It’s been a while since I posted and I really don’t have an
excuse other than to say that life is good and I’ve been busy. Summer has
finally started showing its face and we’ve been busy enjoying time outside in
the sun. We also had a little road trip to Toronto this past weekend to visit
family and had such a great time catching up and watching our kiddos play.
Anyways, I thought I’d catch you up on our, dare I say
adventure, to having baby #2. Way back at the beginning of April, I had my hysterosonogram appointment
and it went well. The procedure took all of one minute and in a lucky twist of
fate, my doctor just happened to be on call to do it. When he had finished up,
he asked when my follow-up appointment to review all the test results had been
scheduled and I replied that it wasn’t until May. He then told me I was his
last appointment of the day and that he’d review our results and give me a
preliminary report right then and there. Score! As he was looking over our
blood work results, he suddenly stopped and said, “I think I have good news for
you. It looks like your problem may be your thyroid.” I knew my thyroid had
been off before but I didn’t think it was ‘the’ reason I couldn’t maintain a
pregnancy. The ‘normal’ range for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is between
.03 and 3. Mine is 8. The higher the TSH, the lower your thyroid is. Confusing,
right? Let me take a moment to explain.
Hypothyroidism is a condition when your thyroid gland
doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones. The pituitary gland produces a hormone
called TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) that signals your thyroid gland to
produce T3 and T4 hormones. When your body isn’t getting the necessary T3 and
T4 hormones the pituitary gland needs to sends out high amounts of TSH to
stimulate the thyroid gland. Clear as mud? During pregnancy, the embryo/fetus
relies solely on the mother for thyroid hormones so the mother’s body needs to produce
more than the usual amount of hormones to supply both herself and her baby.
Women who have hypothyroidism and become pregnant run the risk of miscarriage,
preterm labour, pre-eclampsia and birth defects. Yikes.
My doctor suspects that my miscarriages were likely due to
low thyroid and he wrote me a prescription for Synthroid 0.75mg. I’ll have my
thyroid retested at my follow-up appointment to see if my thyroid is regulated
at that dose of if it needs to be readjusted. I will need to take thyroid
hormone replacement for the rest of my life. It’s not really a big deal; just
one tiny blue pill every morning. I don’t want to get my hopes up but I can’t
help but be excited for my follow-up on May 14th. Mentally I’m ready
to try again I just hope my body is physically ready too.
While I try to stay positive about the whole thing, I find
myself sometimes thinking ‘what if’. What if I hadn’t miscarried back in
September? I would be getting ready to meet my new baby. I would be feeling my
baby’s kicks. I would be folding tiny sleepers and packing my hospital bag. I
know I shouldn’t live in a world of what ifs; that in the grand scheme of
things it wasn’t my time for another baby, but I can’t help that my mind slips
there from time to time. My doctor assures me that I’ll have another baby and
that he’ll find a solution. I’m hopeful he will but in the meantime I’ll enjoy
the baby I have; my sweet, mischievous, independent and lovely baby girl.
xo, Vicky
