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April 24, 2004
4/24/04
**HA HA! You know what I just did? I just posted this entry at my OLD Pregnancy Today diary! I had been looking back there for a date for some of Katie's early milestones, and so I just went there without even realizing it wasn't MT and posted an entry! Doh!**
So much going on, and yet so little. Where to start?
RE APPT.
Chris and I went to the RE's office over Spring Break. We had to go meet with another doc because my previous RE left and started her own practice. Seems that leaving is becoming the trend around there. The medical system of which this office is a part, seems to be having issues - financial, mostly. Anyway, my Geneticist is gone, my RE is gone, and upon talking to a different RE in the practice, I found out that the guy who prepares cells for PGD is gone as well.
Let me back up...PGD is Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis, which can be done during an IVF cycle to ensure that the embryos that are transferred back into the woman are chromosomally balanced. It's really amazing that it can be done. They biopsy the embryos, and, in this case, send them off to Chicago where they are tested for my chromosome imbalance. Perfect solution for genetic freaks like me, right? Well, besides the fact that it's not available at my RE's office right now (since Mr. Lab Guy cleared town), there are a few problems with it:
1. Money: Since there is more involved than regular IVF (which is expensive on its own), it costs even more.
2. Chances of conceiving: With IVF in general, doctors are happy if they get lots of eggs, because only a portion of those eggs will fertilize, and then only a portion of the fertilized eggs will mature enough to transfer, and by the end it's a great scenario if you have enough good embryos to transfer, say, 2 or 3, and store the rest for future cycle(s). It's a decent scenario if you have 2 really good ones to transfer, even if you have none to store. WELL, it stands to reason, then, that when you're dealing with a carrier of a chromosomal imbalance ("That would be me," said the woman in the corner sheepishly raising her hand), your chances are even lower because, not only do you have all the hubbub mentioned above to contend with, you also, obviously, only want to transfer embryos that are chromosomally balanced.
3: Chance of false negative test results: The dr. told us (and this was something I hadn't heard before), that sometimes, due to mosaicism, an embryo will appear to be chromosomally balanced when tested, but then will continue to develop and will actually NOT be balanced. He said there's really only a 1-2% chance of this, but still, it's a bit scary.
So, as far as PGD goes, we are at an impasse. I'm not *really* ready for it, yet. I think this will be something we look into, say, NEXT summer when we've had time to prepare ourselves financially and emotionally for the whole thing. BUT, it was just a little disconcerting to find out that it can't even be done now. When I told the RE we weren't looking to do it right away, he said, "Well, that's good. We're training someone to do it right now and they should be ready by then." Oh, okay - I think I'd like Mr. Novice Lab Guy to use me as his/her guinea pig and just have at it with my embryonic cells. Nope. I'll be looking for another clinic by then.
We decided to just basically go back to getting pregnant the good old fashioned way: Me taking hormones to produce eggs, being triggered to ovulate, Chris having his sperm super-charged and then inserted into my uterus via a catheter while I lay with my hiney up on an exam table. WHAT? Not everyone else does it this way?
I am a little annoyed that he wants me to sit out a cycle - my miscarriage was SO early it doesn't seem necessary. I haven't even had another period yet from it, so whenever that happens, you can add another 6 weeks before I cycle again on my own...blech. Although, taking a TTC hiatus has its perks - I have consumed enough coffee and Diet Coke in the last six weeks to float a cruise ship and haven't batted an eyelash. Well, unless you count that caffeine twitch I seemed to have developed...
TRAVELS WITH KATIE
We went down to Nashville at the end of Spring Break to visit friends. My two best friends, with whom I grew up, both got sucked into the south! Okay, I'll admit that I actually like Nashville - I just don't like that it takes 10 hours to drive there and therefore I only see my friends a few times a year. My one friend just had her first baby, a boy, at the end of 2003, and this was the first time I got to see baby N. He is just adorable, and a wonderful little baby, too! It was also my first time seeing my other friend's third child, however she is already 18 mos. old! Until recently, these friends lived in another part of the south and we hadn't seen them for over 2 years.
