Dr. Corely to Dr. Peters

I e-mailed Lisa, Dr. Corely's secretary over the weekend to get "my ducks in a row". I heard back from another lady, Brenda on Monday. I was finally able to get a hold of her today and she had some unfortunate news. Dr. Corely is leaving SIRM.

WHAT!?! Of course this is my luck. Grr...

Anyway she asked (politely too) if she could transfer me to Dr. Peters. I thoroughly discussed my issues with her and basically told her that no one has taken me serious. I'm 27 y.o. suffering with RPL and feel I have been over looked by doctors in my area. I asked if Dr. Peters would take me serious like Dr. Corely and she said "I think after one conversation with Dr. Peters you will be very happy." I read his little bio on SIRM's website and it sounds like he has enormous experience with RPL. So those two things eased my anxiety.

I have another (free) follow up phone consult, this time with Dr. Peters, on July 12th. :::Crossing my fingers & toes:::

We will discuss my finding on LPD (thanks to NaPro) and if any other farther testing is needed to confirm (other than FSH & E2 on CD3). If he foresees a HSG in my future and possibly get an idea of when that can happen. We will also discuss if he thinks the immune testing is needed since we have found MTHFR & LPD. I'm leaning now towards not having it done. I'm pretty convinced now that we know what caused 3 of my 4 m/c. We'll also review everything Dr. Corely and I discussed and my most recent test results.

Hopefully I'm on my way to getting my ducks in a row before September comes.

H1N1 Vaccine Linked to 700 Percent Increase in Miscarriages

This is an older article from Decmeber 2010. However, I found this interesting and alarming! I am not posting this to get into a vaccine arguement, to each their own, as long as YOU do your research and make an educated decision based on the research. But I'm really not sure how the CDC gets away with these things! Please read and share!

H1N1 Vaccine Linked to 700 Percent Increase in Miscarriages


EDIT - 7/10/10

After posting I realized I should explain a little. Many of you may disagree with me completely and I'm ok with that. All I ask is that you do not judge until you do research about vaccines. Only then can you make an informed decision.

I firmly belief there are 2 sides to every story. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. I personally believe that we were given a strong immune system to fight off diseases. Unfortantly, 50 years ago many people lost their lives to these diseases. Why, because we didn't have vaccines? No. Simply because they did not have the modern medicine that we are fortunate to have. Things such as strong antibiotics.

How many of you reading trust the current government we have to make decsions? I'm not just talking about the president of the United States or the governer of your state. I'm talking about polotics in a whole. I know I surely don't trust them. And why would I trust them to make a decision mandating vaccines? Last time I checked they aren't medical doctors. Why do we need the government to get involved if vaccines in a whole are so good?

Now do I believe that the miscarriage rate has increased 700% due to H1N1 vaccine. I'm very doubtful. That's a super high precentage! Do I think that H1N1 vaccine has increased m/c rate, I have no doubt that its possible. Again, just my opinion.

Crappy Cycle

As I thought, this past cycle was crappy! Refer to image above. I had zero dry days meaning that every day I had some kind of peak type mucous. No wonder this cycle seemed so long!

I met with Erin last night and for this cycle I am going to keep a little notepad with me to record everything I see. Anal? Yes, that's me and its the only way I'm going to remember. Erin wants me to record any changes I see on a day to day basis so we can better determine the day of ovulation and my fertile time. I'm usually fairly confident when I ovulate & my fertile time. I have symptoms during this time but my CM (cervical mucous) just is not cooperating.

We both made an educated guess of when I ovulated and still this cycle shows LPD.  I'm almost certain that LPD was the cause of my 2 CP. I mean it only makes sense that my lining wasn't prepared enough and the blastocyte could not implant causing a chemical pregnancy.

So are you looking for an update on whether I exercised or not? BAHAHAHA! There is nothing to update about because I did nothing. I'm going to blame AF. I was ridiculously tired, so maybe this week I can drag myself out of bed to do some kind of exercise.

My mess...

Alright...its time! I can't take it anymore! Time for me to get off the couch and start exercising. I'm so over my flabby belly and no longer toned arms and legs. Blah! I feel like nothing fits.

