Uterus Update

The MRIs are done, and I got a call last Wednesday about the results. It turns out my septum is largely muscular (not fibrous) and is not the kind that my doctor (or the RE she consulted with) would be inclined to remove.

The dotted line that you can barely see in the picture is where they would need to trim down to to make my uterus normal, but it would also leave a large area of scarred tissue that would be bad for implantation; basically, it could leave me infertile, which they don't want to do. They are also hopeful that because my septum is muscular, it would have proper blood flow for a growing fetus, which is not the case with a fibrous septum.

They can act aggressively and take it out, or they can act conservatively and leave it, which is what they are inclined to do. The only other option is to do a diagnostic D&C and look with a camera, with the possibility of taking anything out that they felt should come out at that time. The problem is, I'm not sure I want to pay them several hundred (or maybe up to a thousand) dollars to just look around and not do anything. I'm not even sure it would give me greater peace of mind.

Dr. Blanchard recommended that I should meet with Dr. McClamrock, the reproductive endocrinologist (infertility doctor) that she consulted with, before making any decisions. I was a bit frustrated by this, as a new patient appointment with an RE can be several months away. God blessed us thoroughly, though, and got me an appointment with Dr. McClamrock this Wednesday (December 2) at 10 am - wow. I am just glad that we (hopefully, barring that D&C or any other tests he wants to do) will not have to wait any longer, and that I got in so quickly to see him. Praise God.

I'll update after that appointment on Wednesday... Maybe next month we'll be trying again!

No surgery date yet

I had a semi-useless consult this morning. My MRI results from yesterday were not ready yet, and Dr. Blanchard wanted to see them before deciding if she wants to go forward with the surgery or not. I guess she wants to weigh the possibility of scarring vs. how much of a problem she thinks my septum is (because of its small size). So, nothing yet, folks. I'm supposed to get a call either later this week or maybe next Monday or Tuesday.

There will be a pretty small window of opportunity for this surgery to be done next month, especially since we are travelling on the 24th - by my count, it could be done the 17, 18, 21 or 22, preferably earlier rather than later because of the travel. I'm thinking, though, it may be put off until January... If you want to, you could pray for a perfect spot to open up in her calendar - in my eyes, the sooner the better, since we have to wait several months after the surgery to start trying again!

MRI Rescheduled

I started reading a "romance" book by Nora Roberts last night, but realized about 20 minutes into it that it had a serial killer and lots of violence! Because of my awful imagination and the fact that it keeps me up at night for those kind of things, I decided to just keep reading and finish the book (I'm a super fast reader), which I did around 3 am. As I thought, justice would be served by the end of the book, and my brain didn't need to play over the scenes when I should have been sleeping.

In any case, I got up at 8 am this morning to call my doctor's office about the MRI appointment. They couldn't see anything in their system, so they had me call radiology, who said it had, in fact, been cancelled. However, they still had the appointment open, so I'm rebooked and going in at 12:30 for registration before the 1 o'clock appointment. I'm not supposed to eat for four hours before the procedure, so I actually need to run and eat right now - only 24 minutes left! :-P

Thanks for your prayers - everything is working out so far!

Last minute MRI

It turns out that somebody at my new doctor's office scheduled me for an MRI tomorrow at 1 pm, but never bothered to call me. Lovely. So I got a call from the Radiology department (I think) this evening, reminding me of my appointment, but since I had no idea about the appointment and told her I had a subbing job for tomorrow already, the woman told me to call and work things out with my doctor's office.

After I got off the phone, I decided just to cancel my sub job and make this appointment tomorrow, but now I'm worried that the woman I spoke with may have cancelled my appointment! Would you all pray that I can still get in tomorrow? I guess Dr. Blanchard (my new doctor) wants this done before our appointment on Wednesday, and I think not having the MRI might mean we would have to put off the appointment, which means putting off the surgery, which means putting off getting pregnant again!

I'm going to call my doctor's office first thing in the morning (they were closed when I got off the phone with the radiology person). Please pray that all will go forward!

Not pregnant!

No hitch this time around. I have a consult appointment on Wednesday morning at 8 am and have to get an MRI at some point soon. I'll update when I have more info!

I need to be NOT pregnant right now.

Calling all prayer warriors! I need major prayer over the next few days that I am not pregnant.

Why, might you ask? Because it turns out that I do have a uterine septum and that it will need to be removed. My not-so-sure-that-your-two-miscarriages-weren't-just-awful-luck doctor turned into a Houston-we-have-a-problem-but-thankfully-we-can-fix-it doctor today. A normal uterine lining is 12 mm and mine was 20 at the fundus - which makes a septum, I am told. Searching google has told me that with a septum my miscarriage rate is around 80%, and with a hysteropic resection it drops to 17% (under the general population rate of about 20%) - WOW, I will take that second number.

Boy, am I glad that I saw that stupid septum when the other doctor didn't.

Two months ago, both my Ob/Gyn and the doctor who performed the sonohystogram swore up and down that my two babies' lack of development was 95% likely due to genetic problems. But today, I was told that it probably was implantation on the septum that caused the problem. (You see, there isn't good endometrium on the septum to give a growing baby the necessary blood flow.) And they just let me sit around for two months believing that I just had really awful luck!

Luckily, the procedure for removing this is a cinch, and doesn't even necessarily require cutting anything (other than the septum itself, of course), unless they want to perform a laproscopy and use a camera and light for better accuracy (so they don't go too thin). The biggest risk is cutting too far into my uterine wall, which would require me to have a c-section later, rather than being able to vaginally give birth.

In other news, my hormone levels were all perfect, and there were no signs of any of the autoimmune disorders that she checked for.

But here comes the prayer part: my period is due on Thursday (or maybe Saturday, my ovulation day was semi-ambiguous) and because the doctor at the sonohystogram appeared to think my uterus normal, we TRIED to get pregnant this month (and last month, but thankfully that didn't work out, since I had the swine flu when I got my period). Please pray that God in his infinite wisdom knew better than us foolish people and did not allow this! Or if that's not the case, that the baby would implant in a good location and be in that 20% chance of making it to a live birth.

Most importantly, I am glad this means that my Max and Olivia had a purpose - they are saving my other children's lives. Thank you, my sweet babies!