with our donor and getting a legal agreement written up). Then cycle #2, I remembered good ol' SB and reread the whole thing. I am ALL about the FertiTea (I love tea, but its easy to blend yourself so there is no need to order it from Maia -- if you want a bay area rec, let me know). AS for timing, we went the clean-blue-monitor route, which is not to say that it would be my suggestion but up until now we have been using fresh sperm so timing wasn't as much of an issue. In general, I suspect SB's advice is good, but everyone is different (I seem to ovulate around 18 hrs after a peak on the monitor), so you might have to modify depending on your body signs. And whoever is doing your insems will also have an opinion so in the end its a matter of balencing the various advice you get with your 'gut'
ReplyDeleteI read it religiously (parts of it over and over and over) about a year before we started TTC. We are doing our process much less holistically than she suggests, but I did keep her in mind for timing. And then my RE's office tells me something different and I end up all stressed out. Of course, we're monitoring and triggering now, so again, the timing becomes less of an issue.
ReplyDeleteAs for Vitex, don't use it if you're on Clomid. They cancel each other out or something. Google it, there's a lot of info.
Oh, the yellow book. There is some good information in there, but I found that it's not always organized in the most logical manner. For example, here are sections about timing your insem. scattered in a few different places. Overall, the book was a bit on the crunchy side for my taste, and made me a nervous wreck throughout the whole TTC process. With every failed insem, I worried that maybe my bedroom wasn't dark enough, maybe I didn't visualize implantation hard enough, maybe I inseminated at the wrong phase of the moon, maybe it was the whole wheat toast that poisoned my body for conception. The yellow book just brings up so many little things that you could be doing "wrong" that it can make you a bit nutty.
ReplyDeleteMy overall opinion on the book is that it has a lot of good information, and a lot of stuff that should be taken with a grain of salt. I found the information on cervical monitoring to be helpful, as well as the info on insemination timing.
We LOVED that book and swore by in when we were trying to concieve. I think the most valuable part of the book is the section on charting. If you follow all of her charting recomendations (including twice daily cervical checks) you have a great idea of when you ovulate and be able to time everything so much better. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI too read the book, and let's just say it didn't really fit my worldview, so it was hard for me to separate out the helpful information from the moonbeam starshine stuff--I wound up taking a lot of what was actual helpful information with a grain of salt because I was so put off by the other stuff. It did, however, help me think about what questions I had about the process, and I agree that the charting stuff was helpful, but I thought that the charting stuff in Taking Charge of Your Fertility was much better organized and easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteIiiinteresting. As e and Pom both noted, I too read The Book cover to cover about a year ago and am now having to go back through the more salient points. I loved your comments, Gayby, about the *many* things the author wants you to consider when going about this baby-making. I imagine myself trying to account for lunaception, the time of the year affecting most women's O, how hydrogenated oils can gunk up your system, etc...and it makes me want to pull my hair out. What has been useful is the "you are not every patient" mantra, as well as the personal stories they've experienced at Maia that seem to toss "traditional" medical theories regarding fertility out on their collective asses. For example, the story of the woman realizing she ovulates TWICE A MONTH just blows my mind. Leave it to crunchy Lesbian intelligenistas to figure that out. I am trying to follow their best advice such as "don't take your first try too seriously" and throw out more of the...shall we say...interesting concepts. I hope this balance will increase my chances. Here's to this happening next week, and Thanks all you awesome bloggers for your insights!
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