Cassandra Dwight

Okay, I know. I haven't blogged in WAAAAAY too long. I know.

Here's the deal. Shortly after I blogged in January, I found out I was pregnant again. (I have NO trouble getting pregnant, apparently. Staying pregnant is a whole other issue.) Then I started spotting and my OB/GYN and I were working at making sure my progesterone levels were high enough, etc. It wasn't high enough, I did the progesterone supplements, and it still didn't come up high enough to sustain the pregnancy. I miscarried again at the end of January.

After this last miscarriage, I haven't bounce back very quickly, and have been fighting a great deal of fatigue and depression. I haven't been able to concentrate very well for the last couple of months, and doing anything that requires any brain power has been next to impossible. I've been doing lots of medical testing to see if there is a medical reason behind the miscarriages and behind my not bouncing back. So far we've eliminated a number of possibilities, which is good. I'm still dealing with some concentration issues and depression and fatigue, but things ARE improving - somewhat. My current theory behind the miscarriages is stress. I have a LOT going on in my life right now between work and school and the general 'life' stuff that we all have to deal with.

One test that did come back with a result is that my Secretory IgA is very low - less than 5 mg/dl. Normal is considered to be 25-60 mg/dl. My web research indicates that this is often a factor for celiac disease (which we've ruled out) and for people with high levels of gut inflammation and food sensitivities (which I have). I did find one article that mentioned that it can be a factor in early miscarriages, so who knows. One thing that is very clear is that a low SIgA level can be adversely affected by stress, which I know I have a lot of right now.....

So the big question is how do I reduce my stress levels given that nothing going on in my life is going to be resolved in the very near future? Aaaaagggghhhhh.