Plan A failed, back to Plan PGD
Well, we tried our luck naturally, and our luck failed us. I became pregnant through temping, we did the CVS test at 10 weeks, and our babies died at 12 weeks (it was spontaneous twins). The results from our CVS test showed that they were boys and they did have IP. At least it happened naturally and we were spared the pain of having to terminate, although we had the very unexpected additional pain of it having been twins.
So, we're back to the PGD plan, for sure this time. We're taking a four cycle break, one for each month of pregnancy plus one for it having been twins, so we'll be doing the PGD procedure probably in February. There is at least some good news - except for IP, I was having a normal, healthy pregnancy. With our CVS they also tested for all the chromosomal disorders, which all came back negative, so as long as we screen out IP, I should be able to have a healthy pregnancy this next time with our PGD.
I'm a bit worried now though about the increased chance of having twins or even higher multiples with the IVF procedure. The risk didn't seem that real before, but after conceiving twins naturally, now it seems like a high probability. I know it's our decision how many normal embryos we transfer back in the IVF, so we will definitely take this decision more seriously now. We've already decided that if we get triplets, we will reduce to twins, but twins we will keep. I know from experience now that a twin pregnancy is difficult, and much more than eating 300 more calories a day. So we will plan for this possibility too now.
posted by PGDMom @ Monday, October 01, 2007
3 Comments:
Sorry, I am just a little confused about one part...you mentioned if you get triplets you will reduce to twins, i believe?
Now i'm curious, not critising incase what i write comes across wrong, but by reduce do you mean technically abort just one and keep the other two? I only ask because my husband and I really want twins and we were thinking of having three embryos implanted incase one doesn't take, but if all three do we wouldn't want triplets....very very interesting...
Good luck with your pregnancy! :)
-Anya N
Anya -
Yes - if we get triplets (or more), we would abort one (or more) so that we were left with just twins. In medical terminology it's called "selective reduction" or "fetal reduction". It's very common in triplet and higher multiple pregnancies, since they are so dangerous to both the mother and baby.
Reduction has its own risks as well, since when you abort one, there's a chance that it could cause you to miscarry the others. Usually they say the risk is about 3% for triplets, and 5% for higher multiples, with of course the risk going up the more you have to terminate. However, the risk of death to all of the fetuses if you keep the triplets is much higher, I've seen statistics saying about 15%, with an additional 10% risk of some of them having some kind of handicap(s), and not including all the additional risks of being born prematurely and having health problems the rest of their lives and whatnot. For quadruplets, they say there's about a 30% chance of death, and often 50% of those that survive have some type of disability.
I would encourage you to also plan to do reduction if you get triplets or more. Of course it's a very personal, hard decision, but in my opinion, it's better to sacrifice one for the others than risk death and disabilities for all three, and problems for the mother.
Here is a link to more information about the genetics of Incontinentia Pigmenti that was prepared by our genetic counselor and which has links to some useful resources for those dealing with this condition: http://www.accessdna.com/condition/Incontinentia_Pigmenti/203. There is also a phone number listed if you need to speak to a genetic counselor by phone. I hope it helps. Thanks, AccessDNA
Post a Comment
<< Home