Fear of: Multiples.

As mentioned earlier, I adore the Gosselin children. They really are adorable, but to be honest- the thought of having eight kids is nothing short of terrifying, especially having six at once. Insanity.

So all this adoration of other-people's-kids got me thinking about multiples. Prudence and I will more likely than not be jumping right onto the IVF wagon since we really want to use her eggs and my uterus. She's not too keen on the idea of being preggo (whereas I really want to get knocked up) and we agree it would be incredible for our children to have both our genes. So if all goes well, our future children will be conceived in a petri dish with my brother's sperm and Pru's eggs. And while that sounds fun and fancy (and admittedly, kinda weird) written down, I know it will be a bumpy and complicated process. I also know that IVF has a much higher rate of multiples. Enter mild (and premature) panic attack.

When discussing the possibilities of multiples, Pru said very calmly, "I bet we'll have triplets." Umm, what? I asked her to elaborate and she just replied, "I dunno....its just a feeling I have- that when we get pregnant, we'll have triplets." I don't know how accurate her instincts are, but thats a scary thought. I'd love three kids. But not at once. Twins, maybe. But triplets? That sounds dangerous. I already have an overload of pregnancy anxiety, I can't even imagine how that would skyrocket with the discovery of multiples floating around in there.

From what I understand about recent developments in IVF, doctors are beginning to veer away from the idea of transferring a lot of embryos, specifically in women under 35 (like me). I've also read about minimal stimulation IVF (or just Mini-IVF) which requires less drugs (and sometimes none if you go the "natural" route) and decreases the risk of multiples. Apparently its more along the lines of natural ovulation, where they start by giving you a C.lomid pill to take for about a week (they don't suppress the pituitary beforehand with Lup.ron like normal IVF)  followed by a "booster" of gonado.tropin and then they retrieve a few high-quality eggs. And as an added bonus, its also several thousand dollars cheaper.

The pros are obvious: less drugs, money, and risk. The cons are also pretty obvious: its newer, so the success rate is probably still not clear; plus you run into the issue of not having extra embryos if it doesn't work. In the long run, it could potentially cost more to do the "cheaper" ivf.  On the other hand, if you don't have any problems with ovulating or getting those embryos to stick, you might hit the baby jackpot right away and be $10,000 richer for it.  Hmmm.... what a conundrum.