Answers

My blood test last week actually gave me some answers. Everything was normal except my progesterone was low. It is supposed to be around 15 during that point in the cycle, but mine was at 5. I did have a couple symptoms of low progesterone, like a short luteal phase (time between ovulation and menstruation), so this is not a complete surprise. Low progesterone might also have been a contributing factor to my miscarriage, too. We'll never know for sure, and I'm sad that it was something that might have been prevented if we'd known, but I'm glad it's something that can be monitored and fixed.

So now it's experimentation time, to see what combination of treatments will get my progesterone levels where they need to be to have a healthy pregnancy. My doctor has started me off on Clomid, which is a drug to help strengthen ovulation. The hope is that a more mature corpus luteum, which forms after the release of the egg, will produce higher levels of progesterone for longer, in effect, kickstarting my body's own progesterone production. If it works, my next blood draw will show a more normal level of the hormone. If it doesn't, more tweaking.

I'm not looking forward to having my blood drawn every month, but women have done much worse in order to have babies. One woman on my support forum just got a positive, and is now facing 36 weeks of bedrest (two third-trimester losses, your heart breaks just thinking about it). It's worth it.