Someone on my favorite message board shared this story. It really has a comforting message.
http://www.babycatcher.net/excerpt2.html
To look at miscarriage through the eyes of a child:
"because here’s the really cool part. It goes back into the circle, but it becomes a Spirit Baby, and all the other babies give it cuts. Each month, it’s always first in line. Isn’t that great?"
Yes, that really is great.
My husband's cousin once shared a story about a couple then had three miscarriages before they were able to have a baby. This was way before we had lost our own or I probably would have said more in reply. The cousin said that he would have stopped before getting to that point of three losses. I could understand his point of view, that 4 pregnancies were a lot of pain to go through in order to have a child. But it's not so "easy" for the couple trying to have a baby.
Many doctors do any testing prior to three pregnancy losses. And most insurances will not cover this testing prior to three. So couples are really not given an opportunity for diagnoisis and treatment prior to three. This is very sad and disheartening but the testing can be extremely expensive.
So one can't give up! We must go on and try to get that baby in our arms. I'm very thankful that we were given the chance to have the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss panel done after only two miscarriages.
And then the reason we go on is the last line in the above story. "Just for the joy of it."
That's why we go on with this testing and trying to concieve our baby. It's not an easy road. Sometimes it's down right painful and messy.
Just for the joy of it!
Thanks for the inspiring story, val. You're awesome. I continue to pray for you and your little one. Grow, baby, grow.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
17 vials of blood later....
I feel that I totally deserve this Taco Bell for lunch! Hey, I did order chicken and there are some vegetable looking things underneath all the cheese, beans and sour cream. So it's not all bad. I need to build my strength back up, right?
Today I had my CD 3 bloodwork drawn at the RE's (fertility doctor) office this morning. That was 3 vials of blood out of my left arm. No biggie, right?
Then I had the RPL (Recurrent Pregnancy Loss) panel draw down at Labcorp. The RE's office wasn't set up for the special handling some of the tests require. The poor lab tech at Labcorp. I actually felt worse for her than myself. She kept going over and over the tests ordered and the vials needed. She even left the room for about 15 minutes to verify somethings. I tried not to get nervous and kept thinking positively. It's only $4500 worth of lab work!
She told me that she really hoped I had that much blood to give. I told her I'd been doing my homework and downing water for the past day. Thankfully the blood kept flowing and she got all the vials filled. When the last one was complete, she put her arms on the table top and bowed her head and thanked Jesus it was done! Bless her heart. We had both praying, lol.
That was 14 vials of blood out of my right arm!
(Side note: if you are right handed, get the big doozie blood draws out of your left arm. I still have wimpy arm going on)
I didn't even get dizzy until I was in the car driving home. It was just a little dizziness though and I was minutes from the house. I had already safely secured the Taco Hell. :)
I'm feeling better now. Partially because my belly is full and but mostly due to the fact that the blood work is done! YAY! Let the testing begin!
And I have the evil satisfaction that DH has a (SA) Sperm Analysis and a blood draw for genetic karyotyping next week. :)
My appointment at the RE's went okay too. They gave me an ultra sound to look at my uterus and ovaries at the beginning of my cycle. My right ovary looked perfect with 7 follicles. My left ovary looked a little different. There was some debate between the doctor and the u/s tech. At first they thought it could be some fluid in my fallopian tubes (bad news). Then after some pushing and prodding around, they decided it was nothing to be concerned about and possibly was just my ovary. I definitely have one small fibroid but it's in an "okay" spot in my uterus. Not prime real estate for the baby to implant in.
My next appointment is 10/4. I'll have a SHG (don't ask what that stands for!) Basically it's a saline u/s. The saline solution will left away my lining from my uterus so they can visualize the inside. They will be looking for septums, fibroids, and polyps.
Today I had my CD 3 bloodwork drawn at the RE's (fertility doctor) office this morning. That was 3 vials of blood out of my left arm. No biggie, right?
Then I had the RPL (Recurrent Pregnancy Loss) panel draw down at Labcorp. The RE's office wasn't set up for the special handling some of the tests require. The poor lab tech at Labcorp. I actually felt worse for her than myself. She kept going over and over the tests ordered and the vials needed. She even left the room for about 15 minutes to verify somethings. I tried not to get nervous and kept thinking positively. It's only $4500 worth of lab work!
She told me that she really hoped I had that much blood to give. I told her I'd been doing my homework and downing water for the past day. Thankfully the blood kept flowing and she got all the vials filled. When the last one was complete, she put her arms on the table top and bowed her head and thanked Jesus it was done! Bless her heart. We had both praying, lol.
That was 14 vials of blood out of my right arm!
(Side note: if you are right handed, get the big doozie blood draws out of your left arm. I still have wimpy arm going on)
I didn't even get dizzy until I was in the car driving home. It was just a little dizziness though and I was minutes from the house. I had already safely secured the Taco Hell. :)
I'm feeling better now. Partially because my belly is full and but mostly due to the fact that the blood work is done! YAY! Let the testing begin!
And I have the evil satisfaction that DH has a (SA) Sperm Analysis and a blood draw for genetic karyotyping next week. :)
My appointment at the RE's went okay too. They gave me an ultra sound to look at my uterus and ovaries at the beginning of my cycle. My right ovary looked perfect with 7 follicles. My left ovary looked a little different. There was some debate between the doctor and the u/s tech. At first they thought it could be some fluid in my fallopian tubes (bad news). Then after some pushing and prodding around, they decided it was nothing to be concerned about and possibly was just my ovary. I definitely have one small fibroid but it's in an "okay" spot in my uterus. Not prime real estate for the baby to implant in.
