Fertility results + MTHFR -- Say WHAT?

I got my results back from my fertility blood work. Well, I actually called to ask about it and was told everything came back normal and that I'd be getting a letter in the mail. And I did on Saturday. It detailed my results for a wide array of tests.

Anti-Mullerian. This is your ovarian reserve. For someone my age (34), the number should fall somewhere between 0.176 to 11.705. My result is 7.644, which is apparently solid, indicating a good number of eggs.

My thyroid test came back totally normal.
My ANA screen was negative.
Anti-cardiolipin antibody, Cardiolipin, APC resistance -- all great numbers.

The receptionist had said everything was normal, so I kind of breezed through my report feeling like I aced a test. And then I dug into the MTHFR results . . . where I did a double-take. I saw a pesky "ABN" meaning abnormal next to the MTHFR c.665C>T (formerly known as C677T) and the word "heterozygous" -- WHAT?

I thought everything was "normal" . . . but seeing an abnormal result did make some sense.

The doctor's note on the letter included with my tests said that he wanted me to start daily Lovenox injections upon seeing a positive pregnancy test. I was all sorts of confused but assumed maybe it was a broad protocol if you've had recurrent loss issues in the past. I had made a note to call about that, but when I saw the MTHFR mutation, I immediately realized why he had recommended this course of treatment.

Because I'm a mutant.

OK. Back up.

What is MTHFR besides looking a lot like "m*therf*cker"?

I first encountered it when I was searching to find out why I kept miscarrying. In different TTC boards, women would all be talking about getting tested for MTHFR. I saw it come up so frequently, and I had planned to be tested for it . . . and then got pregnant with Eloise. This time around, I decided to ask to be tested because it affects more than pregnancy.

MTHFR is an important enzyme in the body that helps convert folic acid/folate into L-methylfolate. When this enzyme function is compromised, it can crop up as a number of different health issues. A heterozygous result means that I have a mutation of one of the two genes. In short: My body has tremendous difficulty processing folic acid in vitamins, foods, etc.

Hetero is the "less severe" version, but it's still associated with recurrent pregnancy loss, neural tube defects, among many other medical issues. And according to my results, some 35 percent of European Americans may have this mutation. So, it's actually not that rare. It's just relatively new as something people are treating and discovering.

Side note: I was foolish and didn't check with insurance before asking for this test. I'm now worried how much it cost! But I suppose it was important, regardless.

If you're curious to learn more about this mutation, I encourage you to do research. I'm just learning more than the absolutely basics. The U.S. National Library of Medicine has a good overview. So does the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center. And here it is explained in plain English.

I have more to say on this topic, but I didn't want to go too deep today. I mostly wanted to say that I found something out that may have at least something to do with recurrent pregnancy loss. Losing three or more pregnancies in a row is like a 1 percent possibility. I've always wondered in the back of my mind WHAT was up with it. And it's something that still worries me going forward. And also because I could have passed it onto my kids.

I ended up meeting with my doctor yesterday, and I'll be sure to write more about that soon. But this is already quite long!

Do you have an MTHFR mutation? How has it impacted your life? Any suggestions?

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Lehigh Valley Half Marathon Report

Saturday's trek down to the Lehigh Valley was beautiful. No clouds. Warm temps. Even more leaves on trees and flowers out than in our area. (Which all equals horrible allergies, but I digress!) But we knew the rain was coming. So, we savored the day -- picked up our race packets for the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon and made a short stop in our new favorite town, Bethlehem, PA. Then we headed to Stephen's parents house in nearby NJ to enjoy some grilled veggie paninis and good company.


But our trip down wasn't necessarily for pleasure. Stephen and I were both on a mission to stomp our half marathon PRs. To prove that all our hard training days, sore muscles, and nights going to bed at 9PM were indeed worth it. The good news is that they indeed were so totally worth it.

Here we are at the expo . . .



This particular half marathon is extremely well organized. Tons of devoted volunteers. Lots of smiles. The only critique I have of this year's setup is that the area where we activated our chip timing was much more crowded than last year (when it was in an entirely different room). So, when we walked into the packet pickup area, it was somewhat confusing because there were a zillion lines pointing in every direction. But the confusion was short-lived. We got our stuff -- including a nice fleece vest -- and were on our way in less than 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, conditions on race day were far from ideal (but that's all relative). Those of you who live in the Northeast know all about the rain we got this weekend. And, really, I guess most of us in the US have experienced some of the wet stuff in the past week. We woke up Sunday morning at 5AM sharp to the sound of pounding rain outside. After gathering our things and packing them up (into several huge duffel bags that Stephen's parents generously offered to lug around for us), we were off and on the road at 6AM and got to the race by 7.

We parked and got ready with little trouble. But our warm-up mile was run in the cold rain. Yuck. Luckily, the heavy rain stopped before the race, giving way to a mist. We waited in the gym for a while and I got to meet my running blogger buddy Elizabeth who writes Elizathon. I found Elizabeth when I was training for the Philadelphia Marathon. I was searching for blogs about the race, and when I found hers -- I quickly discovered that she and I were following the exact same plan! Very cool. We've kept in touch since, and it was fantastic to finally meet her!!!

I personally didn't feel so great. I get super car sick, so settling my stomach before the race was difficult. I noshed on a few oatmeal dark chocolate cookies from Kashi. Stephen stretched and performed his usual pre-race rituals, and we split up when I started my own. Where I stand in line for the porta-potty, use it, get back in line, and repeat until the start of the race. That way, I ensure I'm good to go :) I'm weird, yes. But comfortable at every race!

Back to those PRs! Stephen finished in 1:18:33 (5:59 pace -- 11th place overall, 2nd in his age group) . . . and I finished in 1:46:53 (8:09 pace -- 631st place overall -- out of like 3,100 people). We both were far less sore and disoriented this year than we were last year. The course is relatively flat. It's fast. It's through some of the most gorgeous scenery in the Lehigh Valley. And the support of spectators is unmatched by most of the races we've attended. And we still love those finishing metals. We even wore them out to eat when we caught brunch with Stephen's parents and some other family after the race (get this! Stephen's uncle placed 1st in his age group at the 5K -- fast family, right?).



As you can imagine, we didn't get much cooking or baking done over the weekend. But that doesn't mean we have a drought of posts to share this week. Did anyone else race this weekend? If so, how'd you do? We'd love to hear! Or have any of you signed up for any great races lately? Again, let us know by leaving a comment or emailing us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.

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