So… lots of news ahead, as we met with our new Fertility Specialist today.
I love her. She saw both J and I, and made us feel right at home. She is kind, she listens and she can see why I’m so freaking frustrated with not having any constant monitoring. After analysing hubby’s second SA results, she basically told us our chances of conceiving naturally are shot. Judging by my previous blood work on Clomid, she thinks I’m resistant to the drug.
I showed her my chart from this month, as well as the opk’s/positive test, and that I THINK I may have O-ed on 100mg, but she thinks this was more fluke, rather than responding brilliantly to the Clomid. Regardless, she’s given me the go-ahead to get a whole batch of new testing done, which is good.
First up… ovulation bloodwork – she’s given me two separate referrals, so I can go once at 7DPO and then again at 10-12DPO to see how everything is going. I’ve also got to go and have pre-IVF bloodwork done, where they check EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that could potentially flare up if we go down that route.
Then… I have to get my tubes checked and book in for a HSG. I’m terrified of having one, I’ll admit it. Dr. F said that it’s more uncomfortable than the egg collection/transfer part of IVF, so I’m nervous. I can’t have that until CD4-10 .. so I’ve got to wait until AF arrives and then go ahead and book that in.
Other than that, we’ve been given our options – inducing ovulation with injectibles, followed by IUI (to combat Mr. Jaguar’s sperm issues) OR.. straight to IVF. The cost between the two at our clinic is about $400, which is pretty minimal – and something we’re pretty impressed with. IVF is really reasonable. Dr. F is letting us decide how we proceed – but even hubby agreed that we might as well go the whole hog instead of wasting more potential time. I think 2012 will see us undergo IVF.
So… here’s the tricky part. I can either a) see if my theory that I ovulated was correct and wait for AF in about 12-14 days, or b) induce a period with progesterone. What would you do? I’m leaning towards holding out and attempting a natural period, especially since it looks like I DID ovulate this past week. Help!
Either way, here’s my timeline:
- Wait for AF – who, if I have a 14 day luteal phase, should arrive on February 14 (happy valentines day, you’re not pregnant!) ***
- Schedule in HSG appoinment between cycle days 4-10. Get massive amounts of bloodwork done.
- Book in to see new RE visit after results come back, and decide if we do IVF/OI with IUI.
- Start treatment, probably sometime in March.
The thing that makes it tricky is that we’re booked in to go to Thailand for 3 days from April 1-4, so it would put us smack bang in the middle of an IVF cycle, should we be lucky enough to start then. Which means that realistically, I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up to start anything until AFTER we’re back in April. Boo. 😦
***Or, hey, I could be already knocked up with a miracle baby, in which case we’d ALSO find out on February 14. Who knows, eh?
Operation: Baby 
I’m going to sound like such a negative nanna here….but don’t get to excited. I was going through all the possibilities last year. Dr F. sent me off for HSG testing when I went to book it the lady was a B*****H. They much prefer you to book on the first day of your period….the problem the lady didn’t get was that I didn’t know when that would be and that is why I was going for testing. Just book in on your first day of your period.
I never went for the test because I fell pregnant before my next period……but it didn’t last. So don’t get to excited/hopeful cause the fall from a miscarriage is hard.
Thanks for being a Negative Nelly, Mel. Sheesh.
I think the news sounds very promising, Aly! Good luck!
as someone who has been ttc for 10+ years and has suffered more miscarriages than i care to mention here and still has empty arms, i don’t think Mel is being negative, she’s being REALISTIC and honestly i wish someone would have mentioned the possibility of miscarriage to me when we started trying, perhaps then my first wouldn’t have been such a shock or AS upsetting.
Aly, I’m not going to sugar coat the HSG process, because it’s not fun. But it can definitely answer a lot of questions and steer you toward the correct path to conceiving! Keep your eye on the prize, right?
I’m so glad to hear that your new specialist means forward progress in this journey – that is always a good thing! And I hope that you won’t approach IVF as a last-ditch effort. I’m in the middle of an IVF cycle, and feeling very hopeful! I read a quote about conceiving via IVF recently, and it has stuck with me, so I hope you don’t mind if I share it:
You will never be as young as you are today and your chances will never be as good as with an IVF cycle.
