WTF Indeed

We had quite a conversation with our RE yesterday. It was the follow up to my chemical. I was fully prepared to go in there and convince him of all the reason why I should have a RPL. Instead he told us how sorry he was, sat us down, and began explaining all the reasons why he thought we needed an RPL. It happens this way with him every time. We are always on the same page and I never need to say a word. I feel lucky to have a doctor like him.

He wants us to go into another fresh IVF cycle and through 3 steps to try to avoid another chemical pregnancy. First is the repeated pregnancy loss testing. That involves testing thyroid, antibodies, and blood clotting. His office runs a 4 part screen for RPL. That isn't the most thorough in the world but it's a good start. He claims that any problems uncovered in an RPL will be treatable.

Our second step is karyotyping. It's a blood test run on both of us to check for chromosomal abnormalities. I thought that this was unnecessary for us since we are able to produce healthy blasts but I was wrong. We could still have karyotype issues. He says that there is only a 2% chance of finding something there. Some karyotype problems can be solved with PGD but others are untreatable and would require the use of donor eggs or sperm (terrifying).

If we don't find anything on either test (which is likely) we will move on to the third step: PGD. It's the genetic testing of one cell from each embryo on day 3. We wouldn't be doing it to look for problems necessarily, but to be able to transfer ALL of the genetically normal embryos in one shot, on a fresh cycle. It would give us the best possible odds.

That leads me to the shocker of the day. He said that the PGD would help sort out our embryos so we could transfer 6 or 7 of the best. Holy cow! 6 or 7!! I started laughing like a crazy person every time he said it and I don't even know why. I think I was scared and absolutely stunned that at my age my doctor is willing to do that. Am I really that bad? Am I really that infertile? The sad part is that I'm okay with transferring that many. If that's what it takes to get me pregnant then so be it. J was thrilled with the idea. He would transfer 20 embies if he could :)

We asked if it's time to start discussing third party reproduction (again, terrifying). He touched on a couple of options then went on to tell us that we aren't there yet and we "need to keep our eye on the ball", meaning our next IVF. Then he told us that he still truly believes that it will work and I will get pregnant. He's not the type of doctor to give us any fluff or try to make us feel good so that really hit home with me.

All of this was very exciting and brought back a little hope for us. Unfortunately it all hinges on one thing, my beta. If my beta results from this morning come back above a 5 then I won't be able to do IVF this cycle. It will be a scheduling disaster for us and an emotional nightmare. I'm hoping with everything in me that my beta will be zero. There is NO WAY I can sit out this month! For the record, they drew 7 vials of blood this morning. I'm so glad I don't have to do that again.