Thursday, February 22, 2007

Tough Decision.

My mom has offered to take me with her to Israel at the end of April.

I love Israel. I relax way more than I'm able to here. I love the language, the food, the people, the climate... I could go on, but I'll get to the point.

My acupuncturist thinks that if I'm pregnant, I shouldn't go.

I kind of think that despite what "they" say, there's nothing that can make a healthy pregnancy miscarry, and there's nothing I can really do to prevent a miscarriage if the embryo isn't viable.

AND if I'm not pregnant in April, I'll kick myself for not having gone.

What do I do? What would you do? Please weigh in with your opinions. I'll be calling the fertility clinic too, but I really want some opinions. (lurkers, that means you too!)

5 comments:

~r said...

That is a tough decision.

Unless the clinic said 'no go', I'd go.. for two reasons - First, I believe that a miscarriage is either going to happen or not. I don't believe there's much we can do to control it. Second, I stopped planning around "what if" a long time ago. I got tired of postponing my life just in case I was pregnant. IF took over my life in so many ways, I was determined to take back what I could (as long as it wasn't dangerous to a potential embryo, that is).

Best of luck deciding what to do.

ms. c said...

I'd go. Unless the clinic specifically said no. I totally agree with Rachel.
And have a wonderful time, you lucky girl!

Anonymous said...

Hmm. That IS a tough one. Do you have to decide now, or can you wait to see if the IUI worked?

Speaking as another "lucky" person who miscarried after the danger had gone down to 5%, I've spent a lot of time speculating about "If I had done this, or not done that would it have made a difference?"

While, rationally, I think it's probably safe to travel if you're pregnant. Of course, there IS always a risk of something going awry, but there's also a risk if you DON'T travel. So, statistics and acupuncturists and doctors' orders aside, I think it's really a matter of knowing your own heart. What can YOU live with?

If you are (we hope!) pg in April, can you live with yourself if you go to Israel and something (God forbid) goes wrong, or will you eat yourself alive with guilt? If you DON'T plan the trip, and you aren't pg in April (booooo!), will you kick yourself REALLY hard, or just little love taps?

Ms. Perky said...

I kind of think that despite what "they" say, there's nothing that can make a healthy pregnancy miscarry, and there's nothing I can really do to prevent a miscarriage if the embryo isn't viable.

You are absolutely 100% right. I'm not sure which "they" you're referring to here, because almost all miscarriage research indicates that there's not much that specifically causes miscarriages in terms of activities, foods, etc. (there are definitely medications and medical conditions that cause miscarriage) There is also absolutely no medical evidence that flying in early pregnancy is problemmatic or leads to even a nominal increase in miscarriage rates. It simply has no impact. I have never heard of an OB or RE who doesn't allow patients to fly in early pregnancy unless there are other circumstances at play. (I, for example, did not fly to my grandmother's funeral last summer because I was pregnant but bleeding... there was concern that if I miscarried on the plane it would be less than good)

I am a firm believer in doing your best not to let infertility and treatment get in the way of enjoying your life. It interferes in so many ways. It puts so many constraints on your life already. Why create more stress, anxiety, and resentment on purpose?

I was pregnant for three months. I bled (pretty heavily) for the entire three months (it turned out I had a subchorionic bleed which isn't a big deal, but makes it seem very scary). I finally said to my doctor that I'd decided to stop freaking out because either: 1. nothing was wrong and God was just messing with me, or 2. something was wrong and there wouldn't be anything that I could do about it. My doctor emphatically agreed.

Go to Israel. Seriously.

Sarah said...

i would definitely go!!! i'm surprised the accu would think it's not a good idea? pg women travel all the time. you have to be prepared to tell yourself, if something goes wrong, that it was NOT because of the trip, and you'll be right!

i have a serious travel bug, and i have always thought that IF i ever get pregnant, i will plan a trip specifically so that my husband and i get one last trip just the two of us. kind of like a honeymoon, where we would take the time off just to enjoy looking forward to the future. ha! hard to imagine!