37 Weeks!

Another milestone! I am officially "early term!" Woohoo!! She can come at any time and be perfectly fine! They wouldn't even try to stall labor at this point! So I am starting to get anxious/excited that within at most 3 weeks - she will be here.

 Monday I had another series of Dr.s appts. One with MFM and another with my regular OB. It will be that way every monday until she is here. At the MFM, they did the stress test where they hook your belly up to monitors and listen to her heart for 30 mins. At first she wasn't too active - so they gave me some OJ and she perked right up after that. Doctor said she passed with a 10 out of 10! Go Ava! Then we went in for the ultrasound and everything still looks great. She was doing a lot of practice breathing which was nice to see. Still didn't get a look at her face, as she kept putting her hands on her feet and pulling them up to her face, blocking it! haha! Guess it's getting pretty tight in there for her. Doc says that even if she was cooperating, the pic wouldn't be the greatest since it wouldn't even get her full face. She said the best pics - which you see online - are usually from 28-32 weeks. So we were fine just knowing she is happy and healthy in there. We will just wait to see her little face when she is here. Oh and the doctor says my test results are all normal - and the things that were out of range - are normal for pregnancy. So no signs of Preeclampsia! woohoo!

 At my second Dr. Appt, we did a Group B strep test, which is a bacteria in the vagina that up to 35% of women have. It's harmless and very common - however it can cause harm to a baby if delivering vaginally. So if you do have it - they will give you antibiotics upon labor to get rid of it so you don't pass it to the baby. I am not sure the results - but hopefully I don't have it since I am so done with having to take extra medications. Speaking of extra medications - I am switching over to Heparin finally. I was suppose to make the switch today - but my pharmacy didn't carry the prefilled syringes that I need. They only carry the vials. So I will have to go all the way to the hospital where my doctor is, which is about 20/25 mins away - to pick them up. Pain in the butt I tell ya! So I might just continue on the Lovenox until I am back in that area on Monday. I don't think I will be going into labor this week - I have no signs whatsoever. But you never know. So I am taking a risk because if I am still on Lovenox at the time of labor - they will have a harder time to reverse it. Which means, I won't have the option to get an epidural. Clearly you see my dilemma. I guess I just decided now that perhaps I will just take the drive on my lunch break and pick up the prescription - since I do NOT want the option of not having the epidural! hahha! Screw that! I don't want to feel a thing!

 Anyway, well that's really all I have for now. Til next week! :)

Negatives..

I began testing on tuesday and so far nadda. Since I don't know when I ovulated, I am assuming I could be anywhere from 9dpo to 12 dpo. I was hoping to be 12 dpo because that would have put me right at the best time - since that would be the day after I had my intralipids. But that said, if I am 12 dpo - and still pulling negatives - that doesn't look promising for this month. If I ovulated later and only 9dpo....which would be realistic since I had a late period last month as well as getting a late opk this month on top of another temp spike on cycle day 17...so I very well could only be 9dpo. Which still puts me in the game, however, intralipids wouldn't have been effective then. As well as Cycle day 17 fell on a tuesday, I stopped doing the deed on that sunday. But sperm can survive up to 5 days so that really doesn't matter if I ovulated 2 days after the last time we had sex.

  Either way, I guess I will just test until I get my period. Which will be next week at some point. Why not just not test until my missed period you ask? Because the sooner I know if I am, the better because the second I get that positive - will be the second I will schedule another round of intralipids. The moment that baby implants is crucial to this treatment. I need my body to be calm and to keep my nk levels down during that crucial time. So unfortunately, I cannot take the wait and see approach.

  I get so jealous when I hear stories of women who say "I didn't even realize I missed my period and before I knew it, I was 6/7 weeks along"! Just clueless that they were even expecting. I hate having to be so calculated about this. It's not fun. It's not exciting. It's like homework. Stressful homework before the big exam. Worried if you are going to pass or fail. Yeah, not fun at all.

Still waiting

  The two week waiting period is the most brutal wait time. But as of yet, still nothing to report. I am either 12dpo or 10dpo right now. But my instincts are telling me I am 10dpo because my temp went back down that friday (cycle day 15) and my temps never go down post ovulation. And I typically (based on past charting) ovulate on cycle day 15. So it would all make sense that I would be 10dpo right now - which would mean it would still be slightly too early to get any results on a test. I am hoping by thursday I will know either way so I can move on with intralipids or I can stop lovenox. Either way, I am eager for a direction.

