Overcome the Inertia!!
So it's been some time that you as a couple have been at it and there is nothing to show for..What to do now? Keep trying or chuck the whole idea of a family for now and go back to that demanding crazy hour career routine?
Well the decision is yours to take but as an intelligent young person, it should be an informed , well thought of decision. It is a fact that all women are born with a fixed number of eggs and we do not grow any new ones at any point in our lives, unlike the sperms. Also once a woman achieves puberty and starts menstruating, she uses up a cohort of these finite eggs each month of an ovulatory cycle. What I mean by a cohort is that each month a number of immature eggs start the journey towards the final aim of ovulation. The hormone system of the body is sufficient to promote the growth of only one single healthy mature egg over, ideally, a period of 12-14 days. This single mature egg then proceeds to be released for the benefit of the incoming sperms, while the rest of them undergo a natural process of death and are lost to the pool of eggs.
It is on the whole a wasteful process, but it determines that the eggs undergo a liner decline in number until the age of 37-38 when there is a sharp decline in the egg pool. The chances of a normally ovulating healthy egg decreases and so does the chances of conception, so much so that the chance of normally conceiving by the time one is 40 is only 1-2 % .
So, when you decide to push the childbearing further, do take into consideration the implication of the reproductive aging, cause as we say, you are as old as your eggs are!
How to determine at any given point, where do you stand on the spectrum of potential of fertility? Well, we have ways and means, none perfect by itself but together these various investigations give us a fair enough idea of where you stand and if at all you need to fast track your conception.
In this age, where every thing is planned and well thought of, even to the limits of "Prenuptial Agreements', it's only fair to plan for a pregnancy, when and how, for the smart, highly competent professional couples.
One of these tests, ANTRAL FOLLICULAR COUNT, is a ultrasound based examination, which looks at your ovaries, the egg reservoir. Performed trans vaginally, on days 5-7 of your cycle, it estimates the small young immature eggs which will eventually contribute to the ovulation. Lesser these small eggs, more is the concern you need to put in.
I like to combine the ultrasound examination with the blood tests done to estimate your ovarian status. Of these tests, a few are done on day 2-3 , and one newly arrived test, AMH, can be done on any day of your cycle.
The simplified interpretation of these tests is that, if there is a good reservoir of eggs, you can perhaps take some more time and pursue that special hobby, the high demanding project or the much awaited long vacation. If not, well, here we are trying to sort out what we should do and how quickly.
So when you are at your Gynaec's office, trying to find answers to the "Mystery of the Lost Egg", perhaps it's also judicious to ask her to test your Ovarian Reserve, especially if you happen to be on the wrong side of 3o's.
Well the decision is yours to take but as an intelligent young person, it should be an informed , well thought of decision. It is a fact that all women are born with a fixed number of eggs and we do not grow any new ones at any point in our lives, unlike the sperms. Also once a woman achieves puberty and starts menstruating, she uses up a cohort of these finite eggs each month of an ovulatory cycle. What I mean by a cohort is that each month a number of immature eggs start the journey towards the final aim of ovulation. The hormone system of the body is sufficient to promote the growth of only one single healthy mature egg over, ideally, a period of 12-14 days. This single mature egg then proceeds to be released for the benefit of the incoming sperms, while the rest of them undergo a natural process of death and are lost to the pool of eggs.
It is on the whole a wasteful process, but it determines that the eggs undergo a liner decline in number until the age of 37-38 when there is a sharp decline in the egg pool. The chances of a normally ovulating healthy egg decreases and so does the chances of conception, so much so that the chance of normally conceiving by the time one is 40 is only 1-2 % .
So, when you decide to push the childbearing further, do take into consideration the implication of the reproductive aging, cause as we say, you are as old as your eggs are!
How to determine at any given point, where do you stand on the spectrum of potential of fertility? Well, we have ways and means, none perfect by itself but together these various investigations give us a fair enough idea of where you stand and if at all you need to fast track your conception.
In this age, where every thing is planned and well thought of, even to the limits of "Prenuptial Agreements', it's only fair to plan for a pregnancy, when and how, for the smart, highly competent professional couples.
One of these tests, ANTRAL FOLLICULAR COUNT, is a ultrasound based examination, which looks at your ovaries, the egg reservoir. Performed trans vaginally, on days 5-7 of your cycle, it estimates the small young immature eggs which will eventually contribute to the ovulation. Lesser these small eggs, more is the concern you need to put in.
I like to combine the ultrasound examination with the blood tests done to estimate your ovarian status. Of these tests, a few are done on day 2-3 , and one newly arrived test, AMH, can be done on any day of your cycle.
The simplified interpretation of these tests is that, if there is a good reservoir of eggs, you can perhaps take some more time and pursue that special hobby, the high demanding project or the much awaited long vacation. If not, well, here we are trying to sort out what we should do and how quickly.
So when you are at your Gynaec's office, trying to find answers to the "Mystery of the Lost Egg", perhaps it's also judicious to ask her to test your Ovarian Reserve, especially if you happen to be on the wrong side of 3o's.
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