Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Ive been working on my health 2 years

pregnancy  with baby  # 6  :) this is my  current  story

Ive had 5 unexplained  recurrent miscarriages  in 10  years  and i have no children . Im currently pregnant on my  # 6 try ..  and  i am about to pass to the second  trimester (which makes me  really happy ).  in 10 years  i  did  no pass  from week 5 or  6 ..i did a lot  of research  on my case , I studies  gynecology  journals online.. and  study everything that  might be the cause  of my losses .. i did  had  absolutely  all the  test on the  protocol for  treating miscarriages  plus   a lot  other  test  that  I personally  ask to be  done .
Very important  things :
tell your doctor  to  check  for mthfr , and if you are  posititive  i would  go  gluten free and  would be  very very careful with  folic acid.  Im positive  for  mthfr .  i also  notice that  prenatals with  gluten and folic acid makes me develove  protein s deficiency .( which is  another problem coz  make you prone to blood clotting and is a type of  thrombofilia ) .. by the  way not many doctors   know  a lot of  mthfr,  I was been given  folic acid  prenatals  and  folic acid 5 mg for long time ... even tho I have the polymorphism c677t and  been this way my body Can't process  70% of  folic acid , i have to take  5- methylfolate  instead..  i did protein s test  in many occasions .. due i found out i had it  low some years ago .. so  i ask for the  test  to be  performed   about 4 months  ago  found my protein s super low , i decide to stop prenatals  coz i was  suspecting on the incidence of  folic acid on  blood cloting ...and 2 months  later my protein s was   almost normal , i also stop having rashes in my skin . 
i also recommend to go visit   an  immunologist .  this  early losses are many times caused  by your  inmune  system attacking your  body .   In  my  case  i was referred  to  my immunologist by my  fertility clinic  and  one of the  great  scientist  that research about  pregnancy losses  in South america .
Immunologist did   many very  expensive test ..  he  realize my inmune  system was  really bad .  he send me also   a test  with the  Great Plains laboratory .  the test include  food allergies ,  food intolerances and  Candida albicanis .    test  show that  i was  really  allergic and intolerant   to  gluten and  yeast .. plus intolerant to  a lot of other things .  he also  found Candida  albicanis in my gut and  put me in  antimicotics  and after that in antibacterial treatment .
by june  this  year i finish  my  treatment after  2 years  of   visiting him occasionally  in another city  far from where i live . He  finally said  i was  ready for  try  to get pregnant  again ..  and thats  what I did  ,  i supposed to do  the treatment in the  fertility clinic  but i decide  to stop  been scared and try natural .. so im in that path right now
the other  thing i wanna say is that   i never had   gluten allergy or intolerance  symptoms .. the only thing  i had  since  i was  11 years old was a really bad  contact dermatitis on my  right hand .. for  which i visit  to the best dermatologist in my  country ..,  they always  said that   i will have to live my life with that allergy .. and  just put some  creams and  corticoids that made my skin really really thin ( i was  allergic to everything i touched with my  fingers  ) i always  wonder if that  allergy had  something to do with my pregnancy losses  and I ask  doctors  how they could help me or  check my inmune system .. but they always  said  .. one thing had  nothing to do with the other ....many  years later  and  perfect healthy  hands  i found  out that  gluten and yeast  were the cause  of  my  eczema/ contact dermatitis/ extrem dryness  in my  right hand  and   was also the cause of my inmune system been so sick and  of course the cause of my pregnancies .

I  wrote this post coz i wanted to show  the  "mamas to be" that   may be  there is another way  to see things and may be you  your case is NOT  UNEXPLAINED ....    there is  probably a  reason and you should not  stop  researching & have  faith  that you will find  the reason  for your pregnancy losses  !!!
Is not  unexplained  is just  that is not  written on  a medical  book  for  gynecologist ...  but  there  could be  answers . just have to look in the  right place !!!.
send you all kiss and god bless you ! 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Starting from zero :Doctors Appointments Dr Gamal Mathias

I had a little break , I came back  to the gym to try to loose the 8 kg I gained  at the end of  the last pregnancy .. I think  I actually  gained the more  weight when I was winding down from the prednisone,
I think december  was very hard for me  .. not  only  because of my lost,   but  because  I had " retained product  " in my  uterus ...  I was very  stress out ...  I didn't know what  to do... do  what your  doctors  tell you or  just   follow  your  heart ....
So this month I did had a little  break of  thinking about  babies  or having a  family  :-P , but  who I am lying to ,  If I don't look for possible  treatments  myself , nobody is  gonna  do it for me .. 

