infertility

The septate uterus is not the only type of congenital uterine defect, unfortunately. The bicornuate uterus is somewhat like the septate uterus, only it’s not as much divided as is it that the uterus is misshapen. While some say ‘heart shaped’, the bicornuate uterus actually looks more like a ram’s horns when you view it during a hysterosalpingogram. The problem with the bicornuate uterus and having children isn’t so much being infertile, it’s with complications that might arise during the childbirth process. Usually women who have a bicornuate uterus are watched much more closely as the gestation process draws to an end. C-sections are the norm. If your doctor tells you that you have a uterine malformation, be sure to ask him to be specific. One type interferes with your ability to get pregnant; the other, your ability to deliver vaginally safely.

A septate uterus, or uterine septate, is actually a defect in the uterus that forms while a woman is still in utero. Instead of developing normally, the uterus develops with a division. Sometimes, the dividing tissue, called a septum, does not fully divide the uterus but instead only extends a little way into the womb. For others, the septate is complete and not only is the entire uterus divided, but so is the cervix - thereby making two of each. For the most part, having a septate uterus doesn’t hurt anything. There are no physical risks for a woman with this condition. However, it does sometimes cause a problem when a woman is trying to conceive. The septate is a tissue much like a ligament — it’s not blood rich. What does that mean? In a nutshell, if an impregnanted egg attempts to implant on this septum, it will not survive. The developing embryo cannot gain enough nutrients to survive, and a miscarriage is inevitable. For women who appear fertile in the fact that they have no trouble conceiving, yet cannot seem to carry a pregnancy to term, a hysterosalpingogram is necessary to explore the idea of a uterine septum. If the woman is diagnosed with a septate uterus, surgery can be performed to remove the septum. Chances for a successful pregnancy afterward vary, but some reports give up to an 85% success rate.

Today, I noticed something that, although I’ve been remotely aware of it in the past, it never really sank in to me. I’ve discussed with you before how being infertile can be just as hard on a man as it is the woman. I just haven’t realized how a man gets so in tune with his wife’s body that he, too, starts to overanalyze every possible symptom of pregnancy.

Sorry for missing out on posting yesterday. I almost missed out on today, too. I guess I have some kind of nasty stomach bug. Seems like it’s always something around here. Of course, I’m not the only one sick. I have one child with an ear infection (spent too much time in the pool), and another with what appears to be a budding staph infection. Oh yeah, and did you remember that this is the weekend we were considering going away? Yeah… just my luck. Thankfully, I hadn’t reserved any rooms or tickets yet. However, I’m hoping this isn’t a sign of how things shall continue to go in my life! I mean, the plan for this weekend was for the whole family to get away. Then, in another week or two, just the hubby and I were planning a little romantic get-a-way. So, this throws off everything since I refuse to be selfish and treat myself to a weekend away (no matter how much I need it) when my kiddos have been stuck here at home all summer, too. I talked before about the idea of staycations. Have you also heard of these romantic trips “away from it all” where you also go through an in vitro process while you’re there. “Oh, look at the beach, honey.” “Aren’t the stars beautifully reflected on the water?” “Well, time to turn in, we’ve got to go drop off the eggs and sperm in the morning!” Hmmm.. something tells me my husband wouldn’t go for the idea, and he wouldn’t be too amused if I just sprang it on him, either. Then again… that could be an interesting trip! I don’t think I’m brave enough to try it, but if someone else is, please let me know how it goes!

The issue of fertility, or the lack thereof, has been in the news several times this week. Instead of detailing everything, I’m just going to give you a basic rundown of some of the bigger items I saw. To begin with, for those who didn’t know, chlamydia is one of those sexually transmitted diseases that can leave you sterile. So, if there is any chance that you may have contacted this disease, doctors recommend you get treated as soon as possible to safeguard your fertility. Secondly, if your man uses a laptop, be careful of overheating “the boys”. Belkin has developed a “cooling lounge” to place the laptop on so as not to raise the testicular temperature. If your man regularly uses the laptop, this could be a very smart gift for him — as soon as possible! One other item I wanted to mention deals with female fertility/infertility. Apparently, although many women try to lose weight in order to help their fertility, losing a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time is damaging to fertility. Yet another reason to diet sensibly and take off the weight a few pounds a week.

