40 y.o., 3 losses, 23 wks pregnant!!!!!

Went thru all the testing, blood work, invasive biopsies, etc and no clue what was wrong - except possibly one antibody issue but nothing conclusive. I decided to do some natural cycles - nothing. Tried IVF even tho I did not think it was needed. That failed (9 follies, 5 eggs, 3 embies) even with 3 excellent 8-celled embies. I think the stress did me in.

I took the advice of a recurrent pregnancy loss specialist I had seen and told my new RE I wanted to do injection cycles with IUI - no more IVF for me. I started DHEA, acupuncture & hypnosis for fertilty - on my own. I was getting desperate.

My first cycle after 3 months of this, I had 13 follicles on half the dose of meds from IVF!! No pregnancy. 2nd cycle, I was 40y4m, on 1/4 of my IVF stimulation meds, 4 excellent follies of similar size and it worked! I was pregnant!! I used low-dose aspirin and progestreone just in case - had to "ask" for those based on the miscarriage specialists advice a year+ before.

I am now 23 weeks along, this boy is healthy and growing strong. I have had no complications (knock wood).

My advice after allowing myself to be a medical guinea pig and losing 3 pregnancies and FINALLY being pregnant: be your own advocate, get 2nd and 3rd opinions, if something does not seem right - speak up!!, make sure everything is explained to you, use alternative and non-invaive methods, USE DHEA - 75mg/day. (I am a research scientist and I can tell you that the changes in my body, cycles, and egg production were dramatic) - and get some emotional support (my hypno-psychologist was amazing). Make sure you are changing your plans and not doing the same thing over and over that is not working. Do not give up! You can do this and your body can do this! Of course these are my experiences but I hope they'll help someone else who feels utterly lost like I did. Baby dust to everyone.

Cindy, United States