So 15 days  ago my husband  read and article about surrogacy and then we  watched a bbc  show about  surrogacy in India ,  he though that surrogacy could be a good alternative  for us  as we dont  know whats  wrong with my  uterus ..  so I  actually  wrote to some of the surrogacy leaders in India, I contact  Dr Nayana,   they  were very helpful and  gave me some info  online  about their  surrogacy programs 
but at the end  . I really like  it .  but  at the end  $28k  is just too much for  us , especially  right now that only  MrB is working and not me , I have  been  working  super hard  sending my  cv's and selling things in my  2  ebay sites  but is just gonna be almost impossible to pay 28k in 9 months ... 
I did  contacted other surrogacy programs in Thailand, Vietnam  , India, but all of them   are  about the same  price   :-(  .. I am still waiting for a ivf clinic in Colombia that has a similar program , but they haven't answer  to me yet

So I came back to  plan A :  investigate  what's  wrong with me .   Should I go overseas,  Should I stay , I am so  confuse I dont  even know where to start again .

so I called Dr Gamal Matthias  in sydney , I will have a phone appointment with the doctor , this will cost me $300. Dr Matthias is an specialist in Reproductive  Immunology, I choose him  coz I read about him in some of the forums ,  I wanted to see  Dr Sacks  but  he doesn't do phone appointments  and It would cost me at least  $1000 to travel to Sydney and back and then pay for  tests on top . 
with doctor mathias  I will be  discussing  new tests  and possible  treatments .

I also Contact  Ivf Australia , I will be having an appointment with  Dr Ron Chang , it will cost me  $190 .  With Dr Chang  I will be  discussing  if is possible to have a Hysteroscopy /laparoscopy to check that everything is alright  down there  and that I don't have  any  Fibroids  (as one of the  ultrasound technicians  suggested  I probably had , as  he couldn't  see properly lining of my endometrium .. this happen at the ultrasound of the 31 of  december )  I am just  hoping  Dr chang has  successful experiences in women with Unexplained recurrent miscarriages .
with  doctor chang Ill be  discussing the possibility of  having  Ivf  with PGD/PGD-aCGH , prices etcetera. 
So , my ebay sales will be all going to  this specialist appointments I guess  ,

 I am very  interested in the Ivf  with aCGH  to be able choose the best embryos  and ruled out the possibility of  chromosomal abnormalities .

I feel little bit  left  behind  because  I know  all this treatments are very expensive, I know that we can't  afford them right now  :-( 
Thats why I also contact  some of the clinics in thailand , they seem to have very update  technology  and more reasonable prices than Australia .   I particularly like  one  , they seem to be  quite complete , joining the  immunology and the ivf in one same place , but I still have to  register with them to  know the costs . 

I also contact  some of the clinics in Colombia , I found  one  to be the most  I like , their  Ivf includes aCGH  cost about  8k  so is  not  that bad . 





Missed miscarriage update

well ... 1 month ago  I choose  to have a  medical termination for my  missed miscarriage , I  am very  pleased  with the results ...   I feel  great ..   I had a couple of  bad  days  .. the 31 of december I did  an ultrasound and  it  seems I did had  some  retained  product ,  the  doctors insisted me  to have a D&C but  I choose  to wait , I  had my period  the  31 of  december  and for my next  ultrasound  everything  cleared  up, I was  very  upset  as I didnt  really  wanted  to do another  D&C  as  I only had  just a fragment of my placenta, and  to be honest  the D&C is a blind procedure , in which  they can not see  where  exactly is the fragment in your  utero. I would  never  recommend  another  d&c .

I ask  the doctors if  it was possible to have a hysteroscopy for the management of retained product of  conception   instead  of a  d&c , but they  refuse , they said that it was not  possible as you have to push  liquid with pression  for being able to introduce the camera , they said  the pression could make the fragments to move to the  fallopian tubes ...

But I read in many of the Gynecological journals  online that  hysteroscopy is actually the best  method to  treat  retained product as  is less invasive and  let the doctor has a clear view of  what's going on in the uterus..

In my advise , always  read  , read and read  , as  is very important  to have  knowledge of what  the doctors are doing to you  and why they are  doing it,  don't  let yourself be fool by the doctors , some of them they just don't have enough time  to read  the latest treatments or they are very conservative in the way they practice . This  doctor in the hospital didn't  wanted me to use the misoprostol  instead  of the d&c ,  he  predict  it  would be retained product  in my uterus .. but  he  didnt expect that  my  body was going to settle  down  and eliminate this product  by itself ......
at the  end  I think doctors were  rushing me to have a  d&c ,in fact ,   they offer me this procedure 4 times after  the misoprostol,  I was  just  imagining  how many  women are  rushed by their doctors to  do this type of  procedures.  I guess there is more money .


I did call to colombia  to one of the best Doctors available , he is an specialist  in high risk pregnancies , he was  very kind with me  ,  he totally understood my case ,   he  answer my email and then he was  very  nice  on the phone with me , he  didn't  charge me any money , for his time , and  he was actually very please to hear that I was calling him from so far away ... and he was  very very  very  kind and cooperative ,  he also agree with the procedure I was  interested  in , he actually  told me that in cases of  retained  product  hysteroscopy is the  optimal procedure with the best  results , he also told me  that  is a  ambulatory procedure  in which they  put local anesthesia .


