Christy's Success Story

I met Christy on the Yahoo catholic IF forum. We had a connection since we both had Lufs. She recently got her BFP so I asked her to write her story to encourage others to try napro. Thank you Christy for sharing.

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I got my first period in 8th grade and from that time on, I had 1 or 2 periods a year.  When I did get a period, I would bleed for 3 weeks, it was awful!  I was terrified in high school because I never knew when to expect my period and when it started it was almost immediately a very heavy flow.  Even scarier was that no doctor could give me an explanation for what was happening and why my body wasn't functioning as it should.  I started seeing the gyn when I was 16, I cried because I was very modest and couldn't bear being examined by a male doctor, but my mom was really concerned about me and didn't know what else to do.  This doctor had delivered all of my siblings and he was apparently a "good Catholic doctor." When I was 18 he shamed and scared me into starting the BCP.  He told me I would get cancer otherwise and he told me while my mom was out of the room, "Is your mom gonna give me grief about the BCP because you are Catholic?"

I was on the pill for 2 years and it caused me to gain weight and become depressed and have panic attacks.  So I took myself off of it.  After graduating from college with a degree in biology/chemistry/philosophy minor, I wanted to pursue bioethics.  I still wasn't having regular cycles and getting responses like "you might have a brain tumor or why do you want to have regular periods, are you trying to get pregnant?" from the docs I saw.  Eventually I became so jaded I just stop seeing doctors altogether.  Until I met Dr Hilgers.  A good friend of mine was working for him as a research assistant and told me he was hosting a bioethics conference at the Pope Paul VI Institute.  So I went and I love every minute of it.  Dr Hilgers kept saying how much research needed to be done and I told him I would love to conduct research for him.  After he got a grant he asked me to work for him, so I moved from Cleveland to Omaha and got started.  I loved my work, it was fascinating!  At the same time, I got trained as a FertilityCare Practitioner and also worked for Dr Hilgers teaching his patients how to chart the Creighton Model.  I also started seeing a Practitioner and began charting and made an appointment with Dr Hilgers.  He took one look at my chart and said he was 95% sure I had polycystic ovaries.  He did some blood test and an ultrasound to confirm.  Finally at 25 years old I had a diagnosis!!  He started me on progesterone therapy and I have had regular cycles ever since.  He also told me that I might have difficulty conceiving when I got married, so I was somewhat prepared for the infertility journey I would face.

My husband and I discussed adoption as an option before we got married to make sure we were on the same page.  Having accurate information actually made me feel more empowered and it also made me feel that infertility would be something my husband and I dealt with together, I wasn't going to be alone in it.

A year after we were married, we flew back to Omaha (I had moved back home) and I had an ovarian wedge resection.  I recovered very easily from the surgery but Dr Hilgers said that he was concerned about adhesions since my ovaries were pretty "fried" from the many years of untreated severe PCOD.  I also had minor endometriosis.  He also discovered I was hypothyroid and started me on T3.  2 cycles after that we conceived, but it was a chemical pregnancy.  A few cycles after that I started clomid and letrezol and we conceived again, only to lose the baby at 8weeks.  I was devastated!  18 months later, we had a repeat Lap and Dr Hilgers lasered some adhesions and minor endometriosis and made sure both tubes were unblocked.  We stared back on clomid and letrezol and Dr Hilgers monitored my hormones to see if any medication changes increased them enough for us to start trying to achieve again, with less risk for miscarriage.  But nothing raised my hormone levels, they were rock bottom for years.  During this time I was on many medications and also getting periovulatory blood draws and post peak blood draws (about 6-8 blood tests a month) and having to ship the blood samples to Dr Hilgers overnight with dry ice.  (He was monitoring the quality of ovulation with the blood tests).  One time I went to Dicks sporting good store to purchase a small Styrofoam cooler to use to ship the blood sample and the clerk accused me of being a drug dealer!  He was a former policeman and apparently people who buy these coolers to ship things with dry ice use them to cure marijuana.  I didn't tell him I'm not a drug dealer, I need this to ship my blood because I thought he would freak out even more!  After a few years of low hormones on ovulation induction meds, I asked Dr Hilgers if he would do an ultrasound series and he did and discovered I had LUFs.  So I tried about 6 months of ultrasounds and HCG trigger dose and no pregnancy.  He also treated a uterine infection with 6 months of antibiotics.

