Baseline and start of medicated FET cycle

I am back from visiting my parents in Barbados.  I had to go to the doctor the day before I left and he prescribed antibiotics because I got an infection in the incision in my navel from my Laparoscopy procedure. I felt so ill on the plane. By day 3, antibiotics started kicking in and I started to feel much better. We had beautiful sunny weather and so Eric and I were able to go to the beach almost every day. Surprisingly because it is the rainy season there and it only rained one day during the whole 2 weeks! My parents house is 5 minutes walk from the beach. I was taking Wobenzyme N after my surgery and switched to prendisolone 7/16. Took last BCP 7/24 and had my baseline 7/27. I started del estrogen injections and baby aspirin that night. Oh did I mention how awesome it is to have pain free periods since my endo was removed?

This time I won't start lovenox until 2 days before my transfer.  My pinky finger got swollen and sore with a popped up vein 2 days before my March FET and I wonder if the lovenox started that early (3 weeks before transfer ) caused it? Idk, but I sure hope that doesn't happen again. The acupuncturist said it was a blockage and actually had to poke a needle in vein to release it. Yesterday I went to my GP to get my thyroid levels checked. The countdown to FET 8/24 has begun!...

Gearing up for FET cycle

My first period after my lap was pretty bad but my gyno promised that future cycles should be pain free now that the endo has been removed.  Due to not being allowed to eat from the day before the lap until a day after and then all the vomiting (found out I am allergic to percocet), I lost 7 pounds, down from 101 to 95 pounds.  I am sure alot of that is loss of muscle mass since I stopped doing weight resistance for 3 weeks. I have been eating alot of cashews, gluten free pasta & bread and increased my calorie count to try to gain it back so I can be a healthy weight for my FET. My BMI is now dangerously low at 16.8 :(

Two days ago I had a root canal done. My dentist just wanted to put a crown, but I asked for a root canal because the oral surgeon he referred me saw decay behind the filling.  I don't want to have to be dealing with this a few months from now when I will hopefully be pregnant. I told him I want my gums to be healthy since I've had 6 miscarriages. He was sympathetic, but he didn't think their was a connection between my losses and my gums, since I don't have an infection.  Then he shared a story about his sister in law who also suffered from losses and then had success.  I started the birth control pill right after my lap. I had a consult with my RE and he seemed positive since I had the lap done.  He said the only way I can manage my endo is with lupron.  However right now, overlapping my birth control pills will have to do since I am having an FET in August. Lupron treatment will be an option if pregnancy doesn't work out. I have been taking pyconogenol as it helps with endo.  DH took it for 2 years and it increased his low sperm morphology and I had 3 spontaneous pregnancies during that time. Had I known then that it would have been good for me also, I would have taken it as well.  It is also good to prevent sunburn.  I got sunstoke after snorkelling one year  and Dh was barely sunburned! Made no sense since he has that fair Irish complexion. It made sense later, when I read about the sunscreen effect why only I got sunstroke.

We leave for Barbados in 2 weeks.  As soon as we return I will have baseline my appointment, lining checks and start del estrogen injections.  The pain in my fingers has disappeared despite all the crazy thunderstorms we have had lately. I'm not sure if the Wobenzyme is doing it's thing or inflammation is at a low level since I had the endometriosis removed. I am happy about this and I'm looking forward to swimming in the ocean every day and eating mangoes from my parents tree!  Praying that my August FET is a success. Supplements I have been taking:
Thorne Basic Prenatal
Prenatal DHA with 2000 iu D3
Niacin 50 mg (to prevent over-methylation from methylfolate prenatals)
NAC 600 mg with selenium
Cal/Mag-1000/500mg
Probiotic (20 billion)

I will discontinue these next 4 when I start prednisolone:-
Alpha lipoic acid 600mg
Wobenzyme n ( for pain in fingers)
Pycnogenol (maritime pine bark) 150 mg (for endo management)
COQ10 200mg
I will discontinue Krill oil 1000mg when I start Lovenox.

Laparoscopy

Eric's Grandmother passed away the day before Memorial day.  We were at Shannon and Mike's wedding. It was such a shock. She looked so well when we went to see her on Mother's day. The new valve put in her heart was supposed to give her a few more years. RIP Grandmom. You will be greatly missed. Funeral is tomorrow, the 29th May.