You  just can't imagine my  face when in my last scan  my uterus  look  beautiful  & clean  ..... I was over the moon ....  I follow my  heart  this  time , I just did  what it  felt  right  :-)     and I am so happy  with the results .. :-)




Thursday, December 12, 2013

December 11 : have you ever consider to stop trying ?

Yesterday I had  my appointment with Jenny , a Clinical  Psycologist that is treating me  from a month ago, she is worry that even though I keep having this failed pregnancies , I still want to keep trying for another baby. I even ask for the option of medical termination of  the pregnancy coz I wanted to move on fast , get better and then try for another baby ASAP.

 Is the  desire of having a baby becoming the center of my life? could I ever be happy in the case I can't have a baby ?

Jenny made a point about other women with different circumstances , other women that couldn't have  babies  for  whatever reason, and she ask me if I ever  though about this possibility . ( but I am not another women, I can't stop trying, I don't want to ...)

I brooke on tears, I know is "loco" is  crazy , but I don't wanna stop trying .  I feel that I am so close , and If I give up now,  I would  live probably wondering about that little  baby.




Monday, December 9, 2013

Monday 9 december : Researching: New Study Finds Effective Clinical Treatment For Unexplained Recurrent Miscarriages

I found this article , I though it was interesting , may be my next step . I went to their website and  is extremely  expensive .. :-( 




New Study Finds Effective Clinical Treatment For Unexplained Recurrent Miscarriagesl



DENVEROct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study by the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM) has found that a new technique that examines all 23 pairs of chromosomes in a human blastocyst (day five embryo), known as comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS), is an effective clinical treatment for unexplained recurrent miscarriages.
Miscarriage is a relatively common occurrence affecting roughly one in five pregnancies. However, only one to two percent of reproductive-aged women will have three or more consecutive, spontaneous miscarriages. The cause of recurrent miscarriage is complex in nature and can vary from autoimmune disorders to uterine abnormalities. For 50 percent of couples, recurrent miscarriages have no identifiable cause.
"Recurrent miscarriage is one of the most devastating experiences a couple can face," says William Schoolcraft, M.D., medical director of CCRM. "Our latest study offers hope to couples who previously had no where to turn. Comprehensive chromosome screening appears to greatly increase the odds of having a live birth."
It is well known that aneupliod embryos (chromosomally abnormal) will typically result in spontaneous miscarriage. CCRM clinicians recently conducted a study employing CCS and cryopreservation techniques, which allows them to select and transfer only blastocysts that have 23 pairs of chromosomes in a frozen embryo transfer. Study details and findings include:
  • 42 women (36.7 mean age) with recurrent miscarriage (at least three proven miscarriages where fetal heartbeat was shown) had in vitro fertilization (IVF) with CCS.
  • Nine patients had all aneuploid embryos; therefore, transfers could not be performed.
  • Out of 33 patients who had at least one euploid (chromosomally normal) embryo transferred, 87.9 percent had clinical pregnancy; only one pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage.
  • All the pregnancies have either resulted in a healthy delivery or are past mid-gestation and the potential live birth rate is 84.8 percent.
"Our two beautiful boys would not exist without the CCS technology at CCRM," says CCRM patient Kristin Scott Pardini. "After three devastating miscarriages we tried IVF with CCS. We had two egg retrievals resulting in a total of 41 eggs. Only one egg produced an embryo that had the necessary 23 chromosome pairs. That one embryo became our first son, Roman, who is now three."
Mandy Katz-Jaffe, PhD, director of research for CCRM added, "Until now, there was thought to be no effective clinical treatment for unexplained recurrent miscarriage, but now we have evidence that CCS can improve the ability to have a successful pregnancy. This is an exciting discovery that will open doors for many couples wanting to have children."
About the Colorado Center for Reproductive MedicineFounded in 1987 by Dr. William Schoolcraft, the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine is one of the nation's leading infertility treatment centers, providing a wide spectrum of infertility treatments ranging from basic infertility care to advanced in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology. Today, joined by Drs. Eric SurreyDebra MinjarezRobert Gustofson and Jennifer Brown, Dr. Schoolcraft and his staff achieve some of the highest pregnancy rates in the country. CCRM has been ranked "The #1 Fertility Center in the U.S., with the Greatest Chance of Success" by Child.com. For more information, visit www.ColoCRM.com.
SOURCE Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine


RELATED LINKS
http://www.colocrm.com

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fiday, 6th december: Medical Termination of the pregnancy

Right  now is  Saturday 5:30 am  and I cant sleep anymore, I feel  alright  and I feel like everything is over  now .... my body is aching I feel tired , but relief.

