MIA

I know I've been MIA and I apologize. However, the black cloud that has been following us since the new year continues to hover over us and our house.

I know this is not fertility related at all but I promise to get there. This past summer, during the hottest week of the year our AC broke. The unit was older than me by 2 years so Mike's grandparents definitely got their money out of this unit. However, we had to replace the furnace (3 years younger than me) as well because it would not be able to handle the new bigger and better AC unit. Do you seeing the flashing money signs??? So we (2 adults, 1 toddler and 2 dogs) were couped up in our master bedroom with a window AC unit for a week!! Within that week our hot water heater started leaking. WTF?! More money signs flashed by.

Fast forward to 6 weeks later (this past week). Tropical Storm Lee decided to make "his" presence known and dumped rain like crazy on Central PA. I can't tell you how many inches because I've had very little time to watch any news. I'll guess 10+ inches though. So Wednesday afternoon I came home to find 5 inches of water in our basement. The last time this basement saw water was during Hurricane Agnes, in the early 70's, before my time. Our sump pump never kicked on. So Mike hurried home from work and within an hour the water was pumped out. Our guys who replaced our AC, furnace & hot water heater came to check everything out. All were inspected and turned back on. :::whew:::

1:30 AM the following morning we lost electric. Within 3 hours, we had 8 inches of water in our basement. Our hot water heater was destroyed. :::sigh::: So I have to remember that we were blessed with only having 8 inches of water in our basement because many have lost their first floors to flood waters in local areas. But at the same time why is this black cloud following us?

1) We lost Sadie in mid March
2) I m/c at the end of March
3) Our AC died
4) We also had to replace our furnace and hot water heater
5) Came home the same day as our basement to find a leak in our roof and plaster from our ceiling on the floor.
6) 5inches of water in our basement, lost electric and then had 8 inches of water in basement that destroyed our 6 week old hot water heater

I'm not sure if that's how I should number things because we all know things happen in 3's. Well...we are way past three!!! I don't want to ask what else could go wrong because I've learned this year that it can always get worse.

Tomorrow is my appt with Dr. Daggs, my new ob/gyn. I'm surprised that its here already despite the long, long wait. It felt like forever, but this last week has flown by with all the drama. I'm so discouraged right now and I hope to get the show on the road tomorrow. One good thing is I'm on CD 2 so that means we'll be able to do CD 3 blood work tomorrow. YAY!!!!!!!!

I'm hoping to update tomorrow evening but if not look for an update by Tuesday evening. :-) I have to believe that things can only look up from here!

Follow up Ob/Gyn Appt

Since my last post I have seen Dr. Hall at Ndlouvo Women's Health for my 2 week follow up from my D&E. It pretty much went as well as my RE appt last week. So nothing earth shattering.

I started the appt out by explaining how unhappy DH and I were with my RE appt. I explained that he wanted to repeat the autoimmune testing and suggested a sonohysterogram. I told her I didn't understand why he wanted to wait with the autoimmune testing or what difference it made whether I had hcg yet still in my system. She reassured me she would have done the same thing and that I was in "good hands" with Dr. Dodson. I also asked about DH's issues. In the past 6 months he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and (borderline) low testosterone possibly caused by the hypothyroid. She told me this would NOT cause RPL. I said something along the lines well DH is almost 13 years older than me and could this possibly effect his sperm. She said well sure age can affect the quality of sperm. :::sigh::: Tell me how can borderline low testosterone NOT effect his sperm quality? Testosterone helps produce sperm! How could this not be a possibility and why isn't anyone investigating it? Give me a solid medical answer that this is not a possibility that is effecting our situation? If a thyroid problem in females effects our fertility and ability of carrying a baby, how does it not effect a males sperm which could effect the quality of an embryo? Yes, a lot more could go wrong in the females body. I get that but :::bangs head on closest wall::: why am I just going in a circle? Why isn't anyone listening?

Speaking of immune issues if you have questions about how it works, this is a great site I came across in "Is Your Body Baby Friendly?".

So who is going to listen to me? That's a good question. I hope that it is going to be Dr. Corley at Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine or SIRM. I have a free phone consultation on May 12. I'm hoping he is going to come up with a action plan other then the basic tests that my RE is willing to do. I came across Dr. Corley through a friend I've met on a private PL board. Amy struggled with recurrent chemical pregnancies.

I'm hoping in the next few days to weeks to go through and look at what "above average" RE's test for and explain them individually (ie antibodies, WBC, Natural Killer Cells, ANA, APA, etc...). As well as keep you updated on my appts.