Tonight, ladies and gentleman, I want to share with you some random musings. To begin with, I’ve had one heck of a day, and I’m honestly a bit too tired to research much information. On top of that, my headache/sleepy meds are kicking in so forgive a less than stellar report!

Today I spoke to a friend of mine that I hadn’t got to talk to for a few months. She, too, had a tubal reversal and it was around the same time as mine. We had calmed each other’s fears before the surgery, and even complained together afterward! (There really wasn’t much to complain about at that point, just about having to wait to try to conceive when we were so excited to be finally ‘whole’ again.) Unfortunately, she hasn’t been able to conceive either. Through the course of the last two years, we’ve commented back and forth about people who would post on message boards that after so many months of trying, they were “giving up”. While we commend those folks for being strong enough to just walk away from the basal thermometer and all, we just didn’t understand how it was possible. And, I still don’t. I’ve practically given up. I don’t take my temperature anymore. I don’t test for ovulation. And, I don’t look for potential signs of pregnancy. But… I think there comes a point in time where, unfortunately, a woman just knows too much. For example, I know by a glance at my undies if I’m fertile. I know when I’m about to ovulate just by how I feel. I know what typical signs and symptoms to watch for so that I no longer think I’m pregnant (at the same time, when something’s different….). On those days when I know I’m fertile, though, more often than not I magically get “in the mood” when it’s time for bed. So, knowing everything I do, I think it’s virtually impossible for a woman to just “give up” when she’s been trying so long. She is either still trying to get pregnant, or she’s trying to avoid pregnancy. Does this make sense to anyone else??

For years, the “biological clock” reference has been pointed towards women. And, for good reason. We are born with all the eggs we’re ever going to have - we can’t continually replenish the supply when the good ones start running low. For a man, though, his supply of crazy swimmers is replenished daily. However, the men may not be getting off as freely as we think they are. Researchers have shown now that men may actually have a clock of their own. His clock may not tick as loudly as ours, but the result is still the same — use it or lose it. Researchers are now saying that miscarriages are more common in women whose partners are over the age of 40. So, it appears that we aren’t the only one who suffer the effects of age on our reproductive abilities. (For those of you with a partner on the fence about having a child, let him know that just because he keeps producing sperm on a daily basis doesn’t get him off the hook completely!)

A week or so ago I read an article online that has got me to thinking about something — soy. According to the article I read, some researchers are saying that soy products are bad for the older population due to a reported decline in brain functions with consumption. Now, I’m definitely no spring chicken, but I’m also not classified as “elderly”, either. The confusing part for me is that I’ve read for years how soy can help with fertility, and this article made reference to soy being linked to infertility! I know that you cannot use soy products and clomid together, as one will cancel out the other and you’ve wasted your time taking either. However, I also know that soy can be used to stimulate the ovaries, much like clomid, but with a (supposed) gentler response from the body. (I say supposedly here because the one time that I tried soy isoflavones as an alternative to clomid, the ovulation was so strong that it literally woke me from a sound sleep! Had I not known what was going on, I’d have been at the ER for sure!!) Anyway, soy isoflavones, when taken to induce ovulation, are supposed to only stimulate the production of one good egg where clomid will cause stimulation and release of several eggs. Now, I’ve not used the soy for a while (clomid either, for that matter) but I still thought that everyone should be aware of the findings. Time will tell how it will work out — and I’ll not take any soy so hopefully I will remember to keep a watch for future studies on the subject!

One of the major drawbacks for women undergoing in vitro fertilization is that each cycle includes weeks of poking yourself in the butt and other places day after day. Even if you can take the pain physically, the financial pain associated with all those injections is rather extreme as well. Well, guess what? There may be some good news on the horizon if this has been one of the issues you’ve been dreading or that has been holding you back. On July 8, 2008, Reuters reported that in a recent study, corifollitropin alfa was slightly more effective than follitropin beta. Huh? you’re saying?? Don’t worry… Follitropin beta and corifollitropin alfa are both ovulation stimulating drugs which are injected - most often during in vitro procedures. Usually, when a patient undergoes treatment with follitropin, they receive an injection every day for seven days and the pregnancy rate per cycle is approximately 38.1 percent. With corifollitropin alfa, not only was the pregnancy rate a bit higher (38.9 percent), only one single injection was needed for the initial follicle stimulation process! Let’s see…. higher pregnancy rate AND only one shot… sounds like a no-brainer to me! Apparently, though, this drug may still be in trials but it’s definitely something to be watching for!