  I am feeling lots of symptoms of pregnancy, sore boobs, twinges in my ovaries, bloated, tired, etc..etc. But I am also on progesterone supplements so those can add to those symptoms, which means I cannot count on that whatsoever. I just have to wait and be patient.

  In the meantime, my belly is bruised from the lovenox injections, and I managed to boost my progesterone daily intake to 600mg which my doctor wanted without feeling any negative side effects as before (rapid heart rate). What I have been doing is taking the 100mg pills and using two at a time. (6 pills a day) So the mg is still low but still getting that 600mg daily. I don't know why that makes a difference vs the 200mg pills 3 x daily which I was originally prescribed - but it seems to be working so whatever.

  Other than that - same ol' ish different day! Hopefully in the next few days I will have more to report. Stay tuned!

Reproductive Immunology

I stumbled upon this very interesting website regarding Reproductive Immunology. It's really informative because it describes exactly what everything is, and describes the treatments for each immune issue. For anyone who is reading this and thinking I am speaking a foreign language when I talk about immune issues or anyone who is actually GOING through immune testing...I highly suggest you read it. I have a lot of these issues and I talk about them often on here!

http://www.immunologysupport.com/treatments.html


P.S. Hopefully will get my results back today or Monday the latest! I moved my follow up with my Dr. to Tues the 28th! I am still keeping the consultation with the other doctor regarding Endometriosis - because if that is something I want to look into the future - then at least I got the consultation part out of the way, ya know?

Anyway - stay tuned for hopefully good news!

Testing...aggainn

Tomorrow will mark my final retesting of my NKCells and TH1/TH2 (to see if my TNFa has lowered). It's a big deal because this will lay down the bricks to see if I can TTC in July or not. I have several options based on what the results are.

1. I have an appt set up on June 29th for a consultation with a dr. regarding endometriosis. I want to see if I can get a laproscopy done to determine if I have it - and if so - to treat it. I have read that endometriosis can trigger inflammation which raises TNFa. So if I can find the culprit as to why my TNFa is being spiked - then maybe I can get it under control once and for all instead of just suppressing it with drugs. The cons of this is that the surgery always runs risks, and also - it will push our TTC time back to like Aug/Sept. Which is fine, but the LIT only lasts in your system for about 9 months. We are already on month 2 since the treatment. So I don't really have time to waste here.

2. If my TNFa is low enough to where it can be controlled/lowered with a shot of intralipids or sterioids, then maybe it can be suppressed enough to where it won't matter if endometriosis is an issue if I can keep it under control. Cons: drugs. Which I really don't like.

3. IVIg. This apparently is the best way to control TNFa. It resets your immune system and brings everything down. Con: EXPENSIVE. I really don't wish to spend $2500 per shot here. I mean, what if I get this damn shot - and I don't get pregnant right away! It's like tossing money down the toilet!!


So clearly you see my dilemmas. I have been taking so many supplements that I am PRAYING they will be good enough to knock it down the rest of the way naturally. My nightstand looks insane. I am on so many things! haha! I mean, the vitamins I have been taking knocked it down from 61.5 to 37.1 in a month. So it will definitely be interesting to see if it takes it down even further since my last test. I have also added some new ones in the mix so I am just praying they do the job!

Other than that...just have to wait and see. I really can't wait to try again. But I am nervous as all hell!! It's pretty scary stuff, but unfortunately, ya just have to grin and bear it in order to hopefully bring home that little rainbow. I have several virtual friends that I made online on my support forums that were in the same boat as me. Well, recurrent miscarriages, but different issues. But one just had a beautiful baby girl and the other is almost out of her scary 1st trimester! I am so happy for them, and hope that I will be next in line! We shall see how my cards play out....

Retested...and now we wait.

So yesterday I went in to get retested for the LAD (to see if LIT worked) as well as the TNFa. Now the waiting game begins. I hate this part because I just want to know now!! But they take sooooooo long to get you the results! I am hoping it's not like last time where it almost took 2 weeks! That will be brutal. But it's done!

  The retesting kind of was a nightmare. Apparently the phlebotomist up and quit suddenly - and left my nurse high and dry doing the tests. Well she didn't know what color tubes the specific blood test was used for and we had to call the lab that runs the tests to walk her through what she needed to do with it. Naturally this kind of upset me because I don't want any hiccups with this retesting. The blood has to arrive at the lab within 24 hours - I just hope it got there in time. But I am going to try and not stress...we will just wait for the results.

