I went to the RE yesterday for the "follow-up" appointment to discuss our test results and "where do we go from here." I didn't get good news. In a nutshell, it seems that I have an issue with ovarian reserve...meaning that at 32, I'm running out of quality eggs.
Our options at this point are A) keep trying on our own and do our best to prevent another m/c if I get pg, or
do IVF. For personal and religious reasons, we won't do IVF. So....we're on our own. And the longer we try, the lower the likelihood of it ever happening.
I was kind of a mess yesterday. You can read what I posted on GP when I got home from the RE: http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/49028492.aspx
At this point, the RE doesn't want to try clomid or IUI with FSH injectables because with my numbers, it would put me at a high risk for multiples, and it wouldn't address the m/c issue....so we could go through all that and still lose the baby, since we haven't really figured out for sure what's caused the m/c's.
DH and I talked last night, and we're just going to do our thing for the next 4 months or so. That will take us into June, at which point it will have been a year since the last pregnancy/miscarriage. If we get to that, then we'll try calling someone (not sure who yet) to see if there's anything else we can try.


Re: Done with the RE for awhile
Oh Carrie. I'm so sorry. That just plain sucks.
Well they say you only need one egg right? And you have gotten pregnant before, so that is positive at least. I hope and pray that you and Shawn get the baby you deserve.
I feel like I disagree with the RE about trying clomid or other non-IVF types of treatments. If you get pregnant with them monitoring you, then they can give you medication that will help you not lose the baby right?
I took clomid with Emmy and honestly, if it would get me another baby, I would take it again in a second. Yeah the side effects are kind of crappy, but it is not really that big of a deal to me - take a pill for 5 days, have some blood drawn and a few ultrasounds. And I figure, why not try it. As long as your doc is monitoring you, why not try to use what you can to try to help you get pregnant and then deal with the trying to avoid miscarriage when you get there.
I continue to pray that you will get pregnant on your own and not have to worry about seeing someone else.
Baby #2 - D&E - 10/1/10 @ 19w2d - thanatophoric dysplasia confirmed.
Charlotte Lillian will be forever in our hearts.
Baby #3 - Little Bean - natural miscarriage - 1/17/11 @ 5w5d
Oh Carrie! I'm so sorry!!! I really hope that RE was just wrong and that you will be able to have a baby one day! Do you think maybe you could go to a more aggressive RE or that one would give you a different opinion?
I will definitely keep you and Shawn in my thoughts and prayers!
I don't mind answering....I'm just trying to think of the easiest way to explain it.
There are two main reasons, I think.
First, I believe that life begins at conception. With IVF (and especially with the "extra" step my RE would want to take with me...testing each embryo to choose the "healthiest" one or two), some eggs are fertilized but never transferred. If the non-transferred embryos are destroyed, that's ending that life. If the non-transferred embryos are frozen (but never used), that's basically holding that human life in a sort of limbo state, where its never given the potential to actually live. It violates the rights of that child.
Second (and I don't think I'm going to explain this well), IVF kind of takes the couple out of the picture. Creating a child through IVF is no longer about the sacrament of marriage or the conjugal unitive act, but rather it's about science. This is the best "explanation" I could quickly find: "Human procreation requires on the part of the spouses responsible collaboration with the fruitful love of God; the gift of human life must be actualized in marriage through the specific and exclusive acts of husband and wife, in accordance with the laws inscribed in their persons and in their union." (It's taken from Gaudium et Spes, which was written by Pope Paul VI.)
I also think that, for me, doing IVF is too much like trying to play God, you know? In my mind, it's one thing to take medications that will correct hormone levels and make conception easier, or to take medications that will help me to keep a viable pregnancy. But it's something else to create a child in petri dish. If I've gotten to the point where Shawn and I can't make a baby together without going to the extreme of IVF, then it feels like that's a pretty big sign from God that it's just not supposed to happen, for whatever reason.
I know that not everyone sees this in this way, and I don't judge someone else who decides to go the IVF route. But this is how Shawn and I view it. I hope that helps!
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I am so sorry about your news. Keep the faith up. I agree with a second opinion on the clomid, the chances of multiples are really low compared to other things. I pray things happen on their own. Like Mel said, it only takes one egg, and you have gotten pregnant before! There is still hope. As to the m/c's... the ONLY way I stay pregnant is with progesterone and metformin. I have to get on them super fast or it's all over. I realize my body is not your body, but it's something to think about. Took us a long time to figure that out, and even though we knew a couple of times, we just weren't quick enough on the draw. Maybe there is something underlying that they are missing once you get pregnant. When you do get that BFP... insist they take you in immediately to discuss options to keep it going.
I think of you so often and will continue to say prayers for you and Shawn
I am continuing to sending thoughts and prayers your way. I am praying that sometimes happens before June. Hopefully you can find another RE who might know a little more and can do more.
I don't really have any advice, but you know that you two have my prayers and thoughts because I know it is hard and the emotions that you are and will be going through.
Know we are here for you.