Swimming in Circles: Book Review & Giveaway

When Mook and I stared at the results of his sperm analysis, life changed forever in that instant for us.

The results were bad. Truly bad--and the even harder part is that we were prepared for the problem to be with me. Such a "standard" when thinking about why you aren't able to get pregnant--the woman automatically thinks: "something is wrong with me!"

So as we absorbed what the doctors were telling us, we were both wondering how we were going to navigate this path that had been laid out for us? I was having a hard time finding books/websites/blogs that had any more than a blip about male factor infertility.

Thankfully, I connected with the ALI community and it became a place where I learned, shared and received support. But as I've mentioned before, Mook was dealing with the diagnosis in more private manner and felt isolated as far as sharing his feelings and connecting with other men experiencing a similar diagnosis.

I only wish we could have had a book like Swimming in Circles by Michael Barr for Mook and I to read together during those really dark days. However, it has proved to give us some "back-dated" healing after absorbing Michael's thoughts and reading about the experiences he and his wife went through.

Thanks to the wonders of social media, Michael and I have become blog and twitter pals in recent months, so it's meant a lot for us to be able to have this connection.

He has graciously offered to giveaway a signed copy of his book! You can also read the first 64 pages here.

Here is a quick blurb from Michael during one of our discussions:

"...if you think infertility is a taboo subject to begin with, just imagine being a guy. That's quite honestly why I wrote the book - almost all the books and all the (good) blogs are from females, and while it's not impossible to interact, I think guys often feel like the impostor - so we often lurk, but rarely share.  I just about went nuts going through all the in vitro because I literally had nobody to talk to about it - and the book became the outlet.  What comes out quite literally looks like a love story with all the ridiculousness of our lives and infertility mixed in. I'm not sure that's going to get guys out of their man-rooms and into the discussion, but at the very least, maybe the story will resonate with them a little and they won't feel so alone. If that happens, I've done my job."


Michael has also offered to hold a Q & A session here for anyone who has questions about male factor infertility, his book or other question about his journey--just ask in the comment section!

And now onto the giveaway!



To enter to win a signed copy of Michael's book:  ways to enter!
1) Leave a comment below discussing your thoughts on male factor infertility. For example: is it talked about enough or not? Do you think men suffer just as much as women in the IF journey?
2) "Like" Michael's Facebook Page for Swimming in Circles (leave comment stating you did so)
3) Tweet this post (leave a comment stating you did so)

You can enter the book giveaway from May 24, 2011 - May 31, 2011 and a winner will be chosen by a random generator. Please leave an e-mail where you can be contacted!

Pre~Seed?

I decided if I did indeed start this month (which I did yesterday...*sigh) that we would try the lubricant Pre-Seed -have heard it has benefits to keep the sperm alive, and provide a less "irritable" experience if I happen to have less "egg-white" mucus around O time.

Has anyone used this/heard good or bad things about it? I did ask my OBGYN when I went in for my HSG--he said that obviously that natural mucus is best, but that he didn't have enough information to tell me one way or another.

I have read several accounts on the website reviews that it has been a great purchase (but I guess their website would not promote any bad publicity!) So, I turn to others in the community to see if anyone can share some knowledge! Thanks in advance...

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Our weekend was nice and relaxing--got a lot done around the house. Visited with friends and family. We did decide to tell DH's parents this weekend about what we have been going through. They came up to have lunch with us today, and since we had the opportunity to tell them in person, we decided that was best. My family has known for a while now--I rely on my mom for a lot of advice and comfort! And not that we wanted to "keep" it from his parents--we just didn't want to create more emotions than need be, and thought they might be more prone to be upset since the uncertainty in all this stems from what we find out about DH's results. But I think we were both pleasantly surprised-I saw a few tears build up in both their eyes, but they had nothing but positive encouraging words for us. I think we both feel more at ease when our families know what we are going through, since we value family so much and are very lucky to have a lot of love and support.

We are having friends over to watch the Grammy's tonight--off to get dressed up for our "red carpet" event!