So that's that. Stay tuned...

And more changes

Things keep getting delayed but this time it's my doing. I have decided to start trying again in July. June just seems to rushed - and on top of that, we are going to be traveling to my Dads in Tennessee for the 4th of July, so I don't want to be in that crucial 1st week of pregnancy while traveling. There would be nothing more horrific than to miscarry again while on vacation. So it is just best to just be home during that time.

  Sooooo since there is no longer any rush...I pushed back the retesting of the LAD and TNFa to May 23rd and have a follow up with my dr. on June 2nd. From there we will decide what next steps to take. I am also hoping that will allow enough time for these supplements to start taking effect in hopefully naturally lowering my TNFa. So we will see...

  But yeah, I am feeling more comfortable with this plan of action now. As much as I am eager to start trying again...I just simply don't want to rush it, and I don't want to be traveling. After the 4th I am not going anywhere until September so that will be ideal.

  So here is to a month of just relaxing and sorting it all out without rushing! :)

NK Cell testing...check!

Well yesterday my husband and I went in to get our blood taken for the NKCell assay. I guess she needed my husbands blood too so they can run ours next to each other to see how my immune system reacts with his. I had to get 7 vials of blood taken and man, what a process. I hadn't had any water to drink that morning since all I was sipping on was coffee. Well apparently it caused my blood to come out veerrryy slowly. Just dripping in one little plop at a time. That NEVER happens. Usually its like a damn waterfall! Oddly enough, same thing happened to my husband as well! Made me wonder if the girl was doing it accurately.

  Either way, we managed to get enough to send off for testing, so now we will wait til hopefully the end of this week to learn the results. I just want answers and I am praying that this will provide us with some. I am sure we are out this month to try again, since even though we will have the results at the end of this week (hopefully) we still need to go back in to see the dr. and make the gameplan. I expect I will be ovulating late this weekend (sunday or monday if it is on schedule) so I am positive that won't give us enough time to get things in order for this month. So next month we will hopefully be good to go with a new plan!

  I do know she wants me to start lovenox on day 6 of my cycle instead of after ovulation. And if my NKCells are elevated, then we will be doing steroids and other infusions as well. That medication is going to cost around 5k I believe. Hopefully my insurance will help pick up the tab, but since it's fertility related - that's highly doubtful. What's even more discouraging is who knows if it will even work! So that may be 5k I am just flushing down the toilet. Man I really need to win the lottery. I am slowly sinking and sinking further in debt. :(

  Anyway, well I will keep updating as I learn more. In the meantime, I am going to do my best to keep my head from spinning this week while I wait for the results!

Waiting, waiting and more waiting

I hate waiting. I am probably the most impatient person ever. I want things to happen when I want them to happen, so having no control over certain things drives me nuts!! I haven't stopped tracking my basal temp even though I am currently not TTC this month, just to keep a range of it for reference. So I am pretty sure I ovulated yesterday which is good, but sad. Another egg wasted, another opportunity missed. I hate that I have to constantly watch cycle after cycle go by and nothing comes out of it. It's so frustrating!!!

  I am also waiting on these dang results from the tissue I submitted to come back!! I'm so eager to find out if they could determine if this is a chromosomal issue or not! Or if they could even determine ANYTHING from it at all!! It will at least point me in somewhat of a direction regardless the outcome. If it is, well that sucks, but we will most likely have to turn to IVF. But if we have to do that, might as well get that ball rolling now! I'm 37, times a' tickin!!! lol! And if it isn't, well we have a lot of NK Cell testing to do and tons of more research to determine wtf is going on!! Such a headache.

  In the meantime, I see every other persons life moving onward and upward, while I sit here in limbo. I have hidden so many mothers, and mothers to be on my facebook because I simply just can't deal with looking at all of that right now. I hate to have to hide my friends, and I really am super happy for them...but looking at them have these perfect pregnancies and beautiful babies without a problem in the world just rubs salt in my wounds. Maybe I am being immature about it, whatever. It's how I feel and I already promised myself I would allow myself to feel any way I want about this. It's my way of spoiling myself after what I have gone through. So yeah, if I want to act like a baby at times...then so be it.

  Anyway, I will update as soon as I get the results from the tissue sample. Until then...well, just going to enjoy this quiet day at work while others are enjoying their MLK day off!! Jerks!! haha