I have to say I was completely naive to the fact that my body would not loose its "shape" after Landon. N-A-I-V-E! I've been thin all my life and felt it wouldn't be too hard getting back into shape. BTW ladies who are TTC and have baby angels...I am NOT complaining (ok maybe I am but I wouldn't trade my son for anything at all, not even my old body). Six years ago, I weighed 120 lbs and was dancing (ballet, jazz & tap) 5 days a week. I miss that body I had at 21. Things are just shaped so differently now that I feel like my clothes fit oddly and my underwear is riding up my butt constantly, that my bras don't lift these saggy boobs anymore despite spending (for the first time in my life) $50 on a Victoria secret bra.

So what am I doing about this? I'm getting off my @$$ starting tomorrow and working out. Goal is to do something 5 times a week but if I get 3 I will be really happy.

So what brought this on? I went to a dance recital last night. I miss dance. I have a hard time that I can't use the word "dancer" to define me anymore but I just don't have the time. I miss the end product and the adrenaline rush I get before going on stage.

This appearance issue also seems to play into our sex life. As well as other things. Am I the only one?

I can't even go shopping for Landon without getting depressed that I'm not 21 weeks pregnant. I'm 90% sure this baby was a girl. I was sure with Landon and I was sure with this one. Its just a feeling, weird but I had the same matter of fact feeling when I was dating Mike that he was the one an that some day I would marry him. As I was in Carters its soooooo hard not to look at the baby girl clothes on the other side of the store. They are so stinkin cute! Its just another reminder. For sure the scab is bleeding today.

This summer already seems like the never ending summer because I'm the most inpatient person in the world. We are currently NOT using any protection. I refuse to ever go back on the pill. Yes, I know there are other ways but its a choice I have to make, right? So basically its relying on natural family planning aka NaPro and I have NO freakin clue what is going on this cycle. Which totally effects "getting it on." And honestly sex is just another reminder that we can't, we can't TTC right now despite wanting to. ARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Soooo speaking of my NaPro chart, I will post pic of it soon. This cycle has been ridiculous though! I've had stretchy mucous for 3 weeks, since my period ended. I'm pretty sure I just ovulated the other day thanks to a positive OPK & some right abdominal pain. But this cycle is on like day 27 already. Its just very unusual. I'm almost thinking that my body is changing and trying to get on the same cycle as the girls I work with it. Seriously...I don't know what else it could be. And no, I'm not pg. I had the same thoughts so I took an OPK a few days after my positive OPK and it was negative. For those who don't know the only times you can get a positive on an OPK is when you are either ovulating or pregnant. Here's a nice source to explain further.

That's my mess for today.

Don't forget about those sitting in the corner.

I feel like a little girl who is at a party who escapes off in a corner only for everyone to forget about. Other kids may try to include you but you exclude yourself because for one reason or another you just aren't happy there or can't find joy in the celebration.

I'm that girl. Only I'm an adult, and not enjoying the adult party for expecting women or even women TTC.

Selfish? Jealous? Envious? Yes...maybe; but this is how I feel. I'm not sure how to change it! And if I do change it, is that really being me? I guess maybe a better me but I'm not one who likes to pretend.

I'm over the announcements on fb. I'm over the ultrasound pictures on fb. I'm over the gender announcements. I'm over the status updates about what people are doing with their new family of 4. It all drives me a little bonkers. And I am I guilty? Absolutely! I had 3 losses before Landon so of course I was excited to share my milestones even on fb, not thinking of what others were going through. It's just frustrating that very, very few of these friends can even begin to understand. Remember only 1% of couples suffer from RPL.

I finally felt like the wound was healing and I was getting over the hump. Now I feel like my scab is being picked at each and every time I'm reminded of not being pregnant.

Trust me I don't sit around all day long feeling sorry for myself. However these posts may make you think otherwise but really I don't. Its just there as well as constant reminders.

