Baby-making and infertility updates

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Where my girls at???

I had a saline infusion ultrasound that found a polyp in my uterus, so I’m having it removed via hysteroscopy tomorrow morning. I’m going under general anesthesia so I’ve had to do all the sinister pre-op stuff even though it is an incredibly minor procedure. My infertility doctor says that in 50% of secondary infertility, this kind of thing is the culprit.

My chromosomes, prolactin, and ovarian function were all normal though. Yay.

I have one polycystic ovary but metformin gave me the shakes and my cycles are regular, so I’ve got some mild minor variant of PCOS and am trying to lose weight.

My husband has had a prostate infection in the middle of all this (wtf!) and just got done with a one-month regimen of antibiotics. In a week or so he’ll have a semen analysis done.

Once all of THAT is done, I will be allowed to try Clomid. My doctor is great for trying to find the root cause of my infertility instead of just starting with Clomid, but I still kind of grumble now that we’re a couple thousand dollars into it and, well, we’re going on Clomid.

So how YOU doin, girlfriend?

2

Good luck with your surgery tomorrow, I hope having the polyp removed is all that is needed. What dose of Clomid will you be starting at? Do you regularly ovulate already? I had a few emotional side effects from Clomid and REALLY sore boobs post-O (much more then normal) - hopefully yours are minimal as well.

I’m currently doing the anti-inflammatory protocol from CCRM on a natural cycle and will do the same next month. Then we’re done doing anything interesting until March when we do our FET.

3

Good luck with the FET. Somehow I had the idea that you had given up on treatments. How is the adoption process going?

I don’t know what dose of Clomid, my doctor won’t discuss it until after my surgery and my husband’s semen analysis. I do ovulate regularly though my luteal phases are inconsistent (9-14 days). I’ve had three extremely short pregnancies in the last 16 months, which is consistent with inflammation caused by a polyp, I sure hope that’s the answer too because I’m grumpy about having to have the surgery. I had so hoped to get away without that.

4

We waffle back and forth about treatments. We were always going to do the FET, it was just timing. Anything beyond that (IVF, etc.) is still up in the air.

Our homestudy is almost complete - it’s been submitted to the province for approval so we’re just waiting for that. Once we have it we decide if we want to update for general (it’s child specific right now, but it looks like she won’t become available) or just let it sit.

Have you had your progesterone tested post-O and has your doctor talked to you about luteal phase defect? I don’t know much about it, but wonder if that also contributes.

I always hate having surgeries, but it’s worth it of course. Hopefully it’s easy on you and you’re back on your feet right away.

5

Hey ladies!

Forgive me if I’ve told you all this before, but I forget who’s up to date on what!

I had a polyp removed a couple of months ago. Alas, it wasn’t the magic trick needed to make my uterus do what it should. I was pleasantly surprised that the surgery itself was quick and painless, though. They say they got me up after the procedure and made me walk to the bed to be wheeled back out, but I have zero memory of that part. Are you doing a true general anaesthesia, Sattua, or the twilight thing? That’s what I had, I think. I told them I get sick from the knockout drugs, and they gave me a shot of Zofran IV, which kept me from throwing up in recovery. Hooray for drugs!

I’m two failed IUIs in. The depression after the last one almost killed me - literally - so I’m back on Welbutrin so I can stay alive through the rest of this. The emotional roller coaster is hard. I find myself freezing up when it comes to the big decisions now, because I just don’t know what to do. We can’t decide between letting insurance cover one round (at 50%, so $3500 for us, with meds and cryo fees and FETs extra), or jumping right to the shared-risk program and dropping 20k. I can’t even think about it anymore, and I told my husband it’s his call.

I just won a long fight with my insurance company, which is the only reason they’re covering IVF through the end of the year. We’re about to start that process, maybe taking advantage of the coverage (at least for meds). I’m due to start a new cycle in 2 weeks or so, assuming that we didn’t get pregnant on our own this time, and I’ll be starting on birth control for a few weeks before stims and all that fun stuff. I’m terrified, depressed, excited, angry, crushed, and terrified again. My husband just doesn’t know how to deal with me anymore. Any advice from your end, you guys?

I switched doctors to get away from the condescending jackass, and the new one is wonderful and speaks to me as though I was a medical professional - which I am! She has high hopes for IVF for us, and agrees with me that another IUI isn’t likely to work if two injectable cycles failed. I only got one egg each time even when they boosted the dose. Moving to IVF will give us a better idea of egg quality, and we may be able to explain my “unexplained” infertility.

My niece was born a few weeks ago. She was supposed to come into a world with a cousin already waiting for her. I’m having a hard time being around her, for now, and I’m not connecting with her like I did with her brother, who’s 2 now. I feel so guilty about that, and I don’t know how to get past it.

6

Nothing to add, except to say good luck to you all!

7

Home again after my procedure. Like Antigen said, it was quick and painless. No post-op pain whatsoever (yet). I didn’t have a polyp exactly, but there was a rough spot near the opening of one tube that (1) would catch any egg coming down that tube and (2) probably wasn’t a good place to implant. So they took that out. I am relaying all this third-hand through my husband, who is unreliable listener.

Antigen, I’m sorry this is such a huge emotional rollercoaster for you. I’m sure you’re doing it already, but my advice is to work toward a zen state where you can eventually live happily with any outcome. It is fraught with uncertainty though, I understand that. Like why the hell did I just have surgery to have another kid when I already have a great one and I hate pregnancy? What the heck I am doing? It would almost be easier if these treatments didn’t exist and we could just make peace with things and move on…

They did put me under true general anesthesia. It was awesome. They gave me a “pre-op margarita” of something that made me really happy, too, which was great. All in all an easy procedure.