My next appointment is 10/4. I'll have a SHG (don't ask what that stands for!) Basically it's a saline u/s. The saline solution will left away my lining from my uterus so they can visualize the inside. They will be looking for septums, fibroids, and polyps.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Our first "fertility doctor" appointment
The doctor is a reproductive endrocrinologist. Otherwise called a RE.
The doctor was pretty nice. He seems very reassuring and so far I feel that we're in good hands with him. We'll see.
He did an extensive interview and medical history with us. He liked the TCOYF charts (BBT charting of my cycle) and asked what program it was. I saw he actually referenced the legend key a couple of times so it was more than just a cursory glance.
We have some major blood to give! The RPL panel (Recurring Pregnancy Loss) -genetic, immune system, and clotting bloodwork- may be expensive. There's a mobile lab that will come to our house to do that side of it. They are supposed to check with our insurance company to see what/if any of that will be covered. They give a deep discount if we use them without insurance so that's "nice." Otherwise they can do it in the office.
We can schedule that part of it as soon as they get back to us on our insurance.
The next step is Cycle Day 3 blood work for me. They could be as early as next Tuesday.
Then between CD 7-10 I will have a saline u/s to check the inside of my uterus. I'm glad I'm having this procedure done instead of the HSG because this will be done in his office. I've gotten pregnant 2 out of 3 months we've TTC so there's probably not a tube issue.
And when he did an exam today he said that he felt what was probably a fibroid outside of my uterus. It's possible that thing could compress my uterus on one side. Thus inhibiting the uterus from expanding with a growing baby. Which could cause a miscarriage. So that's something they will look for too. I hope I don't need surgerty to fix anything!
After that fun time, on CD 22 I'll have a endometrial biopsy. We should have all the testing done in October. It will be just however long it takes to get back results.
We have to avoid trying to get pregnant for at least October and maybe Novemember as we test and wait for all the results to come back.
Here's the advice he wants us to do for now:
Chris is supposed to take a multivitamin like Centrum twice a day! He's also supposed to drink 2 Mountain Dews a day to stimulate the sperm to swim better. Dr G said that there's been some studies on caffiene affecting the sperm motility. And that he noticed some of his patients having really crazy good swimmers. He asked them what they were doing and it turns out it was caffiene. He said coffee and Mt Dew seem to have the best amount for it.
He said basically it was his unofficial study based on some of his patients.
The advice for me was to try yoga to ease the stress/relax and eating healthy and excerising. He didn't say anything about my weight thankfully. I'd been thinking about buying a prenatal yoga DVD so now I have a legit reason to do it.
I did lose a little weight. I'm down 6 pounds but I'm still up from what I weighed in June when I was pregnant. I really need to try hard the next couple of months we have off from TTC.
So we're hopeful but at the same time it's kind of scary to start down this road.
The doctor was pretty nice. He seems very reassuring and so far I feel that we're in good hands with him. We'll see.
He did an extensive interview and medical history with us. He liked the TCOYF charts (BBT charting of my cycle) and asked what program it was. I saw he actually referenced the legend key a couple of times so it was more than just a cursory glance.
We have some major blood to give! The RPL panel (Recurring Pregnancy Loss) -genetic, immune system, and clotting bloodwork- may be expensive. There's a mobile lab that will come to our house to do that side of it. They are supposed to check with our insurance company to see what/if any of that will be covered. They give a deep discount if we use them without insurance so that's "nice." Otherwise they can do it in the office.
We can schedule that part of it as soon as they get back to us on our insurance.
The next step is Cycle Day 3 blood work for me. They could be as early as next Tuesday.
Then between CD 7-10 I will have a saline u/s to check the inside of my uterus. I'm glad I'm having this procedure done instead of the HSG because this will be done in his office. I've gotten pregnant 2 out of 3 months we've TTC so there's probably not a tube issue.
And when he did an exam today he said that he felt what was probably a fibroid outside of my uterus. It's possible that thing could compress my uterus on one side. Thus inhibiting the uterus from expanding with a growing baby. Which could cause a miscarriage. So that's something they will look for too. I hope I don't need surgerty to fix anything!
After that fun time, on CD 22 I'll have a endometrial biopsy. We should have all the testing done in October. It will be just however long it takes to get back results.
We have to avoid trying to get pregnant for at least October and maybe Novemember as we test and wait for all the results to come back.
Here's the advice he wants us to do for now:
Chris is supposed to take a multivitamin like Centrum twice a day! He's also supposed to drink 2 Mountain Dews a day to stimulate the sperm to swim better. Dr G said that there's been some studies on caffiene affecting the sperm motility. And that he noticed some of his patients having really crazy good swimmers. He asked them what they were doing and it turns out it was caffiene. He said coffee and Mt Dew seem to have the best amount for it.
He said basically it was his unofficial study based on some of his patients.
The advice for me was to try yoga to ease the stress/relax and eating healthy and excerising. He didn't say anything about my weight thankfully. I'd been thinking about buying a prenatal yoga DVD so now I have a legit reason to do it.
I did lose a little weight. I'm down 6 pounds but I'm still up from what I weighed in June when I was pregnant. I really need to try hard the next couple of months we have off from TTC.
So we're hopeful but at the same time it's kind of scary to start down this road.
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