In the meantime we discussed adoption with Dr Hilgers and he said he was in full support.  We started the process in 2007 (5 years TTC) and adopted our oldest daughter Gianna as a new born in May of 2008.  What a miracle (TTC! 

Then I had a third and forth surgery.  Dr Hilgers didn't have his current adhesion prevention protocol in place when I had my wedge resection, so he was still concerned about adhesions.  So I had a third Lap and he lasered extensive adhesions and covered my ovaries in gortex to allow the surface to heal without causing scaring or adhesions, then a week or so later he did another Lap to remove the gortex.  The ovaries looked good!  About 6 months after that, he discussed cortisol treatment for adrenal fatigue.  I was one of his first patients to start this protocol. I suffered from constant severe fatigue and was diagonosed by Dr Hilgers with severe adrenal fatigue.  I felt like a new woman on cortisol!  I find it truly amazing how tirelessly Dr Hilgers searches for a cure for infertility.  At this point, I had been a patient of his for nearly 10 years (ttc 7years) and he never gave up on me, he was always looking to improve my health and make me feel better, besides helping us to conceive.  After 9 months on the cortisol and starting synthroid, we found out we were expecting our second daughter Catherine, who was born a happy and healthy progesterone fed baby in May of 2010.  After 7 years of infertility!  God is so good!

When Catherine was 6 months old we thought about actively trying to achieve again.  I knew I had LUFs and Dr Hilgers was looking at a new protocol for that from a doc in Japan.  He asked me if I wanted to try it and I said sure!  So in June of 2011 we started our 1st cycle of Neupogin and HCG trigger and I ovulated!!  But no pregnancy.  We continued for a few months and no ovulation, just ovarian cysts.  I took a month off and we stared up again.  I told myself, I will try this until December and then I am just going to focus on enjoying my 2 girls, my 2 gifts from God.  And on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception we found out we are expecting!  Wow! I still can't believe it!  So far my progesterone levels are good, so that is a good sign of a healthy pregnancy.  I can't wait to see my local ob/gyn and say we are expecting again, she thinks Dr Hilgers is a bit of a quack and I love proving her wrong!

Hope my story is helpful.  Thanks for posting it.
Christy

Dog Fight and a Jacuzzi

I made it through another infertile Christmas!! This is a long post which starts out a little crazy but ends well.

This year we drove down about 2 hours to visit my family.  I get out of the car and see my Aunt and she says congratulations I hear you are having a baby. UGH nope that is my younger sister....awkward.

My uncle and my cousins love dogs. They visit shelters and rescue dogs that are about to be euthanized and find them homes. Most of these dogs are very large and some of them are pit bulls. Currently in his home, he has two new rescues that he has had for a year. They are large but very sweet. They are young and playful. He shows me their toys. Then he gives one a piece of meat. All of a sudden the other dog comes over to take it. They start to fight right in front of me. I panicked bc they are huge. They are attacking each other at the neck. They are thrashing around. My uncle gets in there and tries to separate them. They are his dogs so I let him take the lead. It starts to feel like forever and I did not know what to do. It looked like they were going to kill each other. Finally he gets them apart and we notice that one of them bit him on the arm.

Holy crap. It was a large gash. We sit him down and get the bleeding to stop. The dogs are still in the house. I run to get my cousin and have him get the dogs out. My uncle starts to turn white and sweat. We get him some water and juice. I am thinking he should go to the hospital but he wants to wait until my Aunt gets out of the shower. I am freaking out bc I think he is about to pass out. They are all calm and it takes her forever to get out of the shower. I am thinking about all the germs from the dog's mouth etc. We finally convince my cousin to take him to the hospital.My dh and I are just sitting there freaked out. I have never seen dogs fight like that where they are trying to kill each other.

