Here is our chronicled journey to meet baby Wicker:
DX: Ovulation and tubal dysfunction, Luteal Phase Defect and hypothyroidism.
November 2009: Started BBT charting to learn my body and cycle; ovulation dysfunction noted
December 2009: BBT charting
January 2010: BBT charting
February 2010 Officially TTC #1: Natural cycle with BBT charting; BFN
March 2010: Natural cycle with BBT charting and OPK's; BFN. Met with OB and was told I may have PCOS. What??!!! When I asked him why he did not mention this over the last ten years I had been his patient his response was that he doesn't like to "give labels". He told me I may need help getting pregnant. I was devastated and went on a mission to find out what PCOS is and to get appropriate opinions and tests to find out if his assumptions were correct. I was told to return in May for a Clomid cycle if I was not pregnant by then.
April 2010: Natural cycle with BBT and OPK's; BFN. Consultation with a "holistic" OB and had tons of blood work done. I did not have PCOS in his opinion. No explanation for ovulation dysfunction or complexion issues. Referred me to a holistic nutritionist. Found myself in the ER with Kidney stones.
May 2010: Returned to regular OB for Clomid cycle and monitoring. One follie, low progesterone, poor ovulation. Luteal Phase Defect identified. BFN. Husband's first SA: perfect. Followed-up with Urologists for kidney stones and also a Cardiologist for fluid that was found around my heart when a CT scan was performed for my kidney stones.
* Over the next six months a lot occurred in effort to meet baby Wicker. I think I really lost it during this time. I worked with a holistic nutritionist where I was told I had many mineral deficiencies and that my body was over ran with candida. I was placed on numerous supplements and met with the nutritionist every 2 weeks ( big rip off looking back). I began drinking a gallon of water per day, lost a lot of weight, and I didn't have the extra to lose. I ate no carbs, no dairy, and cut out all sugars. I ate no foods that would "feed" candida. I also had many, many crazy blood panels done to look for any hormonal or blood disorders with my holistic OB and an endocrinologist in addition to getting regular acupuncture and taking Chinese herbs. It was also the opinion of an RE, a holistic OB, and two endocrinologists that I did not have PCOS! *
June 2010: First consultation with RE. Natural cycle with charting and OPKs; BFN. Had echo cardiogram for pericardial effusion and to look for heart abnormalities.
July 2010: First cycle with RE. Clomid, HCG, Prometrium and monitoring. One follie. BFN
August 2010: HSG Test--Right tube blocked. Very painful and very disappointed. Natural cycle; BFN
September 2010: Clomid, HCG, Prometrium, and monitoring; BFN.
October 2010: Clomid, HCG, Prometrium, and monitoring; BFN.
November 2010: Lap. surgery to take a look around inside to look for abnormalities. Right tube confirmed blocked as my doc was unable to get dye to move through successfully even after multiple attempts. All else looks normal.
December 2010: Clomid, HCG, Prometrium, and monitoring; BFN. First AMH test: 0.57. Was told we needed to go to donor eggs. Had IVF consult with RE to discuss a donor cycle. Devastated. Decided to give up doing everything I was doing. I stopped getting opinions from other doctors and those specializing in endocrinology, I stopped the acupuncture, dieting, nutritionist, supplements, charting, OPK's and anything else that was making me crazy. It was not benefiting me, as it was all too much for me to contemplate. So in an effort to truly calm my body to be able to be the best momma I could be to a developing embryo, I had to relax and stop with all the back and forth. So I only went to my RE and only listened to his opinions and advice from here on out.
January 2011: I asked for AMH to be retested as my AMH did not seem to correlate to my antral follicle count, which was usually a minimum of 16. Second AMH: 2.5. What the heck is going on??!! RE called lab director where blood test was ran. It was concluded that one of the tests was ran on blood that did not belong to me, but not sure which result was really mine. I asked for a third retest. Third AMH: 3.9. I give up!
Had a consult with a second opinion RE. He recommended an injectable IUI cycle. My original RE does not advocate IUI's and recommended us going to IVF ( go figure!) Took a vacation to the Caribbean to get away and clear our minds. We were exhausted mentally and emotionally.
February 2011: IUI with Follistim with new RE. 4 Follies. 3 on left ovary and 1 on right ovary ( right tube is blocked). BFP!! 14 DPO beta of 26. Not good. :( Betas continued to be low. Was never told about the possibility of an ectopic. Started bleeding and became painful. Soooo disappointed and sad!
March 2011: Confirmed ectopic with 6w 4 day sono: no baby and a lot of blood pooling behind my uterus in my abdomen. Very, very painful in right side. It was concluded that I had a right tube ectopic pregnancy. Methotrexate was used to dissolve pregnancy. Horrible, horrible experience.
April 2011: Tested beta every 48 hours to make sure beta fell to zero, which took 6 weeks. I bleed for 6 weeks straight also. Beyond having an ectopic, I had an awful experience with second RE, went back to original RE to finish out my ectopic treatment and follow-up. A final follow-up with endocrinologist and confirmed hypothyroidism. Started 50 mcg Synthroid.
Back to original RE to discuss ectopic, bleeding, and having right tube removed as a precaution to prevent future ectopics. He put me on estrogen to stop bleeding. Yea, it worked immediately! Beta back to zero and bleeding finally stopped. Waited for natual cycle to resume on its own.
May 2011: Lap. surgery to remove right fallopian tube assuming it was obviously damaged and still blocked upon visualization. RE found that my right tube was severely damaged from ectopic and was now grossly malformed. There was so much blood loss into my abdomen that scarring had resulted all around my right tube and in my pelvic cul-de-sac ( where the egg drops every month). He went ahead with the tube removal and also removed all of the scarring he could. It was a very emotionally difficult recovery. Had IVF consult after 2 week post op from surgery. I felt like it had been set back after set back with no progress, we were ready to get this show on the road despite being exhausted. I will not give up on Baby Wicker. I WILL push through!
June 2011: Started IVF #1 Long Lupron Protocol 6 weeks after surgery to remove right fallopian tube. 14 eggs, 12 mature, 12 fertilized without ICSI, transferred (2) 5 day blasts and froze 7 blasts. Lost three embryos due to lack of development. I did acupuncture before and after my embryo transfer and did many other crazy things to make my body as "hospitable" as possible for our sweet embryos.
July 2011: IVF #1 and BFP! 7 weeks sono confirmed one perfect baby!
15 DPO: 222
18DPO: 1050
August 2011: Second sono: baby is growing on track and looks great!
To-date we have spent well over $20,000 in the last year and a half in attempt to meet Baby Wicker at my last calculation.
