Ricci Genetics...

Yesterday Mike and I had our follow up appointment at the fertility clinic to decide what the next steps were.  After my D&C we opted to have genetic testing done in order to shed some light onto why I miscarried and where we should go from here.  Unfortunately/fortunately the genetic tests didn’t find any chromosomal abnormalities, which means we are unsure why the pregnancy failed.  Since the results were inconclusive, we are back to square one trying to figure out what we can do to boost the chances of IVF working.  There are three things that could be contributing factors that Dr. Hammoud mentioned, so now we are just trying to figure out which it could be, if any.  They are…

1)      The first (and I believe most likely) is there is a problem in the maturation process.  Each time I have had a retrieval done, I have been able to get many eggs but by the time we reach day 5 there are only a couple embryos left and we never have any to freeze.  Dr. Hammoud believes this is because I overstimulate, or stimulate too quickly, and the eggs grow quickly but don’t mature as fast as they are growing.  In order to stop this from happening, I will go on metformin three months prior to my next IVF cycle and then take a very low dose of IVF medication.  This will result in fewer eggs but will hopefully increase their quality and allow them to develop into healthy embryos.

2)      Dr. Hammoud wants to do a hysteroscopy (go in with a small camera and look around), to see how much of my septum is remaining.  Although they removed it, they haven’t been able to confirm how much of the septum is left (they never completely remove it) and so they want to verify that the remainder of the septum isn’t a contributing factor as to why we lost our baby.  As I have mentioned before, a septum is a uterine abnormality that causes an unfavorable environment for a fetus to grow due to the lack of nutrition/blood supply available in a septum and can cause early miscarriages

3)      During an appointment last month, Dr. Petersen stated I may have some endometriosis because my right ovary doesn’t move.  I have always suspected I have endometriosis but I have never confirmed it because of how invasive laparoscopic surgery is and the fear of scar tissue, but it could be an option.  It will be a last resort though.

 

Our game plan right now is to be on a voluntary break from hardcore treatments until October just so I can relax and flush all these crazy drugs/hormones out of my body and so Mike and I can recoup from the emotional stress infertility can cause.  This date may change but as of right now, I am pretty set on waiting to start the IVF process again.  I may begin clomid again in April just to help my body ovulate, but I won’t be tracking my cycle and doing bloodwork like I have been.

I never realized IVF and infertility would be so hard on me, both emotionally and physically, and I am looking forward to getting away from the dark, angry, complainy person this has turned me into and am excited to begin focusing more on my relationship, my job and myself.  I am looking forward to many more date nights, dinners with my girls, vacations, spontaneity, accomplishments in both our careers, gym time, wine nights and me time.  I have also decided that I am tired of being a victim to my body so I have committed to run the St. George Marathon in October, as long as I can get in (it’s a lottery).  No longer will my body control me; I will control it.         

So that’s where we are.  I was having a really difficult time but I am starting to feel better and more in control than I have in a long time.  We booked a trip to Mexico in September over baby due date, and that has been a huge help.  It’s also my birthday month so I have lots of dinners, dates and celebrations on the books; all of which tend to heal my heart.  Happy 2012; I am just pretending January never happened.  :) 

Oh and silver lining... when we first found out I was pregnant Mike and I were both positive that it was a girl.  SInce we were able to get genetic testing done, we had them find out the gender and voila, we were right.  Yay for having mama intuituion!!!

Happy weekend everyone!