I poured myself a glass of wine and spent $100 at Sephora

[tacom]

Because this dummy didn't stop to think of Zika when booking her Caribbean vacation.

Just left my gyn with an "official recommendation" for no condom-free sex for the next 6 months. We had already started TTC (during our trip - ugh) and were both so excited and ready. We even had good timing and I was looking forward to testing in a couple of weeks.

I did talk my gyn into doing the urine and blood test for zika even though it's not recommended in asymptomatic people, but I doubt we'll be able to get H tested... plus I don't know how sensitive they are.

All and all, a big bummer because I thought we were all set to go.

[seeyalater52]

Ugh I am so sorry tacom. I definitely know how it feels to have unexpected setbacks. It is the worst. Hope you're enjoying that wine while you still can. My inlaws are pissed but we refuse to visit them in S. Florida because our RE has the same Zika restrictions for that region and we just don't want to put things on hold.

What did you buy at Sephora?

[Jalapeñomel]

OMG, I'm so sorry. That sucks so bad.

I hope you're glass is bigger than mine:

[tacom]

Sept 7, 2017 17:38:02 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Ugh I am so sorry tacom. I definitely know how it feels to have unexpected setbacks. It is the worst. Hope you're enjoying that wine while you still can. My inlaws are pissed but we refuse to visit them in S. Florida because our RE has the same Zika restrictions for that region and we just don't want to put things on hold.

What did you buy at Sephora?

I am kicking myself for not booking my gyn earlier. Or mentioning our trip to my other doctors - I got the conception green light from my GI and physiatrist. Such a rookie mistake. ☹️

I got the TF sweet peach palette, a brow gel / powder duo from benefit and a new angled brow brush (sephora brand).

h is getting home soon and now that I'm sufficiently buzzed we can talk about the appointment. Ugh.

[seeyalater52]

Sept 7, 2017 17:49:55 GMT -5 tacom said:

Sept 7, 2017 17:38:02 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Ugh I am so sorry tacom. I definitely know how it feels to have unexpected setbacks. It is the worst. Hope you're enjoying that wine while you still can. My inlaws are pissed but we refuse to visit them in S. Florida because our RE has the same Zika restrictions for that region and we just don't want to put things on hold.

What did you buy at Sephora?

I am kicking myself for not booking my gyn earlier. Or mentioning our trip to my other doctors - I got the conception green light from my GI and physiatrist. Such a rookie mistake. ☹️

I got the TF sweet peach palette, a brow gel / powder duo from benefit and a new angled brow brush (sephora brand).

h is getting home soon and now that I'm sufficiently buzzed we can talk about the appointment. Ugh.

I hope the goodies and wine cheer you up. I am so sorry. 6 months is a long time to be benched when you're ready to start/continue trying.

[katespade]

Ugh. I'm sorry, tacom.

[grover]

Sorry! We went in for IF testing in January 2016,and mentioned our planned trip for March to Mexico. The RE was all....we won't do the IUI for 4 weeks after returning. We decided to still take the trip because at that point had been trying to get pregnant for 3 years, and literally got a phone call from my nurse the first afternoon informing me that the clinic and CDC changed requirements to waiting 8 weeks. What made me mad is we didn't see a single mosquito the entire week.

If you do decide to wait all 6 months, I hope it passes quickly for you.

[somersault72]

Ugh 6 months?? I'm really sorry tacom. Stupid Zika.

[Deleted]

I'm so sorry, tacom. Six months is forever. I hope you at least enjoy your wine and Sephora goodies, even though I know they can't make up for the disappointment you're feeling right now.

[compassrose]

Shit tacom. I agree with your plan of getting you and your H tested after a couple of months. Then hopefully you don't have to wait 6 months. That is a long time.

[tacom]

Thanks for the support everyone. I've been doing a lot of reading and risk assessment and will update soon.

[lessel]

Sept 8, 2017 16:17:46 GMT -5 tacom said:

Thanks for the support everyone. I've been doing a lot of reading and risk assessment and will update soon.

If you need any links to medical pubs on this issue, I'm happy to send a few your way. I work in public health.

[HoneySpider]

Booooo 6 months is a long time to wait when you're ready

[tacom]

Sept 8, 2017 16:52:04 GMT -5 lessel said:

Sept 8, 2017 16:17:46 GMT -5 tacom said:

Thanks for the support everyone. I've been doing a lot of reading and risk assessment and will update soon.

If you need any links to medical pubs on this issue, I'm happy to send a few your way. I work in public health.

Thank you so much!!! I work in healthcare and spent my lunch break pulling articles from our databases but very much appreciate the offer. This is the current state of my living room. (Amazon deliveries picked up today. Ugh)

[lessel]

tacom just sent you a PM.

[melsamoony]

tacom so sorry.

[househunter]

Where in the Caribbean did you travel?

[tacom]

so everything I've read leaves me with more questions than answers, but with that said, we have a rough game plan -

we both got tested. My blood and urine was taken. H only had blood samples taken. Our doctors tried to discourage us from getting tested as the negative predictive value for testing really hasn't been established, but I wanted it for peace of mind. And they ultimately wrote the orders. we may end up paying ~$1,500 OOP if insurance doesn't cover it.

we are on the lookout for symptoms. we could still be in the incubation period (3-12 days after exposure) and are aware that ~80% of cases are asymptomatic. we are also aware that we can still have the disease even with negative blood / urine tests. but we are hopeful that our timing for testing was good, as viral load decreases with time.

as of EW 14 of 2017, there have been 201 suspected and 25 lab confirmed cases of zika in Turks & Caicos. viral infection peaked in EW 43 of 2016 and has decreased since then. there have been 0 confirmed congenital cases from T&C. the literature suggests that an overwhelming majority (~90%) of congenital cases occur in a symptomatic mother, though I recognize there may be strong selection bias there... and there has been at least one case of congenital zika syndrome in an entirely asymptomatic couple. If I'm clear and H isn't, the concern for sexual transmission is there. However, while zika has been detected in semen up to 188 days (>6 months) after infection, it's unclear whether there is the potential for active transmission at this time. All recognized transmission events to date have occurred relatively soon after infection in the male, and the longest reported period between sexual contact & symptoms onset is 41 days. Max # of days where seminal virus has been cultured = 69 days. Most of these studies are done on symptomatic men though; not sure if the two groups actually differ.

with all of that said, both of us feel comfortable waiting 3 months assuming all tests are negative. if either of us are positive, we will need to wait longer. and all of this assumes I'm not pregnant (if we hit O like I believe, there's still a 25% chance there). thank you so much for all the kind words & support. hopefully we are back at it soon! (condoms until then

[seeyalater52]

I'm glad you have a plan in place that you feel good about, tacom.

FWIW I have a degree in public health and work in a health care tangential field and if trying were free for us, we would also be comfortable with waiting just a few months provided the testing came back ok.

[compassrose]

That sounds like a thoughtful plan, tacom. I'm glad you guys decided to go ahead and get tested anyway. I'm keeping a good thought for you.

[tacom]

seeyalater52 - thanks! It helps to know i am (hypothetically) in good company. Ha. Good luck this cycle!!

[tacom]

No sign of Zika virus in my urine or blood. Now just waiting for H's test ... and the bills. 🙈