I've participated in a study since Landon was a few weeks old called the first baby study. Its being performed by Penn State Medical Center. Last night I was on the phone with them for a 6 month survey. One of the first questions, "Have you been pregnant since the last time we spoke?" My answer, "yes." "So you are currently expecting," answered the person on the other side. "No, I had a missed m/c at 10 weeks," I said. "Oh," was the answer to that. :::Sigh::: From there she proceeded to ask me questions about the m/c and had I seen a doctor since our last conversation and what for. Well, of course I had to go through well I had an Ob/Gyn appt for this and that and then I had a surgery and blah blah blah. Is my scab bleeding yet?

I know her job isn't to become personal with me but honestly a sorry would have been sufficient. Or is it really that taboo just like breast cancer once was? Are people caught so off guard that they don't know what to say?

As promised, more about MTHFR

"MTHFR gene mutations are fairly common; nearly half the population of the United States may be at least heterozygous for a MTHFR gene mutation."

"However, hereditary thrombophilias are NOT universally accepted as a cause of recurrent miscarriages -- the ONLY thrombophilia disorder with a widely accepted treatment is antiphospholipid syndrome."

MTHFR or methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase is a gene that every single one of us carry. Like all genes some of us carry mutated genes as the ones I discussed before, A1298c & C677t. Those who carry these mutations lack the enzyme activity to break down folic acid into L-methylfolate or the active form of folic acid. They also lack the ability to break down Vitamin B.

So what does folic acid do? Why is it so important? Folic acid helps to repair, synthesize and methylate DNA. Folic acid is needed to aid in cell division and growth (When a women is 3 weeks pregnant the zygote divides into two cells, then 4 cells, 8 cells, 16 cells and each cell continues to divide every 12 hours.). Pretty important, huh?

Those who are deficent in folic acid may be at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, depression, obesity, cancer, allergic diseases, osteoporosis, miscarriage, birth defects, and more. Folate is important for both men and women's fertility.

Sometimes, MTHFR mutation can raise your homocysteine levels which is a direct result of not metabolising folic acid and Vitamin B properly. When homocysteine levels are high the blood clots easier.

Unfortantly as stated above many doctors do not even recognize this as a cause for miscarriage or RPL. Therefore many doctors do NOT even test let alone treat MTHFR because of the lack of evidence to link MTHFR to m/c or RPL.


Some helpful resources:

- Pregnancy-info

- About.com - MTHFR

- About.com - Homocysteine

- Wikipedia - Folic Acid

- NeevoDHA - The Methylation Cycle - warning for those who are sensitive to belly bumps, this site is full of pregnant women.

Hope these resources are as helpful to you as they are to me.

More Answers? Possibly

Could it be? Could it really be?

I had my 2nd private session with Erin tonight regarding my NaPro chart. Interesting enough my first full cycle not only showed light brown spotting at the end of my period (possibly a progesterone issue) BUT a very short luteal phase!! Umm...I've been asking about this since before Landon. I have always ovulated late and when I say late I mean like day 18ish of a 28 day cycle. This previous cycle I ovulated 7 days before I got my period. WTF?!

I'm so happy to be getting answers but why has no one listened to me until now? Is it really that hard? So as soon as we get some insurance I will have my hormonal tests done (FSH & E2). It could have just been a weird cycle so we'll see what cycle #2 on the NaPro chart says. On the other hand I don't think this is just a coincidence of two issues that revolve around progesterone.

Since I brought it up let's talk about the luteal phase and what a luteal phase defect means. If you are reading this blog you probably know that in a woman's regular cycle ovulation occurs half way through. So if you have a 28 day cycle ovulation will most likely occur around day 14. After ovulation occurs progesterone is released by the corpus luteum to develop and increase the lining of the uterus so implantation can occur. So from the time of ovulation to the day you get your period is known as the luteal phase.

However, if you have a luteal phase defect this means there are too few day between ovulation and menstration. Therefore, there is not enough time for the corpus luteum to produce progesterone. This will result in poor uterine lining causing an early m/c. Remember, I've had two CP.

Does this take a genius to figure out? Apparently. Some doctors don't even believe in this defect. Why? You'll have to ask them because it seems like common sense to me.

So LPD (luteal phase defect) does not stop there. There are actually three possible causes and its important to know which one you are dealing with. Some doctors only treat this defect with progesterone but sometimes this is not enough. For more information on the 3 types of LPD and how it can be treated click here.

So for now that is all.