Mythbuster: Personal Edition

Under Inspection:

We can't get pregnant on our own

Background

Infertility as a diagnosis sounds like a life sentence doesn't it? 

Factual Experience

As we have every intention of going back for Hannah's siblings, we had been taking steps to prevent a natural pregnancy prior to the next transfer. It kind of goes without saying that we weren't totally committed to our method of choice, since it seems very unlikely that we need to actually try to prevent.

Conclusion that I will never experience a viable pregnancy without medical intervention: FALSE

Since I have been gone for so long (and huge family updates will be coming soon), this is both a pregnancy and birth "announcement" for the two people who might sometimes follow my blog. I will save my thoughts on how this relates to our embryo adoption plans for another post.

Meet Eliora, our second bundle of unbelievability! Hannah has commandeered her already.

Mythbuster: Breastfeeding Will Keep you from Getting Pregnant

Under Inspection

Breastfeeding is a means of birth control

Background:

In case you have never heard the phrase "you can't get pregnant if you're breastfeeding," now you have. And usually you hear someone respond to that statement by saying "Oh, so... I'll be expecting your next announcement in about a month." Here in America, it is common practice to put women on some form of birth control before they are cleared by their doctors to resume intercourse (usually at the 6 week checkup after birth). On the other hand, many medical organizations such as the World Health Organization teach the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) as a viable and reliable method of family planning. If you want a full description, read the link, otherwise, the synopsis is that full breastfeeding day and night with no bottles, formula, or solids has a 99+ success rate in preventing ovulation (and therefore pregnancy) as long as the mother's periods have not returned AND her baby is less than 6 months old. Please don't take sentence as a complete guide to LAM... :-)

Factual Experience:

Disingenuous, I know, given how much success we have at not getting pregnant on our own anyway. However, I was really interested to see what effects breastfeeding would have on the return of my "fertility," since I now have several years experience keeping track of it! Obviously (I hope), we didn't judge the results based on lack of positive pregnancy tests. Rather, I charted my fertility signs to see if I was ovulating or not. I don't even own a bottle, and while Hannah did end up taking a pacifier and not sleeping skin to skin with me, I got my 6 months and more. I was able to successfully identify my first ovulation and predict my first post-partum period 10 months after she was born. Yeah charting!

Conclusion that breastfeeding can keep you from getting pregnant according to the medically established LAM guidelines (and maybe longer): True!

<You may mentally insert a picture of a negative pregnancy test, but I never took one, because I never had reason to believe I might be pregnant.>

Mythbuster: A single embryo transfer

Under Inspection:

A couple must transfer at least 2 embryos in order to have any hope for a pregnancy, especially if the embryos have been frozen.

Background:

Many people think they must accept a multiple embryo transfer, and for some, that is their best option. The fact is though, that it highly depends on several factors, such as:

• The age and fertility status of the genetic mother. (Ours was young)
• The age and fertility status of the receiving mother. (I was in my late 20s, with no uterine deformities)
• The method of freezing and the age of the embryo(s). (Ours were frozen about 4 years before our first transfer, at 5 days of age- blastocyst stage)
• The skill and experience of the embryologist doing the thawing. (Our clinic has, I think, an excellent embryology team)
• How many embryo babies are in each "straw." (We received 4 straws- 3 of which had 1 embryo each, and one of which had 2)

I already knew I wanted to try a Single Embryo Transfer (SET), and my doctor recommended either 1 or 2 embryos, so it was an easy decision for us. I did realize that this might mean less of a likelihood of pregnancy on our first try. On the other hand, I was only risking one life at a time, and giving that one baby the best chance possible to be born full-term and healthy. We plan to do the same with the other single-embryo straws in the future.

Factual Experience:

For our first transfer, we chose to thaw and transfer only one embryo out of the five that we received from the donating family. She survived, and is taking a nap right now! 

So we went from this (embryo picture magnified times about a zillion)

To this:

To this:

Conclusion that SET never works, especially not on the first try: Myth!