Trying to Conceive...an Update

Some of you who read this blog already know a lot of these details; to some of you, much of this will come as a surprise.  You may remember that it was around this time last year, I found out that I was pregnant, but miscarried very early (around five and a half weeks).  The full details are here, if you want to read about it.  I don't think I've really posted anything else about "trying to conceive" since then.  So...here's the story.

Shawn and I actually started trying to get pregnant in August of 2009.  If you don't want to do the math, that's 17 cycles of trying.  I did get pregnant on cycle #5.  I also got pregnant on cycle #10 (last June).  That pregnancy also ended in a very early miscarriage.  Given the circumstances of both miscarriages, my doctor suggested that my progesterone levels might be low, so I started taking supplements for the last two weeks of each cycle.  Although I really like my doctor, I didn't like that this was the only thing she looked for (and frankly, she tested for it on the wrong date...but that's a long story that I won't go into).  She also told me that she wasn't going to be concerned about doing any other testing until it had been at least a full year of trying after my last miscarriage.

Once we got to January (and I hadn't gotten pregnant again), Shawn and I talked about it and decided that we are frustrated.  We don't want to wait until June (almost 2 years of trying) to see if there's a reason that I'm not pregnant 17 months after beginning to try.  While I know that 32 isn't really old, it certainly isn't 22, especially when we're talking about fertility and reproduction.  So I did some research, and we made an appointment with a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE)...aka, a fertility specialist. 

We had our appointment with Dr. K last Friday.  She spent about an hour talking with us, which was really nice.  Basically, because I have gotten pregnant twice, she is focusing on why I had early miscarriages both times.  There are many things that can lead to an early miscarriage (clotting disorders, ovarian disorders, hormonal issues, thyroid issues, something with a gigantic name that basically means the body doesn't process folate appropriately, uterine deformities, ovarian reserve issues...I think I'm forgetting one or two), and many of those issues can also make it more difficult to get pregnant in the first place. 

So before we left the building on Friday, I went up to the lab and had 10 vials of blood drawn to do all kinds of tests to check for many of those things listed above.  Once I start my next cycle, I'll do a couple more tests (the clomid challenge test and a sonohysterogram).  Hopefully, within the next few weeks, we'll have something to work with.

After talking with Dr. K, I did feel some relief.  Yes, there were a LOT of options thrown out there about things that might be wrong with me.  But it's very good to know that most of the possibilities are things that can be treated with medication.  There have definitely been times over the last 17 months that I have felt hopeless.  Knowing that we may be on the verge of getting some helpful information is giving me some hope.