BUY IN VITRO
FERTILITY GODDESS
+ FREE HERBS & IVF EBOOK
VALUED AT $29.95!
2 eBooks = ONLY $9.95
In Vitro Fertility Goddess
.
.
There exists a form of treatment that in future years may become an alternative treatment to IVF for the under -35s. It's called IVM -In Vitro Maturation.
Currently it is being offered to women with polycystic ovaries instead of IVF. Why? Because it doesn't involve ovarian stimulation and women with PCOS are more likely to suffer ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome when undergoing IVF treatment.
A cycle with no sniffing and no injecting! When can I sign up, you say. How does it work?
Firstly there are only a handful of clinics in the world at this stage offering the procedure, which is in its early stages of development. They are currently offering it to women with PCOS in their early to mid-thirties. For others, if you have just been born and are reading this no doubt by the time you reach your infertile years you'll be able to access it on any street corner. Anybody else will have to wait and see.
The way it works is that the follicles normally produced in a menstrual cycle are extracted when still immature - sized between 2-8mm as opposed to in IVF when they are grown to 10 mm or more. Most of the action then occurs in the lab, including the heavy petting, the maturing of the eggs and the fertilization, via ICSI.
The downside however is that success is far more likely in the under 35's due to the reliance on the ovaries to produce their own healthy eggs.
The pregnancy rate in some UK clinics is 20-30% for those under 38 with PCOS. Four hundred babies have been born worldwide as a result of IVM. It is expected that in the future it will overtake IVF as the preferred treatment for under 35's, being cheaper and without the drug side-effects.
.
Read Air Travel and IVF here »
If there is one thing I wish I could have experienced, it's a pregnancy without bleeding.
I know this sounds selfish, as there are plenty of women who would simply like to experience a pregnancy. At least I can say I've been pregnant, a total of four times and, although I've only ended up with one child I have ended up with a greatly enriched vocabulary of words to describe red, pink and brown.
Three pregnancies ended in miscarriage in the first trimester and during the one successful (although at times dodgy) one, I experienced two lots of bleeding, in the first and third trimesters. Now if there's one thing to take the joy away from pregnancy it's to discover that you have bled or are bleeding. All of a sudden you go from dreamily checking Baby Goods catalogues to fanatically checking your underpants every hour.
With my first pregnancy I was somewhat ignorant about the potential ramifications of bleeding and in fact didn't initially have a clue that I was pregnant because I had this dark brown blood spotting at five weeks and thought it was the beginnings of a weird period. When, like mine, your periods are totally irregular, you have no idea about these things, it all becomes an accepted part of nature's flaws.
When the spotting seemed to stop, I bought a pregnancy test and tried it. The double lines were there and that was all the proof I needed that I was indeed pregnant. For all I knew brown bleeding in the first trimester of pregnancy was normal and I didn't give it a second thought. However, just as I'd informed family and friends of my condition, the spotting returned, heavier, and like a brownish red discharge. At 6 weeks pregnancy I should have started to worry but kept trying to ignore it, even plugging it with tampons with the misguided idea it would go away.
Of course it didn't and I miscarried at 6 weeks and 5 days. Naturally, the second time around I was more alert to what was happening as the awful sense of déjà vu crept up on me again. The worse bit was, even with all the awareness in the world, there's not an ounce of empowerment. You feel utterly helpless, like you're observing the build up of a cyclone that could have fatal results or could turn into a low pressure system and fizzle out, without being able to do anything or extricate yourself from it in any way.
When I look back, each miscarriage and ‘threatened miscarriage' had some differences in the way they manifested. The first two miscarriages began with the brown spotting and yet the ‘threatened miscarriage' (although technically they're all ‘threatened miscarriages' until they actually happen), the one which went on to a successful pregnancy, was bright red to start with and then eventually became a kind of tea rose and then russet brown. All of this meant I was becoming fully conversant with the red spectrum of the Dulux chart. Really, I thought, books and doctor's surgeries should carry a type of ‘bleeding chart' with all the possible colours so we can identify them with greater accuracy.
The last miscarriage came on suddenly, starting with faint pinkish-but-not-fuchsia spotting and in twenty-four hours was in full swing.
