Results are in

Thank you each for your comments on yesterday's scenario--all of you made very valid points for and against a little evening delight and I appreciate it. Know that hubby and I did, in fact, have a little late night lovin' but I'm not expecting anything to come of it pg-wise.

Now, bear with me please, long post ahead with a call for some possible answers from your collective coffers of knowledge.

The results were back in when I went to the RE's office today. But before I expand on that....

The best part of my day was when Dr. Rub (a new moniker for him that I'll explain later) came into the exam room to see hubby and I (note that I was appropriately draped in cloth and sitting on table awaiting a ride in the stirrups for obligatory post-D&C look-see) and, after exchanging pleasant greetings, said, "I can do you with your husband here." Tee hee. To which I replied jokingly, "That might be kind of strange but..." and girls--he laughed and blushed. I made my doctor blush...what talent. *Dreamy sigh...I lurve Dr. Rub....*

I will admit it was kind of strange having Dr. Rub between my legs with a speculum and the ever-popular Super Q-Tip with my husband at my side. But there's a first time for everything. After that portion of the show was over, we moved on to Dr. Rub's well-lubed fingers in the hootch while palpating my uterus to make sure it was where it should be and okay size-wise. All while keeping up a lovely stream of conversation--what talent on everyone's part in the room, all three of us--about how we fared in the hurricane (alas, Dr. Rub still does not have cable back and was without a phone for over a week--somebody, get BellSouth and ComCast to his house STAT!), how many hours he works (typically 80 a week), and so on. Inane banter.

Getting back to the results on our 'product of conception'...and I'm quoting directly from the report here: 68XXY minus 14. Extra haploid set of chromosomes with 1 chromosome 14 resulting in hypotriploidy associated with fetal mortality.

Essentially, gals, this means we had a boy, a son who would not have lived very long had the pregnancy progressed to term. Most babies born with such a condition, if they manage to survive the pregnancy, are typically severely malformed and/or retarded and don't live longer than a few hours or days. It was very hard learning the baby's sex today. He didn't tell us this info at the visit; I called back later to check on exactly what the results were (so I could promptly research the crap out of it) and his nurse read me the report verbatim over the phone. A boy, our son. *Sniff...plop of big tears*

Dr. Rub said the cause of this chromosomal abnormality can be from any one of three things (or a combo): poor egg quality, poor sperm quality, or two sperm fertilizing my egg and that the loss was nature's way for babies who wouldn't typically survive. He also said odds of having this happen again are the same as they would be for anyone else, 1-2%. I'm to wait for my period and then we'll try again at my next cycle. He was very happy with my response to the protocol and will not be changing it for the next cycle. The goal is to get me to ovulate and, as he reminded me, we only need one egg for that and he does not want to run the risk of multiples or OHSS with me.

Regardless, hubby and I were promptly sent for karyotyping today just to be sure we have no genetic issues to contend with that may have contributed to this. It should be a few weeks for the results. I hope and pray that both come back okay although I know that they can be completely normal and we can still potentially have future losses. I also got the added bonus of an extra blood draw to check my DHEAS levels which were elevated at my last draw, hence why I was on 2.5 mg of prednisone until 5w of pg.

Also, when I asked him if he was concerned about my elevated fasting glucose level (116) the morning of the D&C, he said he hadn't seen the results but that he was absolutely concerned about it. He thought it was definitely something to bear in mind and decided then and there that, given my history of elevated fasting glucose, we'd start me on 1000 mg of Glucophage XR per day immediately. My glucose levels have been elevated (between 102-109) for the past almost two years now but this past June my fasting glucose tolerance test with insulin fasting came back completely normal, which I think slightly flummoxed both he and I. 116 is the highest my glucose has ever been though and, considering that diabetes is diagnosed at 126 and above, I'm slightly worried.

I realize this is a long post but he hit with me so much info today. I've done some preliminary research on some of it but I have a few questions I'm wondering if any of you could help me with:

What exactly is "hypotriploidy?" My research has found numerous references to triploidy but nothing to it in a 'hypo' form.
Also, what does the lack of one chromosome 14 mean--what part of human formation is chromosome 14 directly responsible for?
Could my age and CD3 FSH level (8.49) have anything to do with the m/c/hypotriploidy/egg quality? The nurse said FSH below 10 is good so mine is perfectly fine--what have your REs/practices told you about FSH numbers?
And, lastly, are there any medical conditions you're aware of that would prevent my egg from doing whatever is necessary to prohibit two sperm from fertilizing it (i.e., zona pellucida abnormalities) ?

Any insights y'all can provide would be most appreciated. I do my best to be a well-educated patient. Today my husband wondered aloud if there are some doctors that just cringe when their patients ask them questions (like I do). He wonders if some of them think to themselves, "I'm the doctor here, let me do my job" or something to that effect and if still other docs are pleased to know that their patients are doing their homework. I like to think there are more of the latter than there are of the former and I do think Dr. Rub appreciates me being informed; that way together we can make educated decisions about my care and treatment.

(Oh, and Dr. Rub's new moniker -- formerly he was Dr. Blood -- comes from the fact that at the time he told us our baby would not make it, he rubbed my arm kindly, hugged me, and then rubbed me some more when he came back in the room after giving us some time alone. At today's visit, he rubbed my arm when he saw me and later when we were standing in the hallway before leaving, he rubbed my back. He has nice hands, surgeon's hands, caring and compassionate hands and that, my friends, makes for a damn fine rub--almost as good as one from my husband.)