We have contact!

Finally. It only took two days and about a dozen phone calls, but we now have an appointment at a new IF clinic for a second opinion.

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ART2005/clindata05.asp?Location=94

Hopefully the fact that the scheduling person is busy is a good sign. The appointment is in just over a week so I can't really complain. This clinic has very good stats for IVF if it does come down to that.

I tried to get into the same clinic that my sister in law went to but it's not on my health insurance plan. I only have infertility testing covered on my plan. So IVF/IUI aren't covered. But any little bit that I can get covered is worth it. Also *when* I get pregnant again, all of that blood work and ultrasounds will be covered at this clinic. This new clinic also has slightly better live birth stats than my sister in law's. But it also has a slightly higher cycle cancellation rate too. So that may be a wash.

I'm not 100% sure that I am changing from clinics yet. But we're going to start with the second opinion and go from there. It will partly depend on what this new doctor says, what diagnostic testing will need repeated, and how soon we can try to get pregnant again.

I may do the IUI cycle with the old clinic and then transfer if it's not successful.

Another step closer to baby.

Oh, and happy birthday, Mom.

My head may explode

I just got back from the doctor's office. While the tech was doing the CD 3 u/s today, the doctor asked me, "So what do think?" It was like he forgot to give me some information to think over at the last appointment. We've had no follow up consultation yet.
WTH? I don't know my choices yet and he's asking for a decision.

My RE wants to do IVF and I'm on BCP.

Okay, did you have to pick your jaw off the floor? Cause I sure did when I heard that. He thinks I have crummy eggs and not many of them left despite most of the ovarian reserve tests being normal. Including normal ovarian activity! I don't know my follicle count since we got side tracked but he said it was normal.

I had one freaking miscarriage and a chemical pregnancy right after (yeah still a miscarriage, but aren't CP common?!)

And now he wants to do IVF with PGD at $25,000 a pop.


He asked me if we were ready to move to IVF. :( Let me say that's not what you want to discuss half naked with a ultra sound wand stuck up inside you. I was expecting Clomid and maybe IUI based on some online articles regarding poor ovarian reserve but I was not prepared to hear IVF so *soon.*

He's stuck on the idea that I have poor ovarian reserve. Despite the fact that my CD 3 hormones and ovarian activity are normal and indicate an okay reserve. He said low/poor ovarian reserve can go hand in hand with poor egg quality. It doesn't automatically mean poor quality but it's likely since there's a smaller pool of eggs.

I told him that I wasn't ready to jump from getting pregnant on my own straight to IVF. The doctor countered with doing IUI and injectibles.

Chris countered with IUI and Clomid. Even though Chris didn't pronounce it correctly, I'm glad he was there because I was still kind of stunned. They hadn't yet given us any info on costs or anything to help make this decision.

The doctor called Clomid weak but agreed to do a cycle or two with IUI. BUT the quencher:And I now have to have a HSG! GRRR! They should have scheduled that this past cycle during all the other testing. I don't mind the procedure itself but why didn't we do it earlier?

They won't give me Clomid or injectibles until I have an HSG. So guess what? I'm on f'ing birth control pills for a month. HSG is scheduled Nov 6 which is CD 18. I guess they don't want a fertilized egg floating around to get blown out of my uterus/tubes.

I cried and cried. Still kind of crying. I'm so mad that they wasted this cycle.

My IUI will potentially be right after Thanksgiving. I kind of get why he wants to do an IUI since sometimes Clomid causes CM problems and we're in a hurry to get me pregnant because of the potential low ovarian reserve.

I've never had any kind of stimulation and he wanted to jump to the big guns. It took me by surprise. Part of me wants to start with injectibles instead of Clomid but I couldn't make that decision in 10 minutes standing at the doctor's office.

So that was my day. My head may explode any moment.



