[tri-med] Re: More wonderful news...

Karen,
   
  Thanks for the info.  I guess I'm just frustrated because everything looks 
great up until the m/c and two of the three made it to 12 weeks and the most 
recent made it to 10.  I don't seem to follow a typical pattern for anything.  
   
  I wasn't interested in contacting Dr. Carey about the m/c. I wanted to talk 
with him about trisomy weight gain issues and the methods that my current GI 
clinic is using.   I don't feel that they take J's trisomy into account when 
developing expectations for his weight gain and feeding.  Maybe we'll be able 
to make it to SLC and I can talk to him in person.
   
  Thanks again,
  
Wendi
Karen <karens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wendi"
>I was 33 with my first loss, 34 with J, 36 with #3, and 37 with this one. 
>I can see the last two being considered "older" eggs, but the first two I 
>was "young".

Wendi,
I think Michelle pretty much covered how I would respond to this by saying 
that unfortunately miscarriages are fairly common for all of us. Personally 
I had a miscarriage, baby, baby, miscarriage, miscarriage and then another 
baby.

Given that my main child bearing days were over 20 years ago when pregnancy 
testing wasn't done until at least a week after the first missed period and 
even then it wasn't all that reliable, I probably had more that were just 
late or heavy periods.

None of my miscarriages were tested though so I have no idea why, Back then 
it was just considered par for the course. It's hypothesised from those that 
are tested that chromosomal anomalies are responsible for most miscarriages. 
Its guesswork though because most of the time they don't test miscarriages.

If you ask any of the women that you know I am sure most will tell you that 
they have had at least one miscarriage, probably more. The figures that your 
doctor gave you - the 80% - are on having a healthy baby at birth. The 
miscarriage rate is a lot higher - for all of us. Because you are using in 
vitro you are more aware that you may be pregnant and therefore sensitive to 
the fact that you have miscarried.

There was a study done in 1999 that estimated that 24% of all pregnancies 
resulted in a miscarriage by 6 weeks. If the pregnancy makes it to 8 weeks 
the loss rate drops to about 8% Personally I think the loss rate is probably 
higher. I know from years of listening to mums on the internet that most 
report as many miscarriages as babies borne to term. That is for every baby 
that they have had they have at least one miscarriage. (I have 3 children 
and I have had three miscarriages, Mandy has three children and had 2 
miscarriages, etc etc - and thats what we can confirm.)

Just for the sake of trivia gathering - a miscarriage before 6 weeks is not 
actually termed a miscarriage, its an "early pregnancy loss", after 8 weeks 
its called a miscarriage. Why I have no idea - scientists like to name 
everything.

It really doesn't sound like they are related to an inherited chromosomal 
problem as the chromosome issues are all so different. However for peace of 
mind if you want to be retested you should be able to force your insurance 
company to pay the costs based on the cost effectiveness of the $500 test 
over what they are already paying.

You mentioned in vitro though. I am not up to date with in vitro issues at 
the moment but 5 or 6 years ago there was a lot of questioning about whether 
in vitro methods were contributing to higher than normal numbers of 
chromosomal anomalies in babies conceived this way. I remember doing the 
research for a couple of mums here in Australia a few years ago when they 
noticed the high number of babies with chromosomal anomalies amongst the 
babies of mums in their in vitro support group. They were considering 
litigation because they weren't warned that doctors suspected this. Not sure 
how it went though.

The thought back then was that the handling of such fragile cells, the 
freezing etc was making the chromosomes even more fragile than they already 
were. ICSI (direct fertilisation of the egg) was implicated as causing 
problems more than any other IVF method. Another thought was that the high 
doses of hormones taken for in vitro was causing mums not to lose babies 
that they would have in other circumstances.

Incidentally single cell testing for anomolies before implantation was 
considered to be a big part of the problem, so much so that use of this was 
stopped here in Australia for a while.

Your fertility doctors should be providing counselling and answering your 
questions given your concerns. Are you a part of an invitro support group? 
They may well have been asked these questions before.

I would talk to your fertility doctors etc before approaching Dr Carey. Its 
certainly possible to speak to him but I am not sure that he would be able 
to help much because I really don't think that the miscarriages are related 
and he can be difficult to pin down because he is so busy.

Sorry that I can't offer more answers for you - I do however feel for you. I 
remember my miscarriages very well and still shed a tear now and again. It 
hurts to lose a child at any stage, more so when its so wanted and you don't 
understand why. Sending you cyber hugs and prayers for success - soon!!!

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.
-- Josh Billings

Keep Looking For Rainbows!!
_--_|\
/Karen \
\ _.--._ /
v Karen, Mum to Alex (12 years, T-18 Mosaic)
http://members.optushome.com.au/karens

Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
www.trisomyonline.org
Families Helping Families On-line



 
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