Life is  weird as 8 years ago on  the 6th of December my father was killed in Colombia, and  the same day  8 years later , I am  having an induced miscarriage for my baby number 5  :-(
(I close  my eyes,  I breath deep  and I hope for a happy tomorrow )

2 days ago on Thursday :  I went to the Gp, and  we receive the HGC levels result,  from 7000  to abut 5645 , so my lose was confirm as I already knew from Monday, the Lady doctor es very comprehensive and she  gave me the  letter to present to the ER department at the Townsville Hospital. she said  the ER is the fastest way for me to be able to organize what it would happen next.

Friday Morning :

 : I wait until 9 am to go to the ER, before 9am is unlikely you been seen by a Gyno,  I arrive to the Emergency dep. at the hospital, they took my details and about  one hour later they took my blood sample to see my  Hcg levels, what usually happens is that I would see a General Doctor, tell my story , and  wait for them to contact the  Gyno/obstetrician, Usually we would  arrange for a date for my D&C  to be done and then I would just go back home .
What it really  happened yesterday :  I had a chat with the  general doctor  and about 1 hour later  I talk to  Michael, a Gyno from Bowen that works in Townsville  sometimes, he was very cooperative and helpful .

I express my wish of NOT wanting to have a 5th D&C,  as my 4th one was a nightmare, the little gestational sac was only about 1 centimeter, but after the procedure , I bleed a lot , I was on pain  for months, my periods were a mess ( very light brown period with  clots during 6 months ) & I  couldn't have intercourse, in my personal experience, after the D&C I usually would wait 1 year to try again, the first 2 miscarriages I waited 2 years 
( I felt in the trap of  "miscarriages are normal", "you will be alright next time", "is unlikely that you  have another miscarriage" "because of your age and your history, you are still within the normal range " " we don't investigate before 3 or more miscarriages" " don't worry is nothing  you could do anyway"... The truth is that If I would knew that I would have future miscarriages  I would never ever  let the time pass me by)

At the hospital ,  I explained  about my history  of  previous  missed miscarriages, I also showed my interest  "medical termination"  of the pregnancy, I learned  about this term when researching about  D&C alternatives. I first found about the procedure  in a website called Dr Marie, a private institution that helps women who wish not having a baby, when I call Dr Marie, I was actually very impressed about the quality of the service and the support, extremely professional , the lady even advise me , that  as it is my body  it is my right to decide I didn't wanted the D&C done  and that I should express this to the doctors at the hospital .

 I  made a booking in this  institution in the case the hospital wouldn't support me.
The difference  would be  that my husband would be  be around  $700 out of his pocket if I would  decide to go private  plus the future IVF expenses, medical tests,  specialist appointments , and me not working ...
 OMG  I really didn't know what to do :-(   I was very stressed out..

I  even open a page in  gofundme as I was  trying to find people to help me so I could see an specialist doctor who help me to save my baby .  (my gofundme  page).... this is before I knew I lost the baby .. I will use this fund for a treatment  and  IVF  (I think Ivf  could be my best choice as they the cycles are very controlled  and we could probably pick a good embryo  to transfer in to me  ...  but this will be later on .. please keep reading my blog as I will update my whole experience)


In simple terms, Medical termination just means that  they would make  you use some drugs to help your body to  have a natural miscarriage, I found more info about the Medical Termination  with Mifepristone and Misoprostol  in the websites of the Royal hospital in Victoria and the NSW hospital  this  information was very useful for me, as it actually demonstrate that some hospitals use this type of procedures within Australia and it means that I could ask this type of termination at the hospital as an alternative of D&C.

 I did ask in the past but I was informed is not a  common practice  in Australia .

Michael the Gyno on shift , inform me that  this drugs are effective only in 50 % of the cases, and he also told me is not something the hospital would offer to a patient. 
 After I showed him that other hospitals in Australia use it, he called  the hospital in NSW  to confirm  and then he  escalate my case and ask   "Vianca" the  manager at the  Gyno clinic, she agreed as long as  I stay in the hospital for the day for they could monitor me. Once  again he inform me I had 3 choises , D&C , Medical termination or just go  home to sit and wait for  weeks to see what happen. I chose #2.  He also advise me that in the case  I got "retained  product " after the pills , they would then consider a d&c  to  reduce the risk of  infection.

Michael was very understanding of my wish of move on and start trying again ASAP, with the help of a professional team.  It was also very clear for him that I must be  very distressed as a consequence of my previous miscarriages and  he actually admire that I was very on charge of my situation  as well as the fact I have been studying  and researching about my  recurrent miscarriage problem and about the D&C alternatives . 
(the truth is that last time I was at the ER due my previous miscarriage the doctor on shift ask me if I was a Doctor too   :-P )

Michael,  book  me in  straight away, I would  be  in the" short stay unit" for  about 6 hours and if I felt alright I could just go home. the magic word in this case is  "one Pad every 2 hours ",  If I  filled one pad an hour, or if I was in unbearable pain,   I would have to come back to the hospital.

