After our second miscarriage and third loss in 2 years, our regular OB/GYN recommended we see a Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility specialist (REI) for our recurrent pregnancy loss. After checking my AMH and FSH as well as my antral follicle count, I was told my numbers weren’t great and I likely had low ovarian reserve and that it could be the cause of my miscarriages as low ovarian reserve is often associated with poor egg quality. So here was another blow to deal with. It was recommended that we consider IVF with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). However, we were getting pregnant on our own, so she told us to try on our own again for a while but if we didn’t get pregnant again after a few months or if we had another loss, then to go the IVF with PGD route.

So we cautiously began trying again. After learning about my possible low ovarian reserve,  I decided it was time to find out what was going on with my hormones. I tried to balance things in a natural and healing way, so I began to see an acupuncturist for fertility. I began to see her every week for half hour sessions and began a complete diet change full of antioxidants, like dark leafy greens and CoQ10. I also cut out processed foods, alcohol, caffeine, limited dairy and sugar and went on a complete gluten free and soy free diet.

Well, I don’t know if it was just our ability to get pregnant despite the losses or the acupuncture or the diet change and supplements or perhaps a combination of everything, but once again we found ourselves pregnant after only a few months of trying. This time it felt different. It really seemed like everything was going right. My betas more than doubled, and at our early ultrasounds at 6 and 7 weeks and we saw a strong healthy heartbeat and the baby was measuring perfect. I began to relax and we even told a few people, but then at 8 weeks, it all came crashing down. The 8 week ultrasound showed that our baby hadn’t grown since the week before and the heart had stopped beating. We had two more ultrasounds and there was no change. So it was a fact. It was another miscarriage.

I was dumbfounded. I just couldn’t believe it was happening again, and this time my body had tricked us and let us think everything was going well. It was unreal. I hit an all time low. I wanted answers, and thankfully my doctor agreed we needed to test the products of conception (that lovely term doctors use) for chromosomal abnormalities. So after the long and drawn out process of miscarriage #2, I didn’t even hesitate, and had a D & C right away this time and we sent the tissues away for testing. It was bad news, but at least we had some answers. Finally. There was an abnormality of chromosome 5. A rare form of Trisomy that never results in a healthy pregnancy and almost always results in early miscarriage. So there it was. It was a relief to have answers and it validated our decision to move forward with IVF with PGD. It hasn’t been an easy process, and we’re taking a huge financial risk, but I am going on blind faith and hope that if it is God’s plan, we will have the family we so desperately want one day and if not then at least we’ll know that we tried everything we could to make it happen.

LMP – March 31, 2013
D & C – June 4, 2013
Due Date – January 5, 2014