I had my laparoscopy on the 26th.  Surgeon removed  2 sites of endometriosis. Both on my uterus. However, he accidently nicked my stomach so I had to get a couple stitches there too. I also had to stay overnight in the hospital. I was not allowed to eat or drink anything and I had already been fasting the day before surgery. They gave me some pretty strong drugs in my iv and I kept waking during the night hallucinating.  Different nurses were checking on me and I lost track of what meds they were giving me because I was so loopy. I saw a nurse to my right (she wasn't there-when I focused hard I realized it was just an empty chair). Then the other 3 times I was talking to my husband (who had gone home at 10 pm). He didn't respond so I realized I was hallucinating again.  When the nurse came back I told her not to put any more drugs in my iv. It was making me loopy and I was seeing things. The anti-nausea patch can also cause hallucinations and I had put one behind each ear by mistake. It should have been only one but the instructions on the box were not clear.  When I told the nurse she immediately took one of them off, but since I them since the night before, the meds were already in my system.  Back home now and still extremely bloated in my abdominal area. I can feel all the gas under my skin. Pain in my shoulders is gone.

Tomorrow is the funeral and it will be a 3 hour drive.  Poor Dh is already tired from driving up to PA Mother's day, the following Sunday for father in law's birthday lunch, then a wedding last weekend. He was the groomsman and so we had to spend the whole weekend there for rehearsal & wedding. My throat is so sore from the tube they put in my throat for Lap procedure. I see white spots there so I suspect I have a strep throat. Hurts to swallow.

Walmart cashiers crack me up!

I had alot of hormonal headaches and cramping throughout my cycle last month on birth controll pill. So we decided condoms were a better idea this month. I noticed the cashier at Walmart looked at my wedding ring after she rung up the box of condoms. As Dh was putting the last bag in the cart she hands him the last bag (she had put the condoms in there alone) and tells him "Don't forget this one .You're gonna NEED those!" LMAO!! While walking to the car I told him with a wink "Woohoo! Yeah I'm in for a fun weekend!"

The plan

Always delays. Biometrics screening on April 29th was postponed till May 19th due to the riots in Baltimore. I have been sugar free for 3 months since I was taking prednisolone. So have to keep it up another month. This extra month is tough though. I am craving chocolate. Especially Land O lakes raspberry hot chocolate. Haven't you noticed that you crave what you are not supposed to have even more so?

I had my consult regarding laparoscopy surgery with Dr Morosov. Luckily he has an opening for May 26th.  I have to be at the hospital at 7 am. Mornings have been hard since I weaned off the awesome prednisolone. Fibro is back with a vengence.  Dr M didn't think the Lap would help but he agreed to it after I told him that I have had another 5 miscarriages in less than 2 yrs. Dh was pushing me to see a councellor because I was falling apart at the seams.  He doesn't like seeing me depressed.  I have been gardening, spring cleaning the basement for mind therapy. Plus I am looking forward to visiting my parents in July.

My RE hasn't gotten back to me regarding the ERA test or the intralipids or the natural FET that  I requested.  It's always, I will check to see if we offer it.  Or "Oh I will put in a request for you". Then he forgets about me. Either that or he went on holiday.
On a more positive note. Dr Hamersley ordered the inexpensive generic prednisolone for me.  The 15 mg is so much cheaper than the 5mg.  Not to mention that I had to double up on pred pills.  The first time that she sent Rx, they wanted to charge me $680 for a 30 day supply again.  Because she had ordered 10 mg and it only comes in 5mg and 15mg, they were filling it for 5mg. I told the pharmacist that would not work since I have to increase to 30 mg for 5 days during my transfer. Not to mention that the 15mg is only $38 compared to $689 for the 5mg! My nurse said she thinks they pumped up the price of the 5mg since alot of ivf clinics use 5mg dose now.  So Dr H sent the RX for 15mg. At last! RE said he was cool with going along with that protocol. Yet he refused to order anything more than 5mg for the last year or so!  He just didn't want to be responsible for ordering anything more than 5mg. ppftt!

My prednisolone has been shipped. Yay! I wont need it till Aug when I start my FET meds but might as well get it now, in case they decide to change the price on me.  Or it might go out of stock. With my luck that is what would probably happen so I am gonna stock up from now through mail order.

