My egg's are about 40
years old. This is the newest news in our world. My AMH is 1.23. That is on the
"low to average" side, so it made sense to do a normal round of IVF.
But it sucks to be 31, and have old ass eggs! It means our road to baby is that
much longer and that much harder. And it is likely my fault. That's what I am
struggling with today.
I started smoking cigarettes off and on the summer after 8th grade. I was 13 or 14. The amount I smoked only increased and I was at about a pack a day by the time I graduated high school. Back then it was cooler to smoke Marlboro Reds. (They are much stronger than "lights", which I eventually "downgraded" to.) I just kept on and kept on doing it too. I knew it was bad for me, I knew it was stupid and I did it anyways thinking I was fine. I'm healthy, Nothing bad will happen to me. My typical young, cocky self.
I did a lot of other stupid things that probably contributed to a "less than healthy lifestyle" back then. But I eventually got my shit together, straightened up and didn't smoke at all for over 2 years.
Then, we went to Vegas. I started again, but only when I drank which at that time was rarely.
Then, Vegas again (2012). I started smoking most of the weekends. And it pretty much snowballed from there. I quit for good in August 2013. Then after my first failed IVF started "weekend smoking" again. I only smoked occasionally until about 2 weeks before the frozen embryo transfer in March 2014. Then quit again. Then the next BFN, and started again, maybe a couple on the weekends and when drinking.
The studies I have found, and from anecdotal evidence the damage was done to the eggs before August 2013 when my AMH was tested at 1.23. That the real damage was done a long time ago, only made worse by my recent relapses, and no hope of healing.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine states, "Research indicates that cigarette smoking is harmful to a woman’s ovaries, and the degree of harm is dependent upon the amount and the period of time a woman smokes. Smoking appears to accelerate the loss of eggs and reproductive function and may advance the time of menopause by several years. Components in cigarette smoke have been shown to interfere with the ability of cells in the ovary to make estrogen and to cause a woman’s eggs (oocytes) to be more prone to genetic abnormalities."
We are screwed. Never to have a family of our own because I became addicted to nicotine at age 14.
I know this is a bit dramatic. We will have a family, eventually and through creative means. Thankfully technology exists to help overcome my poor choices.
I started smoking cigarettes off and on the summer after 8th grade. I was 13 or 14. The amount I smoked only increased and I was at about a pack a day by the time I graduated high school. Back then it was cooler to smoke Marlboro Reds. (They are much stronger than "lights", which I eventually "downgraded" to.) I just kept on and kept on doing it too. I knew it was bad for me, I knew it was stupid and I did it anyways thinking I was fine. I'm healthy, Nothing bad will happen to me. My typical young, cocky self.
I did a lot of other stupid things that probably contributed to a "less than healthy lifestyle" back then. But I eventually got my shit together, straightened up and didn't smoke at all for over 2 years.
Then, we went to Vegas. I started again, but only when I drank which at that time was rarely.
Then, Vegas again (2012). I started smoking most of the weekends. And it pretty much snowballed from there. I quit for good in August 2013. Then after my first failed IVF started "weekend smoking" again. I only smoked occasionally until about 2 weeks before the frozen embryo transfer in March 2014. Then quit again. Then the next BFN, and started again, maybe a couple on the weekends and when drinking.
The studies I have found, and from anecdotal evidence the damage was done to the eggs before August 2013 when my AMH was tested at 1.23. That the real damage was done a long time ago, only made worse by my recent relapses, and no hope of healing.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine states, "Research indicates that cigarette smoking is harmful to a woman’s ovaries, and the degree of harm is dependent upon the amount and the period of time a woman smokes. Smoking appears to accelerate the loss of eggs and reproductive function and may advance the time of menopause by several years. Components in cigarette smoke have been shown to interfere with the ability of cells in the ovary to make estrogen and to cause a woman’s eggs (oocytes) to be more prone to genetic abnormalities."
We are screwed. Never to have a family of our own because I became addicted to nicotine at age 14.
I know this is a bit dramatic. We will have a family, eventually and through creative means. Thankfully technology exists to help overcome my poor choices.
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