Later on everyone comes over and I am still trying to relax from it. My sister comes over and hides in the back room until more people come in. She is very pg and of course everyone has to talk about it. They all give her first child cute toys and go on an on about him. I almost barfed. He runs around the house screaming and they keep putting on this singing Santa to entertain him. The noise was driving me crazy.

I took my mom out to show her my new car and that is when I found out that my sister just bought the same color make and model................OMG so my DH is laughing. I guess I had to do it too.

Later on things picked up. My dh had a nice chat with my dad about my sister. If you missed the post about her drama here is the link back He admitted that she was wrong, but he is afraid that she will take away his grandchild..............ugh  I had a nice time seeing my relatives. I tried to block my sister out. I started to have fun. Then we had the swap and I got a George Foreman Grill. My uncle came back from the hospital and had 6 stitches and a tetanus shot. He was afraid to tell them the dog bit him bc he did not want the police to take the dog away. He told them he cut his arm on a saw.

We left my Aunt's house and then we went to a hotel. My DH planned a nice romantic get away.  If you have been ttc as long as me then you know that BD becomes a chore and it is not fun anymore. We decided that we needed some fun. We got a room with a jacuzzi. We had a lot of fun. I need to keep this post  G-rated but let's just say that we had lots of fun. The jacuzzi had colored lights that you could turn on under the water. That was really cool. We also had bubble bath in it. It was amazing to relax and have some fun.

Dec 2011 p+7

So here were are again, another p+7. I was a little nervous bc I did not follow the follicle with us this month due to not having a car. Then my peak day was delayed five days. My numbers were typical for me E118 and p14.8 both in the normal range so I will take it. I am taking supplements so I know that my progesterone would be single digits without it. Now another week to wait.

Other News:
My neighbor just annoyed me. She is usually a good neighbor so I am trying to keep that in mind. She rings my door bell to show me a new drain spout she had installed. You might think who cares? Well I live in a townhouse so my house is attached to hers. She should have discussed it with me first. We are supposed to get approval etc to make sure everything looks nice. She has a bad habit of not getting my permission. Now there is an ugly drain pipe on my side in my flower bed. She wanted to know if it was okay to move it a few inches further into my flower bed bc she did not want the water to drain out of my bed into her driveway. I told her no and that I was not happy it was in my flower bed. She said it was common property (we will see about that) and she could not have it in her driveway due to ice. I said my pipe is in my driveway and I get ice. Then she wanted to put up a board in the bed so the water would stay. I said no bc that would make the water back up in my house. ergh..The gutter guy rec a plastic tube that rolls up and unrolls when it rains. Does anyone have this? I googled it ..http://www.guttersupply.com/p-Rain-Drain.gstml
I want to sell my house soon so I do not need an ugly pipe. I guess in the spring I will have to plant something to cover it up.

Work is going better. I decided that if I can't beat em that I have to join em. I devised a master plan to make my situation better. I don't want to give away details yet, but so far my boss likes the plan. This will make it better for me and I will be able to live the changes. It was not my first pick but it is my second and it will be so much better then what I have now.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my 35th birthday. I have been dreading that day for the last five years. Ever since I can remember even back to when I was a little girl, it was common for people to say that once you hit 35 you are at high risk to have a baby with birth defects. That is why I had the plan to have one at 30 and the second at 32 and be done before that age. Now I am 35 and childless.

I know that technology has advanced and women are now having babies into their 40s. My DH's mother had him at 40 with no issues. That number still haunts me. I started to feel quilt about  TTC and putting my baby at risk.

Then I had to stop listening to the what ifs. The what ifs sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear all the possible horrible things that can go wrong. They will make you crazy if you listen. I told them to go away.