So I stay in the hospital , then Brad came to spend with me the afternoon . This was the best of the world as I was quite scared, so his support  was extremely welcome.

4 pm Friday  6th december: I was administer the Misoprostol   for Vaginal use  4 pills , then we  just had to wait to see what would happen. I think the people in the hospital were not really sure of what would happen next , either .

  I felt actually very sleepy  during the first two hours, then I started to feel  little bit of back pain and  pain in my right side, then I started to  have bleeding, but nothing special ,   they told me I should stay the night , but  as the pain was no major I told them I would prefer to go home. They gave me some painkillers  just before we left and prescription for a very strong painkiller if I need it .

7:20 pm :  just when I was out of the hospital , the pain started to be very very strong :-S, the painkiller they gave me  didn't do anything ,  I still had to go to the pharmacy for the strong painkiller that the Gyno  prescribe me  in the case nothing worked,  and then drove home, I took the strong painkiller as I was desperate  (Endone - Oxycodone hydrochloride). Then I felt  some nausea ..... I was quite scared.

7:30 pm- 9:45 pm: really really bad cramps and the strong painkiller did nothing.  The pain still really  really strong, like hard contractions, but as I passed some clots  my pain ease for couple of seconds, enough to gain some strength. 
 I  took my clothes off, my hematite necklace feels like extremely uncomfortable . I just took everything off and then I move to the shower, ... 
Is summer already, the temperature was something like 32 C .
Very hot but I found relief in the shower, the hot water made me feel better, so I stayed there  letting the water fallen in to my back , I was in a squatting position, then in my knees, then squatting again , It was like my instinct telling me which position would help to ease the pain for a couple of seconds.
  I tried to come back to the room and the bed, but  there was absolutely not position  I would feel less in pain  so I came back to the bathroom , I had  may be another  15 minutes excruciating pain and cramps, I just had to try to relax my cervix as I knew that   something was trying to come out ,  as the clot was  coming down the pain was also coming down on your body  , then I felt it.

As  I as it pass that last clot my pain suddenly dissapear and I feel alright again, my body still resented  but  no more  extreme pain, everything finished  by  9.50 pm , all I wanted to do now  is eat something , I suddenly felt extremely hungry  and my pain was gone .
(I was always wondering how could you know if everything  came out , but  well, you definitively  know it, your  pain stopped, and  you just feel it ( well I was wrong  again  as later on that morning  I felt something else coming out ) )

10 pm went to look for food , then to sleep . I woke up at 5.30 am I body feels alright. I am still bleeding as If I have strong period but no more than 1 pad every two hours .
My husband is sleeping right now, I think he is exhausted, he actually was very strong,  I think it was very hard and stressful for him to see me in such a pain,  yesterday night  his face had no emotions  at all , but I could see in his eyes he was actually very disturbed on see me like this.

As everything finished , he said he needs to rest and felt sleep within 2 minutes, this was actually  little bit funny, as after my labor job I gained all my energy back,  and I was ready to go out to eat something ..
...it was quite funny, but I really thank him for being there and for bring me home . I could not think  something worse that  stay in  the hospital by myself, I actually felt really good of being in my own space .

Thank you Brad, my husband for your  unconditional love and support during all this time , and specially yesterday,  it was a really important moment, and I wouldn't be able to do it good without you, I love you heaps and  heaps ...

Thank you Bob , my father in law for being patience with me and for helping me and taking me the hospital  and then pick us up .

Thank you, Michael - Doctor on shift  from Bowen , for your comprehension and your desire of helping me and for being open to  approach new  alternatives on the manage of  my case.

Thank you, Vianca - Manager of the clinic for your collaboration and for accept the procedure  to be done on me and for allowed  the hospital to  support me in the manage of my missed miscarriage , thank you also for allowed the procedure be done the same day .

Thank you, Heather and Pit  - nurses at the  short stay unit  for their help and the  painkillers  :-)

Thank you , Townsville Hospital and the Women and Children Clinic  and Dr Jay for  your support  during this time , before I couldn't see it clearly , but I know that you guys were trying to really help me during this years of investigations,  I understand  is just not more you guys can do for me . and I should go an specialist clinic .

Thank you, Reader, for visiting my page and allowed me to share my story with you , as writing  is become  therapy and a motivation for me   :-)

UPDATE : At about 10 in the morning  on Saturday  I started to have more  pain,  I went for a wee wee , and then I felt something came out of me, it felt like a  little plug , when I look  down  there it was with an egg like shape   and in a lighter color  , It was probably the gestational sac , and it look like it had a little hole .... after that event , my bleeding kind of stop .

I'm hopping everything is now finished and  I don't need a further D&C .

