Dealing with stress over the holidays

The holidays can be a very difficult time for individuals experienceing infertility.  RHS would like to try to assist you in preparing yourself for a pleasant holiday season.

Resolve, the National Infertility Association, has very helpful resources to assist you in coping with the holiday season and infertility on a daily basis.  Please go to www.resolve.org and go under support and services.  It will give you the option to go to managing infertility stress.  There are several articles listed to help with dealing with the holidays.  We can also print these out and mail them to you if you need them. 

Always remember, RHS is here to support you during your fertility journey.  We are here to listen and guide you during this difficut time.  Please call any staff member at the office if assistance is needed.

Have you registered yet?? 

RHS is excited to host a four week immersion in Yoga, meditation, and relaxation techniques instructed by former infertility patient, Melissa Watts. 

This program is designed to educate participants on the healing powers of Yoga while simultaneously opening a support network to other women who are having the same experiences in fertility treatment.  You will learn a series of Yoga postures designed to increase blood flow into the pelvis and hips, as well as release stress and anxiety. 

This program is open to all women trying to conceive, not just current RHS patients.

You must preregister!  The cost is $60 which includes all four classes.  Classes will be held beginning Saturday, July 9 and continue throughout the remaining Saturdays in July.  Class time is 11:30am to 1:00pm.  Please bring a Yoga mat, towel, water, and a journal and pen to each session. 

To register, call or email RHS at 412-731-8000/ Ivfinfo@ivfpittsburgh.com.  For any questions regarding the program, call or email Melissa Watts at

412-613-0991/ melissatituswatts@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you! 

Are you looking for way to learn more about infertility and how our “Balance Within” philosophy can benefit you?  If so, save the dates for Thursday, June 2 and Friday, June 3!!

RHS “Balance Within” Fair and Open House

RHS is holding an open house at our brand new facility on Thursday June 2.  Doors will be open from 5-7pm to anyone interested in learning more about what RHS can offer. 

Our physicians and clinical staff will be available to answer questions about various treatments.  Our financial counselors will be available to provide information about treatment costs and options for financing. Our laboratory and ultrasound department will be open and representatives will be on hand to show visitors around. 

Some of our “Balance Within”  partners, including a yoga instructor, health coaches, an acupuncturist and a social worker will be here as well. Each of our partners will have information available and be ready to discuss how their specialty can assist with stress reduction and relaxation while undergoing fertility treatment.

Yoga Sampler

If you are curious about how the benefits of yoga can help you on your fertility journey, please join us on Friday, June 3 from 6-7pm at Keystone Health Club located at 655 Braddock Ave., East Pittsburgh, PA  15112 for RHS’ Yoga Sampler.  This event will allow you to experience relaxation techniques and stretches designed to aid fertility.  To register for this, please call 412-731-8000.  Admission will be $5.00/person and collected upon arrival. 

We look forward to the opportunity to welcome you to our new facility and showing you all we have to offer. 

Weight Loss with RHS

As 2011 begins, so many of us have promised ourselves that we will lose weight and become healthier for the new year, right? Sadly, most of us know that this is sometimes easier said than done! 

At RHS, we recognize that while undergoing the stress of infertility, it is often hard to focus on weight loss at the same time. Weight plays a big role in fertility, however. A patient with a healthy weight is more likely to become pregnant than an overweight patient. Our patients also need to be within a healthy weight range to safely undergo IVF. All patients planning an IVF cycle must be at a BMI of 37 or lower to be approved for treatment. 

Our staff is here to help and support you through both your weight loss and infertility journeys. We have started a program for prospective IVF patients who are overweight. Patients call their coordinator once a week and “weigh in.” We track your weight loss and let you know how much further you need to go before you are able to attempt to become pregnant. If this isn’t motivation, then what is? What could be better than losing weight, becoming pregnant and feeling the accomplishment that goes along with both of those things?

Contact RHS if these are two of your goals for 2011. We can help!

  RHS Is Thrilled to Announce…

Our newest team member, Dr. Teresa Erb! Dr. Erb joined Reproductive Health Specialists on December 1, 2010.

Dr. Erb was born and raised in Pittsburgh and is excited to be part of the RHS staff. She is the wife of Daniel Erb, also a Pittsburgh native, and the mother of two beautiful girls, Isabella (3 ½ years old) and Sofia (4 months old). She enjoys yoga, reading, listening to music, dancing with her daughters and watching the Steelers with her husband.

After receiving her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Erb completed both her residency training in OB/GYN and her fellowship training in REI (Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility) at Magee Women’s Hospital, UPMC.

Dr. Erb’s experience includes acting as a Clinical Instructor at Magee in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gynecologic Subspecialties Division from 2006 – 2007. From 2007 – 2010, she conducted research in human embryonic stem cell development for which she holds two provisional patents. She also served as Co-Chair of the Fertility Preservation Options in Oncology Patients Committee at Magee from 2007 – 2010. Dr. Erb’s contributions include writing two IRB proposals for ovarian and testicular tissue cryopreservation in oncology patients and in patients who are to undergo bone marrow transplantation. She has served as a guest speaker at Shadyside Hospital Cancer Centers, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Magee Women’s Hospital and the 3^rd Annual Hereditary Cancer Conference. 

Dr. Erb is a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG).  She holds current board certification in OB/GYN.

