Secondary infertility: 4 late miscarriages in a row

[Anonymous]

Hugs and prayers for you OP. I know an older family friend who had a son, then 6 miscarriages, then their daughter. Praying for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry OP. I had 3 miscarriages in a row (not as late as you, all first trimester) after a successful first pregnancy. Like another poster, I saw Dr. Abbasi at Columbia Fertility Associates, who determined that I had a thyroid autoimmune disorder and a minor blood clotting issue. She put me on a bunch of treatments, including prednisone, synthroid, metformin, baby aspirin, and lovenox (a blood thinner), and I carried my next pregnancy to term. Like you, I got pregnant easily and just had trouble keeping them after the first one. For my successful second pregnancy (fifth really) I got pregnant off my first try at IUI, which she thought would give us the best chance. My daughter is 2.5 now.

The male thing might be an issue if you do have an autoimmune disorder. There is a school of thought that in women prone to these disorders, sometimes a male fetus can trigger the autoimmune issues and the body then attacks future embryos, male or female, as foreign. My first child is a boy, so I could fit within that if it's true.

I strongly recommend you consult with Dr. Abbasi. This is her specialty. She is very no-nonsense and will give it to you straight. Not a lot of hand-holding and you have to be proactive but within those constraints, she gets the job done. You will need to bring a copy of all your previous records, testing, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I had 3 miscarriages in a row (not as late as you, all first trimester) after a successful first pregnancy. Like another poster, I saw Dr. Abbasi at Columbia Fertility Associates, who determined that I had a thyroid autoimmune disorder and a minor blood clotting issue. She put me on a bunch of treatments, including prednisone, synthroid, metformin, baby aspirin, and lovenox (a blood thinner), and I carried my next pregnancy to term. Like you, I got pregnant easily and just had trouble keeping them after the first one. For my successful second pregnancy (fifth really) I got pregnant off my first try at IUI, which she thought would give us the best chance. My daughter is 2.5 now.

The male thing might be an issue if you do have an autoimmune disorder. There is a school of thought that in women prone to these disorders, sometimes a male fetus can trigger the autoimmune issues and the body then attacks future embryos, male or female, as foreign. My first child is a boy, so I could fit within that if it's true.

I strongly recommend you consult with Dr. Abbasi. This is her specialty. She is very no-nonsense and will give it to you straight. Not a lot of hand-holding and you have to be proactive but within those constraints, she gets the job done. You will need to bring a copy of all your previous records, testing, etc.

OP here. Thanks for this recommendation PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I had 3 miscarriages in a row (not as late as you, all first trimester) after a successful first pregnancy. Like another poster, I saw Dr. Abbasi at Columbia Fertility Associates, who determined that I had a thyroid autoimmune disorder and a minor blood clotting issue. She put me on a bunch of treatments, including prednisone, synthroid, metformin, baby aspirin, and lovenox (a blood thinner), and I carried my next pregnancy to term. Like you, I got pregnant easily and just had trouble keeping them after the first one. For my successful second pregnancy (fifth really) I got pregnant off my first try at IUI, which she thought would give us the best chance. My daughter is 2.5 now.

The male thing might be an issue if you do have an autoimmune disorder. There is a school of thought that in women prone to these disorders, sometimes a male fetus can trigger the autoimmune issues and the body then attacks future embryos, male or female, as foreign. My first child is a boy, so I could fit within that if it's true.

I strongly recommend you consult with Dr. Abbasi. This is her specialty. She is very no-nonsense and will give it to you straight. Not a lot of hand-holding and you have to be proactive but within those constraints, she gets the job done. You will need to bring a copy of all your previous records, testing, etc.

NP here. This is what came to my mind as well. IVF might help even just for gender screening purposes. If you can afford it and just want another healthy child of whichever sex, I'd implant a female embryo before giving up entirely.

[Anonymous]

Just jumping on to echo what others have said about extensive autoimmune testing. I went to Dr. Braverman, who unfortunately passed away recently, rendering his office to be a bit of a mess... so I can't really recommend them. Dr. Abbasi is good but she's not an immunologist. Still, start with her and then I would maybe look into working with Dr. Kwak Kim in Chicago, who is on par with Braverman's group. I ended up on Prednisone, Metformin, Neupogen, Lovenox, and high dose fish oil (as well as baby aspirin).

I'm so sorry for your losses. That's heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Your partner's sperm may be unhealthy:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190104103950.htm

Also, have they ruled out placentation issues? If you have adhesions in your uterus, from a prior c-section or uterine surgery, or other pelvic/uterine medical problem, that can sometimes cause problems for a developing placenta.

[Anonymous]

Seconding sperm issues. I would try to get a DNA fragmentation done.

Reddit infertility is a great resource.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

An update to this extremely difficult journey...no official diagnosis but we tried blood thinner injections starting at 9 weeks and it worked. Baby is due next week.

Not sure if it was just luck or if the blood thinners did something magic but there you have it. It does make me wonder if I have some sort of undetectable clotting issue. (All of my tests came back normal so there was no medical reason to go on the thinners.)

[Anonymous]

Congratulations OP!!! Thank you so much for updating us. Is it a girl or a boy? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

An update to this extremely difficult journey...no official diagnosis but we tried blood thinner injections starting at 9 weeks and it worked. Baby is due next week.

Not sure if it was just luck or if the blood thinners did something magic but there you have it. It does make me wonder if I have some sort of undetectable clotting issue. (All of my tests came back normal so there was no medical reason to go on the thinners.)

Congratulations, OP! What incredible news!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations OP!!! Thank you so much for updating us. Is it a girl or a boy? Just curious.

Thank you!
Girl, so that could also be another reason for the success. (My miscarriages were with boys). I still wish I had more answers but maybe in 30 years there will be more information/answers for women like me.

[Anonymous]

Wow, OP! Thanks for the update and congrats! If you ever get pregnant with another boy and do the blood thinners, let us know. Super curious what made the difference, but glad you had success regardless.