Lead Time for Natural Cycle IVF

[Anonymous]

PP12:31 I went a bit nutty about diet, bought all organic, cut out red meat and made my husband keep his testicles on ICE because it's been so hot lately I thought he might be frying up the few good ones he produced. I did not stay on bedrest after the transfer but my RE recommended taking it easy for a few days.

[Anonymous]

Exactly how did you put your DH's %^&$ on Ice???? I assume you were joking, like on that episode of "Fraser" when Niles wore some sort of device to keep his junk at a low body temp.

[Anonymous]

Actually, she probably means putting an ice pack on his testicles. This what I asked mine to do from time to time when we were TTC naturally. For IVF with ICSI it doesn't really matter because they need to select only sperm. I just hope they pick not only one that looks good, but the one with all the DNA necessary for the development of the fetus. It's actually quite worrying to me this whole sperm picking process as it's very subjective (they pick only based on how it looks - shape and motility). At least at Dominion Fertility.

[Anonymous]

I was not kidding about puttiing my DH's testicles on ice even though we did nat cycle IVF with ICSI, I can't say for sure it helped but we got our first official ++beta today.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Congratulations! So happy the natural cycle IVF worked for you! I am starting mine this week.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, 16:39!! Please keep us posted. There seem to be a bunch of us on here thinking about NC-IVF or about to take the plunge. It's exciting to see success stories!!

And that's too funny about putting DH's testicles on ice. But perhaps helpful! Looking back at last month's cycle, my DH did a lot of running the week I ovulated, and given the hot weather, that probably wasn't the best thing for his sperm count.

[Anonymous]

After the initial beta, how many times do you have to go back to the fertility clinic before they release you to the obgyn?

[Anonymous]

I think they release patients to their ob after they do an ultrasound to confirm a heartbeat, not sure how long they check betas.

[Anonymous]

Well...if you are looking into NC-IVF...then in this area you are talking about Dominion.

At Dominion, they do betas to 2000+, and may go longer based on the discretion of the RE. Since my first beta was 4000+, we went in for two additional betas.

Dr. G followed me up until my CVS at around 11 weeks. For legal, insurance reasons I think they can follow you up until 10 weeks, which is where Dr. G stopped with me...
My ultrasounds were at 5.5weeks (to make sure nothing was outside the uterus), 7.3 weeks (to do heartbeat check) and then at around 9 weeks (to do a final heartbeat check/viability check), mainly so I didn't head off for CVS unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

PP, why did you chose CVS over a standard genetic testing (bloodwork, ultrasound)? I heard That 1 in 100 women have a miscarriage after the CVS.

[Anonymous]

10:23 here...

I am AMA and I am a geneticist...knowing the genetic health of my baby, as early as possible so that we may have options and choices regarding the future of our unborn child was our main goal. We had already experienced going through the CVS procedure in a previous pregnancy, and had determined that my son had T18. We knew that with our twin pregnancy, we had to know the genetic health of the fetuses, or the pregnancy would, emotionally, be impossible for me. We had CVS done safely and effectively on a twin pregnancy...we have healthy b/g twins at home.

The risk commonly quoted for CVS (1/100) is highly inaccurate.

The current literature suggests, that when performed by a highly experienced and qualified physician the risks are between 1/400-1/1600. I believe that the physician I went to, the risks for his personal practice were even lower.

The results from NT and blood work only give one 'ratios' of risk. They do NOT give absolutes regarding genetic health of the fetus. The only way one can obtain an accurate genetic assessment of the fetus is through either CVS or amnio. We chose CVS because the procedure is performed at around 11 weeks and the initial results are obtained within hours.

Once one has lived through a loss from one of the lethal trisomies, one's perspective of 'risk' is changed greatly. Once one learns that if a child with trisomy 13 or 18 makes it to a viable gestation date, and is born, that the child will live only a few hours/days, and will live in severe discomfort and be afforded NO medical intervention...one's ideas about termination of pregnancy shifts into protection mode.

That is all I will say about THAT issue...since these decisions are extremely private and very personal.

CVS affords one with the opportunity to maintain privacy in these very personal and emotional choices.

[Anonymous]

PP, thank you for the detailed explanation. I was thinking about CVS myself, but my pregnancy ended in miscarriage (no chromosomal abnormalities were identified, the baby just died for some reason). My co-worker though who was 40 at the time she was pregnant just did a bloodwork and ultrasound, had great results and her baby is perfect. But I understand why you chose to do it. I would do it too, although again the prospect of miscarriage scares me.

[Anonymous]

10:58 here, again...

If you have CVS done with Dr. Stern at GIVF you and a healthy fetus will be perfectly fine. He is one of the top CVS practitioners in the country.

Dr. Wiener in Philadelphia (Thomas Jefferson University) is also one of the tops as well. However, we went to him for the first CVS, and had a bad experience that we just didn't want to go through again.

To stay local, and see Dr. Stern, and have a totally different experience...well, it was top priority for us.

For AMA ladies (over 38...in my case over 42) the risks of carrying a fetus with a genetic 'issue' are probably higher than the risks of the CVS itself.

PP I am sorry for your loss...I hope you have the chance to face the CVS decision again in the future!

[Anonymous]

NP here. 10:58- Do you know if Dr. Stern will see patients who did not do their IVF at GIVF? If so, how far in advance would you need to schedule the procedure? I'm also AMA, and want to get genetic testing done. I would prefer to do it earlier, as long as I wouldn't be unnecessarily incurring more risk of miscarriage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:58 here, again...

If you have CVS done with Dr. Stern at GIVF you and a healthy fetus will be perfectly fine. He is one of the top CVS practitioners in the country.

Dr. Wiener in Philadelphia (Thomas Jefferson University) is also one of the tops as well. However, we went to him for the first CVS, and had a bad experience that we just didn't want to go through again.

To stay local, and see Dr. Stern, and have a totally different experience...well, it was top priority for us.

For AMA ladies (over 38...in my case over 42) the risks of carrying a fetus with a genetic 'issue' are probably higher than the risks of the CVS itself.

PP I am sorry for your loss...I hope you have the chance to face the CVS decision again in the future!

Thanks so much for sharing your insights. I just wanted to add more praise for Dr. Stern at GIVF. We had an excellent experience with him and will certainly go back to him for a CVS when we conceive again.