Wow, where to begin. It has been 3 months since I visited this blog. Back in May when I first started this blog, we were going through the miscarriage of our first pregnancy, and I was hoping it would become not only an outlet for that experience, but perhaps first and for most a travel blog. A sort of places to see, things to do if you will. Unfortunately, it seems life got ahead of me, and this blog fell by the wayside. So here goes attempt #2!!
It has been a very busy 3 months!!! In the spirit of sharing openly, put on your seat belts and hold on tight, here is the short version. I might add that we have decided not to keep our fertility struggles a secret. We both need the support of friends and families, and the only way to get that is to let people in on what is going on in our lives. If we were going through any other type of medical struggle, we would not keep things a secret, so why is it that most couples are so secretive about this entire process? OK, rant over. Like I said, here is the short version of whats gone on in the last 3 months.
After our miscarriage, I had a gut feeling that something was not right. I know early miscarriages are not all that uncommon (25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage), but something inside of me said something was off. So, after a bit of research, I "self referred" myself to an RE, also known as a reproductive endoncrinologist, or fertility specialist. We met with her for the first time in early August and I shared my concerns. She ordered a battery of super fun (note the sarcasm) tests ranging from blood work, to ultrasounds, to the oh so fun HSG (dye injections anyone???). Results all confirmed that indeed my instinct had been correct, something was "wrong." We found out that I have a uterine septum (an abnormal band of fibrous tissue at the top of the uterus, present from birth, and a major cause of miscarriage). To add to the good news, we also discovered that I had the early stages of whats called "diminished ovarian reserve/efficiency or DOR" (basically I have fewer eggs, and lesser quality eggs than they would expect in a healthy 28 year old). While all of this news was upsetting, the upside was that there was something we could do about both issues. What, you might ask?
Last week I had surgery to remove all of the abnormal tissue from my uterus. While not exactly a bundle of laughs, I am so glad that the problem was discovered, and taken care of before we had any more miscarriages or issues. I'm still having quite a bit of pain and am on estrogen for 30 days to speed up the healing, but you gotta do what you gotta do!!! Surgery went well, and we have been joking that my uterus has been transformed from an "old clunker" to a high end "mercedes." Nothing but the best for our future children!!!
So whats next? IVF. Yikes. Gulp. Seeing $$ signs. BUT, it is the best option, and once again, i'm grateful its an option. Because of my DOR diagnosis, we need to achieve a pregnancy, and start our family sooner rather than later. Time is not on our side. While we might be able to achieve another natural pregnancy, it would likely take a very long time, and the possibility of miscarriage would be higher. IVF gives us a 60% chance each attempt, and gives them the opportunity to reduce our risk of miscarriage by hand selecting which embryos to use. Although it'd be lovely to be successful on the first attempt, we are prepared to try at least 3 times. All this will likely happen in November-December. While we aren't exactly looking forward to the nightly injections, and countless doctor visits and procedures, it will all be worth it in the end.
All I can say is this future kiddo of ours better behave themselves after all we are going through to create him or her!!
Until Next time... Kelly and Keith :-)
