It’s Success Story Sunday again! If you or someone you know has been successful and you’d like to share your story, please go here for more details on how you can be an inspiration! This week, we have Kristi who blogs at Our Miracle In The Making…A Great Joy is Coming. Read on for her heart breaking yet very inspiring story.

  1. How long did you struggle through infertility?

 We started trying about 8 months after we were married…So back in February of 2005.….and did not get our first BFP until July 2009.….We lost our first pregnancy rather quickly….I just associated it with my OHSS that developed along with a blood clot in my lung and heart issue that developed….I just figured it was due to all the complications going on with my body….We were just happy to finally get pregnant and know it was possible.

 After recovering from the blood clot and finally getting my heart in order, our RE and the High Risk Dr. advised us to take 6 months off to let my body heal…..We intended to do that but because of my clot they decided no BCP for my future and to be honest we had tried for so long with treatment and no success that we never figured we would get pregnant on our own so we did not use any contraception ….I guess getting pregnant through IVF turned on a switch because we found out we were pregnant naturally on September 2009.…Definitely not the 6 month break they wanted but we were so Excited we thought this was our MIRACLE….Right away they started me on Lovenox and PIO….I was also taking Baby Aspirin….All the medications to prevent clots/miscarriage….We heard the first heart beat….and even got to see our little bean grow on a weekly basis…..Then came the day we were finally released from our RE….and two days later I had set up a appt with our regular OB/GYN…..That Thursday I went by myself because we had just seen our healthy bean on Tuesday and everything was fine….Well when the US tech did the internal US there was no heartbeat ….Instantly I went into shock…How could this be happening? Everything was fine on Tuesday….At 8 ½ wks we lost our second baby….I then had a D&E the next day …We did genetic testing and it came back Normal Female.

 After this blow two weeks later we discovered that our awesome Insurance would be changing plans in Jan 2010 and that our RE would no longer be in network….We still had two Ice Babies in Indy to use so the plan was FET in Dec 2009.…The FET went smoothly….this time we did some testing for RPL and our results yielded that I had a clotting disorder called MTHFR and slightly elevated NK cells but my RE said that it was borderline so nothing to worry about and that our miscarriages were just bad luck….Boy if I knew what I know now I could have saved myself lots of heartache and time…..We proceeded with the cycle but this time started the Lovenox and PIO before the cycle started….and once again in Dec 2009 we became pregnant but once again had another loss this time only made it to 6wks pregnant….Now I wanted answers 3 losses in a row is no longer a bad luck scenario there must be something wrong….It was back to square one as our insurance company was changing and I could no longer see my current RE but to be honest he had no other suggestions for me so I wanted to switch Dr.‘s anyways.

 We once again probably should have been using contraception but we weren’t and I got pregnant right off the bat 3 days before my birthday in Jan 2010.…This time I just went to my regular OB/GYN for prenatal care and we once again seen a heartbeat but this time it wasn’t a very strong one….She figured it would end in miscarriage but said there was still a chance…The following week we got an US and still the heartbeat was there but not strong….She then started me on Prednisone guessing that perhaps my immune system was trying to end the pregnancy….Another week went by and our little bean was still holding on but this time the heartbeat was even fainter….and by the next week it had stopped….Another D&E was performed and another test yielded a Normal Female….My regular OB/GYN suggested that it must be an immune issue and that I needed to find a RE that treated immune related pregnancy loss.

 We interviewed with a few Dr.’s in the Chicago area. Two of them were just regular RE’s and to be honest they didn’t offer much for immune tx’s they just wanted me to IVF again to fill their pockets…I mean hello getting pregnant is not the issue anymore…..Our last and final Dr. was with Dr. Kwak Kim in Vernon Hills IL….I had read about her in the book by Dr. Alan Beer “Is your body baby friendly” She was his partner for years before he moved out to California and for those of you who have had repeat miscarriages this book is a must and full of valuable information….My first visit with Dr. Kwak was full of blood work and a US…followed with a short meeting with her herself….When all the results came back we would have an in depth meeting to discuss problems and plans….My first visit with her was March of 2010. We then came back 1 month later and discussed issues/plans and went through another IVF with another RE in Peoria IL due to timing of the medications before pregnancy and became pregnant again in June 2010 and I am currently 20 Weeks Pregnant!!!!!

 2. What did you go through (as far as treatments, different doctors, adoptions agencies, etc.)?

I kind of went through that in my above paragraph but I will highlight what meds were used for each cycle…..As far as surgeries/treatments I had two D&E’s….

two egg retrievals….3 embryo x-fers….hysterosalpingogram….hysteroscopy

multiple US….multiple blood draws….IVIG infusions…Intralipid infusions….countless medications/shots.

