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I got my genetic testing results. I am a carrier for Factor V Leiden, I have hemochromatosis, and I have MTHFR mutation. I'm waiting for the genetic counselor from Counsyl to call, so I can find out which mutations I have and decide how to move forward.

phat - What does all that mean??

"I have to be honest with you - your level of infertility is EXTREME."

Those were the RE's words yesterday verbatim. I just sat there; I didn't know what to say, but I thought for half a second that I was going to vomit right there. He went on to explain:

"You are O-ing on your own with no medications; your P4 level this cycle was a 16.8. Your husband's semen analysis is fine. Your HSG shows that both tubes are completely open. The transvaginal u/s showed that while your uterus is retroflexed, its shape and size are fine, and both ovaries look perfect; no evidence of PCOS. Your blood work has all come back perfectly normal. And yet despite all this, you've only had one pregnancy in the last 15 years; not just that you have only one child, but that you've indeed only been pregnant ONCE. You have extremely severe "Unexplained Fertility."

I always expected that I would break down in tears when I finally heard from an RE what I had known my whole adult life - I am broken. But I didn't. The closest I could come to describing what I felt at that moment would have to be "numbness." It was almost like I'd shut down emotionally. I started to grab for my purse, since he was obviously telling me that I'll never have another child, when I heard him say:

"But there's hope!"

First thing I thought of was, "Oh sure there's hope. It's called IUI/IVF and it comes with a humungous price tag that I can't afford." But since he's such a nice Dr, I decided to hear him out. After all, I got a sitter for this.

"I'm not going to lie, our options are pretty limited. The OBs you've seen before have thrown loads of Clomid, Femara, Progesterone and Metformin at you, and they've all been no help whatsoever. We've already established that you're O-ing on your own. We really only have 3 options available for us at this point. 1) IUI - $800 + meds per cycle, and is NOT covered by your insurance. 2) IVF - $9,000 + meds per round, and is NOT covered by your insurance. And 3) you can try injectable Follistim (FSH) and Ovidrel (hCG), and since you'd be using them with timed intercourse and NOT artificial incemination of any kind ... they ARE covered by your insurance!!!"

Guess which option I chose ...!!

And the best part is that he's perfectly OK with starting with this very next cycle!! As soon as AF shows (which should be tomorrow), I will send his office an email stating that AF has arrived. They will contact their supplier of Follistim (a place out of Pennsylvania, I think) and Ovidrel, and they will overnight them right to my door. I'll start using the Follistim every day with the little pen-type syringe thingy, and I'll be coming in every few days for u/s monitoring of my egg follicles to see how many I have maturing and how large they're getting. Once they've reached a mature size, the RE will give me the green light to give myself the Ovidrel trigger shot, which should force ovulate ALL mature follies. By forcing ovulation of multiple follies, we should have a MUCH higher chance that at least ONE of them puppies gets fertilized and does the trick!

I walked into the RE's office yesterday feeling down about the whole process, was hopelessly depressed by the middle of the appointment, and walked out feeling more hopeful than I have in years! Please keep your FX that this allows me to FINALLY carry, deliver, and hold another precious baby - or two!

@2frsty- that sounded like an emotional rollercoaster today! I'm so glad your insurance covers the follistim and ovidrel! I did Follistim and ovidrel last cycle ($660 total). Both can be given in the lower abdomen subq. The follistim injections I didnt even feel. The needles are soooo small and the pen only needs to be purchased once. It's just little follistim vials that are inserted into the pen. I hope it works perfectly and you get the perfect amount of mature follicles!
Keep us updated on all your follicle scans!
Lots of prayers going up for you hun!

Thanks lady! Oh, and Kasey wanted me to tell you "Hi" from her! She's right at 27 weeks along with a baby girl, and she looks amazing! How have you been lately??

The Factor V Leiden means I am at higher risk for blood clots & placental issues, and I have 2 occurences of heterozygous MTHFR mutations which can cause a shit ton of problems both with fertility & all kinds of other stuff. I am going in the morning for fasted blood work to check my homocysteine levels, and since I am not processing folic acid properly, whether my homocysteine is high or not, I'm getting an Rx for an active form of methylfolate to take instead. I'll decide more about how to proceed once I know about my homocysteine. Hemochromatosis is an iron overload disorder that is very unlikely to cause problems for me until menopause when I stop having my cycle. The treatment for it once high iron levels are detected is bloodletting/phlebotomy.

2Frsty - I am sorry for the grim info from your RE. I hope he is able to help you this cycle. Have you had any genetic testing done?

I have not, but I think I'm going to ask him next cycle (if we don't get knocked up this cycle of course) if my insurance will cover it. Was it just a simple blood test?

AFM: Here I sit at 15 DPO with a stark white and no AF. Nothing. My boobs are back to normal, I've broken out on my face in a few spots, and the whole situation is pissing me off like crazy. I think I'm going to send my RE a message and since I'll probably get AF over the weekend, I'm hoping that he will go ahead and order it tomorrow so I will have it and I won't miss my shot to start on the right day.

2Frsty - you might want to do the testing before you try again. That is only a suggestion, of course. I just sent you a message. Yes, mine was a blood test, but some companies use buccal swabs instead to get cells from inside your cheek.

Oh, and AF finally showed today, so I'm having a baseline ultrasound done for this cycle in the morning.

AF due to day :( and yesterdays test was neg, so many symptoms but must it all be in my head? still hope i am but yes this is hard work and quite stressful, tell myself every month I cant go through it all again but we do, most def crazy ;)