Hello again all, thanks for the kind words Bump :)
Milky - poor you - I have had 4 MCs as well, but spread out a bit (2 before DS, 2 since) and that's bad enough. 4 since Oct 2009 is really horrible.
Have you read Lesley Regan's book, "Miscarriage, what every woman needs to know?" It's very good. Anyway, in that, she says (and I quote):
"We noted (in a recent study) that the live birth rate was always higher than 60% until we reached the women who had suffered more than 5 miscarriages, when the figure started to fall slowly. Indeed, this high likelihood of successful pregnancy, even after miscarrying on three or four occasions, leads some doctors to question whether detailed investigations and treatment are justified for this problem. I have never shared this viewpoint, but I do think the reasoning behind it can be a source of comfort on occasions!"
Part of the problem, as hairy and bump say, is that people who have never been though this are often so shocked and horrified at even one MC that it makes us, the people on this thread, feel like we're failures - abnormal and incompetent. We really aren't. Even my mum, who is otherwise lovely, doesn't congratulate me on pregnancy any more - this time I didn't tell her till I got to 13 weeks (after scan) and she STILL said, cautiously, "Oh, well, perhaps we can be optimistic this time? Although you do seem to have terrible problems. I can't understand it as I never had any issues". This was not exactly helpful or encouraging, but she really didn't mean to be hurtful, and is normally a very tactful person. She just didn't want to get excited if it was going to go wrong again.
ANYWAY - the great Dr Regan knows way more than my mum, or any of our friends and relations - and if SHE says the likelihood of success is better than not, even after 4 MCs, then I believe her.
Gosh, I am turning into a real poster and not a lurker...