 First IVF: Baby Aspirin, Lupron, Menopur, Bravelle, HCG Trigger Shot, and Progesterone Suppositories, and Estrace

 Second Pregnancy: Lovenox once a day, Baby Aspirin 1xday, Folbic Tabs, Progesterone Suppositories

Third Cycle FET: Lovenox once a day, Baby Aspirin, Folbic Tabs, and Progesterone In Oil, and Estrace

 Fourth Pregnancy: Lovenox once a day, Baby Aspirin, Folbic Tabs, Progesterone Supplements, and Prednisone

 Current Pregnancy: Dr. Kwak had a master plan along with my new RE….Pre IVF I took lots of supplements and vitamins to prepare my body for mature healthy eggs…Since I have PCOS this can be somewhat tricky to not overstim…Also I had to change my diet to a Diabetic Diet…..and I was on Lupron/BCP’s ……Follistim..Menopur….PIO… Baby Aspirin…Lovenox… Prednisone…and doing Intralipid tx every two weeks….Dr. Kwak had discovered that I had another clotting disorder called Factor 13 and also issues with blood flow to my uterus and would need weekly monitoring and adjustments in my Lovenox dose accordingly….and my elevated NK cells that were not an issue according to my old RE were now madly out of control due to each time you have a miscarriage your body becomes stronger and stronger and your immune system kills the pregnancy off faster and faster…Now my levels weren’t borderline but out of control….IVIG would be the first treatment of choice but since it was denied by my insurance company I had to try using Intralipids which according to my current RE were just as effective…However Dr. Kwak does not use Intralipids but agreed to monitor my NK cells after each infusion and throughout the pregnancy…I would also undergo weekly testing of my Progesterone/Estrogen….Every other day HCG blood draws until they reached 20,000.…Weekly US to check my blood flow….and Monthly blood draws to check several other things….and Intralipid infusions every two weeks….Early on in Pregnancy we had some issues with Beta’s not rising as they should but once my PIO was bumped up things began to run smoothly….and then after a few Intralipid infusions Dr. Kwak noticed that they were helping a little but not fully and recommended strongly that we do IVIG….Well at 2000 a time and it is usually needed every two weeks how would we ever afford this? I ended up contacting the Drug Manufacturer and they had an assistance program but to qualify you had to have no insurance….I of course had insurance they just wouldn’t cover it so they told me to just submit the paperwork and they would see what they could do….Also asked me to attach a personal letter explaining all we have been through and where we were at in Pregnancy…Well it worked they found a pharmacy that was willing to donate the drug to us as long as we agreed to continue to appeal our insurance company….After my first treatment my NK cells went down dramatically…..and even though I have a ton of appts…I am currently being managed by a Reproductive Immunologist, Perinatologists, Regular OB/GYN, and a Cardiologist…I usually have at least two to three Dr. appointments each week….do a ton of treatments….shots…and different medications/testing but without my team I wouldn’t be 20Weeks Pregnant.

 My suggestion for anyone with multiple pregnancy losses would be to see a Reproductive Immunologist…Even though a lot of RE’s are trying to treat immune issues, an Immunologist knows way more and will monitor several things throughout the entire pregnancy and make hormone/medication adjustments according to what needs to be corrected…I can honestly say without Dr. Kwak we would never be where we are today!!!!

3. How did you handle disappointments through your cycles (natural and otherwise) or months of waiting?To be honest in the beginning it was frustrating and it seemed like forever until we would become pregnant…..But even more devastating was going through all the losses and feeling hopeless…I guess as an Infertile you think once I’m pregnant it will all work out….you don’t even think about issues like Recurrent Miscarriage….So that was a big blow for me and my husband….Yes it has made us stronger as a couple but at times it caused great frustration and emotional pain on both ends….But my husband refers to me as Rocky….Even though I would keep getting knocked down I would always get up and Fight again and again no matter how bruised and scarred I had become…We did decide as a couple that in order to get through this last IVF that we would need to see the Infertility Counselor at our RE’s office….she helped us get through the IVF process and also helped us get through the doubt we were having in our first trimester…This made a huge difference.

 4. What were the ‘stress-free’ techniques that you tried that helped you get through the cycle or time (yoga, meditation, acupuncture, support through family, friends & on-line, etc.)?In the beginning we just kept things between us….but then as everything progressed and more medical intervention was needed we confided in close friends and family….and with this last IVF I decided to start blogging and that has been a major outlet for me….both to be able to help people, inspire them, and also receive advice/words of wisdom from people who have been in my shoes before….I also love spending time with my husband…friends…family…and animals…and decorating. I joined a support group at our local hospital and that helped me to be able to confide in what we were going through with fellow Infertiles.

 5. If you could give advice for couples going through infertility now, what would it be ?

That it is definitely not an easy or simple road….it is like a roller-coaster many ups and downs….loops and swirls…but if you stick with it and keep on fighting it will be worth it in the end….and this is easier said than done but try to find time to do normal activities that you enjoy outside of treatments….don’t put your life on hold.

18 weeks