I went to the markets , did a couple of other things and by 1 pm I was very very tired , I slept in for couple of hours and  then I got ready to  start taking pictures for my  little ebay shop... I started this little shop 2 months ago, almost when I got pregnant 

I apologize  if I have been to graphic  in telling my story but  I only wanted to  give you an idea of how is to use medical termination of the pregnancy due to  missed miscarriage when the gestational sac measures is about 6 weeks 2 days.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

4th December : Doctor Confirming 5th Missed Miscarriage " DEJA VU"

Today I went to my  appointment with the Gp,  we read the results  from the Ultrasound from Monday,  and as we were  suspecting ,  the ultrasound  shows no signal of the embryo , and  little area with hemorrhage, the Gp send me more  HCG  levels to see what  they are doing , but is more than  sure that I am having my missed miscarriage number 5, since last week I was already feeling the lower back pain ,  and I felt something was  quite not right when  suddenly I felt my breast less swollen,  last week  I also felt my belly not as  hard as past weeks.

Last week  I cryed a lot after the Ultrasound, I cryed as if somehow my body  or  my instinct knew that I was loosing this baby too,  it  was very strange.



Little bit about  the past : 

 I remember  baby #1 stop growing at 10 weeks  he saw his  heartbeat  in the ultrasound, the following week I felt very sad and sentimental  and I cried and I cried  I cried as if  I knew  back then that I was loosing him,  the same week  I had  tonsillitis  and swollen glands , and  little bit of fever, just for couple of days , I also had  a really bad coughing, something like  I couldn't breath properly , and specially at nights  .

I actually believe that somehow  this symptoms are  related to an immunology factor , I might be wrong , but  in all my pregnancies I did had  this symptoms at one point .
After my fist pregnancy , I also  notice that for the other pregnancies I was absolutely swollen as If i was 6 months pregnant  when I was only about 4 weeks in to the pregnancies .
This last pregnancy I was not swollen thanks to the prednisone and the clexane.

I have a little bit of information I copy from a blog, in which she talks about the  prednisone and  clexane  protocol that she use  when she was pregnant, the actual page  has been move from the internet but  still has the source , I have copy this page in to my site but I added the source of the letter:
http://unexplainedrecurrentmiscarriages.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-prednisone-protocol-bondi-protocol.html

To keep with my story .... For that time we move to the beautiful Adelaide in South Australia, and I went for my first check in the hospital ,  I was having  spotting from  very early  in my pregnancy, I was  very scared,   but the GP and the nurses kept telling me that "brown spotting was normal"and because of my age I belong to a normal pregnancy  group,  everything is fine they said ,  later on from week 12  I developed  lower back pain  and I started to  loose the pregnancy symptoms, I didn't felt as a mom anymore, I was not even able to think of a name, I started to feel very normal again. last week I felt like  "deja vu"  I felt like I was living something I already live .

I though somethings in the medical service were very funny  and even scary ,  at 14 weeks  the  midwife told me about about some blood tests that can be done at 13 weeks ,she mention  that  this tests were "optional" for normal pregnancies  and I didn't had to do it if I choose not  too, this is the screening test for Down Syndrome,  I think.

In Colombia , this test are mandatory, you don't have a choice , you basically  have to do it . So once more I decide I would  do this test  even if I belong to the "normal pregnancy  category ".
once the tests came back, they gave me a call, and she said  something went wrong with the test, you have to come, and we have schedule an "Amniocenteses" to see what is wrong with your baby.

The next day  just before the procedure start they did an ultrasound , this ultrasound show that the baby stop developed at 10 weeks , and I was going to need a D&C.
they book me in 2 weeks later, during those 2 weeks I was really really upset and traumatized I wanted the procedure done faster, I wanted to finish with this pain as soon as possible,  I couldn't stand the idea of having the baby in my belly for 8 weeks after he stop growing, this was my first pregnancy, and I felt really really guilty , guilty that  I didn't  demand a lot more from the doctors ,  I felt everything was my fault  and I was responsible for this little baby  and I couldn't take  care of  him.
It was horrible !! My life change a lot  when I loose that  first baby, I was in a completely diferent country, far away from my family, with no many friends around, I had my husband with me but I guess I was needing more support  I loose my smile & my happiness , I was totally dark ,  suddenly, I couldn't see any good in anything,  I was very depressed for more than a year , after that first missed miscarriage, I guess the impact of the  missed miscarriage is very strong as it leaves you  very confusing .

I visit  a great psychologist in Adelaide  his name is Alexander Ryan , He was awesome, he really help me a lot, thanks him, I think I started to work on healing and trying to overcome depression, I recently contact him  and he called me back straight away, and he told me  how he is gonna forget this Colombiana that never came back to see him  for more sessions  :-P he was actually funny, I think one day , I was the one with the questions, I certainly felt as I was doing therapy for him ;-P    anyway , he is now base  outside Adelaide ,  and now his website  is called  "The Love Doctors "!! really  worth trying  if you have a depression or a relationship problem .