Endometrial Receptivity Array Test

I have been doing some research about Endometrial Receptivity Array Test and I emailed my Re about it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25106620
http://www.ivigen.com/tests/endometrial-receptivity-test-era/

 I have a strong feeling that this has been my problem with implantation and ivf. When I get pregnant naturally the timing is perfect but the embryos are abnormal. With IVF & PGS the embryos are normal but the transfer date might not be ideal for implantation. My FET was 4 weeks 3 days after my last period 02/20. Something seems wrong there. With my BFP FET where I got to 8 weeks, my transfer was only 3 weeks 2 days after cycle day 1. We all  have an implantation window and IVF totally disregards this!! My RE is looking into whether his clinic can offer this. He said he can do the "scratch" and the biopsy will show if I have endometritis. He doubts I have it.
I really hate being on the birth control pill.  For some reason it is causing my breasts to be really sore and swollen.  However,  with my bad luck I doubt we'd ever catch a euploid egg and Dh does not want to risk it when we have PGS normal frosties waiting for us.Not to mention my age. (almost 44). Of course he doesn't remind me about that fact.

Dr Hamersley, Wtf appointment..

My wtf appointment with RE wasn't much different from all the others. I asked what his thought were why this didn't work. he had no explanation but says he continues to be optimistic.  I am sure he is programmed to say this to patients every failed cycle. He told us this normal embryo was a female. My gut feeling was right when I decided to crochet that baby dress after my transfer. He said he had put in a request for intralipids to the clinic. I am not holding my breath as he also did this last summer after my miscarriage and it was denied. Also, he said that Braverman was not the RI he was thinking of. Other than Sher there are no others on the East coast so I don't know if he was just making up an excuse?. In any case, we would have to pay $3,000 to Dr Braverman (this fee is for cost for ivf transfer but since we are in a guarantee program with our clinic we cannot do this. However, we would still have to pay this fee and that does not include any of the out of pocket cost of the actual immune testing. Re said he cannot interpret the tests results and that I would have to switch clinics. We still have 2 frozen embryos so that is out of the question.

The good news is that we met with Dr Hamersley. She spoke with us over 2 hours and we really like her. First she went through all my miscarriages one by one in detail. Then all the testing I have done so far. Dr H showed us a study and protocol that she feels will work for me. She also prescribed the higher dose of prednisolone I have been begging from my RE for over a year now! Dr H also agrees that I have an inflammation problem, most likely due to autoimmune disease and endometriosis.

Dr H is the first doctor who had actually addessed my Mthfr mutation. She gave me a prescription for Metanx (3mg methylfolate). I told her that I have been taking Thorne prenatal which has 1 mg, despite other doctors saying heterozygous c677t was not a contributing factor to my miscarriages.  When I told her about the over-methylation rashes I get when taking it for several months, she said that can be remedied with Niacin (vit B3). Unfortunately the "flushing" I get from 500mg  is unbearable. It's like a bad sunburn and lasts for several hours! So I will have to switch to a low dose and see if I can stand it.

In the study Dr H printed out, it outlines women doing ivf with known thyroid issues. She is pretty sure that although all my thyroid tests come back fine that I will need to take meds and have my thyroid monitored once I do another FET because she thinks it acts up once I am pregnant. Dr H encouraged me to continue acupuncture as she is a big believer in it. She feels that the lovenox helps with inflammation problem,but maybe I shouldn't start it as early as 3 weeks before transfer as it possibly interfered with building my endometrial lining. This is my opinion on the lovenox, but she agreed that it could be a factor and I should start it only after I have my lining check and it is optimal.

I really like that she emphasizes an anti-inflammatory diet and exercise. She made me feel good about everything I have been doing so far.  Yoga, pilates, acupuncture, no sugar. Lots of organic fruits and veggies. Oh, and she stressed that I should completely cut out sugar while taking prednisolone as it really affects blood sugar. She agrees that the laparoscopy will be a good thing because I definately have all the symptoms and she said that sometimes in the later stages endo symptoms will actually disappear but that the endo is still there causing inflammation. This makes perfect sense because for most of my life I could barely function due to the cramps and vomitting.  I thought cutting out red meat and taking various supplements like Primrose oil had gotten rid of the endo since my symptoms are very mild now. Dr h said eno never just goes away.  Cleaning it all our could be just what I need.

She couldn't believe that other doctors have ignored my positive ANA that has remained that way for the last 9 yrs.  I am sure I missed some info in this post as it was a 2 hour appoint and so much was said. Dh usually remains quiet but he asked her alot of questions and told her some things I had forgotten to mention. I am happy that he liked her and thought that she had done alot of research on our behalf.

So the next step an appointment with my gyno Dr Morosov. He did my hysteroscopy in 2010 and is an excellent surgeon. We will schedule a laparoscopy this summer.