Time to play catch up! Some of our family and close friends know everything we have went through the past year and a half, and what the plan is at this point, for those who don’t, let me catch you up.
Mark and I got married two years ago, well almost (Oct 4th), and we decided we wanted to take one last trip after our honeymoon before we would start having kids. The following March we took a vacation to Mexico and then it was time! Three months later, we found out we were pregnant! We were so excited that it actually happened, and fairly quick! Two of our close friends had experienced miscarriages earlier that year, so I was a little nervous and it was still very early. Deep down I just had a feeling that we too might have a miscarriage. I had labs drawn and all was well, just still really early in the pregnancy. A couple weeks later our worst fear was confirmed, I was miscarrying. I will share that whole experience in another post as it will likely be pretty long. Once we were given the ok to try again we did, and a couple months later in October, before going out to celebrate Mark’s birthday, I got a positive pregnancy test. It was still a few days before my period was due so I was shocked! I took three tests that weekend and all were positive, and once again we were excited, but I kept reminding myself that it could all be taken away in an instant. The following week I started my period and took a test that was now Negative. My heart sank, I was angry, and I texted my sister in law who is a Nurse Practitioner at my OB office. The following month I had some lab work done and ultrasound to see what was going on. The ultrasound was fine, they did see something in my right fallopian tube but said it may be from the miscarriage and may pass on its own. My labs came back fine, other than very low Vit D which was easily corrected by now taking a Vit D supplement daily, and a false positive ANA which landed us in a Rheumatologist’s office in Columbus to rule out Lupus. After more lab work the Rheumatologist assured us I did not have lupus. Great news, however there was a part of me that was hoping to find something that could be attributed to these early miscarriages.
The next few months we continued trying on our own, and at my yearly appointment in April after discussing the past year with my doctor, we decided to start Clomid and try IUI. We did our first IUI in May of this year, and if my husband will let me, I’ll share a little of that experience in another post. I think it may have been worse for him that day than me, but looking back now we find it kind of hilarious. I took a test two weeks after the IUI and it was negative. The following month we had planned to go on vacation the week that I would need to do another IUI so we decided to just continue taking Clomid and try on our own. No luck, so in July we did another IUI again. We felt really good about this one, my body had been responding well to the Clomid and we just knew it was going to work this time. Guess what, it didn’t.
Mark and I had discussed what we would do if this one didn’t work, and we both agreed it was time to see a specialist, as we wanted to start our family so bad and our patience was wearing thin. I called a fertility specialist in Columbus and made an appointment for early August. We went to our appointment in August and discussed with our doctor what had gone on the past year. He explained how you make a baby (as if we didn’t know) but also explained things that make making a baby unsuccessful. After going over our history he stated he was very positive about us, that there is roughly a 15-20% chance of getting pregnant each month, and the fact that we had gotten pregnant twice in six months had us sitting at 20%. He went over some additional testing he wanted to do first before he came up with his plan. I had additional lab work done to check hormone levels and to make sure my ovaries we acting their age, thank God they are lol. We did find that my progesterone was low, which could be preventing me from ovulating, and could also contribute to miscarriage. I then had a HSG, an X-ray test with dye to view the uterus and make sure both fallopian tubes are open. Surprise, my right tube is blocked. The doctor thinks this could be due to miscarriage (remember that ultrasound last November) and said while it does not explain the miscarriages, it is definitely affecting our chances of getting pregnant each month. Finally, something is wrong! I never thought I would be happy to hear something is not right, but I am, because this means we know what we are up against and gives our doctor a starting point for his plan.
We have an appointment soon to discuss the plan and what we do next.
Speaking of “plan”, if there is anything we have learned from this experience so far, it is that Our plan does not matter, it is all up to His plan. So please pray for us to continue following His plan, and that His plan is for us to have our baby.
