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Ingredients:

1 box of of your fave pasta (we like Banza brand chickpea pasta)

1 cucumber sliced in half longways, then chopped

1 cup, chopped cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup, chopped red onion

1/2 cup, pitted kalamata olives

1/2 cup, chopped canned pepperocini peppers

3 tbsp EVOO

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

Juice of 1-2 lemons

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Chop all the veggies and measure out the spices, olives, peppers and EVOO. Boil a pot of salted water and add pasta, cooking per the package instructions. Drain pasta, pour into a bowl, add EVOO and toss the pasta. Place the bowl of pasta in the refrigerator for 10 mins to cool. Once cooled, add the remaining ingredients and toss. Serve immediately! Makes great leftovers. 

*Throw some Feta cheese on there for some extra flare if you aren't going for a vegan dish*

**If you would like to add extra protein, chickpeas, great northern beans, pepperoni or chicken make excellent options**

Will and I are trying to eat vegan dinners each night so I am always on the hunt for dishes that are savory and taste like good old "home cookin'" ya know? This one was delish - Will went back for thirds!

Recipe HERE

Dear Patient,

I know you are probably scared, and I know you are likely confused. How do I know this? Because A LOT of patients tell me this, so I can tell you, you are not alone. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how your previous weeks of injections, blood tests, internal scans and doctors appointments have gone. I think about this when I see each and every one of you. I wonder how you can get through it and if you actually get used to it. I wonder if I ever could of done it myself. I feel your pain because I know how it feels to long for a baby and be completely convinced it may never happen. I know how it feels to stare at a pregnancy test for what seems like hours and then throw it in the bin only to dig it out several times over the next few hours. I know how it feels to get months of negative tests and then finally get pregnant and get to the ultrasound only to hear ‘I’m sorry but it doesn’t have a heartbeat’. I’m one of the lucky ones, I know. I have 2 miracles now and its being a mother that has made me go out on this journey to help people further than I can in the laboratory and urge me to tell you this.

 I really feel for each and every one of you, and I will share tears with you, if you need me to, I will sit in silence with you. You may have a hundred questions for me or may be so confused you don’t know where to start. One thing you need to know - the questions you have are the same questions everyone else has and you do not need to be scared to ask.

Some basic advice that patients find helpful is the following:

• Don’t become focussed on embryo quality, poor embryos make babies too
• You will likely lose a lot of eggs and embryos along the way. It’s actually common to only have 50% of your eggs fertilised and then out of those only get a few make it to day 3 and then only a portion of those make it to a blastocyst on day 5
• Prepare for the unexpected. Your success depends on multiple factors such as stimulation, fertilisation, embryo development, endometrial development and a lot of patients don’t realise this at the beginning.

HOWEVER please know...

• If you get poor results one cycle, you may actually do way better next time as there are so many things that can be changed
• If you are freaked out and overwhelmed commencing treatment, know that behind the scenes, we see so many patients get pregnant quickly.
• I’ve seen patients get failed fertilisation one cycle and then get pregnant the next cycle. I’ve seen patients devastated to only get one egg collected, and then get pregnant with that one egg.

The person you are when you walk through those doors to the fertility clinic is not the same person you will be when you walk out those doors, whether you get pregnant or not. Whatever the end of your journey is, its going the be ok. If it is not ok, it is not the end.

My fertility doctor's new podcast where she not only covers all things fertility but sheds light on what it is like to be a woman. She covers work life balance, living a contingent life and much more. 

Join host Ali Prato as she talks with women (and some men) about their messy, frustrating, painful, heartbreaking, absurd and sometimes hilarious infertility journeys. This podcast is so relatable and a great listen when you are feeling alone on your own journey.

Badass boss babe Shelly Mettling started this podcast to give women a platform to discuss life after loss. She has experienced four miscarriages herself so she gets it! This is a great resource if you're feeling alone after loss.

Tune in to weekly podcasts by life coach Spenser Brassard. Each podcast is fertility focused and full of tips to help navigate fertility and motherhood. 

Join Lisa each Friday to learn more about fertility awareness and to become educated on a wide variety of subjects such as managing intense period pain to improving egg quality.

Australian fertility doctor Michael Chapman does an incredible job walking you through the IVF journey and answering tough questions that we all want to ask.