7 Vials of Blood...

Of course I have a familiar song stuck in my head right now, with a minor alteration: 7 vials of blood from my arm, 7 vials of blood, take one down, swish it around, 6 vials of blood from my arm... you know the rest.

So, today I met with a perinatologist. We went over my history, my risk factors and all the things that could possibly be causing the multiple losses. We discussed genetic translocations first but that's not a testing route that I want to go at this point. Reason being, if there IS a translocation, we've beaten it twice and the only way to ensure that we would beat it again is to use a donor egg and that's just not an option that I want to consider. The fact that we have 2 healthy kids shows that it is possible and that fact also "according to the books" puts me at no greater risk for a miscarriage in the future than if I had had none. Dr. A said that it's still one of those things that he has a hard time wrapping his head around so he fully understood if I thought he was full of it with that statement. He seemed very hopeful for us which was nice.

The second point of discussion was uterine abnormality. Although I've had two healthy pregnancies and full term vaginal deliveries it's possible that something could be undetected. Apparently even though I've had two d&c's that it's possible that they missed it during those procedures... but I don't think the shape of my uterus is the issue. A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) would be the way to determine, without a doubt, that everything is fine or not. Dr. A doesn't want to worry about that at this point (which I totally agree with) since we are actively trying this month, which he thinks we should be doing. The other thing that makes me step back from this procedure is that it commonly uses injected iodine and since I have a shellfish sensitivity, this can cause more problems than it would be worth.

The final point of discussion was the different thrombophelias and blood issues. Basically, there is a theory that certain thrombophelias can be responsible for small blood clots which can lead to problems like strokes, blood clots and multiple miscarriages and losses into the second trimester. This is not what causes all miscarriages or even most miscarriages. A 6%-10% occurrence sounds kind of rare but the reality is, it isn't. 6-10% of the population will present with blood tests that would indicate that they are affected but that does not mean that's the cause. If I am shown to have one of these blood disorders along with the multiple losses, then they can diagnose a syndrome. Blood disorders sound kind of scary but the treatment is very simple. The easiest is a single daily baby aspirin which he told me to go ahead and start now. There's not a lot of proof that it helps a ton but there's more proof that it doesn't hurt. The second part of the treatment would be daily lovenox injections, that I would administer to myself, in my tummy. He said skinny people (gotta love him!) like me still have enough tissue for it to not be a problem. That treatment would continue for the entire length of a future pregnancy until 2 days before a scheduled induction. BUT, like I said, that's ONLY if it comes back that I test positive for any of the disorders that they're going to look for.

So, yes, I talked for an hour today with Dr. A, who loves this stuff obviously and walked out with a little bit more hope and a lab order for:
Factor V (five) Leiden
Prothombin Gene Mutation
Antiphospholipid Antibody (Anticardiolipin / Lupus Anticoagulant)
Which in simple terms means 7 vials of blood from my arm!

The results of the panel should be back to the office in about 2 weeks - which is still a great time frame for current endeavors. Bottom line is, knowing that there is or isn't something going on will not change my past, it's not even definitive reason for the losses and it won't give me a guarantee for the future. The number one reason is still stupid chromosomal abnormalities, yes, even in a 16 - 17 weeker like Eli who appeared totally "normal" aside from that no beating heart issue. So, we wait and see what the results are and then go from there.

I wasn't really looking forward to this appointment, not sure why, but it feels very good to have it behind me and to know that I will be armed with much more information for the future. I'm not necessarily hoping to find out one thing over another but I feel good knowing that I've done something. Isn't the saying: the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result? I felt like that's what I was doing, and now I'm not.