All of this was very scary but the substantial crimson haemorrhaging I experienced in my third trimester was terrifying. To have gotten that far and to think that something was terribly wrong all of a sudden adds a new dimension to ‘fear in pregnancy', although of course heavy bleeding while pregnant is alarming at any stage.
After all of this doom and gloom, there are some slightly more cheery statistics out there, in that only 50% of women who bleed in the first trimester go on to miscarry. And as I said at the start, it's better to have been pregnant and bled than not been pregnant at all. Jodi Panayotov
For more on these eBooks click here » . . . . . . . . 
In the meantine, if you are looking for some more detailed and immediate answers, I highly recommend you have a look at The Fertility Plan » because it includes hugely informative eBook Preventing Miscarriage »
.
Now more commonly referred to as ‘Early Pregnancy Failure'. Is when the egg is fertilized and, as the cells divide, the baby part fails to develop and only the sac is present. May be detected on ultrasound and is often a cause of early or missed miscarriage.
I confess that, despite being the owner of many a blighted ovum, I have been highly neglectful of them. By neglectful I mean that I've failed to acknowledge their very existence.
It wasn't until I was thirty-nine that I gained an awareness of the blighted ovum as they are incredibly insidious and it's only when you start poking around trying to make sense of your fertility problems that you generally learn about them.
So imagine my surprise when I learnt that not only was my first failed pregnancy likely due to a blighted ovum but that I may have had more that I hadn't a clue about.
It was explained to me that the definition of one is a pregnancy that starts to develop at the embryonic stage as a sac without the future content, the baby. So it's like having an unfurnished untenanted house inside you. Often it will self-abort before you've had time to realize it's there although some can linger, in which case you may experience a bleeding after blighted ovum is discovered. An ultrasound of blighted ovum is the chief way to confirm its existence before the bleeding commences.
Apparently they are fairly widespread and, the older you get, the more common, but nobody knows the true cause of blighted ovum. So yet again we find one of nature's many obstacles to reproduction and wish we hadn't. And another case of ignorant bliss being replaced by dashed hopes (this time in the form of cracked eggs).
What is a Miscarriage?
A miscarriage or a spontaneous abortion as the medical establishment refers to it is defined as the natural or spontaneous end of a pregnancy before 20 weeks gestation. After that, the loss of the foetus is called a stillbirth.
While one in four pregnancies are estimated to end in miscarriage, many go unreported as they occur too early in the pregnancy to be noticed. Indeed, some estimates have the rate of miscarriage at 50 per cent across the board as it occurs before the first period would have been missed.
More than three quarters of all miscarriages occur in the first 12 weeks.
The frequency of miscarriage also increases with age. But amid all the doom and gloom there is some good news as in most cases the next pregnancy will go to term.
What Causes a Miscarriage?
While there are many reasons why a miscarriage can occur, not all can be identified.
The main culprit lies in genetic abnormalities found in the embryo. Chromosomal abnormalities occur in more the half of all embryos miscarried in the first 13 weeks. While the incident of genetic problems increases with age, they are mostly random and have nothing to do with the parents. And the chances are they won't occur the next time around.
Another cause of early miscarriage may be progesterone deficiency or low progesterone levels in the second half of the luteal phase (menstrual cycle). In this case, medical practitioners may prescribe progesterone suplements the would be mother's hormone levels although there has yet to be a conclusive study on the merits of such supplements in preventing further miscarriages.
In the second trimester, up to 15% of miscarriages may be due to cervical problems, uterine malformation or fibrods (growths in the uterus).
Other General Causes of Miscarriage
- the foetus fails to attach itself to the uterus or attaches itself outside of the uterus.
- problems with umbilical chord.
- issues with the placenta (such as the mother's immune system rejecting it).
- uncontrolled diabetes greatly increases the risk of miscarriage (while those with controlled diabetes are not at higher risk). It is also worth noting here that diabetes may develop during pregnancy. This is known as gestational diabetes. So keeping a check on the disease is a very important both before and during gestation.
- polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS is also leading risk factor as up to 50% of pregnancies in women suffering from the condition end up in miscarriage during the first trimenester.
- exposure to chemical pollutants such as household cleaning detergents can also trigger a miscarriage. Some doctors go as far as advising pregnant women to even avoid filling up their cars to avoid inhaling the toxic fumes.
- smoking, alcohol and recreational drugs. A recent study found that even one glass of wine a day may be harmful.
- too much caffeine: a recent study (January 2008) found that women who consume who consume 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day - the amount in 10 ounces of coffee or 25 ounces of tea - may double their risk of miscarriage.
- avoid eating large fish as they can contain high levels of mercury.
- also avoid consuming soft cheeses like gorgonzola or brie.
- lose weight. Yes Obesity is fast becoming a leading cause of miscarriage - not mention birth defects.
- eat healthily. Stacey Robert's ‘Herbs and IVF' eBook contains some very useful and up-to-minute tips for a healthy fertility diet both before and during pregnancy. To find out more click here »
- avoid stressful situations. Indeed, a recent British study found that stress can increase the risk of miscarriage.
- stay away from hot tubs.
- microwave ovens. More research is needed here too to be conclusive but the medical advice today is to stand at least 170 cm (5 feet) away from a microwave oven.
Types of Miscarriage
Bleeding during early pregnancy is the most common sign of a miscarriage. This can occur with light bleeding, a vaginal discharge, uterine cramps (period pains) or loss of pregnancy signs (such as no longer having sore nipples or morning sickness). But none of these signs means that you have or will miscarry. They can also form part of a "threatened miscarriage" which may settle down allowing the pregnancy to continue its course. Here it is best to consult a qualified physician.
You will often know you have miscarried if you experience heavy bleeding as it corresponds to the opening of the cervix which expels all or part of the uterus' content.
It is important to note that not all of the uterus contents may have been expelled here. This is why your doctor will often recommend you have a dilatation and curettage (D & C) or vacuum aspiration operation after an incomplete miscarriage due to the risk of infection developing from tissue remaining in your uterus.
What to do during a Miscarriage?
Ring a registered physician and give a detailed description of your symptoms. Alternatively, get someone to take you to the closest hospital casualty ward packed with an overnight bag just in case. If you have no support, best to call an ambulance immediately and in no circumstance drive yourself to the hospital. Avoid drinking and eating at this point as you may need a D & C which requires an anaesthetic.
Mop up the blood with towels or sanitary pads and keep a record of how many pads or towels you go through each and every hour and how stained they are. Try and save anything you pass in a large bowl of bucket. This may prove invaluable information for you doctor to conduct further tests in order to determine why you have miscarried. You may also find the foetus and save it for burial.
Miscarriage Emotions
You may also find some relief in reading Chapter One of ‘In Vitro Fertility Goddess' by Jodi Panayotov which deals with those post-miscarriage emotions of disbelief, anger, emptiness and sense of isolation.
To read this Free Chapter click here »
Also see:
Miscarriage Story and Multiple Miscarriage here »
Desperately Seeking Causes of Miscarriage here »
Miscarriage or Still Pregnant here »
.
Endometriosis is a condition whereby endometrium, the tissue which lines the uterus, is found outside the uterus in places such as on the ovaries, bowel, uterus, ligaments that hold the uterus in place and the area between the uterus and bowel.
As the disease progresses, ‘implants' or fragments of endometrium slowly expand and grow into cysts.
Symptoms include:
- Painful periods.
- Heavy Bleeding and/or Clotting.
- Prolonged Bleeding.
- Irregular Cycles.
- Pain during/after intercourse or vaginal examination.
It is associated with infertility though 50% of those with endometriosis will go on to conceive successfully.
It is diagnosed via laparoscopy and treated via laser.
For more on Treating Your Endometriosis, Click Here »
.
Read ‘Fertility Diet' here »
Find out more about enhancing your fertility with our Free eBook ‘Herbs and IVF' here »
.
Read Fertility Herbs Versus Fertility Drugs here »
.
Fertility Herbs Versus Fertility Drugs here »
Free excerpt of Stacey Roberts' 'Herbs and IVF' eBook here »