Good luck!
Oh, I’m so glad you’ve found someone who listens to you! My fingers are crossed for whichever direction you choose to proceed in!
I’m so happy you like your new doctor, A! That’s always so, so important and makes everything light years easier. It sounds like you have a solid game plan in place and even if it does take longer than you were hoping at least you’re moving forward! And living in Michigan, U.S.A. in February, I wish Thailand was a problem I had. 🙂
I’ll repeat what everyone else has said and say it again, I am SO glad you found a new FS. Your ex-Dr. makes me angry for about a thousand different reasons and this is just one more to add to it, he was having you waste cycles without doing a SA or an HSG, WTF? Sorry you had to go through useless wasteful cycles because those two tests are VERY important before taking fertility drugs.
Anyway, rant over, glad you’re moving on with someone who sounds WAY better!
The HSG test is different for every woman, some say it doesn’t hurt at all, I say it was my worst test to date and hope to god I never have to do it again. But seriously, a lot of women say it doesn’t hurt at all, so don’t get too nervous about it.
Sorry to hear you’ve got more than just the anovulatory issues to deal with now, but ANSWERS are always good and a diagnosis can only be beneficial.
As always I’m a fan of less invasive procedures so I would be going with the IUI first, but this is very personal decision and it’s understandable if you just go straight to IVF.
And PS if you do IVF put it off until after your trip, that’s too much stress honey.
Good luck in whatever you guys decide to do over the coming months.
The new specialist sounds great- but boo for bad timing! Hopefully you get your Valentines miracle (though 3 days in Thailand during the first/early second tri might not be much fun!)
I’m happy to hear about this new doctor! I’m sure it’s frustrating to learn that you’ll have to deal with all these procedures, but somehow I feel confident that this is your year for a miracle! 🙂 xo
I think the jump to IVF was harder for me than the initial diagnosis, mentally. That’s when it became REAL to me that we were serious about this whole kids thing – especially since there was almost a $10k difference in cost between IUI and IVF before you considered the drug costs.
I didn’t think the HSG was that bad, but then I had a valium and 800mg of motrin (ibuprofen) on board, so I was in la-la land. I would recommend that.
Oh, I would wait on the natural period, or at least give things time to happen before starting the progesterone. Miracles can happen!
i’m so glad to hear that your appt gave you some answers and a plan to follow, having information and a guide of where you are headed at least gives you a bit of power back in this process.
if it was me i would wait on the natural period.
as someone who has been on this journey for too many years, my only bits of advice are 1. don’t let it consume you and 2. do be prepared for your body to let you down [sometimes] be it by cycles not working/taking and/or the possibility of miscarriage – i wish i never had to type those words to anyone but it can and does happen more than we like to talk about and while you’re never prepared for it, at least knowing it could be a possibility stops it from being quite such a cold stark slap across the face should it happen. i of course pray that it doesn’t happen to you.
unfortunately i also disagree with the quote Jenn mentioned about your chances will never be as good as with an IVF cycle – this is a way of thinking SO many people fall into the trap of thinking when they start treatment, so when it doesn’t work they are gutted, upset, let down, disappointed. yes it does work for a lot of people but it fails for nearly as many people and when it fails because people went into it thinking that it would be a “miracle cure” and thus work, it feels like a kick in the guts.
i don’t tell you all this to dampen your spirits or to be negative, i tell you this because i wish someone had of pointed out all this realism when we started trying all those freaking years ago, maybe then when it all happened, sure it still would have sucked, hurt and depressed the hell out of me but it wouldn’t have been such a shock.
i wish you nothing but luck and truly hope you get your babe this year!
~x~
I had the HSG test last year and it wasn’t too bad. Uncomfortable for a few minutes, but nothing you can’t handle.
I would wait for your natural period- why put the extra drugs in your system?
That’s amazing that there is only $400 difference between an IUI and IVF. You guys are going to have to figure out what you want to do on your own, but your chances of getting pregnant are much higher with IVF…but then there are a lot more drugs involved.
Good luck with your decision!