I am starting to accept that life does not happen as we plan it. It just happens. I am starting to accept the fact that I may never have a child and that my life will still be ok. Will it be perfect? No, but I can not try for perfection anymore, I have to work with what I have.

My dh and I celebrated my birthday in a quiet calm way. I was not really in the mood to celebrate but I did not want to get sad over it. We went out for dinner and enjoyed being a couple. I ordered chocolate cheese cake for my birthday cake. I was too full to eat it last night, so I am going to eat it for breakfast today.

I love my new car. Is it  is a baby substitute? No, but it does make me feel very happy. It is so great. I love how it rides. I love the comfort of the seats. I am not usually a person who shows off my stuff, but if my coworkers are able to constantly show off their baby in the latest cute outfit or video of something cute they did, then I feel that I should be able to show of my car. It felt great to get some attention.

Yesterday I got two great surprises. I got a call that the dealer ordered me free floor mats and they were in. I did not know he ordered them. Then someone made a great offer on my broken down car that was of no value to me. He gave me 700 in cash.  I used some of that money to get a remote car starter.

I went to the store and was looking at clear floor mats. My DH laughed at me and said you are going to get floor mats for the floor mats. Well, yes I was thinking about it for the snow. I had to laugh when he said it out loud. I guess I really love my new car and want to take good care of it.

Gianna Center Seeks to Expand Beyond New York

A friend of mine just sent me this link to a new article about napro and the Gianna Center. I try to search Google for articles but they are sometimes hard to find. If you see a new one, please contact me. I always make a post about it and then I add a link to my section on articles.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/gianna-centers-pro-life-medicine-seeks-to-expand-beyond-new-york/

This is a great article bc it goes through the histroy of the Gianna Center and how they had to adjust when St. Vincent's closed. Now they are part of St. Peter's and have opened up two locations. They are working on opening more.

Here are some quotes from the article.

"Now the Gianna Center is back in its original office in Manhattan, run by Nolte, and has opened a second office at St. Peter’s Hospital, run by Dr. Kyle Beiter, an obstetrician-gynecologist who delivers babies and performs surgery, while specializing in NaPro technology as well. Under the auspices of St. Peter’s Hospital, the Gianna Center accepts health-insurance plans again and there are plans afoot to open additional offices across the country."

“The work of the Gianna Center is totally consistent with our Catholic principles and our special emphasis on women and children,” Rak said, pointing out that St. Peter’s Hospital is sponsored by the Diocese of Metuchen, N.J. “Their approach to medicine fully complements what we are doing at St. Peter’s, and we are looking to expand these services beyond the confines of New Jersey. Patients come from very long distances for their services because they cannot find this kind of care where they live.”

Although most people think of NFP as only a Catholic Church-approved method to delay conception, the Gianna Center is serving many women from across the country who seek help with infertility problems through NaPro technology.

Maureen  and her husband were married nearly five years without a child when they found that physicians in their area did not know how to treat infertility in a morally acceptable way. The Catholic couple rejected in vitro fertilization, which is prohibited by the Church because it separates conception from the conjugal act by joining egg and sperm in a petri dish. The couple found a NaPro family physician in New Jersey, who eventually referred them to Dr. Beiter at the Gianna Center, where surgery was performed to treat endometriosis.

Two months after the surgery, Maureen became pregnant. She said that she and her husband are expecting a child in April, and hope to have a large family. “You have to trust God,” said Wilkins, who is 30 years old, “because you never know what will happen.”

My New Car and TTC update

Last night I could not sleep due to the anxiety of not getting my car  and the unknown of today. My DH also had  a cold so he kept me up. I got a ride to school again from my BFF. I called the car buyers helpline and asked them about the checks. They said the bank should have given me two checks. She called over there and had them get my check ready for me to pick up.

I went over and asked to speak to the branch manager. She had my check ready at the front desk. I explained to her how I was embarrassed and inconvenienced since I had to get a ride over there. She was very nice and immediately apologized and admitted fault. She said that the bank will be calling me to issue me a gas card. Oh Yeah.I expressed my gratitude and mentioned that I have been a loyal customer and I usually get good service.

