Single Dads by Choice

First of all Happy Fathers Day to all dads and want to be dads!

I came across this article from The Times In India. It goes into detail how men are now seeking to become single dads through the use of donor eggs and surrogates. It’s not just women who are no longer willing to wait for the right partner to become a parent.

Miracle Baby

A woman in the UK had a miscarriage misdiagnosed, had a D&C and the embryo still managed to survive. She thought she had miscarried and only found out she was still pregnant at 10 weeks gestation. Her daughter was born healthy despite her having had a D&C, taken painkillers, antibiotics, appetite suppressants at the time when she thought she wasn’t pregnant. Amazing story.

Father’s Sperm Count

A new study from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah reveals that the father’s sperm delivers much more complex genetic material than previously thought. The findings could lead to a diagnostic test to help couples deal with infertility. Things are more equal in creation of an embryo then was previously believed. Sperm, just like the woman’s egg, can largely affect the health of a baby.

show and tell 6/11/09

Show and tell has moved to midweek so here comes another one for this week. Rivky had her first official school project. She had to pick something from history to display and write a short essay about. She chose “The Titanic”. Quite a mature pick if you ask me. I don’t think I even knew what the titanic was until high school.

The whole family got involved with the project. Aaron helped her with the construction. I helped with the painting and suggested she make the sign so people would know what boat it is. Children from other classrooms came in to observe what everyone made. Rivky reported back that hers and one other girl - who did the White House, were the best 2 projects shown. We are very proud of her.

See what the rest of the class is showing…

Second Baby Miracle Story

I liked this personal story of a women who got pregnant the with baby #2 on her own. With her first pregnancy she used heparin, steroids, progesterone jabs and IVIG to maintain the pregnancy. This time she’s doing it all naturally. So far so good. She’s reached 25 weeks.

show and tell 06/06/09

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a show and tell. Rivky was at a friends house a few weeks ago and had her first serious fall. She fell off a scooter and broke her two front teeth.

We were all devastated by this. She also had a pretty bad scab across her face although not bad enough to require stitches. Vitamin E worked very well to heal her face. This week I took her to the dentist to repair her teeth since he wanted to wait a while for her to recover from the shock. He took before and after photos and asked if I’d sign a permission form to use her smile as an ad on his website. I agreed - Rivky’s teeth will be famous. Here are the before and after photos:

The marvouls of modern dentistry.

In Vitro Maturation

Some additional facts about In Vitro Maturation such as reduced cost and success rates so far.

Vanishing Twin Syndrome

It’s been a slow couple of weeks in infertility news, hence the lack of updates. I did see this interesting post on Sharon’s blog that I thought I’d share here.

I know a few people who went through this and might appreciate this info:

What is the cause of Vanishing Twin Syndrome?
Vanishing twin syndrome was first recognized in 1945. Vanishing twin syndrome is when one of a set of twin/multiple fetuses disappears in the uterus during pregnancy. This is the result of a miscarriage of one twin/multiple. The fetal tissue is absorbed by the other twin/multiple, placenta or the mother. This gives the appearance of a “vanishing twin”.

How is Vanishing Twin Syndrome identified?
Before the use of ultrasound, the diagnosis of the death of a member of a multiple pregnancy was made through an examination of the placenta after delivery. Today, with the availability of early ultrasounds, the presence of twins or multiple fetuses can be detected during the first trimester. A follow-up ultrasound may reveal the “disappearance” of a twin.

For example, a woman may have an ultrasound at 6 or 7 weeks gestation. The doctor identifies two fetuses and the woman is told she is having twins. When the woman returns for her next visit, only one heartbeat can be heard with Doppler. A second ultrasound is conducted and only one fetus is observed.

Sometimes a woman may have symptoms that would indicate a miscarriage, yet, with an ultrasound, a single baby is found in her uterus.

Vanishing twin syndrome has been diagnosed more frequently since the use of ultrasonography in early pregnancy. A conservative estimate of frequency is that vanishing twin syndrome occurs in 21-30% of multi fetal pregnancies. Research from a European series of pregnancies associated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) show that 10-15% of singleton births were initially twin gestations.

First trimester: Morbidity when vanishing twin syndrome occurs during the first trimester is limited. The mother is most likely to develop mild vaginal bleeding and cramping. If the event occurs later in the first trimester, morbidity may be similar to that of the second and third trimesters.
Second and third trimesters: Maternal complications include premature labor, infection from a retained fetus, severe puerperal hemorrhage, consumptive coagulopathy, and obstruction of labor by a low-lying fetus papyraceus causing dystocia and leading to a cesarean delivery.
The diagnosis of vanishing twin in a pregnancy significantly increases both preterm (<37 gestational weeks) and very preterm (<32 gestational weeks) births.

Vaginal Progesterone Verses Intramuscular Progesterone

Good news for those of us that would rather use vaginal suppositories to get our progesterone vrs having to take shots in our backsides. A study was done by Columbia Laboratories that showed not only does suppositories work just as well as IM shots, but that rates of miscarriage where lower with patients who used suppositories. Great news all around.

Indian village with 250 sets of twins

This Indian village has an unusually high amount of twins. The village is very poor and no one can afford fertility treatment. Interesting.

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