blood work

This is just a quick note to record the blood work I've had this week and last.

Last Tuesday (the 10th), I had an HCG pregnancy hormone test that day that came back at 161. I retested that this Tuesday and it is down to 72. They want me to come back next Tuesday to test again. I guess they really like to see it go all the way to zero.

Also last week I had a CA-125 test that tests for the correlation with endometriosis. That number was 34. So has gone up a little since I last tested in the summer. Dr. Teaff started me on the medication for that again so we can try to bring it down a little (she hopes to get it back under 30) before the next embryo transfer.

I also did a battery of other blood tests last week (15 test tubes full! my arm  was like a spicket!) looking for any possible explanations for the miscarriage. This is the panel that is typically ordered after multiple losses, but Dr. Teaff went ahead and ordered it for me. Probably it will come back and say they don't know why it happened, which is the case for most miscarriages, but these tests will look for thyroid problems or thrombosis or other things known to increase risk. I won't get that blood work back for another week or two.

In the meantime Miran and I are thinking about returning to Brno together to transfer the final two embryos around New Year's. I wrote the clinic to be sure they'd be open on January 3, which would be the ideal day for us for the transfer. We are thinking to combine the trip with a bit of fun and to fly in and out of Munich this time and spend a few days beforehand (including New Year's Eve) with Miran's best friend Albert. Then we'll rent a car and drive over (about 5 hours) to Brno for the transfer. So its a little further than Prague or Vienna airports, but we have a place to stay in Munich and direct flights from Charlotte so it should make for a nice trip.