I took my check over the the dealer and picked up my car. She is beautiful. They gave her a wash and wax and buffed out the small scratches. He went over the car with me to make sure I knew how to work it. I loved driving it. It is so comfortable. I love it.

TTC News:
I have not really had much news this month. I started the cycle and then my car died. I probably should have just sat this one out, but I had already started the AB so I thought I should keep going. I did not have a car so I could not go to any monitoring appointments. I did not get  baseline and I did not monitor the follicle. I am very regular and I usually get a +OPK when the follicle is mature so I was not too worried.

I did my charting and watched my opk. I usually get a + around CD15. This time CD15 came and went. I started to panic since I had no idea what was going on in there. I checked my charts and for the past year I have been right around cd15 so this was really abnormal. My first thought was that since I stopped the co-Q10 for the first time in a year,  maybe it was making me more regular and I jsut messed that up. Then I thought about stress and how not having a car is stressful so that could be messing me up. I tried not to stress but that never helps. Finally last night CD19 I got a  +opk, so I knew that I was ok. I took my trigger shot and today I got a super dark opk. 

Heads Will Roll

Today I was so excited to go get my new car after work. My DH got a cold yesterday so he stayed home. He picked me up around 3:45. We went to the bank to sign the loan papers and get our bank check to take the the dealer. Then we went to the local dealer where my old car has been hanging out. They have been so nice and patient with me by letting me keep my broken car there without storage fees or nagging me etc.

I got there and the service manager tells me that the plates are stuck bc the bolts are rusted. I had to laugh bc the plates have been on there for 10 years and the bolts are probably the original  14 years old. They had to use some heavy tools to cut them off. They did not even charge me. You can see the tool marks on the plates.

I then went to clean out the car. On the way out some random guy offered to buy my car. I was straight with him about the pricey repair and he was still interested. I took his number and told him I would think about it.

Then we left to go to the new dealer which is 30 min away. We go there about 6pm. That is when he asked for our check and the look on his face told me something was wrong. He said the bank was supposed to give us a check for the entire price of the car. They only gave us the loan. Since we are financing half of the cost, I thought they gave us our down payment and would fax over the loan or something like that. I was so embarrassed. I was so mad. I tried to think outside the box like using my credit card or something but they would only take a bank check. I was so frustrated that I started to cry. I told them I was not upset with them just the bank who messed up. I could not tell them that I am also infertile and my patience  for waiting has been used up. I thought this was a done deal and now I have to wait some more. UGHHGHH


I know it is only one more day but ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh So they felt really bad for me and offered to send their shuttle out to meet me half way. I was fine with that since I have a friend who lives half way so she can drop me off on her way home from work.

I am still really mad at the bank and I will be calling over there tomorrow since I still need that check. I am going to ask (demand) that they bring the check over to my work since I do not have a car to pick it up. I do really like that bank so I do not want to take my loan elsewhere but I am tempted to tell them that.......UGHHHHHH I do not know what else I can ask from the bank. It is not like when you complain at a store and they give you coupons......We will see what they say. Maybe reimburse my gas money for driving over there for nothing????

Royal Blue

Yesterday the car salesman offered to meet us half way since he is 30 min away from us. We met at a shopping center with a loop around it bc I thought it would be easy to do the test drive. We met at a restaurant that was not open yet so that lot was empty. We met him and saw the car in person for the first time. The outside looked great. It is Royal Blue. The only small issue was the color of the interior. It was a light tan, so I can only imagine the potential stains. I cannot get caught up with that since I am buying used and the price, mileage, and year are all great. I figured I would just stock up on car cleaner, get some seat covers etc. Then we drove it around. It was really easy to drive. I was in love.

