Packing for the Hospital

Getting ready for the hospital could be difficult sometime. Don’t packed too early but don’t wait till the last moment. Good idea is to pack about 2-3 weeks before your due date.
The list below should cover nearly all of what you might need;
For You

• Cotton nightgown or T-shirt for labor
• Lollipops to use during labor
• Books and magazines to read
• One or two nightgowns for after labor(a nursing gown if you are planning to breastfeed)
• Slippers with rubber soles
• Two bras (a nursing bra and pads if you are planning to breastfeed)
• One long robe for walking around the hospital
• Few pair of panties
• Brush, Toothpaste, Toothbrush,Soap,Shampoo/Conditioner
• Hair band (if you have a long hair)
• Glasses if you where contacts (you cannot ware contact during labor)
• Paint roller or a tennis ball for lower back massage
• MP3 player, CD
• Camera and batteries
• List of important phone numbers
• Charge for the phone
• Wipes for your breast(if you are breastfeeding)
• A small amount of money


For the baby
• Undershirt
• Sleepers
• Outer clothes
• Blankets
• Diapers
• Infant car seat
• Baby mittens, socks or booties
• Pacifier, if not planning to breastfeed

These are the most common things that you might need.

Ways to have a great Pregnancy

There are few steps in order to achieve a happy, healthy pregnancy.
• Involve family and friends in your pregnancy.
• Create memories. These nine months looks like they will go on forever but in reality they pass extremely fast. Take steps to document the many changes that are occurring during your pregnancy. Include your family; make them write down their thoughts and feelings. Take many photos of them, too!
• Relax when you can. For you now is very important to leave stress free. Try to enjoy this precious time of your life.
• Focus on the positive things in your life. You may hear sad and scary stories but don’t pay any attention to them. Most pregnancy work out great.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Friends and families will be pleased if you ask them for help. Your pregnancy is important for them as well.
• Prioritize your life. Check what is important for you and the baby the rest could wait. Don’t push yourself you will have plenty of time after the pregnancy.
• Get informed. There are many ways to get the right information now a day. As much as you know as much you will feel comfortable and in control of every stage in your pregnancy.
• Be happy. Enjoy the miracle of life, now you are part of it.

Great book to read and get ready:
365 Things to Do With Your Kids Before They're Too Old to Enjoy Them

Down Syndrome

What is Down syndrome?
Down syndrome is caused by a gene problem that happened before birth. The kids born with this syndrome have some degree of mental retardation which varies from person to person. It is a lifelong condition but with the right care they can grow and have normal, healthy live.


What causes Down syndrome?
Problem with baby’s chromosomes caused Down syndrome. Chromosomes contain your DNA. Normally we have 46 but a person with Down syndrome have with one more. This is what changes the brain and the body development. We know now that older woman is at higher risk of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. Many tests are offered to determine whether a baby will have Down syndrome. Look at the following statistics.

• At age 25 the risk is 1 in 1300 births
• At 30 it is 1 in 965 births
• At 35 it is 1 in 365 births
• At 40 it is 1 in 109 births
• At 45 it is 1 in 32 births
• At 49 it is 1 in 12 births

It doesn’t look good by this why but there is another way to look up these stats. If you are 49 you have 92% of delivering a child WITHOUT Down syndrome.
The father’s age is always very important. Men after 55 have twice the normal risk of fathering a child with Down syndrome.
Test for Down syndrome are:

• Chrorionic Villus Sampling – between 9th and 11th week of pregnancy
• Alfa-fetoprotein Testing – between 16th and 18th week of pregnancy
• Pap Smears
• Triple-Screen Test
• Amniocentesis - between 16th and 18th week of pregnancy
• Quad-screen Test
For more information I found this book very useful
Diagnose Down- Syndrom."

Tests before conceiving

• Dental check up
• A physical exam
• A pap smear test
• Breast exam (35+ mammogram)
• Rubella titers
• Blood type and Rh – factor
• HIV
• Hepatitis
• Cystic fibrosis screening
• X-rays -done only if you sure that you are not pregnant because of the radiation exposures
• CT scans- done only if you sure that you are not pregnant because of the radiation exposures
• MRIs - done only if you sure that you are not pregnant because of the radiation exposures
• PGD – preimplantation genetic diagnosis (this is often done if you have IVF )
In this test few cells are removed for generic testing before the embryo is implanted to identify genes that may be responsible for some severe hereditary diseases. That is how the doctors select healthy embryos for implantation to avoid serous generic diseases.
It is important to discuss your medical history with your doctor prior IVF process or natural pregnancy.


Great book to read
The Whole Pregnancy Handbook: An Obstetrician's Guide to Integrating Conventional and Alternative Medicine Before, During, and After Pregnancy

Closed Fallopian Tubes

Fallopian tubes can be blocked due to several reasons: mucus, infection, adhesion from surgery, inflammation etc. There can be many other causes.

