Throwing my hands up. (long)

ThereBeDragons

Well, the latest round of autoimmune testing came back perfectly normal. Painfully normal. Doc re-tested ANA and T4, then threw in DHEA, P17, and something that tested specifically for Hashimoto's. Prior to this we did all the standard Lupus, blood clotting, and genetic markers. We've even tested insulin resistance, something looking for Celiac, and confirmed that I've got all normal chromosomes (and so does DH).

There is nothing wrong with me. I have a beautiful uterus. We make pretty embryos and the majority last until day 5. The only indication we have for infertility at all is my husband's motile sperm count- and even that is high enough (100k) to get by with ICSI without really worrying if we'll have enough. DH is 32, I'm 31.

There's no d@mn reason why we've put 7 day 5 embryos in over 4 transfers and only gotten a singleton 6w miscarriage. The doctor is out of tests to run on us. Our last option is to defrost our last 3, do a microarray and see if any of them are competent for a day 6 transfer.

 Asked the doc if we could test NK and he said that their practice doesn't really handle that (and he's dubious about what it could do for us)- but he could put me in touch with a reproductive immunologist if I wanted/needed to do that before another transfer. I told him to go ahead and start the process of getting my records to a RI. There's only one in Houston that he knows of- which lines up with my research- I couldn't find even one.

So we're at a bit of a crossroads. If we had crappy embryos, or bad stimming, or any of my testing came back even slightly ambiguous- I could look for something to "fix" it. But there's nothing to fix. We are a medical mystery. We can keep throwing money at the problem or give up after our last three frosties are gone.

Just my long winded update. If you made it this far, have a cupcake (I'm on my iPad so no picture, sorry!)

vanessagorc

Hey there, u changed ur name right?

Have u done a SCSA on DH's sperm?  I'd try that.  I had 36 eggs retreived, and only made ONE decent embie.  I'm supposed to be perfect.

The RE basically said that my husband has crappy sperm, and we need the one good one to meet a good egg.  And that can take A LOT of cycles...or we could have moved on to DS.

Good luck

SweetDahlia

vanessagorc:

Hey there, u changed ur name right?

Have u done a SCSA on DH's sperm?  I'd try that.  I had 36 eggs retreived, and only made ONE decent embie.  I'm supposed to be perfect.

The RE basically said that my husband has crappy sperm, and we need the one good one to meet a good egg.  And that can take A LOT of cycles...or we could have moved on to DS.

Good luck

Sorry you have to go through this. It sucks. It's worse you seem to have it all perfect and still get nothing. Hugs.

ThereBeDragons

Yep, name change because I lost access to the email the other account was on and lost my password. Had to start over.

We haven't done anything beyond the standard analysis because the RE can't see any point if the majority of what we retrieve is making it to day 5 and looking healthy. That is why we're microarray'ing the last 3 though- just in case there's a silent issue with the sperm (or I guess the eggs, but no reason to think the eggs are scrambled).

vanessagorc

It might be worth it to look at the sperm more in depth, bc good looking embies can still be abnormal. 

mm29

Have you discussed doing the pgd on your embryos? That may help answer some questions.

Aegis2005

(((hugs))) I'm so sorry.  It's so frustrating when you're left wondering if there's something the RE is missing.  Sending T&P's your way.

eponine7682

I am so sorry Ecleptic. It's so much more infuriating when you have no answers. Have you done PGD on the embryos or is that what you plan to do with this new doctor? I hate to say this, but I hope they find something and are able to fix it for your next cycle. IF is so unfair. 

theworms

I would suggest 2 things.

CGH testing on day 5 blasts and speaking to the RI. 

day 5 blasts are not always genetically viable and CGH can show you what quality the blasts are.

an RI can do the nk testing and others and see if you have immune issues that are preventing implantation.

i'm with an RI this pregnancy and i think it has made a huge difference.

LaLe09

Sorry you have not gotten any solid answers. I know that is extremely frustrating. I agree with worms suggestsions- RI and CGH. I'm sure you know this already- but with severe MFI there is typically a high percentage of chromosomally abnormal sperm. For us, we've only transferred high quality blasts that we assumed would be normal- but they have not been. We are thinking of doing CGH with our next round to see if any of the blasts we make are normal. Good luck!!

Also- would you mind pm-ing me the name of the RI? I didn't know there was one in Houston. Thanks.

Mitzi Bishi

This sounds eerily similar to us, except we've only had 4 transfered with one frozen and one fresh cycle left. 

AmCheri posted the other day IF about an e.tegrity test where they do a uterine biopsy to see if there's an issue as to why things aren't sticking. I've considered doing it, although I'm not quite sure about the company (the email they sent was not as professional as I would have liked).  

I feel you so much. It's such a hurdle to even get a positive pregnancy test, let alone more. Coupled with MFI issues, the chances of even getting there are slim, so if you have miscarriage issues there's no real way to find out or to get doctors to take you seriously. 

Hopefully your docs can figure something out, although I'm sure you're at your wits end with all that you've invested.  

Lately we've even been discussing a surrogate from India. Crazy what IF will bring you to.