Intro

GraceInCA

Hi all, I'm Grace. I've started doing a little snooping here, although I think they call it lurking these days. I spend most of my time on TTCAL.

Background on me: Married forever and a day with a son in elementary school, looking to have #2. We didn't intend to space them out this far but by the time we realized we wanted another, it had been a while. I'm already well into my 30s. I went off birth control pills in the beginning of 2011 and was pregnant 2 cycles later (the first cycle was a badly timed bust but it happened the 2nd). This was very encouraging. Pregnancy was going very well. I had an ultrasound at 7w. Baby was measuring a little bit behind, but it was there, with a strong heartbeat, so no concerns from the doc.  The day before my 11w ultrasound (and I think I was like 10w5d or something), I started having brown spotting. The next day, at my ultrasound, we discovered a large, empty sac. Baby was gone. It probably happened just after the previous ultrasound. It was pretty heartbreaking, but I knew it was not meant to be (sorry for anyone who cringed reading that phrase, I know some don't like it). The culprit was chromosomal. Just plain bad luck.

After almost 4 weeks and what they deemed an "incomplete natural miscarriage" I had a D&C, which I was terrified about but ended up being a major relief.  I finally had some closure.

Over the next 8+ months after the D&C (with the 1 cycle waiting period which ended up being like 7 weeks or something), I've been TTC. I had an ovarian cyst at one point, which while painful was harmless I'm told. The bad thing that has happened between then and now is my weight gain. I have packed on 30 pounds. I'm fairly in tune with my body, and I am sure this is why it's not happening for me. The doctor doesn't say it outright, but does hint at it when I speak with him. He has encouraged me to lose weight. He said, "It's definitely not helping you. It's probably hindering you. You could probably still get pregnant, it would just take longer and be much harder on your body." I hired a nutritionist and have been eating very "clean". I'm also working out now, almost daily. I am shocked at how quickly the weight is coming back off, but I know this is going to be a big life change. I was already carrying around extra weight last year, so this thirty on top of it is not doing me any favors.

Meanwhile, the doctor wants me to start on Clomid. As far as testing goes, DH had SA done last month (81 million and the other #s looked fine), and I had bloodwork done. I am not sure if the bloodwork was adequate, because it wasn't CD3 bloodwork. But everything looked great, and I think he said my FSH was 5.

I start my first cycle of Clomid (50 mg) on Sunday. Then I go in for the ultrasound on CD12. 

That's it for me, I'm going to continue to lurk and hopefully get to know you all.

Temp423319000008365

Hi and welcome! I'm sorry for your loss. It sounds like you have a good plan in place and are doing well with working out and eating well, that's great!

tombomb84

Welcome!  I am very sorry for your loss.

katib77

Welcome to the board!  So sorry about your loss, we (sadly) have many ladies here that also post/lurk over on TTCAL or have suffered a loss.  Good luck on your current treatment cycle.  If this doesn't work, I strongly encourage you to find an RE and get all the proper testing done.  If b/w is not done on cd2, 3, or 4 it's not the right time for them to be looking at certain levels as they fluctuate throughout the cycle (FSH goes up, up to O then Progersterone takes over for the second half, etc.).  

Also, just FYI you are more than welcome here (as we are a more active board), but want to let you know there is a secondary IF board as well to talk to women that have another child.  A few women here are trying for #2, but many of us are still working on #1.  

As for "well into your 30's"  I always welcome those around my age.  That way some of my early 80's references don't go over everyone's heads :P Welcome.

notquiteblushing

I'm so sorry for all you've been through.  I agree you may want to look into having more tests done.  I've heard that after a miscarriage you could have scar tissue that may prevent pregnancy.  Hopefully you can get to the root of the problem soon and see some results.  Welcome and good luck.

GraceInCA

Thanks everyone for your welcomes. 

My gyn/ob is a fertility specialist in a practice with multiple REs (affiliated with a hospital), so I feel pretty good sticking around with them. The bloodwork that was done was done after a particularly long cycle when I wasn't getting AF. I asked about getting levels re-checked, and the doctor said he didn't believe it was necessary at the time but something we could look to do in the future if we didn't have success after a few treated cycles. I really like my doctor and I trust him, so I'm going to give him a few months before I ask about switching over. I have a feeling he's not opposed to that if necessary, because he consulted with the RE when we had DH's SA done.

As far as scarring goes, that's a big fear of mine. During my ultrasounds they noticed uterine fibroids, but both my doctor and one of the other doctors in the practice said that the fibroids didn't concern them, because they didn't impeded implantation, and the sac was growing just fine without any problems from the fibroids.

RequiresExalted

Grace!  I love your clicky polls on TTCAL.

I'm so sorry to see you over here, though.  I hope you get your take-home baby soon.  

GraceInCA

RequiresExalted:

Grace!  I love your clicky polls on TTCAL.

I'm so sorry to see you over here, though.  I hope you get your take-home baby soon.  

Thank you! 

alb245

Welcome and I'm sorry for your loss.  I'm new to this board as well (TTC #1 though). The ladies on here are a wealth of information and a great resource!