Category: General

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!🌸

This annual health campaign helps to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.

The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer and helps educate women on why early screening and testing is so very important.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to schedule your mammogram with your primary care provider or OB/GYN!

#BreastCancerAwareness #FINA #HelpingFamiliesBuildFamilies

Meet Erica!

Meet Erica, FINA’s lab tech! Erica works so hard in the lab each day, and we are so thankful for the great job she does keeping things running smoothly and efficiently!
Erica loves to spend time outside in nature with her husband and three children.☀ She also loves to go to concerts.🎶 Her favorite food is mac-n-cheese.
Next time you see Erica at FINA, make sure you say hello!

Supporting a loved one with infertility💕

You may know someone who is living with infertility, and while you may not relate personally you want to be a support for your friend.
Here are some things you can do:
1. Let them know you care. This is the best thing you can do for your friend.
2. Do your research on infertility and treatments so you are informed when your friend needs to talk.
3. Let them know you are available if they want to talk.
4. Ask them what they need. You can also ask them what the most helpful things to say are.
5. Support their decisions to have treatments or to stop.
6. Watch their older kids while they go to an appointment.
7. If you know they are trying to lose weight, you could offer to join them as an exercise buddy because it can help you reach your personal fitness goals as well.
8. Be a good listener. If you haven’t gone through infertility personally, you might not know what the right things to say are, but you can always listen.💕
If you personally are a fertility warrior and have some tips to share, we would love to hear from you! What are the most helpful things your friends and family can do for you?

World Embryologist Day

Today is World Embryologist Day! On this day in 1978, the world’s first IVF baby was born, and since then there have been amazing advances in fertility medicine that have helped countless couples achieve their dreams of having a baby .

Embryologists play an important role in an IVF clinic. Embryologists are those who study sperm, eggs, and embryos. They will be able to determine which sperm, eggs, and embryos are the healthiest and can be selected for IVF treatment.

We appreciate our embryologist, Katie, so much and the very important work she does!

#FINA #HelpingFamiliesBuildFamilies

Meet Joan!

Meet Joan, the newest Nurse Practitioner at FINA! Joan has been working with infertility for years, and we are so excited to have her join our team!
Joan loves to cook and to workout. She also loves spending time with her husband and son, and she has a sweet dog named Marley.🐶💕
Next time you’re in the office, make sure you say hello to Joan!

A patient’s FINA story…💕

“I would recommend FINA to anyone going through infertility. We had previously been going to another specialist for 1.5 years and we weren’t getting answers and just a number on their books. This was not the case at FINA, Dr. Davenport, Kendra NP, and ALL of the staff treated my husband and I like we were family to them.

Infertility is so hard and times we felt alone, but FINA always made us feel like I had someone. After less than a year of being a patient at their office I am currently 13 weeks pregnant!! My husband and I have been blessed by FINA. We were actually sad to “graduate” because of how good they were to us. We will definitely be going back to build our family in the future!”

Thank you so much to our sweet patient for sharing her FINA story on Google! We absolutely love what we do and are so thankful to be able to share in these experiences.♥

#FINA #myFINAstory #HelpingFamiliesBuildFamilies

Meet Alexa!

Meet Alexa, one of the nurses at FINA who is also the IVF Coordinator! For patients going through IVF, Alexa coordinates all their care, including appointments, labs, medications, and more. We are so thankful for the important work that she does to keep things running smoothly around here.
Alexa loves to read📚, and she really enjoys family movie night with her husband and two kids🎬🍿. Her favorite thing to eat is chips and dip, and her favorite places to shop are TJ Maxx, Trader Joe’s and the thrift store.
Next time you’re at the office, make sure to say hello to Alexa!

Can I do anything to slow or prevent the aging of my eggs?

Today we are wrapping up this discussion on Diminished Ovarian Reserve. We hope you’ve learned a lot this week and that you are feeling more equipped to make some big decisions.
Can I do anything to slow or prevent the aging of my eggs?
Dr. D says, “In short, ovarian aging cannot be prevented, and the most powerful determinant in ovarian reserve and aging are your genetics. However, as with the rest of the organs in our body, the ovaries age slower when they are subjected to less stress. Healthy eating and exercise are the best place to start. Avoiding stressors, excessive alcohol, and environmental toxins, and minimizing lifestyle stressors are all good ways to maximize the potential of your ovaries. Antioxidants can also help slow this process and can be found in many dietary sources or supplemented in pill form. (e.g. CoQ10)
What if I’m not ready to have children until it is too late❓
For a woman who is planning to have children later in life, it might be wise to consider the freezing of some of her eggs while she is in her 20s or early 30s. …Cryopreservation of her eggs allows for better pregnancy that are consistent with the age of when the eggs were frozen rather than a patient’s current age.
▪️CONCLUSION▪️
No need to panic, but also don’t wait until it’s too late to listen to your biological clock. Several ways exist to test your ovarian reserve, and several interventions are available that may help if your reserve is diminished. Anticipate when you might plan for a family and consider freezing your eggs or embryos if you think you may be older and still desiring to have kids.
Lastly, don’t hesitate to call an infertility specialist to help you assess your situation! We are here to help!”
To schedule a consultation with Dr. Davenport, call us at 256-217-9613. You can also schedule an appointment on our website.
Thank you for joining us this week!💕
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How do I know if I have Diminished Ovarian Reserve?

How does a woman know if she has Diminished Ovarian Reserve❓
Dr. D says that if a woman who is less than 35 years old has regular menstrual cycles, she has no reason to be concerned about her ovarian reserve since it is more than likely adequate. However, around age 35 a woman’s level of concern about diminished ovarian reserve should certainly increase. Even though menstrual cycles remain normal, ovarian reserve is reaching its limits in these women. Several tests exist that will hint at how many and/or the quality of the eggs remaining. … Finally, an ultrasound can be performed to check the ‘antral follicle count’. This is a snapshot in time of the follicles that are next in the cue to grow and mature, but also hints at how many eggs remain.
What if I do have Diminished Ovarian Reserve❓
▪️You are already on your way to the most important step which is gaining an awareness that time is of the essence. If you are in a life position to have children, do it while you can!
▪️If you are 35 or over and have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully for 6 months or greater, it is prudent to allow for an infertility specialist to perform a thorough infertility work-up.
▪️An infertility specialist can also help you stimulate multiple eggs each cycle, which will act to increase your overall chances to conceive each cycle.
▪️IVF (in vitro fertilization) may be recommended to you in certain situations. This will give you the highest chances for pregnancy in the shortest amount of time and can also allow you to freeze embryos for future use while you still have eggs left.
▪️Your infertility specialist may recommend antioxidants and/or other supplements that have been shown to be possibly beneficial in certain patients with DOR.
Tomorrow we will be wrapping up this discussion. You’ll learn if anything can be done to slow or prevent the aging process of your eggs. We will also address the concern that some women have who are not ready to have children quite yet but may want them in the future.