8

Wait Antigen, let me try to re-phrase what i said. I am NOT telling you to just “get over it”. I’m not. What’s happening to you is frustrating and unfair and sucks and shouldn’t be happening to you. What should be a simple and happy part of life is being turned into the most stressful part of your life. You should kick Og’s ass next time you get a chance.

But because I care about you, I want you to do the work to make sure that eventually, somewhere down the road, you will be at peace–with whatever happens. Don’t be Miss Havisham over it fifty years from now, okay?

9

I’m very glad your procedure was quick and easy, Sattua. Give yourself permission to be a slug for a while. :slight_smile:

Thanks. I’m trying, really I am. I’m just a really emotional person to begin with, and, let’s be honest, my depression doesn’t help things. I’m on meds and getting therapy, so it’s not like I’m neglecting self-care completely. But “Zen” isn’t something I’ve ever been very good at. I’m either laughing at how ridiculous life is, or falling apart. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a neutral gear. I like to have plans. I hate when plans change. I analyze too much. It drives my therapist crazy. The thing is, I just don’t see a place, not yet, where I will be happy without children. And I’m not comfortable (again: yet) with donor eggs or adoption. So… I really, really want this to work.

I’m currently trying to figure out why my insurance authorization currently only goes as far as oocyte retrieval. The phone reps at the insurance company have no idea, and suggested that the fertility clinic got the codes wrong. The fertility clinic says the coding is accurate and the referral should have worked. Both say that the pre-authorization for *everything *should be done before I even start. But nobody noticed that this referral didn’t cover the whole procedure until I brought it to their attention. I need to be so aware of everything going on, and it’s exhausting. I’m almost looking forward to the needles-and-probes part of it all, because that will be easy in comparison!

10

If anyone is interested in a perspective from somewhat farther down the road… I did 3 IUIs, then had a whole bunch of polyps removed (ouch), followed by 3 more IUIs and 3 IVFs. No luck. The last one was in January of 2008. I think I have finally made peace with never having a baby . I’m starting to feel too old for all that! I don’t think I can be really happy without a family, though. We have decided to adopt through the foster care system within the next few years. In the meantime, I am working on my “what if it never happens” goals and doing well.

I know I’m not quite in the “club” since we’re not trying any more. I just want people to know that it can get better, even when you don’t get the results you’re hoping for.

11

Best of luck, Sattua.

12

Thanks, CinnamonImp and EmilyG. I’m at the point where I can let it go if Clomid doesn’t work. I’ve got one beautiful daughter already.

13

I hope it’s okay to bump this, but I’d feel funny starting a new thread.

It’s early, but we got to see a little flicker of a heartbeat on an ultrasound this week. I’m going to be holding my breath for the next few weeks until I’m safely past when we lost the last one, but it looks like maybe, just maybe, IVF worked. Changing doctors and finding a solid online support group made all the difference in the world for my emotional state through it all, too.

How are the rest of you ladies doing?

14

I had another miscarriage in October. We are now taking six months off–I’m on the pill. I’m spending 99% of my time feeling like maybe I’m ready to just give up and take the easy way out–not try anymore. The other 1% is spent in gut-wrenching anxiety because we’re wasting time and I don’t know what will happen.

One thing I decided after the October loss is that we’re not going au natural again. With everything else eliminated, I appear to simply have weak ovulation, which ovulation-inducing drugs ought to fix. So I hope to go straight from the pill to Clomid.

15

I am so sorry. That’s just not fair.

I hope Clomid is the ticket, when (if) you decide to try again.

16

I wish you and your partner best of luck, Sattua.

17

I am really sorry to read this Sattua. How many losses have you had now? I’m just wondering if it might be worth it to get some immune system testing done while you’re on a pill break. I have had six miscarriages now (recorded with my RE, I suspect it’s actually higher) and I strongly suspect immune issues. If you want details about the tests you should discuss with your RE, let me know (they are not the repeat pregnancy loss tests, those are primarily for losses after the first tri).

18

Thanks for the advice EmAnJ. I have had five lost pregnancies, all technically “chemical”, though the two with progesterone support lasted long enough for the miscarriages to really, really hurt.

My daughter was born with no fuss and no troubles. So for whatever reason, the issues I’m experiencing now weren’t in play three years ago.

My GP ordered a couple of immune assays after the third loss. They came back normal. I can’t tell you what assays they were.

I do have autoimmune thyroid disease.

I do have low progesterone levels and a short luteal phase.

I think that I am not willing to go to the lengths that treating an immune issue would involve. If I got pregnant on Clomid and lost that pregnancy, I would be definitively done. No more trying, no more treatments. My gut feeling has always been that the culprit is low ovulation quality leading to weak eggs and low progesterone levels. The increase in age and weight, compared to my first pregnancy, supports that hypothesis, as do the low measured progesterone levels and short luteal phase.

19

Of course it is ultimately up to you what your limits are, but just FYI, autoimmune thyroid diseases are directly linked to miscarriages. In some cases, the immune system responses that lead to the miscarriages are triggered by the first pregnancy. If you want more information, here is a good link: The role of thyroid autoimmunity in fertility and pregnancy.

Table 2 from that article (end of first paragraph in ‘Associate with Pregnancy’ on the first page) is interesting in that it lists studies on women with autoimmune thyroid diseases and individual miscarriage rates. The numbers are pretty staggering. A statement they make in that section is “An impressive number of studies have since confirmed that TAI without overt thyroid dysfunction is significantly associated with a threefold to fivefold increase in overall miscarriage rate, independently of the presence of antinuclear and anticardiolipin antibodies.”