HI ladies...

[BC-babyvalentine]

....Would you mind.
I would like to get to know you that post here even if it is not very often. Could you tell me more about you...ie...how long have you been trying, primary or secondary, where you are at in the tx world right now (getting ready to cycle , waiting ect..), what tx you have tried what your next plans are, and anything else you would like to share..


Thanks
Lisa

[MT_firegirl]

I'm Kelcey. I'm 31, DH is 32 and we've been married 13 years and ttc for that long also. We've been planning our family and have had our children's names picked out since high school.

We done uncountable clomid + timed BMS cycles and 8 IUI's with various medication protocols (clomid, clomid + injectibles, injectibles). The 1st IUI was a BFP with an ensuing falling beta. 14dpiui=93 16dpiui=57. We have not conceived since then. My DH is being sent to Korea for a year (he is active duty military) and when he comes home, we will be doing IVF within the military treatment system.

Dx
on me:PCOS (although I don't really meet all of the criteria of PCOS...well, not even most of them. I have a regular 31 day cycle, no cysts and normal lab values. I only have the hirsutism and anovulation.) Insulin dependent diabetes, juvenile onset. I'm also missing my right kidney.

on DH: antisperm antibodies which cause agglutination. his numbers are outstanding though and his ASA's only attach to the tails, so easily fixed.

As I said, DH is a military guy, his most recent assignment has been recruiting here in Kalispell, MT. I am a nurse (not working as a nurse right now), a firefighter/emt (my 2 primary jobs) and am in school for my paramedic. I also work part time at a bookstore. I work as a firefighter/emt for a fire department and also for an aluminum plant as a firefighter/emt.

[Hollywood126]

DH and I - married 2003, TTC #1 x 5 years

Countless cycles with Clomid, Pregnyl, HCG Trigger..

Referred to RE September 2006 - put on Bromocriptine for elevated prolactin...
BFP March 2006 - M/C March 17, 2006 6 wks d/t blighted ovum
BFP February 2007 - Traumatic M/C March 20, 2007 at 10 weeks due to hemorrage, extreme blood loss and four seizures for unknown reasons at the time. Neurology consult was normal. Tested positive for anti-cardiolipin antibodies two and three months later.

Awaiting hematologist and rheumatologist consult to find what the next hurdle is...

As for TTC plans...I'm frustrated beyond belief and with four family members and seven co-workers pg right now, life just really sucks as I sink in a deeper black hole...

[LonaMary]

Hello!
Me: LeOna, 31
DH: Todd, 37
DX: bicornuate uterus w/a large septum; poor blood flow/circulation; poor ovulation; very low progesterone levels
TTC: 13 years; clomid, BMS, progesterone--things like IVF are of no help for me
5 pregnancies all with detectable heartbeats; longest and last pregnancy 12 weeks 1 day; all ended in miscarriage.
Last m/c Nov 2005 best pregnancy ever; good growth; strong heartbeat; horrible miscarriage. The last piece of advice from the doc "maybe you'll get lucky and one will stick."
Moved on to adoption June 2006, received referral July 2006, traveled to China May 2007. Gotcha day May 13, 2007; our daughter is 3 and will be 4 Oct; she is our greatest gift and blessing.

That being said I still grieve over my lost babies. I still have a hard time hearing baby announcements. I still wonder if it will ever happen for me.

Now we are just trying naturally. It's hard not to think about cycle, timing, ovulation, etc but we're working on "just relaxing" and hoping we'll get lucky! Right now I'm getting real tired of hearing people tell me that I'll get pregnant cause I adopted. Like adopting will somehow magically change my uterus!

Good luck on your journey Lisa! The women here are wonderful and supportive.

[iwillsurvive]

Hi !
I am 34, DH is 35. We got married in 2000 and are ttc from the next year, so it has been around 6 years now.
DX : Super high FSH, very poor responder. Although I do produce eggs (from my left ovary, the one on right has already gone to sleep) and O on natural cycles, my response to stims is very poor. Also I have stage III endo and it has taken my left tube apart from the ovary in such a way that it cannot catch eggs anymore.
TX : After our initial consult with RE, We started with 2 IUIs with very high amount of injectibles (becasue of the high FSH, then 13), both of which were BFN. We switched REs and the next one suggested a lap which revealed the endo. She did manage to clear some of it and then tried another IUI with injectibles..again BFN. We then moved and had to switch to a new RE again. He tried another IUI with injectibles as a prep cycle to IVF..BFN again. We then tried IVF#1 which was cancelled due to poor response (quite predictable actually as my FSH had climbed up to 24 by then) but then thankfully was turned into a DE cycle as another woman in the same cycle was ready to share her eggs...BFN. We tried another DE next cycle and BFN again. After this we decided to do a hysteroscopy and lap to check if something is wrong in the uterus which is hindering implantation or if I have hydrosalpynx. However nothing was found other than couple of endometrioma in the ovaries which were removed. This was done a little more than a week back and now I am on a break.
I have decided to take this month off before we decide on our next course of action. I do want to try another DE cycle, but cannot face the rigmarole just yet.