 Last week on Sunday markets, before I knew about my  miscarriage,  I bought an  Hematite  necklace it was quite expensive , but I though it worth it  as I was stressed out  and  years ago
DR Ryan  gave me as present  a hematite necklace, he actually gives this to all his clients, he believes hematite stones bring you good energy and lower your  stress level, and also, bring you hope, he said  that we need hope , and we need  to believe in something, no matter what is it,  we need " to believe" to be able to overcome  depression.

The Prednisone protocol , the Bondi Protocol

I actually found this  comment in  the website underneath,  I found it very interesting  as I found her symptoms in previous pregnancies  very similar to my own symptoms , I also  had the same treatment  for pregnancy which I reckon It worked but it was something  else missing , I also found the  lack of support of the doctors  en Australia  for actually try a new treatment on me , so it was actually very difficult to get access to  heparin for example  or even the progesterone pessaries .

I think they are updating the  website if you want  you might be able to  email them for more info if you require .

http://www.tryingtoconceive.com/mc.htm
Dear Momma Kath,
It has been a year since I first emailed you inquiring about an online subscriber to your website who had used prednisone to have a baby. I had emailed you asking for her contact information, but you had no luck in tracking her down. Well, I wanted you to know that I did some research of my own and contacted doctors in Europe who are using prednisone ("prednisolone" in Europe) to treat women with "unexplained recurrent miscarriages" with great success. What they are finding is that women with recurrent miscarriages have higher levels of natural killer cells in their uterine lining, which causes an immune system reaction when a pregnancy tries to implant in the uterine wall. With all my miscarriages, immediately following implantation, my belly would blow up like a balloon causing me to look like I was 12 weeks pregnant, when I was only 4 weeks into the pregnancy.
What they are finding is that for some women, the body attacks the pregnancy as a "foreign invader" causing an immune system response with inflammation at the site of implantation, leading to fetal demise.
Anyhow, to make a long story short...I just gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Dec. 23 after 5 miscarriages in a row. I followed the protocol of a Dr. Siobhan Quenby in London.
You take 20mg of prednisone upon a positive pregnancy test up until week 10, then 10 mg until week 11, then reduce it to 5 mg until week 12. You just take it for the first 12 weeks, in order to allow for a strong placenta to grow, and prevent your body from rejecting the pregnancy. My doctor also had me take Endometrium vaginal inserts 3 x/day starting 4 days after I ovulated up until I was 16 weeks pregnant (he said I only needed to take it for 12 weeks, but I wanted to be extra safe). He also put me on HCG shots every 3 days starting from a positive pregnancy test up until 12 weeks, also as an extra safety measure to support the corpus luteum.
All I can say is that within a 1/2 hour of me taking my first prednisone dose, my belly deflated like a balloon, and the inflammation that caused my uterus to swell in the previous pregnancies was no longer.
Prior to my doctor agreeing to follow Dr. Quenby's prednisone protocol, my doctor told me to try Lovenox injections. I found this drug to be very "evil"! Painful black and blues on my stomach, bleeding from the injection site that didn't stop, so I had to stop it.
Throughout this journey, I have found two disappointing realities...in this country there is a push for IVF as a band aid for all pregnancy problems...I found SO many doctors that immediately pushed for IVF..ironically the most expensive treatment...as a first line of treatment. I found that many reproductive endocrinologists and fertility doctors were money hungry and preyed on women who were desperate to have a baby...telling them that their eggs were bad and that the ONLY way to have a baby is through IVF.
I also was disappointed to find that the other alternative to treating women with "unexplained" recurrent miscarriages that is being used in this country was the horrible Lovenox drug. I had already seen a leading Hematologist and he said I had no blood disorders whatsoever, so I found it disconcerting to have to take blood thinner to try and treat my "unexplained miscarriages", when I could take a $5/month drug, once a day in the morning with no side effects whatsoever that would actually treat my overactive immune system, which was the problem.
I wanted to send you this information, so that it may help other women like me. Please pass this along. Tell your subscribers to type in "prednisolone" and "Dr. Quenby" into their search criteria on the Internet, print out her study, and bring it to their doctors. I know that if I couldn't find a doctor in this country who would try this prednisone protocol, my husband and I were ready to take a trip to England so that we could get the treatment that we needed. Persistence is key.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

I got pregnant, Doctor I need the Heparin please !!!

I visited an specialist  Colombia last year, he reckon the Proteine S disorder could be the cause for me to keep loosing the babies, as  your body is more prone to form really small clots, some of them extremely small in your womb, preventing the embryo to be well nourished and  die.
The specialist in Colombia  Dr Becerra Mojica, is absolutely sure that if you have this type of dissorder you should start a low molecular heparine (Clexane ) treatment as early as 3 days of conception.