It was like he forgot to give me some information to think over at the last apointment. He asked me if we were ready to move to IVF. :( Let me say that's not what you want to discuss half naked with a u/s wand stuck up inside you. I was expecting Clomid and maybe IUI based on some online articles regarding poor ovarian reserve but I was not prepared to hear IVF so soon. He's stuck on the idea that I have poor ovarian reserve. Despite the fact that my CD 3 hormones and ovarian activity (number of follicles getting ready to become an egg) are normal and indicate an okay reserve. Poor/low ovarian reserve means there's not a lot of eggs left and when there's not a lot left, then the quality of the eggs goes down too. So I told him that I wasn't ready to jump from getting pregnant on my own straight to IVF. The doctor countered with doing IUI and injectibles. Chris countered with IUI and Clomid. (Even though he didn't pronounce it correctly, I'm glad he was there because I was still kind of stunned.) I now have to have a HSG! GRRR! They should have scheduled that this past cycle during all the other crap. They won't give me Clomid or injectibles until I have an HSG. So guess what? I'm on fucking birth control pills for a month. HSG is scheduled Nov 6. I cried and cried. Still kind of crying. My IUI will potentially be right after Thanksgiving.

And more testing...

Today I had a procedure called SHG at the RE's office. It's normally performed on CD 7-10.

I got good news today. I have no uterine abnormalities that would have caused the miscarriages. I am sooo relieved! Thank God!


I do have the one small fibroid but it's at the bottom and back of my uterus. It's not supposed to be in the way of the baby implanting or growing. I guess the prime real estate in the uterus is the top. That's where most embryos implant. It's possible that the fibroid is causing the weird bleeding before my period. Fibroids are pretty common and luckily I only have the one in my uterus. But he said that we may not ever know what causes the strange bleeding. It may be unexplainable if it's not hormonal. I've had it every month except for the first pregnancy. So hopefully it won't cause problems with a "good" pregnancy.

The pain of the procedure wasn't too bad. It did cause some pretty bad cramping when he put the catheter through my cervix. The cramping has eased up a little. It comes and goes. Mostly it's just pressure now and my stomach feels hard too. The one bad thing from the procedure is that the nurse gave me a small panty liner for afterwards. They use betadine to clean the cervix and then there's the saline solution that they insert to lift away the lining of the uterus.

Well I wondered if the panty liner would be enough but I wasn't sure how much saline solution was actually used. Some came out when I was on the table and then a little more when I stood up. We stopped at Loews for a light bulb on the way home. I felt kind of damp so I asked Chris to look at my behind as I walked him front of him. He said my butt looked fine! ;)

I got home and the crotch of my pants was all wet! You couldn't see it when I stood up at least. But come on! They should know that a panty liner isn't enough. I felt bad for anyone that had to go to work after the procedure. So my advice, take a regular pad just in case.

I also got some of my CD 3 blood work back. It was all normal. Part of that checked my ovarian reserve/egg quality. So far so good. There's another test that we are waiting for (AMH) that will also help indicate premature ovarian failure.

I don't know what the FSH:LH levels were exactly. He told me the results were normal after the SHG when I was still half naked on the table. I couldn't do much more than nod and say okay. Questions are difficult to formulate under such conditions. :)

Chris' SA and blood work from Monday still aren't back yet. I don't know why they don't have that yet if they test the sperm in the lab right there. . The doctor did say it would be back by the time I have the endo lining biopsy on 10/17. So that and the rest of the RPL panel are what we are waiting on right now.

I'm thankful that everything is okay so far. And I'm hopeful for the future!

17 vials of blood later....

I feel that I totally deserve this Taco Bell for lunch! Hey, I did order chicken and there are some vegetable looking things underneath all the cheese, beans and sour cream. So it's not all bad. I need to build my strength back up, right?

Today I had my CD 3 bloodwork drawn at the RE's (fertility doctor) office this morning. That was 3 vials of blood out of my left arm. No biggie, right?

Then I had the RPL (Recurrent Pregnancy Loss) panel draw down at Labcorp. The RE's office wasn't set up for the special handling some of the tests require. The poor lab tech at Labcorp. I actually felt worse for her than myself. She kept going over and over the tests ordered and the vials needed. She even left the room for about 15 minutes to verify somethings. I tried not to get nervous and kept thinking positively. It's only $4500 worth of lab work!

