Miracle, Luck or Maybe Fertility Not as Bad as Numbers Indicate?

IBackBevo

Here is my story.  I have been diagnosed by an RE as having IF. I went off birth control awhile back.  Waited a few months but my periods/cycles were doing really weird things and I started having HORRIBLE side effects:  hot flashes, night sweats every night, weight gain, a very short luteal phase, cycle length was irregular and when I had a period it was like a day or two and would only use 1 tampon.  Sooo I go see a family practice doc.  I went more because of my cycle issues and all of the other issues were making me MISERABLE.  I had actually been off birth control before a few months before and had these same issues and ended up going back on because of my side effects. (FYI, it was way worse than being pg even!) 

Also, I took one of those at home menopause/fertility tests and it came back as a bad result...so I go immediately to the FP. The family practice doc runs CD 3 testing. Comes back that my FSH is 13.3.  I go to my OB who immediately sends me to an RE.  RE diagnosis me with DOR and says he thinks I am starting to go through the very early stages of menopause and my BC pills have been "masking" the symptoms.  RE runs more tests (including hyserscopy, HSG, etc.) and we find out that my AMH is .54 (very low) and I am a Fragile X pre-mutation carrier.  Fragile X causes something called Fragile X Primary Ovarian Insufficiency in about 25% of all women who are Fragile X carriers.  RE said we could NOT wait if we wanted a shot at a child and he recommend that I immediately start IVF.  He gave us only about a 30% chance of conceiving even with IVF.  About a 10% chance with Clomid/IUI.

Following a consultations with a geneticist who assures us our chances of having a child with a severe disability due to Fragile X is pretty low as DH is not a carrier and my mutations are not as high as they could be (most likely, if our child gets my mutated X, he or she will just have mild symptoms similar to what I have), we immediately started a round of Clomid IUI. We decided to go the less expensive route first....and it worked!  My RE called my LO a "miracle baby" and told me to go play the lottery.

Before "graduating" my RE's office, one of the staff told me I should come back in about a year if I wanted a shot at #2 given my stats....which would put my LO at only about 5-6 months old. That seemed CRAZY to me!!!  I want more than one kiddo, but I don't want to have to have a newborn and be pg at the same time!!!

This statement, along with a very hateful statement from some crazy on another board got me thinking. [Some half-baked woman on another forum (not the Bump) sent me a private message informing that I wasn't IF because I had not TTC'd for a year and had basically run to the doctor when I had not gotten pg my first month, went on Clomid and immediately got pregnant...NONE of this is even true and the message was all around insane because who even takes pride in the "IF" label other than this lady??? Personally, I just want a family!!!]  At any rate, though, the two vastly different opinions of the status of my fertility got me thinking: Could my situation not be as dire as the RE said? Is perhaps my fertility situation not as bad as the tests indicate? Or was this truly just a miracle to conceive on our first round of ART and I amjust wishful thinking to think maybe my problem "isn't that bad"...

As an aside, my DH, who is a physician, thinks I do have a fertility problem but thinks perhaps it isn't quite as bad as what my RE's office acts like it is.  Oh, and my RE's office is associated with the CCRM clinic in CO and highly, highly esteemed.  So they aren't nut jobs.  They know what they are doing.  Honestly, I don't know what to think.  I just know I would like another, but don't want to have to start going through ART again when this LO is 5 months old!

kelnyc

With FSH that high and AMH that low, you definitely have DOR and I can certainly understand why your doctor recommended IVF right away. However, I do not think you should rush into trying for #2 without checking your levels again. If they are stable, then I'd say you can space your pregnancies out a little further, espeically since you did not have to go to IVF the first time (unless you are pushing 40, in which case, my opinion on the urgency is a bit different).

vanessagorc

kelnyc:

With FSH that high and AMH that low, you definitely have DOR and I can certainly understand why your doctor recommended IVF right away. However, I do not think you should rush into trying for #2 without checking your levels again. If they are stable, then I'd say you can space your pregnancies out a little further, espeically since you did not have to go to IVF the first time (unless you are pushing 40, in which case, my opinion on the urgency is a bit different).

I agree w PP.  What's your age?  I'll be about to turn 37 when i have this LO (god willing).  So if i decide to try for 2nd, i'll run back to the RE (and i personally have no known fertility issues)

Also, keep in mind that CCRM is a for profit clinic.  So they have your, and their, interests in mind.

