Update

As promised I am going to fill all my readers in on what has been going on. As most of you know this journey towards becoming parents has been a rough tumultuos battle. Although we have not done many treatments the road to getting where we are has been quite bumpy, quite informative, and to be quite honest quite emotionally draining.

I say it all the time, because it is the honest truth- somehow I always knew deep within my heart that getting pregnant was going to be really hard for me. I didn't know why I felt this way, I just did. Things always felt a little offish about my body...perhaps I am more in-tune with my body than the average woman. In 2003 I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Endometriosis. When I found out I had Endo I cried. Naturally I searched online and all that kept popping up was "Infertility". My worst fears and sneaky suspicions had just been confirmed. Getting pregnant was going to be hard, but I was young, I wasn't ready for a family, I wasn't even married at the time, who cared about fertility then? I did

I really thought Endometriosis would be the worst of the news for me to deal with. Oh but I was so wrong. Just a few short months later and I was diagnosed with Graves Disease Hyperactive thyroid...this one scared me, and I prayed and wished it would go away, that I would rather have Hashimotos, because of the eye problems with Graves. Well becareful what you will. I willed my recovery from Graves right into Hashimotos. Although I suspect that I never had Graves but rather I had Hashimotos all along and was having a hyperactive flare up. This happens A LOT. My new Endocrinologist believes this is the case...either way Hashi or Graves...infertility lingers around.
Not only does Hashimoto's contribute to infertility, the antibodies can cause miscarriages. Not all RE's including mine are convinced this plays a significant role in m/c rates.
Before being diagnosed with Hashi, I was diagnosed with PCOS based on blood work alone. I ovulated on my own, just late (Thanks to Endo). So for years I believed I had Graves, but was not typical, I was not thin, thinner than I am now, oh yes, but thin? Never. So PCOS was the new culprit, that was until the diagnosis of Hashi and being placed on synthroid. All my levels that once indicated PCOS are normal, low end normal, not even borderline high...so PCOS was a misdiagnosis for sure and thus Metformin never did anything for me, except mask my TSH level and allow me to go untreated for months putting on 30+lbs.

So where am I today?

Today I have answers. Today I am in a better place as far as "What is wrong with me?". Today though I am not in a better place as far as "Hope" goes. I still have some, it will take a lot more than this to take that from me.

I have a new diagnosis Ladies and Gents...I had a Thrombophilia panel done to check for blood clotting disorders and autoimmune antibodies.
Well what do you know...

I tested positive for quite a few.
I have APA, Factor II, MTHFR (Homozygous)Slightly elevated Homocysteine levels, and a weak positive for Lupus Anticoagulants.

So what does this mean? This means I am at risk for developing blood clots...in the placenta as well, which means stillbirth, fetal demise, early miscarriage and even infertility.

I am seeing a hematologist on the 25th and hopefully get some answers. I have been taking the Selenium to bring down the Antithyroid antibodies and now I have been taking a baby aspirin. I will most likely be doing Lovenox injections or some type of injections when I get pregnant..maybe before? We will see what the hematologist says next wednesday..

DH's semen analysis came back, worse than last years...His count is above normal as is his motility, his morphology is poor, only 2% are normal, they look for at least 14%.

We were told that his sperm is suitable for IUI and for IVF without ICSI...
We chose to go IVF route.

With so many things going wrong, we want to just get past this all and go with better odds. At least with IVF things are more controlled.
1 follicle on clomid with poor morphology isn't going to really get us anywhere, and if I am going to do injections I want the 60% success rate we were given for IVF over the less than 20% with IUI.

Yes, you read that correctly. Our RE has given us a 60% chance of success...we are happy with those odds...

After I see the hematologist the protocol for IVF will be established, meds, timeline etc. We are hoping for an ER and ET in June! I want to finish out this semester without any worries and hope to spend the summer Preggo!

Well that is it for now....

Trying to remain positive...

IVF Here We Come!!!

We are moving on to IVF, I will update entire situation at another time...there is lots to tell.

Things Have Turned Around....

Well it has been a little while since I've written an entry and a few things have changed quite a bit. Lots of things to be happy about, and still lots of wondering if and when I will have a child still consumes me daily. I guess when you suffer through infertility the wondering never goes away..the hopelessness teeter totters back and forth.

Some parts of me have been jaded from this experience, some parts of me have improved, all in all this experience is shaping me and I just don't really know how I feel about this shaping. On one hand I hate my infertility, it is a curse that has blackened the innocence of conceiving for my husband and I, and then on the otherhand I view itas a blessing. When I become a mother, I know I will look at my children through different eyes than most mothers I will know...for this I am grateful. I am grateful for the sensitive heart that I have, for the easiness of tears, for compassion for others with infertility. These things I am grateful for...for now at least.

Anyway back to the purpose of this update. Well it is confirmed. I have naturally decreased and normalized all hormone levels that indicated PCOS.

My Endocrinologist was the one who diagnosed me without even seeing my ovaries and said that there doesn't need to be cysts, and so he based it on bloodwork levels. Cholesterol, Testosterone etc.
Well since being diagnosed with Hashimotos and being on synthroid, my levels are all normal. {{Hop, Skip, Jump}}
My testosterone isn't even elevated, not even high normal..it is dead smack in the middle of normal!! {{cheese smile}}

The synthroid did the job, in fact it helped a little too much, and the Doctor brought down my synthroid dosage to 88mcg. I originally started out on 75mcg, then did 100mcg and now I am on 88mcg. My TSH level was .34, normal is between .4-4 (between 1-2) for pregnancy. So just need to up it a bit.

DH and I went back to the RE for a few tests. He had his repeate semen analysis, and we both had Karyotype testing done, and I was tested for thrombosis workup..such as lupus anticoagulants, asa, ana, MTHFR gene mutation.

We have to wait until next Thursday for the results of the s/a and hopefully the blood tests as well. They took like 12 viles of blood from me...I almost shit my pants when I seen all the tubes.


We will be returning to Clomid/IUI and Progesterone at the end of the month. I didn't lose all the weight I wanted to, but 15lbs was hard enough to lose with my thyroid and so we have decided to just go for it, and I will worry about losing after the baby is born.

And.....

On a happier note Craig is officially cancer free as of 2-26-09
Just last year they told him he would die by August of 2008...I found out last night that he is doing wonderful and my heart couldn't have smiled any wider.