So I’m at the end of the test cycle and we’re starting to learn stuff. Lots of stuff is looking good and thus far there are 3 things that have indicated that I’ll need some tweaking to the protocol:
My protein-C levels are slightly elevated, as are my antiphospholipid antibodies (say that 3 times fast: antiphospholid, antiphopholidaliheid, antiphosphiliphosenfeffer……) thankfully also called APA. This means I have an increased risk of clotting and the elevated levels may cause difficulty with implantation, and could also possibly be a cause of miscarriage. I’ll take a blood thinner to help with this, likely Lovenox. So….yay, one more injection! (I realize that they are just words on a page but I want you to feel the sarcasm…the deep deep chasm of sarcasm).
Also, I have a methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) deficiency. When the body is MTHFR deficient its ability to absorb folate (also known as vitamin B9), such as folic acid, is inhibited. Folic acid and B9 are both essential to the development and health of the fetus. So, treatment of this involves taking supplemental folic acid or folate and perhaps another vitamin (I didn’t get all that as I was standing in the middle of a grocery store taking notes on the phone – I think I did a fairly decent job otherwise).
It’ll still be another week or so until the last of the blood tests and the biopsy results are in, but so far no deal breakers, all manageable stuff. I did ask the nurse if the above elevated levels and deficiencies could have been part of why I’ve had three embryo transfers and no pregnancies and she said yes. It’s not a definitive answer as to why things haven’t worked yet but it’s at least information…..and information is good.
And, now we know we can do some easy stuff to try to have a different outcome.
Unrelated: I really want to see Non-Stop, the new Liam Neeson movie that comes out this weekend. That man can throw a throat punch and I like to live vicariously through that sort of thing.
Aging Baby Maker 