AUTOIMMUNE ISSUES?

Somehow, in the process of updating our blog, I lost the list of links to other parenthood/trying-to-conceive blogs. I was able to recover only a handfull, so if you see that yours has gone missing from our list, that's why. If you're a reader of our blog, send us your url so I can update my list, please!

R and I realized over the weekend that our recurrent pregnancy losses might be due to some genetic autoimmune issues. You see, R's mom, who's been quite ill for years now, is the walking definition of an autoimmune disease. Not only that, it runs in R's family. To add to this, R's had both shingles and 5th disease in the last eight months - both of which are autoimmune issues. So, we decided to pursue some tests for R to help determine if this is an issue she has that is effecting her ability to carry a baby full-term.

We put in a call to Dr. A's office. As it turns out, the tests she ordered up for R last week include checking for genetic and autoimmune stuff. The tests she ran were so extensive, in fact, that the technician who drew R's blood had never heard of or seen these tests. I guess Dr. A was/is a step ahead of us.

We won't have those tests results back for several more weeks. G-d knows, I don't wish for R to have these problems, but at least we'd have some answers, if that's what it turns out to be. And with the help of an autoimmune specialist, R could be monitored and we just might be able to make it, should we decide to try again sometime. Of course, we're not ready to start back up right away, and maybe not at all. But at least we can ask questions and get some answers.