He went over all of the buttons and switches. Newer cars now have a mp3 jack so I can hook up my ipod in the car. My first car 1989 came with a tape player. LOL so I had to install a 10 disk cd player in the back. It was very pricey when I bought it, so I took it out and transferred it to my second car 1997 which also came with a tape player. Wow I thought 10 cds were great, now my ipod has over 50 and I have only filled 1/3 of its capacity. Later on I went home and dusted off my ipod. I burned more of my cd into I tunes and created some playlists. I had to order a cable to connect the ipod to the car.

There were so many buttons that I had to ask him what they were for. Then he says oh that is for child safety seats. You look under there and see a metal clip. He said that is where you hook the seat to. Hmmm I don't think my last car had them but then I never looked either. So I am not sure how I would have hooked a car seat in. I remember in the past when I babysat just using a seat belt but who knows?? He goes on to tell me how safe this car is for children etc.

We loved the car and decided to get it. YEAH I finally have a car after 3 weeks. I get to pick it up on Monday. Yeah.

My DH and I go to home depot on the way back. We start to talk about the car. I mentioned to him that I felt sad about buying a car that was safe for children when I can't have any. Then he turns to me and says maybe God did not want us to have children until we had a safe car. That is when I started to cry. He did not expect that one. I told him that I didn't either.In fact writing about it now is making me cry again.

I have decided that I really wanted that car and I am going to enjoy it whether or not I have children. I can't live my life with what ifs anymore. I have to move forward and enjoy life. It is great to have something to look forward to that I can really enjoy. I waited 10 years for this and even though I did not think about it every day for those 10 years it is great to feel like I accomplished something.

I got a new phone last month, new car this month, what is next?? I am hoping to sell my house in the spring. oh and of course a baby would be nice....just saying in case you did not know.

Car Accident

This week I have been carless. I am lucky to have a great friend to drive me to work and a DH to pick me up. It is tough to rely on others when you are a very independent person. I also do not want to take advantage of my friend's generosity. My DH gets crabby at the end of the day so I don't want to deal with that either.

I have been searching for a gently used car. I found some great ones. I am using a carbuyers service through my bank. They call the dealer and negotiate the price. They also ask you what your total price is and then they figure in the cost with the tax etc so you are not hit with a huge amount more than the price of the car. I found a 2009 with only 12,000 miles on it. The service called and got me a great price in my range. I called and got an apt to go test drive it tonight.

My dh had to get out of work early so we would have time to get there before they closed. We were on the road and the traffic was heavy. My DH was getting impatient and switching lanes driving close etc. I was getting mad and said be careful don't get into an accident. Then while we were stopped at a red light. BAM someone smacked into our car. UGH OH CRAP. Now I am going to miss my apt. There were three cars in the accident. We were in front. I called 911. We moved into the turning lane to get out of the road. The last car was too badly smashed up so it was in the road. Cars had to go around and they were beeping. It was nuts.

It took 10 min for the cops to arrive but it seemed like forever. Thankully nobody was hurt. Our car was fine. Just a little dent in the side of the bumper. The middle car had enough damage to need a repair but it was still drivable. The ford sign in the front flew off into the road and the front part came loose. The hood was crooked. The last car back was all smashed in the front.

We had to call the dealer and tell them we would not make it. UGH..... Then we had to wait around for the officer to gather info etc. It felt like forever bc I had to put up with a crabby husband who reminded me about how he took off from work early......etc. and now he does not have time for me tomorrow.........ugh It was so annoying. I was trapped. I wanted to yell at him about how I have had no car all week and I  had to deal with it so he can deal with one day. I knew better not to fight when I was trapped in the car.

After we were cleared to leave, the traffic on that road was horrible. It was now rush hour and this was a main road. So we took forever to drive home. I had to hear him complain the whole way.......OMG
So glad to be home.

Hopefully we can work something out tomorrow. I want a car. This one sounds great and I am hoping that it is also good in person. It is certified by Honda so it should be fine.

How I met your Mother

 Does anyone watch How I Met Your Mother?

