Saturday, March 31, 2007

Fertility History- my uterus wears sunglasses (basic notes too)

We started out doing home insems. I kept a chart of my cycles and took supplements. I read "The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception Pregnancy and Birth". We started out with The Sperm Bank of California, but switched to North West Cryo Bank later. After a while, I started having basic tests done to check my hormone levels, and thyroid, diabetes and other health problems that can hinder fertility. I have always had long and heavy periods.
I had an HSG done which they said was normal. I went to a radiologist to have the HSG and he hurt me really badly when just inserting the speculum- which should have been my warning to leave! After the test started it was so painful that I really thought he was killing me. I laid on the table trying not to move, focusing on the idea of holding my baby in my arms and screaming in total pain while tears streamed down my face and the nurse squeezed my hand and begged me to breath.
Ultrasounds showed I have a tipped and tilted uterus and a small fibriod. All my reproductive organs are leaning the wrong way, so the cervix points upward toward my stomach with the top of my cervix facing my back. Most of the time your cervix faces towards your spine, with the top of your uterus towards your belly. Mine also leans to the right somewhat. At the top of my cervix, it is tipped over like a floppy ear. That is why I said it is tipped and tilted (retroflexed). Most of my searches on the net talked about tipped, tilted or retroflexed uterus as the same thing- the tipped over top part that has flopped down and usually just pops back up on it's own when pregnancy starts to fill it. I don't have a better name for the leaning the opposite direction. My dr's have all described it as a laid back reclining uterus, trying to lounge around. I picture it wearing a little pair of sunglasses and trying to get a tan in a lounge chair.
Hey! Lazy ut..er..us, enuf tanning! Get to work, you can relax later, thanks!
All of my tests for health and hormone problems came back normal except progesterone. My prog is always low. I tried oral progesterone supplements, then vaginal suppositories (fun!) but none of them worked. I tried clomid and HCG trigger shots, still nada. {HCG triiger shots do just that, they trigger release of your egg(s).} I tried all of them together at the same time, zip. The clomid we did at 50mg first, then went up to 100mg. The HCG we tried 10,000 all at once and 5,000 two times, five days apart. Always I would have 1 or 2 follicles and low progesterone.
Finally, I was able to try clomid at 100mg for cd3-7, then start injectibles (Follistim) that we shot into my stomach each day. (cd= cycle day) I was monitored with ultrasound to check on follie size and number. When the follicles were big enuf, we then did a 10,000 unit shot of HCG to release the eggs. I had 4 to 5 good sized follies this time-whoohoo! After the trigger shot I had one IUI at 37 hours past the shot. then I started on PIO shots. Progesterone In Oil shots (PIO) was the last chance effort to raise my progesterone levels and keep them up. It seemed to work! My first prog test at 7 days past ovulation showed a level of 38!!! My highest # before was 11.1 so this was very exciting. We had to do the shots everyday at the same time and they are huge! At first it wasn't to bad, but as time goes on oil builds up and starts to hurt if touched. ugh. I kept doing that until home pregnancy tests and my blood test (beta) came back positive! My prog was taken then too, and when my beta came back 12 (+), my prog had dropped to 12.5 (not high enuf). So I was told to increase my shots to twice a day, 12 hrs apart. (gggrreeeaaattt.) That helped and my levels went back up to low twenties.
Since that was the protocol that got me pregers last time, we will do the same things this time. I am hoping all my pin holes heal a little before we start again. My backside still hurts from the oil shots so I am hoping it will heal more too. Since the donor we used had another miscarriage the same month I did, with the only other pregnancy I know of, we are very worried that there is a genetic problem with him. I have another vial, as well as vials from a previous donor and we will have to decide which to use. I would be scared to death the entire pregnancy if I did get preg w/same donor. I am thinking of using the older donor first, then we can try again with last vial if this next cycle fails.
If anyone has any power of prayer or meditation or visualization or pagan rituals, or baby dust...anything, PLEASE ask for me to heal quickly and get a healthy pregnancy and baby from our next try. I don't know how much more I can take!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Is there a Dr in the house?

Hi! Well I am feeling much better now, but it has been a rough month health wise for everyone I know! My oldest friend confirmed her diabetes and high sugar levels, my co-worker has a bulging disk, I had my m/c and now my second oldest friend has cancer. My friend with cancer is one month younger than me. Her tumor sounds big and her first cancer dr appt isn't for a month! I am really worried about her. ( It doesn't help that my DP is jealous of her since this friend was my first girlfriend. Ugh, Lesbians are friends after breakups, how did my girl not get that essential memo from dyke headquarters? )
Oh well, I am in a wierd space... trying really hard to remain cheerful and pleasant and upbeat, but I really just want to lay down and stare at the sky and not get up all day. I am 29 years old, all of my friends should not be fighting chronic or life threatening diseases! I really feel like I should DO something to take my friends cancer away, I wish I could lazer it out like superman. I feel helpless.
If our next try works once we can ttc again, I will have to be pregnant for the whole first trimester knowing the entire time that it could end again at any moment. I like the idea of enjoying the present and being happy to be pregnant and having happy memories of that time, but the more I let myself be happy, the longer I will have to fall if I lose it again. I don't know how well I would take it. We were going to use the same donor again, but the another person who used that donor around same time as me also just had a m/c. (hugs to you again!) Now I am freaked wondering if there is a reason we both lost our babies? Do his swimmers have a slight abnormality? I have a vial waiting at my dr's office that I am scared to use, but what can I do? We will probably use a different donor for our next try at least.
So over the next couple months, at the same time I will be trying, once again, to fill my womb with life, my friend will be having surgery to take hers out.