If the Fallopian tubes are damaged, then your only treatment option would be IVF (in vitro fertilization, test tube baby). Do not waste your time, money and energy pursuing incorrect treatment. This will just lead to frustration. Financial limitations are a major problem today for treatment of infertile couples. The fallopian tube is a very complex structure, and the fact that it has got blocked means it is damaged. They could be open with a surgery but the rates of pregnancy after that are very poor. Many times doctors could not tell the reasons why they are blocked. It is possible to unblock them and they stay unblocked long enough for a pregnancy but most of the time they will slowly re grow themselves and possibly become blocked again. Sometime mucus can be the cause of a blockage, and when they inject the dye into your tubes during an HSG, that can clear up that type of blockage. Sometimes it’s only the blocked tubes that is stopping you from having a baby and some time not. The "little fingers" calle cilia move the eggs down into the tube and their absence can affect fertility as well.

Do not to let the tubes get in the way of you having a baby. Don’t be afraid of all the medication and procedures because the outcome is worth it. I tried three times and the third was successful. Don’t quit everything is possible have faith.
Tests that are good to take before becoming pregnant.

What is HSG?

A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) is a very common fertility test that most women struggling with infertility will undergo.
Hysterosalpingogram (Uterotubogram) or HSG is a specialized X-ray of the uterus and tubes. Doctors refer to it as a HSG. Most infertile women who have done a HSG prefer not to refer to it at all, because it is quite a painful procedure. Most women will experience a considerable amount of pain. You should be prepared for this - and taking a pain-killer prior to the procedure will help to reduce the pain.
This test of the uterus and tubes allows the doctor to confirm that the uterine cavity is normal; and that the fallopian tubes are open.
An HSG is done after the menstrual flow has just stopped - usually on Day 6 or 7 of the period, at which time the lining of the uterus is thin. It is done in an X-ray Clinic. The patient is advised to take an antibiotic and a pain-killer before the procedure by many doctors. After being positioned on the X-ray table, the doctor places a special instrument into the cervix, called a cervical cannula, which is made of metal. Many doctors now prefer to use a balloon catheter , as this makes the procedure less painful. A radio-opaque dye (a liquid which is opaque to X-rays) is then injected into the uterine cavity. This is done slowly under pressure, and pictures are taken - preferably under an image intensifier. The passage of the dye into the uterine cavity and then into the tubes and from there into the abdomen can be seen; and X-ray pictures taken. These provide a permanent record.

Interesting video it may help I haven't try it but sound logical.
Tests that are good to take before becoming pregnant.

Dedication

This Blog is dedicated to my parents who I am very thankful for bringing me up in this world and teaching me all necessary things to survive. To my husband being there every step of the way, supporting me and giving me his own piece of mind with which I manage to stay sane and drive him crazy. And most of all to YOU who is going to go true the same scary but hopefully successful IVF process which will bring light in your life and change it forever as it did mine.

Worries before IVF

I will put few pages of my dairy before I start the first IVF program (I had three after that in a period of one year) just to assure you that your feelings could be a roller coaster even before you start the process and there is nothing wrong with that.

Saturday, December 1st -2007

I know that I will go thru IVF in January. It is a little scary but on the other hand I am happy and looking forward.
Why scare and happy?
Well, if you are married for several years and one day you and your partner decided that is time your marriage to get to another level by having kids but your period keeps coming you will be scared too. We’ve been married for many years and all this time I thought that when comes the right time for as to have babies I will stop the contraceptive pills and the babies will knock on the door. For some woman that happened but for some don’t.

So I wait and wait and the period keeps coming and it looks as it is never been more regular as now. Then one day I decided to go and check what is wrong why the stork doesn’t bring the babies. It took my entire strength to go and find out what was wrong with me.

That is how the journey began.

I made all the regular tests with OB/GYN and I was sent to make one more test HSG.Check what is HSGWhat is HSG? In my opinion this test should be band with law. Now a days the health care is so advance and the way this test is done it is just like we are still in medieval age. But this is what we have for now so I had to do it. The picture showed that my fallopian tubes were closed. Reasons many; could be cold, infection, tissue etc ….in fact closed. Reasons why they may be closed.
The test was very painful some women taking the test with me told me that it is just like a delivering a baby (just shorter time). Well I will not mind if that will be the result of the suffering but in my position was even more painful because I got the bad news that I cannot have baby naturally. The sperm should travel thru the fallopian tubes in order to reach the ovaries where the eggs are.

After the test I was a mess, worried constantly. Then I turn to Internet trying to find a solution. I start reading everything about conventional and not conventional way to get pregnant. I found tons and tons of information, many advertisements about products doing miracles, acupuncture, yoga massage, herbs especially brew to open the fallopian tubes.

As much I was reading as much as I was getting worried and confuse. I came to realize that my only solution is IVF.
Many questions run thru my head: is it ok to have IVF?
I am broth up in a Christian family and I wasn’t sure if we didn’t interfere with some of the things that usually God do? But then you can still do the IVF and not get pregnant so it’s still the will of God, right?
Are the kids (usually multiple pregnancies) going to be normal just like other kids or protecting then in the lab from all those batteries and diseases will alter them somehow and make them different?
Could we afford the IVF? I’ve heard that most probably will not happen from the first time. Some of those questions become clear to me few days ago and now as of today I am still worried but full of hope. I know that have way, that my chances are 60% and adding to that my prays and good will maybe even 100%.

For many of you who read this article don’t gave up when you understand what is the problem take this as a new begging and keep the faith. My personal experience shows me that everything is possible no matter how bad it looks.
Tests that are good to take before becoming pregnant.

The Complete Guide to IVF: An Inside View of Fertility Clinics and Treatment"