Fertility Specialist

Yesterday Neal and I went to a Fertility Specialist, Dr. Herschlag. He helped Neal's sister get pregnant because she has PCOS. This man is wonderful! First of all, he was upset at all my losses. He even gave us his sympathies, which most Dr.'s don't normally do. He then discussed IVF w/ PGD. Since my 2 losses were due to Trisomy, he feels this is our best option, but it is up to us. IVF w/ PGD is a process in which they do a normal IVF cycle, put me on medication to get to me create a bunch of eggs, extract them from me and have them fertilized with Neal's sperm. The PGD stands for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnoses. In this process, after the eggs are fertilized, specialists extract a single cell and do testing on it to see if the embryos is developing properly. If it is properly developing, then it is implanted in my uterus and hopefully attaches itself and starts growing. We can have has many embryos implanted as we like, but Dr. Herschlag recommends two.

To get this process started, Dr. Herschlag was able to run some tests yesterday. He had his nurse take 3 vials of blood from Neal, which she had to did around for a vein. He wasn't happy about that. The nurse took 10 vials of blood from me. He is running these tests to check my hormones and to make sure both of us aren't positive for specific diseases.

My next appointment is on Monday for a physical exam and an ultrasound on my uterus to make sure there are no abnormalities in it. That should be quite painless.

Then on Wednesday, Neal and I go to a Genetics Counselor. At the genetic counselor they will do more blood work to see whether Neal or I carry a specific gene that is carrying a genetic disorder. It is possible that one of us or both could have a genetic illness even though we are not showing any signs of it. The reason for this is because the illness is recessive, only one gene was inherited and not two. If we have inherited a gene, it is possible that we can pass it on to our children. Dr. Herschalg explained, that this isn't always the case though. Sometimes a women can have multiple miscarriages and there is no explanation for it.

Our next appointment is Friday, May 21st. This appointment is for a consultation on the IVF w/ PGD. It will be in more detail and we can ask all the questions we have. Which I have a bunch already.

Then after that, if Neal and I decide to go ahead we start the IVF process. I'm hoping this is sometime in June and the embryos get implanted in July. We don't really know that yet. It's just my theory.

I'm truly excited about this process. We've told family members and they hate that we have to go through this, but it doesn't really bother me. If I get a healthy baby in the end, it will make me so happy.