Testing Day for Me

Finally, they took my blood. And maybe close to all of it. 17 viles of blood. I thought I was going to fall on the floor. The testing I am having is the Recurrent Missed Abortion Panel. You have this when you have more than one miscarriage. The first vile of blood was the genetic testing also called chromosome analysis or karyotype testing, which is done to make sure that I am not a carrier and that all my genes are in a row so to speak. This is the testing that Nick will have next week. Then I was sent to the lab for the rest of the testing. This lists includes many things, only some of which I remember, which is thyroid, lupus, STDs, proteins A and C, and the anti-coagulant testing to see if I have some sort of clotting disorder. I go back on June 8th to have a endometrial biopsy to see if I have the correct amount of progesterone and to rule out the possibility of a luteal phase defect, meaning that the egg does not implant correctly after ovulation. I am curious about the progesterone because with the first m/c, my progesterone was low, but this was told to me after the second u/s where they finally found a fetus and a heartbeat after the week before not being able to. I was upset because the doctor had my blood results for a week at that point and I should have been on progesterone the whole time. This last m/c, I was on progesterone from 3 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Some docs suggest that you go on progesterone from ovulation through your 12th week. The only issue I see with this is that sometimes if you are not pregnant, being on progesterone from day 14 of your cycle on, means your period will not come on time and you often have to stop the progesterone to get your period. For those of you who do not know, progesterone is only released after you ovulate. Its made by what is called the Corpus Luteum Cyst which is the sac that releases the egg. The cyst stays and releases progesterone if you are pregnant until your uterus takes over that job at 12 weeks. If you are not pregnant, the cyst goes and this happens again your next cycle. So, you need the progesterone to keep the pregnancy viable. Progesterone supplements are a touchy subject among pregnant women and doctors. Some people think that if you take progesterone, you will keep a pregnancy viable that should not be kept viable. But the truth of the matter is, that any pregnancy that is not supposed to be viable will not remain viable. Progesterone only helps keep the viable ones around. I am concerned with progesterone as well because this time my progesterone was 15. (The first m/c it was 9) They say anything over 20 in the first 4 weeks is where you want to be. You can top out around 40 in your second trimester and they do not really monitor it at that point. Just once in the beginning and if its above normal, that is it. My doctor was fine with 15 and many are. I would have liked it to be 20 or more. To me 15 was an indication of an issue. Anyway, after the endo biopsy, I will have the HS testing which stands for Hysterosalpingogram. This is a radiological exam where they insert dye into the uterine cavity and it flows through your fallopian tubes and into your abdominal cavity to make sure there are no blockages. I am not terribly worried about blockages since I get pregnant really easy. So, hopefully that will go fine. I would like to have all of this done and the results from everything by the beginning of July. We are cleared to try again after July's cycle and I would like to and I think Nick would too, given all this is complete. Wish us luck!