Organic Fertilizer Vs. Chemical Fertlizer

The first appointment is usually a consultation. They will review your tests, your medical history, your family history, that of your partner, semen analysis for him . . . and they may want to do some of their own testing. They will then go over the options for treatment. You might have a second appointment after any testing they want to review your results and go over treatments.

IUI is not something that you can walk right in and do – it needs to start from Day 1 of your cycle. Most doctors will want to monitor you via bloodwork and ultrasounds especially if they do a medicated IUI with Clomid or injectibles. Then they have to wait for the follicles to grow to a certain level so that you are near ovulation (or do a trigger shot to cause ovulation) and then they will do the IUI. I would not expect to start this from your first appointment.

Sorry to hear about the wait – but it will be worth it in the end!

Good luck and loads of baby dust to you!

Our doctor has run one test after another but in between 3-6 months. I can tell you it has taken us over 2 years just to take all these dam tests and he still has no idea why we can’t get pregnant. He told us that stress levels don’t matter as well as many other things. Any time we ask questions he doesn’t tell us much. I asked my General Practitioner for another referal but she refused and said he is the best and it is the only fertility clinic in our city.

More women today find they want to put off pregnancy until their careers are well established, or until they've gotten more life experience. However, research shows that pregnancies in women over the age of 35 suffer from more problems than those in younger women. How great are the risks compared with the benefits, and what do you really need to be concerned about?
How Old is Too Old to Have a Baby?
According to the Mayo Clinic, a woman's fertility peaks between the ages of 20 and 24. However, fertility rates remain relatively constant through the early 30s, after which they begin to decline:

At age 30 to 35, fertility is 15 to 20 percent below maximum. From age 35 to 39, the decrease is 25 to 50 percent. From 40 to 45, the decrease is 50 to 95 percent.

Technically, any woman who has not gone through menopause, and who does not have other reproductive problems, can become pregnant. Successful pregnancies have been reported in women as old as 59.

Pregnancy Risks After 35
The risk of miscarriage increases after age 35; by the early 40s, more than 50 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Many of these occur at an early stage and may not even be detected, or may be mistaken for a late period. The majority of these miscarriages are due to the chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus.

Other age-related factors affecting fertility include less frequent and/or irregular ovulation, and endometriosis, in which tissue that attaches to the ovaries or fallopian tubes interferes with conception.

When they do get pregnant, women older than 35 may have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and placenta previa. There is also a potentially higher risk of having a baby with low birth weight, and of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

Aiming for a Positive Pregnancy
Although older women may find it somewhat harder to achieve pregnancy, the overall outcomes are excellent. In fact, birth rates for mothers in their 30s and 40s have increased dramatically over the past 25 years. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the birth rate for women age 35 to 39 nearly doubled between 1978 and 1998. Between 1981 and 1997, the birth rate for women in their 40s increased 92 percent.

If you're over 35 and thinking of getting pregnant, a few simple tips will help minimize the risks:

Start taking prenatal vitamins
See your doctor for prepregnancy checkups
Eat well
Exercise regularly
Cut out nicotine, alcohol, and drugs

Finally, if you don't succeed in getting pregnant within six months, see a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility specialist) to discuss next steps.

Sources: The Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy and Baby's First Year (Morrow, 1994); March of Dimes: 888-MODIMES, http://www.modimes.org, http://www.nacersano.org

The information on this Web site is designed for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your pediatrician or family doctor. Please consult a doctor with any questions or concerns you might have regarding your or your child's condition.

Content courtesy of American Baby.

We as a whole society need to decide if we are OK playing God. Why do we see creating life as OK and destroying life as not. Either we interfere or not. I think that euthanasia, IVF, organ transplantation, abortion, fertility drugs all come under the same umbrella. We are interfering in nature's course. I think the end of human life will come as a result of too much interference.

Sunny side up?

That’s why couples are supposed to wait until the pregnancy is carried to term in order to decide what to do with the surplus blastocysts. Yea, I don’t agree with discarding the surplus eggs, but it’s up to the couple undergoing this. It would be great if surplus eggs could be used for hESCR but that’s pretty far from possible. Many ethical issues need to be fixed before anything can be done. Either way, not everyone can adopt. Adoption can be costly too and some have requisites for the adopters

Wow you must have Kaiser through your work? I have Kaiser through an "individual" rather than "work" plan and they told me they don't cover fertility treatments in their individual plans. =( So I pay out of pocket. Meds for one month = $500, ultrasounds $150, insemination $300. Your cost will obviously be less since they are covering you. Invitro is in the thousands, but we haven't gotten there yet.

EDIT — I forgot to say that because they did not cover infertility treatments in the "individual plan," they refused to let me use their infertility services even though I was willing to pay them out of pocket — some liability issue or something. Their infertility services are only for people that are covered by the infertility insurance. So I had to go out of the Kaiser system for my infertility treatments. I live in Los Angeles if that makes any difference — maybe Kaiser is different where you live.

I have been using the clear blue fertility monitor for over a year and I swear by it, and highly recommend it to everyone ttc. It takes all the guess work out of this ttc business, and it helped me to learn everything I needed to know about my cycle. We got our monitor at Walgreen's, it was the only place that sold it, and it is also the only store that sells the tests strips for it in my area. You can also check ebay or amazon, they can sometimes be found on there cheaper, as well as the test strips. You need to purchase the strips in order to use the monitor.

It really is worth it, especially if your ovulation pattern is unpredictable. It will tell you when you are fertile prior to ovulation, as well as when you ovulate, so there is no reading test strip lines, and no guessing at all. It gives you a heads up on when to try, basically. It pretty much puts your mind at ease, as there is no guessing, and you will know you've tried on the right days. They are a bit pricey, so I would recommend looking on ebay or amazon first for a brand new one. You can buy them used, but I have no experience with that, I just hear it is not recommended. Beware the 1st month you use it, you may or may not get a peak reading, as it can take a cycle to become familiar with your hormone levels and cycle. This is very common, but rest assured that many, many women are able to get a peak reading and detect ovulation in the 1st month of use. Out of all the women I know that use it, I was the only one that was not able to get a peak reading my 1st month. So check Walgreen's, or online. I promise you will be very happy with it:)

Good luck to you and lots of baby dust coming your way!!!

Catholics should know that this is morally unacceptable, Pope Benedict condemns this. See the latest video from Vatican.