I'm starting to calm down a little bit. (I think, anyway.)
We've made our first decision - we're going to give my uterus another try, probably in September or October. To that end, I've scheduled an appointment next week to talk with another RE about intralipids, and I'm probably also going to consult with an RI. Regardless of which one we go with, it means yet another out of state doctor, so if we do the full gamut of treatments (including the IV antibiotics), this will be a pregnancy that involves four separate states. Ugh!
I've also scheduled another appointment with RE. Last time, I was able to get in the next day, but this time the first available appointment was a full month out, so it won't be until the very end of the month. When we had our WTF appointment, all we knew at that point was that my numbers were low and looked like they had stalled. I want to know how likely he thinks it is that this most recent pregnancy was an ectopic and just bad luck.
I also received a somewhat surprising e-mail from RE's nurse. RE wants my most recent thyroid tests (taken in mid-May while I was still pregnant - they were normal), and wants me to get my thyroid levels retested 10 days before starting the estrogen patches. I asked her if he was thinking maybe that contributed to the loss, and she said he's routinely keeping a closer eye on patients with thyroid conditions.
The other surprising thing was that he also wants me to do acupuncture twice a week for the four weeks before transfer. I didn't think he was into any alternative treatments at all, so this was a bit unexpected.
Nurse said it was because my uterine blood flow during one of the one-day workups was low. I think that happened because I forgot the no caffeine rule and had caffeine both the night before and morning of the ODW. I was super careful to avoid it in the weeks leading up to the transfer, though, so I don't think that was really the issue. But I truly appreciate that he is trying to think of anything he can that might make a difference this time around.
I also met with ob/gyn last week. Surprisingly, he didn't think a laparoscopy is necessary in my case. He said even if I do have endo, cleaning it out won't really help with staying pregnant, it's more of an impediment to getting pregnant. But I've seen plenty of women mention being on dep.ot lupr.on for a couple of months before an FET to treat endo, so I'll mention it to RE and see what he thinks.
With regard to all of the surrogacy and adoption stuff, I'm still vascillating. I keep researching it all, and one day I think one option sounds great, and then the next day I see something about that same option that completely freaks me out. (Like a couple who got all the way to their court date in Ethiopia, and then the judge denied their adoption because the adoptive mom had taken anti-depressants for post-partum depression for a couple months half a decade before, even though Ethiopia is supposedly okay with anti-depressant usage from a couple of agencies I spoke with.)
The idea of just not mentioning our issues is tempting, but then I worry that if we do that, God will strike us down for our lie of omission by allowing R's heart to fall into an abnormal rhythm that triggers his ICD while we're in Ethiopia, most likely at the exact moment we would be standing in front of a judge. Because we have luck like that.
So for now, I've decided not to make any other concrete decisions about next steps. I will just continue to obsessively research while hoping that maybe maybe maybe the next transfer will be the one. Perhaps I should consider putting back 4 or 5 - you'd think out of that many, at least one would stick for the long haul.
(Yes, I am just kidding. Kind of.)
