TTC & Zika

[sarah2211]

My DH and I have been TTC #1 for 4 months. CD 10 he was sent with the military to support a natural disaster and will be away for 2 months. I'm feeling so frustrated that finally we were going to be adding to our family, only to be told it'll be another 2 months until he's back.

But, the country where the natural disaster is has confirmed cases of Zika. He dipped his uniform in permethrin and has bug spray which he'll be using. But there's still a risk he could get it.

The military have not be clear on what the protocol of this is. I managed to speak to my DH today who said there's some people saying no unprotected sex for 4 months, other 6 months. Some are saying that they'll test people for it and if it's negative then you're good to go.

Last cycle I was buying preseed and pregnancy tests, this month condoms

Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[2ducks]

Hello! Have you read the CDC website on Zika? That will give you the most up to date info. My partner and I just came back from Panama which is one of the countries with positive Zika. My OBGYN said it was fine to go, just don't get pregnant while there. The handful of Zika cases were in a specific geographical area in the country, we were planning on going to that area but opted not to. Zika has been found to live in semen for several months after a person is infected. Perhaps since your husband is military than he can get some special testing??? Unfortunately since the virus is so new most medical labs in the USA don't have a test for it.

Another important thing to remember is that Zika is suspected to cause microcephaly but there is no proof of this yet.

I am SO sorry that this happened to you. It is confusing and disappointing all at the same time....

 

[sarah2211]

Thanks 2Ducks.

Have there been confirmed cases of Zika in Panama?

I found this on the CDC page -

Women: Trying to get pregnant?
At this time, we don’t know how long Zika is present in semen in men who have had Zika, and we don’t know if men who had Zika but never developed symptoms can have Zika in their semen. If you have a male sex partner who lives in or has traveled to an area with Zika and are concerned about trying to get pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about

His travel history
How long he stayed
If he took steps to prevent mosquito bites
If you had sex without a condom


Which really says nothing. I read an article the other day about 9 pregnant women contracting Zika from their sexual partner. Two had healthy births, two are still pregnant, one had a baby born with microcephaly, two resulted in a miscarriage and two aborted because of birth defects. Those odds don't sound great to me!

There have been a few confirmed cases of Zika in my country but they were from people travelling to Zika infected countries. They were able to test them, but they presented with symptoms. My DH said he would ask to be tested when he returns, although I'm not sure if it'll be all that easy.

I might make an appointment with my doctor and see what she thinks.

Thanks, it feels very confusing and frustrating and there's nothing I can do about it. To make it worse, I think I'm ovulating tomorrow or the day after