Paleo diet on soya

Have anyone heard of The Paleo diet? http://thepaleodiet.com/

I occasionally drink miso soup. I never eat bean curd and drink soy milk for more than four years already. I suspected soya as the cause of my occasional arthritis and tendinitis. My last arthritis was in 2008 or 2009, I guess. I had drink soya milk in Shanghai. The next day my tendon was aching. I can hardly walk in the trade fair. It maybe just a coincidence but then I avoided soya since then. It has nothing to do with the Paleo diet! I don't know Paleo back then.

According to the Paleo's diet, people with autoimmune disorder should avoid soy products (grains, legumes, etc...) Because they tend to have leaky gut. Soy contains lectin, agglutinins and prolamins. It inhibits digestive enzyme production (ie. protease). Therefore these protein fragments not only travel through the digestive tract but they are also able to cross the gut barrier and cause leaky gut. This then causes gut dysbiosis. It may cause the over growth of Klebsiella. People with acute uveitis have high titer of anti-klebsiella antibody. Klebsiella is touted to cause inflammation via molecular mimicry with HLA-B27. Well said!

To my immunologist, HLA-B27 is just a statistics. Nothing more, nothing less. Since I don't have uric acid, my immunologist wants me to eat more soya because I have antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Soya contains phospholipid. ^.^ Ai... Paleo.

My dream

I had a dream last night. I was stucked between the chair and the wall. The chair is pushing my tummy. Ouch! When I woke up, I felt the pressure on my tummy. Feeling big tummy yah! There is no significance increase of my tummy size. It was just an illusion. I have panty stain again- light brown or orange, when I woke up. I also don't want to consult my obgyne again for the discharge. Otherwise, this will be my third false alarm.

Hey, baby hang on. If this pregnancy fails, I give up. Sorry, I may pass my ankylosing spondylitis to you. But, I pray that you never inherit that gene or if you do I pray you will be asymptomatic.

HLA-B27 is a autosomal dominant gene. No wonder the Taichung doctor wants to discard all embryo containing such gene. Ouch!
http://ard.bmj.com/content/16/3/334.full.pdf

9w1d

I went to my gynecologist. She said my gestational sac is good. I tried to clarify her comment last week. She said My gestational sac and fluid is good.

Ai! Dual personality ya.
gestational sac- 3.79 cm (9 weeks 1 day)
Yolk sac- 0.47 cm
crl- 2.27 cm （9 weeks)
Fhr- 167 bpm

I see the movement. It seems like it is moving its arms. Cool! I just feel today that there is life.

I guess she quarreled with me because  she doubted my progesterone intake. Her normal practice is if the patient's progesterone reached 60 ng/mL, she does not monitor the progesterone level throughout the entire pregnancy anymore. But with my case, my progesterone level was fluctuation 52.58， 57, 38.8, 23.5, 55.5 and 20.1. She just commended my immunologist is intelligent. Maybe I have an anti-progesterone antibody.

Smeagol

I am not a fan of The Lord of the Rings. But, I met Smeagol upclose and personal! When Smeagol touches the ultrasound probe, 'She' will quickly turn into Gollum. Dual personality ya! Shhh... Peace! I love Smeagol!

I went to Smeagol's clinic yesterday because I complain of orange discharge. I am lucky, she only used a speculum- no ultrasound! I saw he nice side of Smeagol. Tomorrow is my scheduled ultrasound scan. Let us see if she will transform into Gollum or not.

I hate Gollum! Gollum told me: ultrasound never lies. Her job is to interpret the ultrasound findings to me. This is my gestational sac and there is no fluid inside. I will have miscarriage soon. I guess I did not made any foul comment. I just replied: ah, that means this is not a viable pregnancy. Ouch... I got a lengthy sermon afterwards. What have made her angry- is it my ugly ESR? Why am I always a victim of her unpredictable mood?

I told Gollum's staff that I am giving up. I was thinking whether to continue or discontinue my immunologic treatment. I guess her staff had told her. She was kind to me yesterday. Perhaps her conscience was bothering her. Should I still clarify the fluid hoax? I am still curious.

Why am I holding my ipad again?