We had a wonderful trip and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Katie did in the car! I was ready to blow money on one of those portable DVD players so Katie could be wooed by Baby Einstein, but DH suggested we wait and see how the trip goes, and if we had to buy one while we were down there for the trip back, we'd do it. I'm glad I listened to him, because she was GREAT in the car with just her toys and kiddie music CDS. Granted, I could not get "The Wheels on the Bus" out of my head for a good week, but that's a small price to pay...! Oh, and if any of you are looking for suggestions for GOOD kid music that doesn't drive you bonkers, and is sung by current popular artists, allow me to make a few suggestions:
*For the Kids
*Martha Stewart Playtime
*Martha Stewart Sleepy time Baby (the FAVORITE lullaby cd around our house)
Really, the Barenaked Ladies singing "La, la, la, la Lemon" or Cake singing "Manah Manah" (you know, that old Muppet song) beats Raffi ANY day!
KATIE'S NEW SHENANIGANS
Last week, I was downstairs doing the laundry and Katie was upstairs UN-doing it! She was in her room and Chris noticed it got awfully quiet, so he peeked in there from the living room (our house really IS that small) and saw her taking out, one by one, all the contents of her changing table drawer! Does he stop her? No - he gets her on video! It's hilarious - all you can see is her taking everything out, tossing it behind her, while she's wearing a little outfit with CUTE emblazoned across the back! When he called me upstairs and I saw what she'd done, I said, "Katie, are you going to show Mommy what you've been doing?" and she started clapping and yelling, "Yay!" How funny!
Her newest word is, "Doh." Apparently she hears it a lot, I will not say from whom...! She's starting to transition this into, "No," which I've dreaded. She still doesn't tell us no in response to questions, though.
We started parent/tot swim classes last week. A complete waste in terms of the child actually learning how to swim, but it's all about water adjustment, the fact that Katie's in class with her little friend, AND the fact that I L-O-V-E the pool we're at! It really is the coolest pool I have ever seen! There is a whole pool for lap swimming, and then a whole pool for leisure/play. There are float whirlpools in there, a huge water slide, little areas of bubbling pools, and a zero-depth, wade-in area with big sprinklers in it. It's completely amazing. Also completely out of our budget to become members, so it's just individual classes for us. Oh, and there are family locker rooms, so I can go in and get Katie and myself showered and changed without having to chase her around the locker room! That, my friends, is worth the price!
WORK/SCHOOL/ETC
It is looking bleak to be a teacher in Michigan. Recent gov. changes have had HUGE impacts on school budgets. My district, which is a thriving, growing district in a fairly affluent area, is having to pink-slip 105 teachers this year. The pink-slips have gone as far back as to third-year teachers. This has happened in quite a few districts, and it has us all shaking our heads. Our class sizes are up next year due to the lack of funds/lack of teachers, and I can only imagine that it will get worse. I am VERY thankful to have a job, and also VERY thankful that I will be teaching part-time next year. It'll be interesting to say the least!
I will be finished with my Master's degree in just TWO WEEKS! I am very annoyed with myself for having taken so long to finish it, but I will be finished so in the end that's what matters.
Our house projects are coming along. I am REALLY enjoying our new bathfitter/liner in our shower and tub. It makes the whole bathroom look so much better! DH and my BIL also replaced our nasty old paneled walls in there with beadboard yesterday, so once the moldings are done things will look even better.
Oh, and back in the fall DH went bulb-crazy, so we have a TON of tulips in front of our house right now - I love it! I'll confess I did make fun of him n the Fall for getting so many...but it was worth it and they look great. I'll have to post some pictures when I get my camera back, which I left in TN (the only bad part of the trip)!
THOUGHTS ON IP...
It seems a lot of people are leaving IP lately to blog or just resume their private lives, and I can't say I blame them. It IS different around here - 'service' for diaries has been slower than ever (and it was pretty slow in the first place), and the general attitude around here has really changed. When I first started TTC and reading these diaries in 2000, it really was a tight-knit, supportive, encouraging place. Now, it just seems like there is a lot of cattiness going on, and that some people are under much scrutiny. What is an even bigger shame is that, on the whole, there are still so many nice, caring, encouraging women around here, and yet this whole place has still changed due to the negative actions/words of a handful of rude people. I plan on still updating around here and reading my TTM board, but I've not spent nearly as much time around here as I used to. It is disappointing to see these changes, and I am sad to see so many people go when I have enjoyed their comradery so much.
Well, I believe that my incessant rambling has pretty much covered the major events of my life lately, so I will close it here.
Happy Spring,
Laura & Katie
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