Dr. Erb is now accepting new patient appointments and has openings right away! If you are interested in meeting her and beginning your journey through fertility treatment together, contact us to set up your consultation visit.                                                                   

Difficulty conceiving is not limited to any certain population of people - infertility affects all walks of life and 15% of couples worldwide.  However, because infertility is often thought of as “embarrassing” or “private”, it’s common for couples to not know who to turn to or who can relate to what they are going through.  Often it is just easier to not say anything than to go through the explanation of infertility to family or friends that may not understand.

CNN recently ran a story on Style Network celebrities Bill and Giuliana Rancic who have been facing the lonely journey of infertility treatment and aren’t afraid to tell their story.  The Rancics share with their viewers just how easy it is to feel like a failure when you are successful at everything in life - except fertility.  Giuliana tells CNN that she feels sharing their story may help others to open up.

When it comes to infertility, just knowing there is someone else out there going throught the same problems you are can alleviate so much stress.  Infertility is not something to be ashamed of, but something to consider an obstacle of life that can hopefully be overcome and eventually just a part of your story.

If you are interested in seeing the entire CNN interview with Bill and Giuliana Rancic, click here.

Well, here we are! Our new building is amazing! The move went off without a hitch! 

It was a long, hard preparation, but it is definitely worth all of the work. We have been in the new office four weeks already, and it has quickly become home to us. We still have some small odds and ends to complete, but for the most part, the everyday flow is going very smoothly. 

We hope that all of our existing patients find our new state-of-the-art facility to be welcoming and invite anyone who is interested in treatment to make a new patient appointment to find out what RHS can do to make their dreams come true.   

PS. Stay tuned for pictures of our new building – soon to be posted on our website! 

There have been approximately 4 million births resulting from IVF cycles since the first “test tube baby” was born in July of 1978. So, it is a well-deserved honor for Robert Edwards to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his development of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). After much trial and error beginning in the 1950s, Robert Edwards refined the fertility treatment that has contributed to the happiness of infertile couples all over the world.

Here at RHS, we pride ourselves on knowing we can further increase the number of successful births from IVF. So far, 70 babies have been born from our 2009 IVF cycles, and we are awaiting many more!

The staff members at RHS go through the ups and downs of IVF cycles right alongside our patients. From arranging finances and undergoing treatment to rearranging appointments and getting daily injections – right up to the day of the pregnancy test. We get just as excited as the patients when we hear the much-anticipated answer to the question: “Who was positive today?”

So, we commend Robert Edwards on his amazing accomplishment of receiving the 2010 Nobel Prize. Without the discovery of IVF, many dreams would never have come true.

This post is written by Shelley Leech, Dr. Kubik’s new OI Coordinator.

My job at Reproductive Health Specialists is to coordinate OI cycles, educate patients, and help patients understand testing and medication throughout their cycle. I have been a medical assistant for 17 years, working for a family practice office for 10 years and an Ob/Gyn office for seven years.

In my first experience I had working with an infertility patient, my thoughts were that we were interfering with nature and that we should let it take its course. I felt like we were playing God. I learned soon afterward how long it had been for this couple to try and conceive and had no luck. I asked myself how I would feel if the shoe was on the other foot. I now have the feeling that I am more like an angel sent to help, rather than someone playing God. 

I can’t explain the feeling we as infertility specialists get when we can tell a patient they are going to have a baby after they have been trying to get pregnant for so long. It is so fulfilling to me to know that I have been an active part of the process in helping someone to conceive. It is truly a miracle, the “Miracle of Life.” I am here at RHS to help make your dreams come true and help make your little miracle.

Shelley is from Leechburg, Pennsylvania, where she has lived for 32 years. She is married with two children.

Recently we have had a few requests from our patients asking for more information on acupuncture and its benefits.  In return, we have contacted several acupuncturists and they have readily agreed to write for our blog periodically.

 Our first post is written by Maureen Tighe, ND, L.Ac. at Trillium Natural Medicine in Pittsburgh.

Acupuncture is a therapy that not only compliments western medicine’s approach to infertility, but also offers a unique approach for improving outcomes with couples trying to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy.  

Reproductive endocrinology (RE) and western medicine excel in their ability to diagnose obstacles with fertility such as fallopian tube obstruction, hypothyroidism, premature ovarian failure and luteal phase defect. Ruling out these possibilities or diagnosing them is imperative in order to determine the best course of action for each couple. Success rates with IVF and IUI are much higher than they were twenty years ago; therefore, RE offers many couples a much greater chance of conceiving.

Acupuncture gently nourishes or tonifies aspects of health that relate to women’s health: menstruation, fertility, pregnancy and menopause. Most often women have patterns of disharmony involving the yin organs: the liver, spleen or kidney, as well as qi (spiritual energy) and blood. With the insertion of fine, sterile needles along the surface of the body, movement of qi and blood is stimulated, allowing communication among organ systems. This restores normal physiology of organs and glands that relate to fertility. 

A convenient side effect of acupuncture is the release of endorphins, which promotes a sense of calm and well-being.  Many women opt to do acupuncture in conjunction with IUIs or IVFs in order to improve the efficacy. It is a proactive investment in one’s health that results in not only being more fertile, but also improving the health of the mom, the pregnancy and the baby.

At Trillium Natural Medicine, our utmost care is given to ensure the most thorough and effective treatment plan for addressing each individual’s or couple’s needs. We offer an empowered approach towards enhancing fertility and improving RE procedure outcomes.

Maureen Tighe, N.D., L.Ac.

Trillium Natural Medicine, LLC

3043 West Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15216
412-571-9355