Monday, July 2, 2012

Seems overwhelming:

Okay, as for current testing:

1. Clotting factors/thrombophilia (negative)
2. Hormonal/Thyroid/metabolic (negative)
3. Hormonal/Fertility (normal)
4. Genetic (normal based on NO family history in 4 generations of ANYTHING).
5. Karyotype/Chromosome Count (normal for me. DH gets tested when he comes home)
6. Ovaries/tubes (normal)
7. Infection. Since you can't test for them all, the doc gave me a high-dose of antibiotics and told me to take them and Rx'd some for DH too. That way IF it was some minor infection that has lingered through the years from God-knows-where (DH and I both get tested constantly---military likes to make sure you're clean, haha)---well, lets just say that IF it was the infection, we'll both be cleared. Amazing to think that the solution could be 2 huge pills that I took 2 weeks ago and that I may already be fixed and there's no way of knowing because infection can be so well hidden by the body.
8. Uterus (HSG done, results this week). 6+

As for the uterus----

I suspect I may have fibroid tumors because the HSG didn't look normal to me (consider that I don't have experience reading them, just that my uterus wasn't the triangle shape that is 'normal' for most women). So, either my uterus is oddly shaped and no one saw that through 7 pregnancies or I have fibroid tumors that have caused the interior surface of my uterus to become oddly shaped. If this is the case, I suspect it would be intramuscular fibroids (submucosal, I believe is the term) and would require estrogen therapy (reduce estrogen = shrinking tumors) for several months to try to make them go away.

This is just my own supposition based off the fact that my uterus looked perfect on the left side and rounded on the right. Most naturally-occurring uterine malformations include T-shaped (not me), heart shaped (not me), or deviated (not me). None of those are the case, so I suspect that it is not merely that my uterus is naturally somewhat strangely shaped (and since I've had a full-term birth, that would make it not medically significant, possibly). Instead, I suspect that IF what I saw is accurate, that it is a fibroid or group of fibroids (which could explain all of my losses, actually, even Deagan).

However, the treatment is several months of hormone therapy, surgery, recovery, and then a complicated TTC/pregnancy and then a very likely automatic C-section (my propensity to make 10lb babies + weakened uterus from surgical scarring all over = automatic C). And given that my cervix SUCKS, I could be stuck with a very early C-section and still get a NICU preemie/micro-preemie. And, even if I do get pregnant and have a baby and all that, it would still be a year + of treatment and recovery and I do NOT think I can deal with that at all.

So, even though its an answer, I hope that I'm just a dum-dum and can't read an HSG and that its nothing at all and I was hallucinating at the time. I should get images of the HSG at my appointment and I plan to bring up my concerns about the shape with my doctor to see whether I was way off base or not---and when I get the pics, I'll post. They're interesting, regardless of whether I'm an idiot or not.



As for the REST of my treatment plans, etc:

1. TTC
---Take baby asprin from beginning of TTC EVERY day until birth
---Chart and take OPKs to pinpoint Ovulation
---Begin progesterone suppositories (200mg 2x/day) at ovulation
---Test for pregnancy at 10DPO onward (or earlier, I'm a POASA).
---If test negative at 16-18DPO, stop progesterone to trigger period.
---If test positive, call doctor ASAP to be seen

2. FROM BFP - 14 weeks:
---Continue baby aspirin OR
---Begin Lovenox/Heparin to prevent blood clotting issues (can't test for them all!)
---Continue progesterone 200mg 2x/day (or 3x/day depending on levels)
---Blood draws every 2 days until heartbeat detected
---Ultrasound every week until 12 weeks
---Monitor cervix via ultrasound every week.

3. 14-24 weeks:
---Continue baby aspirin/Lovenox/Heparin (waiting on doc to hear plan)
---Switch to progesterone injections or continue suppositories 200mg 2-3x/day
---Cerclage done at 12-14 weeks
---Weekly cervical ultrasounds
---Growth ultrasounds to measure baby's growth

4. 25-36 weeks (God Willing):
---Continue baby aspirin/Lovenox/Heparin
---Continue progesterone therapy
---Continue weekly cervical checks
---Continue cerclage
---Continue growth scans every 2 weeks
---Steroid injections for lung growth
---Weekly NSTs
---Decrease activity ("almost" bedrest)

5: 36-40 weeks
---Continue aspirin/Lovenox/Heparin
---Continue progesterone, slowly weaning at 38 weeks
---Remove cerclage
---Switch to manual cervial checks (non-ultrasound)
---Continue growth scan every 2 weeks
---Return to normal activity
---Continue NSTs
---Another round of steroids depending on baby's well-being/size.


That's the plan as of the day before my HSG was done. So, if something WAS wrong with the HSG as I suspect (but I may be HSG illiterate), we may be changing all that. We shall see.

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