Moving Forward with IVF! :)
In my last YouTube vlog, I quickly mentioned that Nathan and I had an appointment set up with our Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) that day to discuss next steps. He is a very good doctor, and has a heart full of compassion. He's the type of doctor that loves what he does, and it shows. He told us many times how sorry he was to hear of our most recent loss. He shared with us his and his wife's personal struggle with recurrent miscarriage as well. It was heartbreaking to hear him speak of this tragic thing that happens without cause or reason to so many of us, but at the same time I was comforted to know that he truly understands what it is to navigate this bumpy road. He understood our pain, anger, and frustration in regards to recurrent loss. Most importantly, he understood that desire for a baby, because he and his wife had been there too.
He first told me that he wanted to schedule my hysteroscopy. He really wants to be able to see the anatomical structure of my uterus from the inside. As I have mentioned in some of my YouTube vlog posts, I have an abnormally shaped uterus. It is shaped somewhat like a heart. This portion that dips down and causes the heart shape is called the septum. If a baby were to try to implant on or near the septum, it could be cause a miscarriages because the septum isn't rich in blood flow. So, minimal blood flow in the septum means, minimal blood flow for baby. He said that he wants to see how bad the septum is, and try to remove it if he can. Removing the septum will help increase my odds of a successful pregnancy. The hysteroscopy will also allow him to remove any scar tissue/adhesions, or polyps that could also be present.
Secondly, he said that even though he can repair my uterus, he wants to give us the best chances possible of having a successful pregnancy. He said that uterine shape is one factor, but probably not the main factor in recurrent miscarriages. Most of the time with recurrent miscarriage, it's an issue with abnormally occurring number or type of chromosomes. Now, he explained that all of our very detailed genetic tests came back perfect on both Nathan and myself. However, my recurrent miscarriages could be because my embryos possibly have chromosomal abnormalities, but not the type of specific genetic chromosonal abnormalities that Nathan or I would pass down. Therefore, he no longer wants us to try to conceive (TTC) naturally. He told us that he suggests that we move forward with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Pre-Implantation Screening (PGS). The PGS portion of the IVF procedure is an extra step done in which they will test one cell in each embryo for chromosomal abnormalities that could cause the embryo to miscarry. Only those embryos found to be normal, in terms of proper chromosome number and type, are transferred. Thus, increasing the odds of a successful pregnancy.
Nathan and I expected that this would be our next step. So, we weren't shocked to hear this news. We both looked at each other, and said, "Let's do it!" So, we will be proceeding with IVF after my hysteroscopy procedure is done. I will be getting my hysteroscopy done within the next month. I am to call the RE's office on the first day of AF, and get everything set up for the hysteroscopy. So, we are moving and grooving right along. One step closer to our Rainbow Baby!