 

drubie

Do also keep in mind that 10% success is still greater than 0. You just happened, on that particular cycle, to fall within that lucky 10%. That doesn't make you more or less fertile, it just means you fell into the positive statistics. 

IBackBevo

Thanks for the advice. I think getting my levels done after having this LO is a good idea.  And Im 31.  I will be 32 by the time this LO arrives.  If had not gotten the bad results and diagnosis, I would probably want to wait 3-4 years before TTC number 2.   But I think getting levels redone will give me a good idea where Im at.  

kelnyc

I also wanted to say, eff that girl on the other forum! Someone has to be lucky enough to have it work on the first try, or the odds would be 100% failure rate, right? 

Long=journey

I tried for 4 years for this pregnancy, but even still, my current pregnancy doesn't make sense based On the stats.  I got pregnant with twins on my 1st new cycle of clomid, despite my husband having horrible SA #s.  I had used clomid a couple of years before with no luck.  Clomid (w/o IUI) should not have worked since my diagnosis was unexplained and my husband had poor numbers.  How his swimmers fertilized two at once, when they hadn't fertilized any in 4 years,  I'll never know . Congrats!!

ELF4321

We were given a 5% chance of getting PG on our own, in light of my DOR (primarily my AFC, which was only 4-5 each cycle and my right ovary being basically kaputt).  We feel extremely lucky to have fallen into the 5% and gotten PG on our last pre-IVF cycle trying on our own.   I have no illusions about it being likely to happen again -- this baby will be it for us.

Is it possible lightning could strike twice for you if you keep trying long enough?  Maybe.  You're still young and your egg quality is likely better than someone my age (37) in spite of the low AMH and higher FSH.   But I wouldn't count on it -- if you are sure you want another baby, definitely monitor your numbers regularly and if your FSH shoots higher or your AFC starts to decline, that would be the time to make the tough decision of whether to keep trying and risk reducing your chances of success by waiting longer, or to jump into ART to increase your odds.   

Mrs.McIrish

I really don't belong on this board but wanted to chime in from the other side. Were you lucky? YES.  But you are young at 31and that is likely the reason you conceived despite your stats.  My advice is not to wait too long before #2 as you may never get one if you wait too long. I was 36 when I started trying. I am severely DOR and the chances of me having a baby with OE are slipping away to be non-existent.  Basically, you don't want to be me. Look at my stats. I have never had a positive pg test and can't even get an embryo past 4 cells.   As you age, the situation will deteriorate and it gets to a point where there is no hope.

ELF4321

Mrs.McIrish:

I really don't belong on this board but wanted to chime in from the other side. Were you lucky? YES.  But you are young at 31and that is likely the reason you conceived despite your stats.  My advice is not to wait too long before #2 as you may never get one if you wait too long. I was 36 when I started trying. I am severely DOR and the chances of me having a baby with OE are slipping away to be non-existent.  Basically, you don't want to be me. Look at my stats. I have never had a positive pg test and can't even get an embryo past 4 cells.   As you age, the situation will deteriorate and it gets to a point where there is no hope.

McIrish, I replied to your posts on the TTC board, but just wanted to say again how truly sorry I am about your last cycle.  I know you were feeling hopeful again with this new doc and it must be devastating.  Continued best wishes and hugs to you as you try to figure out your next steps. 

IBackBevo

Again, thanks for the input!  Definately not going to wait too long...but I also dont want to be pg w a newborn.  RE made it clear that sometimes these things can go down rapidly so I will probably wait until LO is about six to nine months and then go in for testing and make my decision based on where my numbers are then.  Really, I would like LO to be at least a year before we start TTC again so there would be at least two years or so between them...but I realize that unless my numbers are the same it would be foolish tobwait longer.  That would put me at 33-34 with number two.

jb2rn

You got lucky. And, your age was a huge factor. Had you been 35+, you may have not been so lucky. My story is similar - at age 34 I stopped the pill. I had a short LP and short cycles. I had bloodworm performed at the 6month mark because of my age. Results in siggy. I got pregnat after 8 cycles, so I am not technically infertile, but my RE gave me poor odds of conception, even with IVF. I got really lucky. We have no plans to TTC soon, even knowing that our son may be an only child. You will have to decide when the time comes if you want to wait and gamble that you won't get pregnant again or not. Congratulations on your pregnancy!