So just to recap, these are the steps I took to get to where I am today. After three consecutive miscarriages I am almost 8 weeks pregnant with a heart beat! We're not out of the woods yet, but this is the furthers I have every come along! Before I list my protocol, I want to add that I went for all the fertility bloodwork and everything came back normal. That was perhaps the most frustrating thing. There was no reason for the recurrent early pregnancy loss so there was nothing I could do to 'cure' it. I was told it could be older age... but I started trying to conceive when I was 34... hardly ancient... and many women effortlessly have babies well into their late thirties. So between the ages of 34 and 35 (I will be 36 in a few months) I had three m/c. Since then I have tried the following:
- After miscarriage #2 I was convinced that I had a luteal phase defect (a luteal phase shorter than 14 days) and insisted that I get progesterone to treat this. I was absolutely convinced that progesterone would help me to stay pregnant. I tried prometrium oral progesterone pills during my second m/c but that didn't stop it from happening. Then I tried progesterone suppositories from the second day after ovulation with my third pregnancy... I was convinced this would work. It didn't. I still miscarried and bled right through the suppositories.
- As part of a fertility protocol, the doc suggested my dh and I take 15 days worth of doxocycline to make sure that neither of us had ureaplasma or something like that - a bacteria that can be found it the genital tracts that can cause infertility. An antibiotic for both of us for 15 days? That was do-able so we said sure we'll try it and gave it a shot. Hard to tell if that made a difference or not. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. Who knows.
- Anyway, after the m/c it was then that I realized progesterone wasn't the magic pill I had hoped it was. At this point my doc had suggested that I wait a bit and then try Clomid. This didn't make sense to me because I ovulate very well on my own already and all clomid would do is hyperstimulate my ovaries to ovulate earlier and more. No thanks.
- She then suggested that I get an HSG done. But I had to remind her that 1.) I am allergic to iodine and that uses iodine. 2.) I felt that was way too invasive and I didn't want an x-ray on my hoo-ha. and 3.) Why would I need an HSG when clearly I have no problems getting pregnant? HSG was to check to make sure the tubes are open and is more commonly used for inability to conceive. Not wanting to be pig-headed I suggested a hysterosalpinogram instead (this uses saline instead of xray and dye). She agreed. I was still very uncomfortable about this and felt it was a bit too invasive for my liking... and when I went to have it done, the doc couldn't even get the catheter into my cervix and told me she'd have to knock me out if I wanted to have that done so she wound up doing a trans vag ultrasound instead. She told me that my uterine lining looked way too thin and that I might have scarring and she should do another invasive procedure called a hysteroscopy! I said that was impossible. I never had any std's or procedures done. How the heck could I have scarring? I said I think I just ovulate later into my cycle. I tend to ovulate on CD 21 instead of CD 14 so - that's prob why it looked thin. The timing was off. She said come back in a week and we'll check it out. Sure enough- on CD 21 there I was with a triple layer of beautiful lining and a fat 18mm follicle getting ready to burst! I was right. Duh. I swore off any further medical intervention after that last m/c and sought alternative ways to heal myself and to move up my ovulation day a few days.
- That's when I started researching ways to naturally lengthen the luteal cycle. I had been BBT charting and one month my luteal phase was 4 days long!!! The next it was 8 days long. Too short to maintain a baby. The longest I think it's been in the past year is 10 days. I read that women in their 30s tend to get shorter luteal phases due to stress... especially if you are a working woman.
- First I went to an acupuncturist in November 2010. I only went once like I said because it felt weird and I didn't like it much and couldn't afford to keep going back. But I think it worked anyway! The doc stuck three needles in my tummy by my ovaries and uterus. Two in my ankles and one in the top of my head. I laid there for 40 minutes. The ones in my tummy felt so weird. Ugh! There was a pulling sensation and it felt a bit tender. The doc said this was normal because it was clearing the way and my body was responding to the stimulation. Whatever. I did not like it one bit. Didn't go back. He gave me the Si Wu Tang Tea to drink as well. I drank it all for about a month until it was gone. I think this worked for me too.
- I found out about a concept called LUNACEPTION by Louise Lacey. I didn't order a book or buy anything. Found everything I needed online by googling it. Basically it goes along with this concept of sleep cycles, menstruation, and the moon/moonlight. Very interesting stuff. The idea that night lighting can have an affect on fertility and breast cancer is not new. I remember reading several studies that suggested women who work at night time jobs or night shifts and are exposed to the lights in parking garages, streetlights, and other lighting had higher rates of breast cancer. The lighting messes up your circadian rhythm and melatonin cycles. Not good. So in December 2010 I decided to give lunaception a try. Lucky me, it was also the last full moon on the winter solstice (how magical!) until 2094 (and that's when my babie was conceived!) Basically all you do with lunaception is completely black out the room you sleep in. Absolutely NO light can get in. I used light blocking opaque throw blankets held up by tiny nails every night. Complete black out. You are supposed to sleep in complete blackness every night of the month EXCEPT for the night BEFORE, the nigh OF, and the night AFTER the full moon. Then you should let in some light. This regulates your menstrual cycle and keeps it in time with the moon. Read all about it right here at this link.
- I also started taking 100mg of vitamin B6 everyday of my cycle the cycle I concieved and I am still taking it every day. I take my prenatal vitamin every day, I take 400 extra mcg of folic acid and I take the 100mg of B6. Now I want to mention that in my past pregnancies shame on me but I wasn't real good about taking folic acid or prenatal every day. I wonder now if that could have been the cause of the m/c. Maybe.
- In the past year my dh and I also completely made the switch to all organic, grass-fed, anti-biotic free, horomone-free meats and dairy. We also eat nearly all of our fruits and veggies as organic (some stuff I can't find organic by us like broccoli rabe). I try not to eat processed foods, stay away from nitrates and nitrites so the only cold cuts we eat are applegate farms and applegate farms bacon. We eat sprouted breads too.
- Drinking more water, hardly ever drink soda so it's a 'treat' once in a while. Try not to eat fast food tho lately I have been eating a bit of it ::blushes::
- I tried some other stuff on and off, like I had a tablespoon of raw organic coconut oil every day for a week and went back to the gym and did 500 calories a day on the elliptical for the first few weeks of pregnancy (before I knew I was pregnant) but have since stopped both until I get to my second trimester. My dh doesnt want me to do anything strenuous.
- And that's really it. That's what we've been doing. I also read two excellent books about recurrent early pregnancy loss called Inconceivable and Coming to Term. These books really gave me hope that it could happen.... and it totally did. Finally. Thank you Jesus. I also joined Ricky Lake's website: My Best Birth and watched her movie The Business of Being Born.
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