I uninstalled 2048 serveral times already. I always complain blurry vision after playing that game. It is really boring to be a full time housewife. I guess my wild imaginations are haunting me again. What if my gynecologist is not bluffing? Ouch...

Chromosome, chromosomes and chromosomes... When do organs start to develop? What is my alternate plan? My frozen embryos are 5-day old blastocyst. What I know is preimplantation genetic screening is usually done on day 3. Is there day-5 embryo biopsy? Oh, there is trophectoderm biopsy. And I ended up looking for surrogacy ivf lab. http://www.lajollaivf.com/fertility-treatments/surrogacy-san-diego/

Am I serious on surrogacy? A week ago surrogacy in Thailand was featured in BBC news. The surrogate mom went hiding after she decided to keep the unborn baby. I also found a surrogate website, I am a bit reserved. Are these safe? I don't know the lifestyle of these surrogate mom. Are they sexually active? What if they passed the HIV test during its window period?

I have been playing joke on my sister for several times already. I asked when is her period coming? When is she going to ovulate? When is she going to sex with her husband? I will transfer my embryo on Day 5 after she has sexed with her husband! Wahaha, no sweat - one time big time pregnancy. One baby for her, one for me!

Fluid depletion hoax

It is now 4 am. I just came back from my reproductive immunologist. I will patiently wait for my turn. Ouch... I was number 9 in the queue.

It was really a relief to see him this morning. He was so satisified with my ultrasound report, LIT and immune profile. I repeated after him- nice ultrasound. ^.^ he said my gestational sac is healthy. Otherwise, when the ultrasound probe was inserted the gestational sac will shape like a kidney bean. The placenta has not developed yet, but he showed this cavity is the brain. The spine has not developed yet blablabla.

I told him that my gynecologist said that I am having a miscarriage soon.. I also got a lengthy sermon from my gynecologist. He smiled and replied: I should know my new gynecologist by now!

Ai... No comment!

What is my fluid depletion again?

My friend called me tonight. She asked what fluid was depleted? I said amniotic fluid? I don't know- its the fluid inside the gestational sac. She laughed and she told me that the kidney of the fetus hasnt been developed at 8th week. The fetus could not pee yet! Therefore, no amniotic fluid.

Yeah right, I remembered my immunolgist said that the embryo will reorganize its cell on the 9th week. Then, organs will begin to develop by then.

Why did I not look for a second opinion? Yeah! Why not? I said if the other doctor has another opinion what shall I do? Haha, I need to go back to my gynecologist and fake her that my tummy is aching and request for another ultrasound. Wow! Nice idea. Honestly, I felt something was inconsistent about my gynecologist. I told her I feel my gynecologist tried to scare me. This is why I did not look scare to look for a second opinion.

I have mixed emotions on my pregnancy. I will give up if this fails. Haha my gynecologist enjoyed her sermon ya!

My idealism is wrong

I don't know what shall I do next if I have my miscarriage. Shall I consider another round of embryo transfer? Ouch... I guess this is enough. It will be difficult for me to recover from my emotional trauma. My pregnancy maintenance is also financially draining.

I surrender to inequality. I don't need to prove to the world that I can deliver a healthy baby. My previous idealism is wrong. The odds of success is quite small. I am betting my health for a baby. There is a big chance that my ankylosing spondylitis may relapse. Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drug (DMARD) may cause cancer. Ouch! Investment-wise this is an illogical decision.

My friend just had emergency ivig and fluid infusion last week because of amniotic fluid depletion. Whatelse can she do? Fetal rejection is not under her control. She also takes her medicine regularly. I am really praying for a miracle.

Til now, I still reject the idea of adoption.  I may also consider surrogacy.  Looking for surrogate mom!

7w6d

I went to my gynecologist today. She said there is no fluid in the gestational sac. I will have spontaneous abortion soon. Noted! Then, I confirmed that this is not a viable pregnancy. I told her the possibility of chromosomal defect. She replied my embryo looks big- just no fluid.

What fluid was she referring to? I will go back to get my ultrasound report after lunch. She told me that my immunologist complains to her that I am stubborn and I am playing with my medicines. I need to continue with my house arrest. I should obediently follow their instructions.

Why should I continue with my house arrest, if there is no hope? Why did she schedule my next check up? Is there hope left? Maybe she was just scaring me. No comment!