[Tabithalyn]

Hi girls...
first besides being a primary and now secondary IF'er I have to say that the amount of you with unexplained recurrent miscarriage is frightening to me especially as I feel I may have a suitable treatment answer (is how I came to conceive/carry my only DS)...

history: 12 wk m/c happening days after our honeymoon with a subchrionic hemorrage detected along with baby heartbeat at 7.5 wks ; numerous early prg. losses -low betas usually only detected thru blood work and hcg beta draws and not detectable on the HPT's. ; told had sub-clinical hypothyroidism (meaning not really hypo at all but doc had nothing else to point to for failed conceptions) put on Synthroid ; 4.5 yrs later discovered the world of Immune Issues and Immune meds when it had started to seem like we weren't even conceiving at all anymore -apparently immune issues will start causing earlier and earlier losses in many cases and your body gets better and better at fighting off prg. due to the auto-immune system and the immune reaction becoming stronger in each subsequent conception/prg. - so actually NOT ttc'ing becomes as vital a component to help calm the immune system down as well as implementing immune meds.

For me, the success trx. was just that - AFTER nearly up to 11 mos. with no active ttc or protected intercourse (sometimes antibodies will build up just due to exposure with dh's sperm cells!) and after full IF work-up including laparoscopy and HSG tube thing and endo biopsies to check hormones, etc. and also with prior history of failed medicated and natural IUI cycles altho' ovulate ok on my own... we became IMMEDIATELY prg. with a strong prg. upon first ttc time using IVIg, heparin, prednisone and baby aspirin.
- I didn't test for any of the usual positive antibodies at the time of conceiving, (had earlier tested for low positive anticardiolipin -(clotting antibodies) and slightly elevated ANA's (usually require prednisone) and of course now had the Anti-thyroid antibodies since being on Synthroid (usually require IVIg to remain prg. when have ATA's) but my doc was of a mind to try allthe meds at once since I was desperate to become prg. and he relied on my past history of failed conceptions to agree to use the immune meds including IVIg.
Thankfully it all resulted in a full-term prg. and at 37.5 yrs delivered my DS after an uneventful prg.

I have some articles to share from a website dealign with recurrent m/c and immune issues and trx. :
http://www.rialab.com/pdf/mp.pdf

http://www.rialab.com/pdf/cair_ivig.pdf

http://www.rialab.com/pdf/ration.pdf

http://www.rialab.com/pdf/use.pdf
I hope any of this info may help or inspire some of the ladies who are dealing with either RPL (recurrent pg. loss) and/or "unexplained" IF with failed cycles... this may be the answer that is going to help you beat IF. For me, it has worked for one time and now it is 4.5 yrs since birth of DS and I'm going on another nearly 5 yr IF battle 2nd time as the immune meds do not seem to be beating the cause this time round. I am currently waiting for getting test results done thru a more specialized U.S. clinic and hoping to find an answer that will just mix up or add in some other components to my immune trx to have a successful 2nd ttc time!

good luck all ladies...
regards from Ally

[BC-babyvalentine]

Wanted to say a BIG thank you to all of you ladies that have posted so far and I hope if there are other ladies out there you will continue to post...

Kelcey
I am sorry you have been on this road for far to long without success. When will you DH be home? It must be hard to have him gone for a long period like that. We have friends that live in Kalispell and with all the pics I've seen, it's gorgeous there.

Hollywood
I think that is one of the harder things about IF. Having all the people around you that keep popping out babies and having that in your face all the time really is "a blow to the gut!" I have a cousin who swore she would NEVER have kids (she just didn't want them) get an oops pg. They had just bought a house in an Adult Only community and had to put it up for sale and move. The really hard ones for me have been my step daughter who is 23--she's pg with #2. They weren't wanting kids yet either-

LeOna
I too have had 3 pg where there was a heart beat and everything seemed to be going well--only to lose them at 12 weeks. The last one (the twins in 99) was such a bad one that I was in the hospital for two days--unfortunately I was in the maternity ward. Hearing all those new babies while I am laying there having just lost mine was pure torture. I am so happy that you have your daughter! I went to Africa this summer and wanted so bad to adopt many of the kids over there. (There are close to 2 million orphans in Malawi)

iwill
You have been through a lot and I have found that sometimes those breaks are a good thing. There is a clinic in CA that instead of placing the eggs randomly in the uterus actually places them just under the top layer of the tissue and they are having a HUGE success rate (i think I read 80%) on their pregnancies. A friend contacted them and they would let you cycle at your clinic and they would do the implantation for a fee. Maybe something to look into to give yo that extra edge....

Ally
Thank you for all the info and the articles to read....
I agree that there are probably a lot of women with immune issues. The one problem in the states is that the testing is expensive. There are a couple of places that I think are considered the best and really know what they are looking for. For me that would mean flying back east and having all the testing done--all paid for out of pocket b/c our ins doesn't cover IF. I wish we had a system here like you do in Canada where we could get the things we need done--at least at a reasonable cost.

[Tanya T.]

Thanks so much to all of you who have told us about yourselves... I will write my history a bit later as I don't have time right now...

Sending Hugs & lots of BFP luck to you all...
Tanya

[happysmileylady]

Thought I would post here to add my story...

Name is Kim, age 29 (30 in December!). Dh is Dan, age37. We have been ttc for 5.5 years now. I have a dd from a prior relationship, she will be 12 in December. DH's numbers are low, but not incredibly so (last two S/As were 17 mill and 20 mill). Our official diagnosis is unexplained secondary IF.

I have had an HSG, a lap, a total of 3 clomid cycles, one IUI and cancelled cancelled. Never once gotten a bfp. I will be trying for a third IUI this month, with just clomid. The first one and the cancelled one were with clomid and injectables.