I am not sure how I feel about the last episode. The one before it ended with Robin announcing a surprise pregnancy. Of course I was like oh no not another oops baby on TV. Then this week they turned it around. She was not pregnant and then she finds out that she cannot ever have a baby. They did  not give an explanation and she had no idea. In fact she said she was very regular.

At first, I felt sad for her and I actually cried. She goes into a baby store with her pregnant friend and she is really sad about her IF. Then she decides not to tell anyone. I thought it was really sad that she had no support and felt that she needed to hide it

Then I got mad at her bc she kept saying that she never wanted to have kids anyway and they would only get in her way etc. I am not sure if that was her way of dealing with the loss or if she really felt that way. At the end of the episode the narrator makes some comments about how she became very successful etc.and made it sound like she never had kids.

I would like to know your thoughts. I was shocked that they threw IF into the story line. Then I was happy to see it be brought out into the open onto TV. Then I was mad that the story ended in one episode and they made it seem like oh well if you can't have kids then you will be happy with your busy career. I would have liked to see more about her dealing with it. Getting support. Telling her boyfriend etc.

I do not know if this will be the end of the storyline but they sure made it seem like it. I remember vaguely back awhile Lily and Marshal could not conceive right away.  They did not really go through too much but I was happy to see the story line.

I feel like the show is trying, but I also feel like I should write them a letter. How many episodes are dedicated to Lily and her pregnancy? I feel that Robin's IF should get more than one.

What are your thoughts?

Co-Q10 and CRVs

TTC News:
Yesterday I went online to buy more Co-Q10. A little birdie told me to make sure it does not interact with my blood thinners. (I have been taking co-Q10 since last January based on the RI's recommendation.) I have only been taking blood thinners since Sept. I did  a search and came up with the following.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/coenzyme-q10-000295.htm
 http://www.drlam.com/opinion/blood_thinners_and_nutritional_supplement.asp
 http://coq10wellness.com/coq10-side-effects/

It seems that they are saying that Co-Q10 will make your blood coagulate or thicken so it will go against the reason I am taking blood thinners. I am really glad that I checked. I did not order any more. I have mixed feelings about this discovery. I am mad that I possibly wasted a year of TTC since I have been taking it that long. I am glad that I found out bc maybe when I stop it will make the blood thinners work better and I will finally have success. Who knows? UGG it is so annoying that I have to check everything that I take for more than one issue, my ovulation, my immune system, and now my blood clotting issues.


Other News: I have been enjoying the rental too much. I have to give it back tomorrow. I still do not have a car so that means I have to get rides to work or continue to pay the rental fee. I am not really sure what I want, but I am going used so it makes it harder to be picky. I thought by the time I had to get another car I would have kids and need a car suited for that. My DH does not really think that I need the kind of car I want. It is rough to face the fact that I don't really need it now. I want a small suv like a honda CRV or something in that neighborhood. I could get one now and  be able to afford it or get something smaller and save some money.  I wanted this kind of car 10 years ago and could not afford it so I got a civic. Now 10 years later I can afford it.  I feel that I should just get what I want bc I am tired of waiting around. If I can't have kids, at least let me have a nice car.

I went online and saw some good deals. I am going to check some out and then see what the real deal will be. Hopefully I can get something this week.

Results of Lovenox PC Survey

Thank you to all the ladies who responded to my question about lovenox preconception. I decided to collect all the answers in one place for my future reference and anyone else thinking about the same thing. I only used the first letter of someone's name to protect their privacy. I got some responses from my blog, the immunology yahoo forum and the MTHFR yahoo forum. There seems to be a lot of variation.

I am also wondering how much your weight makes a difference since some people mentioned weight. If I go by the 1mg per kg, then I should be taking 60 a day. My napro Dr does not want to increase my dose, he wants me to talk to my hematologist which is the responsible thing to do. It is just more of a pain bc I get monthly cbc but I do not see her, I go to the lab and then she just checks the results. Now I have to make an apt to speak with her,but the practice is huge with more than one Dr and it is a nightmare to call and try to get through to her office.