When I arrived to Australia I went for my regular checks to the  hospital where they have been investigating my case with no success  and I  had a chat with the specialist at the Townsville hospital , after a little argue we agreed  that once I realized I was pregnant  they would send me  the prescription for the clexane .  The problem was that when I realised that I was pregnantI tried to contact the doctor at the hospital with no success , I was extremely stressed out , as Iwanted to start the progesterone and the heparin as soon as possible.

 After calling  to the hospital  a hundred times I finally got in touch with a nurse who promise talk to my doctor , but he told her to let me know, the clexane was  not that important for me , and he recommended to  keep taking the folic acid  . The nurse  also agree to book me an appointment for the next week, she recomend to take the blood results and  if possible an ultrasound.

 I went to my appointment ,   I couldn't see the doctor , instead I saw another  doctor  and I spend  the whole 30 minutes  telling her my story . I ask her for the  heparin , and she said they need the ultrasound that confirm the pregnancy first .

Next day I went for my ultrasound , and I supposed to see the doctors at the hospital next week ,  fo this appointment I had  my ultrasound that confirm my pregnancy and my progesterone results  and  my HCG  levels results that confirm my levels are going up .

One week later , I went for my  doctors appointment,  doctor saw the  ultrasound results and he said  is too early , I need to see a heartbeat before sending you any clexane .  OMG , I was so stressed out,  now I was needing to  come back for another ultrasound and  another medical appointment  in 1 week.

My previous 3 pregnacies ending before  finding any heartbeat,   the last 2 were blighted ovums , and the one previous that  stop developing at 8 weeks  and  no heartbeat found, so to find a heartbeat this  time  was gonna be not an easy task .

The day of my ultrasound  I was  in panic , I was so scared ,   I was only needing a heartbeat, to be able to get the clexane , I pray so much ,  I really wanted to give  an opportunity to this baby .



 They did they normal ultrasound and then a vaginal as the first one didn't show up anything .
The vaginal ultrasound  show the little sac   with a little  embryo inside  :-)  OMG I was  happy , I was  so happy , and in top of that  she ask  if I  could  see the heartbeat , OMG !!!!! there was a little heartbeat  ....  so tiny, and  beautiful , was incredible  :-) AMAZING !!

She said : is a little bit slow 47bpm  ,  but is definitively there  :-)

The most beautiful day in my entire life  :-) 

Next week I came back to doctor , and doctor prescribe  the clexane!!!!!!  :-)



Update:

Is monday december the 9 , I finish loosing this baby too, but I gained hope after seen the babie's heartbeat twice, 

I did stoped the heparine on thursday, and yesterday I was making some photos for my ebay store: I am selling a some things with the hope I can visit an Ivf clinic for a future treatment .. 


Well my  belly look like this after the clexane... It looks worse than it actually felt.. I also gained a lot of weight around my belly area, My face & my back as a consequence of the prednisone...
But this is just the small price for giving my baby a chance :-) 











Decmber 4: Low Progesterone Leves in Early Pregnancy as a Prediction of Miscarriage ? I sais Yes , Doctor said NO

The progesterone levels are crusial for the  survival of the little embryo , it keeps the uterus from contracting and promotes the development of blood vessels that  will nurish the little embryo , until the placenta takes place at 12 weeks .

My progesterone levels 3 weeks ago were  about 7.3 nmol/l  quite low for a pregnant women (normal ranges start at 39nmol/l). The annoying part is that  to check the progesterone levels is not  part of the  initial regular  blood test done  once you found out that you are pregnancy .

I literally had to lie to the Gp and I had to tell him that the specialist in the hospital wanted to see this test and the early ultrasound  for my appointment .


of course when I saw my levels were so low I was freaking out .  The only reason that I didn't start with the progesterone presaries I had, was  first  because I was not sure when I got pregnant and because I have Protein S deficiency.

In my case  this Proteine S deficiency is acquired,  slightly  under the normal levels (normal levels start at 59 , I was  47  at that time )

To make it little bit  shorter, the protein S deficiency  means that you body tend to produce more  clots  specially in the legs and in the head. (what it has   sense as  I worked in hospitality  and spend long hours stand up  and  I did  always complaint  of  really swollen and painful legs )

When you take  progesterone supplementation,  your risk of  producing clots is greater.

(In my last pregnancy I  used progesterone supplementation  and I would said that  my body was not working  well, my legs were really swollen and I just didn't feel good at all, I had  terrible migraines, and felt couldn't breath properly. During this pregnancy , I could feel the difference as soon as I started the Clexane+ progesterone 200g pessaries ,  I felt completely normal :)

 When istarted the progesterone  my levels were  7.3 nmol/L  this was  about 3 weeks ago .
My last test results  indicating my progesterone levels  were about  15.5nmol/L so in  2 weeks my levels  basically  doubled. I used use only one 200 g  pessarie a day.

In Australia  the Progesterone levels test is not an important test, neither the supplementation . The specialist at the Women and Children clinic said there is not enough evidence that suggest that  the levels of progesterone are link with early miscarriage.














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