The Plan

And here we go - we're out of the gate running and I'm totally stoked. My doctor is hitting this hard and I'm so thankful she's so proactive and helpful. She had an awesome plan that she outlined and we started today.

First we started with a medical history and a check-up - just to make sure all was as it should be. Turns out, my previous pregnancy was not as "normal" as we previously thought. Apparently, it is VERY unusual to be extremely sick and nauseous and lose twenty pounds during your entire pregnancy. I never had a good moment - I was constantly sick. And the fact that Katie came a month early also indicates that this was not exactly status quo. Interesting.

So, that brings us to step one: 18 vials of blood drawn for a gazillion different tests. Some of them we will have results on very quickly, but others will take up to four weeks since they are sent out. We are currently looking at lots of different blood disorders, genetic issues, clotting disorders, etc. that could be causing problems. Her best guess is that it is a clotting/autoimmune issue that causes the placenta to clot and close off, thus killing the fetus. This particular disorder would also explain why I had so many problems with Katie when I was pregnant. We hope it's something so simple because it would involve close monitoring during pregnancy with more checkups and sonograms, a clearly planned delivery, and some blood thinners. No real big deal. If we can find something as simple as that, I would be very happy.

Step two starts next month. It involves checking out all my tubes to make sure there's no fibroids, scar tissue, or cysts that may cause a second ectopic issue. Since this last one was clearly ectopic, we have to consider this may be a factor. Apparently it involves radioactive dye and checking for blockages. Awesome. She assured me it was a quick test and that we'd know right away.

All that said, by the middle of February we should hopefully have some answers. Of course, there's the chance that we won't get an answer or that we'll get an answer we don't want to hear, but overall it is very good to have a solid plan in place and a clear path. I'm going to stay hopeful and keep my fingers crossed. I'm not a very patient person, but I'll do my best.