Tomorrow will be New Year’s Eve. There’s always the strangest feeling in the air on the last day of the year, and the same can be said for the first day. There’s an odd sense of closure as you bid the year farewell; and an equally odd sense of unfamiliarity as you wake on the first day of a new year anxious to see what will unfold. Don’t ask me why but I vividly remember the New Year’s Eve when 1987 became 1988. I was 6.5 years old, and I stood bawling next to my mother telling her that I didn’t want 1987 to end. I think that’s the only time I’ve ever cried at midnight. This year, if there happen to be tears, they will be warm and happy. I will look back on 2008 fondly and it will be noted as one of the best I’ve ever lived. (more…)
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When Yesterday Becomes Last Year
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Overheard in the Fertility Clinic
Thursday, November 27th, 2008Shelton and I sat anxiously waiting to see the doctor, and the following conversation occurred:
Him: I hate being in this place.
Me: What?! I LOVE this place. This is where babies are made!
Him: No, babies are supposed to be made at home.
Me: Well, we see how well that worked out for us.
Here We Go
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008So here’s some news. We’re ready to start this whole baby making business. We visited with our fertility specialist this morning, kind of a second “first time” appointment in which we discussed the schedule and procedures. I’ve been anticipating doing this in September 2009, but it looks like we’ll be doing their July/August cycle. All goes well and as planned, I should be pregnant this time next year!
The procedures that we’ll be using are ICSI, IVF, and MESA (microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration, a surgical procedure to retrieve sperm). We had a long and informative conversation with the clinic’s insurance coordinator. She walked us through each and every expense, and the total bill is $18,407. That’s Shelton’s entire MESA (about $4,000 cash), all of my medications/Rxs (about $3,500 cash), the IVF procedure ($8,000 cash), all the sonograms, hysterosalpingograms, blood work, IVF class, tests for hepatitis and HIV in both Shelton and I, lab work and freezing (about $3,000 cash).
All I can say is, this baby had BETTER love me! haha
We’re looking at doing the MESA in January, the class in the spring, I’ll start my cycle of birth control in June and then mid-July start taking my injections and then egg retrieval/IVF in early August. I know it’s going to come so quickly. I’ve been on the verge of happy and nervous tears all day long. So who knows, maybe on our seventh anniversary in August, we’ll find out we get to be parents.
The doctor was confident, given our health and young age, that we’ll have ample eggs and being able to transfer a single embryo successfully.
I know it’s been quiet around here for a while, but we’ve just been trying to decide the best time to try to start our family. We hope 2009 turns out to be that time for us and we’ll of course continue to update as things happen. It’s going to be one heck of a ride and we’re excited to take all of you along with us.
Fertility Treatments Linked With Birth Defects
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008We infertile couples have to face a lot of decisions that other couples don’t have to. So, if you knew that your assisted efforts to get pregnant would increase the likelihood of having a child with birth defects, would you still do it? A lot of parents-to-be are going to have to ask that question.
A study released by the CDC suggests that babies conceived via methods ”such as in vitro fertilization and the use of donor eggs—are two to four times more likely to be born with certain types of birth defects than infants conceived naturally.” What do they mean by “certain” birth defects? Their list includes septal heart defects, or a hole in the heart, cleft lip, cleft palate, and gastrointestinal defects.
“It is important for parents to realize that the individual risk for these birth defects remain low,” Reefhuis said, a member of the study. “It sounds like a lot to say ‘a two- to fourfold increased risk,’ but you have to keep in mind that the starting risk for these individual defects is actually pretty low.”
Meet MyFertilityPlan.com and Their Infertility Haiku Contest
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008This wasn’t supposed to be a last-minute announcement, but it has turned in to one. Entries are due no later than Mon. Nov. 24 at noon est. (Good thing those Haikus are so short!)
Some good friends of Baby Or Bust, My Fertility Plan, are hosting this first annual International Infertility Haiku Contest. Here are the contest details:
Why haiku? Anyone can do it. A haiku is a three line poem, made up of only 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables. The second line has 7 syllables. The third line has 5 syllables. That’s it.
Your haiku must relate in some way to your family-building journey and it must follow the haiku-syllable rules. There are 2 categories – Serious and Light-Hearted. Just make sure you label which category your poem falls in (even if you think it’s obvious). If your entry relates to medication, it will also be considered for the medication-related haiku award.
It is free to enter – and you can enter as many times as you want. Each haiku must be in a separate e-mail. Please include your name and email as well. The contest is open to international entrants, but the entry must include an English translation.
MyFertilityPlan.com just launched last month. They work with infertile couples to build a customized fertility plan, and introduce the best options that optimize their chances of conception. The company is owned by Angie Best-Boss and Evelina Weidman, two advocates for women’s health and infertile couples. They have a couple of books under their belts, and a new-release coming soon that we can’t wait to tell you about!
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008Did you know one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer? I had no idea that the stats were that high.
I’m very fortunate that this is not a disease that runs in my family (we just have bad ovaries and diabetes!). Last summer my grandfather’s wife was diagnosed, underwent a double mastectomy, chemo, shaved her gorgeous blonde hair, got new boobs and new nipples and is alive and kickin’ today and up to her old rowdy self. It was the first time I’d ever personally known someone with breast cancer and I watched with admiration her strength, courage, and unwillingness to let this disease beat her. And it didn’t. Watching her survive breast cancer is something I will carry with me the rest of my life, and the lessons of her strength I will employ in times of my greatest need.
You can help support Breast Cancer Awareness month, and continue helping National Breast Cancer Foundation in their courageous fight against this disease, by publishing this button on your site.
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