The immunologist just told me on Saturday that my immune profile is good. While the gynecologist told me that there is fetal rejection- no fluid in gestational sac. Come what may! I will just have my LIT on Wednesday.

I feel like menstruating

I saw two small brown ballpen marks on my panty this morning. Am I spotting? I remembered my gynecologist told me that I have high risk of miscarriage. Ouch... Maybe the washing machine laundry was not so clean. Then, I noticed a brownish stain on the tissue paper after I pee this afternoon. Oh no... I just realized I felt my pelvic area was heavy since yesterday. I feel like menstruating.

Actually, I was supposed to have ivig and Smoflipid this Tuesday but it was cancelled by my immunologist. My immune profile was good- no need to have these treatments. He complained about the gestational sac shape and low progesterone last night. Let us see what will my gynecologist say on Monday. I scared.

I thought 131 was a good number

I went to see my immunologist last night. Upon seeing my ultrasound report, he said his target heart rate is 170 bpm. Ouch! I thought 131 was a good number.

He requested for series of tests.KCT,APTT, DRVVT and etc...He increased the dosage size of my Transderm Nitro patch.I told him that my gynecologist asked me to go back to see her 10 days from now. To him, 10 days is too long. He said I need to go back to my gynecologist tomorrow.Huhuhu...

I need another round of ivig. I thought I will never have to use ivig anymore. I may also need Smoflipid soon.I also need lymphocyte immunization therapy again next next week. I surrender!

Why my pregnancy is financially draining while other people just breed like rabbits? 

Surprise- there was heartbeat already

There was heartbeat already yesterday. I just acted childish yesterday because I was got a sermon from my gynecologist. She just pointed that this white thing must look brighter blablabla, She told me if ever I tried to skip medicine again without notifying her, she will quarrel with me. I guess she was in bad mood. I am afraid to ask her any questions.  The nurse were too busy and I am impatient to wait for the report. I just told them that I will dropby to take the report today since I need to have my Proluton injection today.

The report says gs- middle of the cavity= 6 weeks 3 days old. Yolk sac= 0.38; CRL- 0.42 cm； 6 weeks 1 day. FHR - 131 bpm.

Wow! Thanks for your prayers! I can't still imagine and believe of becoming a mother.

Of heartbeat and russian roulette

I was saddened by the news that my husband's sister-in-law needed to do an abortion. That time, I told my husband to tell his brother to please extend the wait for another two weeks. Some people gets embryo heartbeat at 9th week. If I am not mistaken, no heart beat at 6th week. They did the abortion at the 7th week.

Shh... I never had a close relationship with my in-laws. We are just like acquaintances. I am not that bad as you may think. It is just that we live separate lives. The couple lives and work in Singapore.

I tried to search the web last time. I saw in one forum somebody has posted she had heartbeat at 10th week. Maybe she had ovulated late. Whatever... Last time, I was trying my best to share my positivism to them.

It seems that we are playing the Russian roulette game. It is now my turn. Until when can I keep the embryo without performing an abortion? Shall I share the same fate? If I dont get heartbeat this week, what is the assurance that I will get heartbeat in the next 10 days? Ouch! Should I be happy or sad? Ninth week is 24 days from now! The gun is now pointed at my head. And the countdown time to the trigger is getting nervous.

My husband said my cousin told him that in their state in America. No pregnant woman can get an appointment with a gynecologist until she is 10-week pregnant. Oh, that is public health care. Uhm... That means I can extend my trigger count down to 31 days. Whew!  It is just adding five minutes to an activated time bomb. Ouch!

6w3d

The gestational sac got bigger. The yolk sac should have a brighter contrast with the black background. Unfortunately, in my case the contrast is not too good. No heartbeat yet. I need to go back to see my gynecologist in 10 days.

I will try to enjoy the every minute of my house arrest. 10 days seems like a long wait. Worrying will not help anyway. Is beta hcg useful? At least I will know my embryo is still alive or not. Is there data on what hcg level will result into having embryo heartbeat?

Oh nver mind, I dont want  to be too obsessive and compulsive. Come what may. At least, I did my best. No regret in the future. I surrender .

