The Journey Still Continues

Still here, still waiting, still wondering why we haven't been able to announce wonderful news of a pregnancy in the works. By now, my friends who were pregnant as of my last post have all had their babies. Wonderful beautiful children who are so fortunate to have such wonderful parents. But I still remain the 1 in 4.

In October, I went back to my ob/gyn for my annual check up and she recommended the Clomid route again. I had tried two unsuccessful months of it and did not see great results (not to mention the side effects) so I was hesitant to try again. She convinced me. So for the next month I tried 100mg of Clomid, then the next two months 150mg (pretty much the highest dose anyone wants to try). I did get something out of all those rounds of Clomid... 3 large cysts... two the size of ping pong balls.

Let me back up a bit. In December, I finally had it and on a quick decision, I decided to contact a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). We had been trying for 9 cycles after our miscarriage to conceive again and frankly, I was done trying alone. Stu unfortunately had to come home to the announcement that I had an appointment the following Thursday... talk about quick.

So my RE discussed our tries at having a baby, my previous miscarriages, and all other things baby-making related. She said two things she noticed about me: 1. It takes me a long time to get pregnant and 2. I'm not able to keep the babies when I do get pregnant. Well duh, that's why I was there right?! She said that she wanted to do all the blood work and whole work up to figure out any underlying conditions that I might have and took me in for an ultrasound.

At that point, I was right in the middle of the Clomid cycle and had 4-5 follicles ready to go. Of course, we didn't get pregnant. Five targets... amazing how it missed. She also found that my lining was thin.. not good.

After that cycle, I went in for the blood work. Results? Low AMH (good= above 2, mine 1.2), higher FSH (good = below 10, mine 11.6) and of course.. the ping-pong cysts. Next step? Uh... birth control?

That was fun...

Cysts have shrunk and the plan was to go ahead with Femara (or Letrozole-another type of ovulation stimulating drug) combined with an HCG trigger shot to release the eggs and IUI (intrauterine insemination, a.k.a "turkey baster method". I found myself dragging my feet. Should I really disrupt my body yet again with drugs? How do I know the drugs didn't actually mess up my AMH and FSH? So many questions. We (yes Stu and I) decided that it was better to wait and try naturally again for awhile, at least until after our June vacation.

So it is settled. I have begun taking some supplements that my wonderful friend and clinical nutritionist recommended for me to get things more balanced. I remain hopeful...as ever...