Thread: Fifth time was the charm!

Well, we took in a stray cat and finally figured out that she is pregnant. It's still exciting, even if it isn't me. Cat gestation only takes 9 weeks total...isn't that crazy-quick? I guessimated that she has about 4-5 weeks left to go. I love kittens!!! My mom would never let us take stray cats in or feed them or anything....now I'm a grown-up and I'm going to take in every cat I find!!! Bwahahaha.....
Lol.
Oh.
Brandon says no more then two....so maybe just keep one of the kittens I suppose.
Killjoy.

So now that all the craziness of getting married/moving etc is over with, we scheduled our tests for the miscarriage work-up. I have a high-tech ultrasound on the 15th in the morning and then if that doesn't show a problem then I have a HSG scheduled for that afternoon. I had 9 tubes of blood pulled yesterday for all the random tests that my general practioner could do (He can't do specific ones like karyotyping and stuff - that has to be ordered by the specialist, but the blood clotting and thyroid and stuff he can do) and I have a referral to OBGYN now, I need to call and make the appointment for that. (He wants me to do the U/S and HSG before I see the OBGYN so that's why I've already made those appointments) I am a little apprehensive about all the tests (Esp. the HSG, I've heard so many horror stories!) but I will glad to get the green light to try again. I think we are going to stay on the pill for the course of my prescription...which is 9 more months. It's been nice NOT being pregnant for awhile so far, I've lost 12 pounds...Brandon calls it the 'Not-being-pregnant' diet....although I HAVE been watching what I eat, too, and working out more. I'll post again when I find out more, I know after my miscarriages I was obsessive about reading other people's testing blogs and stuff so I'll return the favor.
Sara

Oh yeah, and I am getting another pap smear next month because I had BV when I was 14 and that can recur without symptoms and cause miscarriages. So that could be a part of it!

I got some of my test results back, everything came back negative except for the ANA. That stands for Antinuclear Antibodies and it causes miscarriages, or so Google claims. It can be treated with prednisolone during pregnancy to supress the immune system (That sounds like a bad thing, huh?) I guess my cells attack their own nucleous (Spelling?) or something. I have a appointment on the 10th for further testing. And on the 18th with my OBGYN to discuss the results. It's been about 4 months since I've been pregnant now, it feels like forever and I think as soon as my testing is all done with I'd like to start trying again. With prednisolone and progesterone, of course.
I also had a HSG the other day and of course my pipes and everything are fine. The test was really no big deal....everyone said it was going to be terrible so I was scared, but it was nothing! I'll update once I get more testing/results.

Take five....inconclusive miscarriage work-up (Pending chromosome results)...EDD is Augst 8th....
We'll see how this goes

I actually got my labs back early, I know, I was suprised too! The numbers look okay...HCG @ 2194 and progesterone at 24.36 (Unmedicated, at around 21-23 DPO) I've been feeling a little ill (Kind of like pressure on my neck...blechhh), a new sensation for me during pregnancy...so hopefully that is a good sign I'm supposed to go back in tomorrow morning to have another quant drawn, so that will tell me what to expect, pretty much. I'm hoping for at leat 6200, since there will be three days between tests and that would make my doubling time 48 hours exactly. I'm not sure if she ordered another progesterone or not, we'll see I guess.

Almost 10 weeks now - 9 wks 4 dys if you go by what I say, 10 wks 1 dy if you go by the doctors. I have thrown up 6 times now with this one, (Along with nausea everyday since 6 weeks) so that is definately a good sign I think. Breasts moderately-occasionally-very sore. So the symptoms are showing more with this one then the others. The last quant I had drawn was at 6 wks 1 dy (My count - 6 wks 6 dys Dr's count) and it came back at 21994, which is a higher number then I have ever had documented.

And then, of course, the fly in the ointment.

My chromosome results came back, bad. I have a pericentric inversion of my chromosome 4. Makes sense with all the miscarriages. I am worried though, because now I am at an increased risk of birth defects/Down Syndrome etc. I did find something online that indicated my risk of having an affected baby was 5-15%....so that is 85-95% chance that I won't. I have an appointment with a genetic specialist the 22nd of this month, and my next OBGYN appointment is the 26th. I've been promised an ultrasound at the OBGYN appointment, I haven't gotten one yet. I'll be 12 weeks or so then.

So far, so good. Still sick (Thrown up 10 times total now, and have been ill feeling every day since 6 weeks) still tired, and my bbs still ache. Still waiting for my ultrasound! ...and looking at maternity clothes and dopplers online. I've promised myself if the ultrasound is good, I can get a doppler

Geez I've been bad about updating haven't I? Well no news is good news especially in pregnancy.
I had an NT scan on the 22nd and lo and behold not only was there a baby in there - it was alive, too! A novel experience for me!
Heartbeat was 165 bpm which is good and strong. They were able to hear it on the doppler also, I was 11 wks or so then. I am almost 14 weeks now and of course since I haven't been seen since the 26th of Jan I am worried again that the baby has somehow died in between, although I've had no shortage of symptoms - namely daily vomiting. They offered me meds to stop the nausea but I know without it I would only worry more. It can only last a couple more weeks anyway, right? RIGHT?! I've ordered maternity clothes but they aren't here yet and my normal clothes are getting tight around the belly. Fundus is clearly palpable about midway between bellybutton and pubic bone. Okay, maybe just a little lower then midway...
Well that is all I have for now...

Well, like I said - no news is good news on this journal. I'm now 30.5 weeks pregnant, with a little girl. We haven't picked out a name yet....we can't agree really. I like Mischa, and he at least doesn't HATE it....
I had an amnio at 17 weeks and not only did I pass my pericentric inversion to her, it caused something called Trisomy X....which is not nearly as frightening as it sounds. Actually, it's so mild and common that the geneticist said if we hadn't had an amnio we never would have guessed anything was 'different' about her. I can live with that. However, she got off easy because my nondisjunction (pericentric inversion) could have caused a lot worse things to happen - so it looks like this will be our only biological child. DH is bummed of course because he wanted a boy but adoption is always an option. At first he wanted to try the PGD in vitro but really.....why spend that much just so you can have a biological child when there are so many kids that need homes? It seems a little selfish to me. Of course, once I showed him the pricelist, lol, he changed his mind! Plus there is no guarentee how many embryo's we'd have to burn through until we got a 'normal' one...or if there would EVER be a normal one.
Gestational diabetes test came back at 97, which is excellent. I have gained about 25-30 pounds so far but have not developed any new stretch marks (Thank you, Jesus!)....a couple of my old ones have turned red again though, but since they were nearly invisible before I have faith that they will fade to that level again. I'll attempt to update on a more frequent basis - I have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow so probably after that. (Bonus of the Trisomy X is she gets regular ultrasounds to track her growth, which has been perfect)