Then there is talk about a perinatologist which might be another avenue. I don't know what I want to do, I may just give my dose a few more tries and then decide.

Immunology Forum:
AEB has you start on CD6...30mg if you are under 140lbs and 40mg if you are over
140lbs...once a day until a positive pregrancy test and then twice a day with a
pregnancy thru 36 weeks. I hope this helps.
-H

 Dr.B now had take 30 mg and start it on CD3. After taking it for 7 days he had a Heparin Anti-XA level drawn to make sure my dose was high enough.
-K


I take 40 mg  once a day. It was the dose recommended by two RI's, my hematologist and OB. I have MTHFR, evidence of APA and history of miscarriage. Hope that helps. Oh and I started it around CD 5 but
Dr A was not strict on when I start. I requested I start it early, otherwise he would have me start on BFP.
-D

 I am dx with APS, lupus anticoagulant. I have a history of m/c as well as a history of a blood clot. My hematologist believes in dosing lovenox at 1mg per kg. I am a bigger woman, 5' 11" and I weigh 236lbs, so my hematologist has me on 100mg of lovenox twice a day. When I was ttc, I only did one a day starting on cd6, but as soon as I got a BFP, I went to twice a day. My hematologist doesn't believe in doing Anti XA levels until the anatomy of my body begins to change due to the growing pregnancy. So I believe he won't adjust my dose until 20 weeks + and then he'll adjust based on my AntiXA essay. But for now, it's simply 1mg/kg. He does monthly CBC's on me to make sure my blood count is okay and that's it for now. I'm currently 14w6d. This is the farthest I've ever made it...so fingers crossed
-A

MTHFR:
 I am homo MTHFR CT and take 40mg twice a day starting at my BFP.  My peri calls this a therapeutic dose (higher than a prophylactic dose).  I had my anti-factor Xa tested, and it was .64 - for a therapeutic dose, it should fall between .6 and 1.1.  Both my doctor and I are happy with it being on the low end, because I have no history of clots.  The MTHFR alone is not enough for most doctors to recommend 40mg twice a day, but my history of a (first pregnancy) stillbirth at 31 weeks, (second pregnancy) ectopic, (third pregnancy) placental abruption at 28 weeks, and (fourth pregnancy) miscarriage at 9 weeks indicates that I need a therapeutic rather than prophylactic (which would be 40 mg once a day) dose.

 I'd definitely get a second opinion through a pre-conception consult with a perinatologist or RE and have that doctor's recommendations sent to your doctor.  I did a pre-conception consult before my current pregnancy to outline everything that would be done and be sure I underwent all the tests recommended before ttc.  

-W

40mg 1/day I know Dr. B would def. put you on lovenox 40mg 1/day.  that's what he did for me.

 -J

He can order an Anti Xa Test or Heparin Anti-Xa test that will show if you are taking enough.

I did not take Lovenox preconception, only starting at positive pg test. I have FVL and MTHFR both hetero. With one pregnancy I took 40mg/day Lovenox and did fine. With my next, I clotted at 9w in my leg on that dose. We did an Anti Xa test and it barely showed I was taking anything. Changed dose to 30mg/twice a day, Anti Xa test again, and result was not much different. My OB was also reluctant to increase my dose so I asked to see a perinatologist. Eventually, using the Anti Xa test, he got me up to 60mg/twice a day which put me at a low therapeutic level on the Lovenox. 

-C

My Blog:

I started out at 40mgs 2 x day, and I was already taking it when I went to Dr K-K for that Doppler Uterine Biophysical Profile, which still revealed an elevated resistance index in the spiral and radial arteries. I then went to 60mgs 2 x day, which was subsequently decreased when my aPTT (pro-thrombin time, a blood test to see if your blood is clotting too slowly) was really long. I was decreased to 60mgs 1 x day.
-T