This contradicts my immunologist

Spondyloarthropathy
"Women with ankylosing spondylitis have normal fertility. Most patients experience no change or modest worsening of complaints during pregnancy; those who worsen return to baseline after delivery.[65] Patients with psoriatic arthritis may improve during pregnancy. Other than the specific anatomic problems of spondyloarthropathy (i.e., restricted motion of the hips and lower back that may impede vaginal delivery), patients have no unusual problems with pregnancy. Treatment for painful back is problematic because indomethacin and other NSAIDs may cause fetal harm." 
https://know.obgyn.wisc.edu/sites/mfm/fellowship/mfmfellowslecture/Lecture%20Library/CR-6%20Chapter%2051.pdf

I should not be  scared of my immune problem. My immunologic cells did not flare because of my spondyarthropathy. Ehem, maybe it flared because of ivig.

my bhcg at 6w2d

My beta hcg is 35,246.43.

Great! Now, I understand my crappy extrapolation is not applicable!

http://perinatology.com/calculators/betahCG.htm

My new occupation- housewife

Plain housewife sounds funny. I just don't understand why some people would put plain as an adjective. It sounds like a plain yogurt to me. I need to shut my big mouth before my blog becomes too gross.

Do I need to update my resume? Flavored housewife, well it is a secret concoction. Not to arouse any curiosity, I will just write housewive. No adjective attached!

Is housewife a job promotion or a job demotion? What is the definition of the housewife? I am just put into solitary. I just cared to sleep and look for food when I get bored. Should I update my job description to prisoner instead? After all, I think I am not managing my household. I was put under house arrest by my gynecologist. I cannot go to any places other than her clinic. She is afraid that I may get infection because I am on immune suppressants.

I just wish that I could obtain one bunny suit. The one used by semiconductor companies like Intel. Wow! That should look great on me. Those astronaut suits may also be good. If I can buy a high efficiency particulate filter and install it in my office maybe I don't need house arrest anymore.

I always thought being a housewife is a privilege given to selected few very lucky people. Now, I stand corrected. Nobody to talk to... Sorry I just vent my emotions and beat my boredom through blogging.

Still awaiting for my lousy beta hcg result.

it is about time to kill my pessimism

I asked my husband to buy me some medicines tonight. He said asked why should he buy 20 syringe only? Then, I asked why should he buy in bulk? If there is no heartbeat, then our game is over. Ooops... how did he feel? I was talking with him over the phone. I don't know his reaction.

What is meant to be shall happen. Maybe those embryos were really my Christmas gift from god.

My mom lives nearby the airport. We parked our car in their house and asked favor from my brother to drive us to airport for our embryo transfer. After the embryo tranfer, my sister-in-law has hosted a party for us. My old room is now occupied by my nephew. I stayed in my mom's room for an afternoon nap. Ouch! My naughty nephew's foot had made a hard landing on my tummy. In the late afternoon, while I was talking with his mom, he hit my pelvic area... Oh no, that must be my uterus. Because he tried to grab my attention.

The hotel fire alarm and its adrenalin rush has added to my adventure.

I just now realized that my embryo is tough! Hang on my baby! I am confident that my beta hcg will increase again tomorrow. I look forward for a heartbeat on friday.

Ouch! It seems my immunologist told me that my beta hcg is good, however he needs a another beta hcg tomorrow. Hehe, I don't want to read between the lines. My face don't look like a baby killer so as my immune system. ^.^

extrapolation

I am into purchasing. I am fond of doing my self developed formula on extrapolation and forecasting.

If my bchg is 99 on day1, then if it triples on day 3. I guess it will triple again on day 5. So far, my predictions were correct. But now, my forecast deviates from the actual value. 

I am afraid to analyse my bhcg values. I hope 23893 is a good number. 

"Dont breed like rabbits"- Pope Francis

My sister was not quite sure whether her last menstrual period was December 23 or 24. Like me, she also has PCOS. My period is very regular while her period is very irregular. According to her, after giving birth to two kids, her period became regular.  But, her menstruation did not come yet this cycle.  She suspect something was wrong with her hormone again. Then, she bought a pregnancy kit and she got two lines. Immediately after seeing the two lines, she suspected a false positive. To her disbelief, she called the nurse. She said is on natural birth control, she believes she cannot get pregnant. The nurse laughed out loud. Nobody gets a false positive on the home pregnancy kit. 