She told me that she really hoped I had that much blood to give. I told her I'd been doing my homework and downing water for the past day. Thankfully the blood kept flowing and she got all the vials filled. When the last one was complete, she put her arms on the table top and bowed her head and thanked Jesus it was done! Bless her heart. We had both praying, lol.

That was 14 vials of blood out of my right arm!

(Side note: if you are right handed, get the big doozie blood draws out of your left arm. I still have wimpy arm going on)

I didn't even get dizzy until I was in the car driving home. It was just a little dizziness though and I was minutes from the house. I had already safely secured the Taco Hell. :)

I'm feeling better now. Partially because my belly is full and but mostly due to the fact that the blood work is done! YAY! Let the testing begin!

And I have the evil satisfaction that DH has a (SA) Sperm Analysis and a blood draw for genetic karyotyping next week. :)


My appointment at the RE's went okay too. They gave me an ultra sound to look at my uterus and ovaries at the beginning of my cycle. My right ovary looked perfect with 7 follicles. My left ovary looked a little different. There was some debate between the doctor and the u/s tech. At first they thought it could be some fluid in my fallopian tubes (bad news). Then after some pushing and prodding around, they decided it was nothing to be concerned about and possibly was just my ovary. I definitely have one small fibroid but it's in an "okay" spot in my uterus. Not prime real estate for the baby to implant in.

My next appointment is 10/4. I'll have a SHG (don't ask what that stands for!) Basically it's a saline u/s. The saline solution will left away my lining from my uterus so they can visualize the inside. They will be looking for septums, fibroids, and polyps.

Our first "fertility doctor" appointment

The doctor is a reproductive endrocrinologist. Otherwise called a RE.

The doctor was pretty nice. He seems very reassuring and so far I feel that we're in good hands with him. We'll see.

He did an extensive interview and medical history with us. He liked the TCOYF charts (BBT charting of my cycle) and asked what program it was. I saw he actually referenced the legend key a couple of times so it was more than just a cursory glance.

We have some major blood to give! The RPL panel (Recurring Pregnancy Loss) -genetic, immune system, and clotting bloodwork- may be expensive. There's a mobile lab that will come to our house to do that side of it. They are supposed to check with our insurance company to see what/if any of that will be covered. They give a deep discount if we use them without insurance so that's "nice." Otherwise they can do it in the office.

We can schedule that part of it as soon as they get back to us on our insurance.
The next step is Cycle Day 3 blood work for me. They could be as early as next Tuesday.

Then between CD 7-10 I will have a saline u/s to check the inside of my uterus. I'm glad I'm having this procedure done instead of the HSG because this will be done in his office. I've gotten pregnant 2 out of 3 months we've TTC so there's probably not a tube issue.

And when he did an exam today he said that he felt what was probably a fibroid outside of my uterus. It's possible that thing could compress my uterus on one side. Thus inhibiting the uterus from expanding with a growing baby. Which could cause a miscarriage. So that's something they will look for too. I hope I don't need surgerty to fix anything!

After that fun time, on CD 22 I'll have a endometrial biopsy. We should have all the testing done in October. It will be just however long it takes to get back results.
We have to avoid trying to get pregnant for at least October and maybe Novemember as we test and wait for all the results to come back.

Here's the advice he wants us to do for now:
Chris is supposed to take a multivitamin like Centrum twice a day! He's also supposed to drink 2 Mountain Dews a day to stimulate the sperm to swim better. Dr G said that there's been some studies on caffiene affecting the sperm motility. And that he noticed some of his patients having really crazy good swimmers. He asked them what they were doing and it turns out it was caffiene. He said coffee and Mt Dew seem to have the best amount for it.
He said basically it was his unofficial study based on some of his patients.

The advice for me was to try yoga to ease the stress/relax and eating healthy and excerising. He didn't say anything about my weight thankfully. I'd been thinking about buying a prenatal yoga DVD so now I have a legit reason to do it.
I did lose a little weight. I'm down 6 pounds but I'm still up from what I weighed in June when I was pregnant. I really need to try hard the next couple of months we have off from TTC.


So we're hopeful but at the same time it's kind of scary to start down this road.