I'm sure most of you know what's been going on, but I thought a recap would be nice. Our rocky road to parenthood started in June of 2007. We were blessed with a positive pregnancy test our first month off birth control. I had lots of pregnancy symptoms but started spotting at 6 1/2 weeks while at work in Los Angeles, CA. This was so scary. I went to the Children's Hospital ER and was quickly transferred by ambulance (yeah, we regretted that!) to an adult hospital nearby. We were able to see our Baby and the sac but were told the sac appeared to be "falling off" the wall of my uterus. We were sent home to "wait and see". A few hours later we lost our first Baby. We were devastated.
After reading some statistics provided by the "all-knowing" internet, we realized many couples experience a miscarriage and go on to have a healthy pregnancy. One month after we lost Baby #1 we were blessed with yet another positive pregnancy test in August. We were very excited but a lot more nervous than the first time around. We had our first ultrasound at around 6 weeks & all was well with a heartbeat of 95 bpm. It was amazing to see that little flicker on the sonogram. We had another ultrasound at 8 weeks & the little one's heart was beating at 120 bpm. Unfortunately at 12 weeks exactly I started spotting at work (bad stuff always seems to happen at work, hmm...) I thought...no big deal, I'm 12 weeks, it's got to be okay. I went in for an ultrasound the next morning & there was no heartbeat. Our Angel measured only 7 1/2 weeks, meaning she most likely stopped growing around the time of my last ultrasound. Of course we were devastated.
After 2 consecutive miscarriages you are entilted to have testing done in attempt to determine a cause. Results revealed I have a genetic mutation on my MTHFR gene. I am heterozygous for the A1298C mutation, meaning I have one copy of the mutation. This is the "best" mutation to have as it does not seem to cause many problems & is easy to treat. The MTHFR gene is responsible for folic acid absorption. The mutation does not allow my body to absorb folic acid properly. Low folic acid levels could have been the cause of my miscarriages. My OB recommended increasing my folic acid intake and taking a baby aspirin daily. Sounded simple enough. At the end of January we had a positive test & were hopeful the treatment would work. Only 2 days later, I started spotting. It was a nightmare. I went in for labs and my Hcg was very low. My OB told us we had a "chemical pregnancy". I have really grown to hate that term. A "chemical pregnancy" is simply a pregnancy that ended very early. There was a fertilized egg that started to implant. It just didn't make it very far. Miscarriage #3. My OB said she wasn't worried & wanted to continue the current treatment. If at first you don't succeed, try try again.
In April I contacted an adoption agency to get some information. I was ready. I felt completely exhausted emotionally and physically. I had been pregnant or trying to get pregnant for almost a year. I wanted to be a mom more than anything. After much discussion, we decided to try "one more time" to have a biological child. We got our 4th BFP (big fat positive) pregnancy test on May 8th. For some reason, even after all we had been through, we were still so excited. We thought, "this has got to be the one that sticks". Well, I started spotting a week later. Our life was falling apart.
At this point, with 4 consecutive miscarriages, we were ready to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). Our appt was in June. After weeks of tests and procedures, I was found to have Protein C Deficiency. This deficiency makes a person more prone to clotting. Tiny clots in a developing placenta or embryo would be detrimental. Per our RE's recommendation, I started Letrozole (a mild fertility drug similar to clomid) to help make my eggs stronger and more mature, improving our chances of pregnancy. I also started Lovenox, a daily subcutaneous injection, to help prevent blood clots. I didn't get pregnant that month. In August I took the Letrozole again but this time we did IUI (artificial insemination). I did not get pregnant. We tried another cycle with IUI & the same meds in September with no luck.
Discouraged, we decided to stop the fertility drug and proceed with a natural cycle. After all, we had been able to get pregnant without assistance 4 times in the last 15 months. Low & behold we got a BFP in October. I was taking my Lovenox injections daily to prevent blood clots, everything seemed promising. I called our RE and scheduled labs to be drawn the next day. My doctor called with bad news. My levels were low. With an Hcg of 13, there wasn't much hope. More labs two days later confirmed we were having our 5th miscarriage. This was the second year in a row we were losing a baby on Halloween. How could this be happening??
We met with our RE a couple weeks later to regroup. It is very difficult sometimes to pinpoint the cause of recurrent miscarriages. All the test results previously obtained were normal except the Protein C Deficiency & the MTHFR mutation. Being on Lovenox, baby aspirin & extra folic acid with this last pregnancy would have prevented any clots, so these disorders cannot be to blame. She believes the problem has got to be chromosomal. Sometimes there are mistakes in the DNA of the egg, sperm, or both. When egg & sperm meet, cells start dividing & multiplying rapidly. When there is a problem with the DNA, your body recognizes it & causes a miscarriage. Unfortunately technology is unable to test a single sperm or egg for chromosomal abnormalities. We can, however, test a fertilized embryo for many of these abnormalities. Pretty crazy, I know. So, our RE recommends proceeding with IVF (in-vitro fertilization) with PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). This medical jargon translates to the following: I will take strong fertility drugs. They will go inside my ovaries & remove as many eggs as possible (we're hoping for about 12). Kyle will provide a sperm sample. My eggs will be fertilized with his sperm in a dish in the lab. They will let the embryo grow for 3 days. They will then remove one cell from each healthy embryo & send it to a specialized lab to be tested for chromosomal abnormalities. This testing takes 2 days to complete. On day 5 my RE will call & let us know how many embryos are genetically normal. She will transfer up to 2 healthy normal embryos that day. The others (hopefully we will have more than 2) will by frozen to be used later. Wow, that was a lot of information!!
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