My home pregnancy kit story is very different from her situation. Maybe she tried to apply my comments on false positive. Wahahha. She is very funny.

Pregnancy comes very natural to other people. They don't even need to worry about the gestational sac size, an embryo heartbeat ... This reminds me of Pope Francis message to the Filipino people. "Don't breed like rabbits." What sexual hormones does rabbit have? I wish to research on rabbits. I need act like a rabbit.

Cyborg and my fantasy

The very first time I heard of test tube baby, I thought you need to put the egg and the sperm in the test tube. Instead of like watering the plant, you feed blood to the test tube everyday. Voila! The result is a cyborg- half human/ half robot/ half monster/ half vampire. Test tube babies are experimental cyborgs by mad scientist.

I don't know for whatever reason, I always have the fear that I am infertile. Perhaps because I was married at 36 years old. I knew my chance of getting pregnant is slim. I remembered while I and my fiance was still dating, I told him I want to go to fertility doctor right away if I do get pregnant in 3 months of our marriage. The rest is history, it took us about 30 months to get pregnant. I had answered my high school curiosity on what is a test tube baby.

As much as how I embrace science, I really could not believe that I am having a baby soon. I don't know why I am always pessimistic about having the embryo heart beat. I pray that I deserve the grace.

I will have beta hcg test again tomorrow morning to check the embryo health.

My 6th Lymphocyte Immunization therapy

My 6th lymphocyte immunization therapy went perfectly fine. There was no pustules. No more rejection. Comparing the size of the indurations from the past LITs, this is so far the best according to my immunologist last Saturday.

The induration from my husband's lymphocyte is the biggest among the donors. I just noticed it now. What is its interpretation? Is this a delayed cytotoxic reaction again? How does HLA similarity/ sharing fit in this picture?

Hehe, peace! I hope six is enough!

Do I still need lymphocyte immunization therapy?

Do I still need lymphocyte immunization therapy? I really hate it! I suspect that I got mycoplasma infection from blood transfusion. I did mycoplasma screening in the consecutive months or two months apart. I forgot the dates. From negative mycoplasma IgM, IgG, it became positive IgM and negative IgG. That means the infection was quite recent that time. My husband was negative for mycoplasma infection. I don't care much because that is curable.

But, now the situation is quite different. I am taking Imuran, I cannot afford another infection.
1. What is the standard blood test? Blood typing, cmv, hepatitis A,B,C , hiv, malaria, syphilis
2. What if the donor has recent toxoplasma infection? Or ureaplasma? Are these transmittable by blood?
3. How does the ivig protein differ from my blood donors' protein? Hehehe... My donor's protein can also attack my FC and FAB, correct?

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/toxoplasmosis.html
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/231470-overview#a0104

I realized that playing my favorite role as devil's advocate again. See you on wednsday! I guess six is enough.

I am satisified

I am happy that I have chosen to believe in reproductive immunology. My hardwork has finally paid off. My lymphocyte immunization therapy , ivig and my midnight consultations with my beloved immunolgist did not go to waste.

I am experiencing systemic inflammation now. His prophecy... Oops I used the wrong word again. His advices were true. I wish I had taken Imuran a week ago. Anyway, let it be. I pray that we can still catch up. I pray my immune system will not kill the embryo.

What is next if there is no heart beat? I accept my fate. I will try another round of embryo transfer. Ouch... This mean another rounds of ivig? I will do an embryo biopsy. Huhuhu.... I dont want to think negative for now. 

Can PGS be done on the frozen blastocyst? For what I understand, PGS is done on 8 cell stage (day3). Not sure!

Shhh.... Who knows ivig proteins are attacking my FC and FAB? Who knows maybe the ivig is counter productive to me? Or the systemic inflammation is arthritic in nature? On the brighter side, I did not develop pustules on my sixth lymphocyte immunization therapy. This means my immune system has recognized my husband's HLA already. My immune system is not producing anti-hla-antibody against my husband anymore. My embryo comprises of 50% hla material from me, and 50% from my dear husband. Ehem ehem... My immune system is reprogrammed not to kill the embryo. 

I surrender to god.

Dear baby, 

Please hang on. I love you.