Alright. Sorry about the break in update, but we had to go do all of our tests! Which, I'll get to a little later..
So, we were in November. I called my OB on the first day of Thanksgiving break. Of course the nurse didn't want me to come in, rather she suggest that I go to a fertility doctor. She recommended the Center for Reproductive Medicine. But, when I realized that that office was a fertility clinic, I remembered that OCPS partnered with Fertility Care and gave a discount (because of course, fertility issues are not covered by my insurance).
So, I call Fertility Care AND the Center for Reproductive Medicine (just to verify they are one in the same and to see which had the first appointment). Well the Center for Rep. Med. (such a long name) was very rude to me, saying "Uhh, ya, why would you not...." or "Well sorry, we can't help you" in a very sarcastic tone. I told them, "Let me figure out my schedule and I'll call you back for an appointment." Yeah, right. Then I called Fertility Care, they were VERY helpful. And actually willing to compare their practice to the Center for Rep. Med. (ie: do they do the same thing, costs, etc). They actually had nothing available that week (neither did Center for Rep. Med), but their first appointment was about a month earlier than Center for Rep. Med.
Needless to say, I scheduled an appointment the next week (November 30th) with Fertility Care.
The funny side note: When I called my OB back and talked with the nurse, I had to explain to send the papers to Fertility Care instead of the Center for Rep. Med...She was like, "why, I suggested CFRP, why aren't you going there?" I explained the discount we get with Fertility Care and they do the same thing. The nurse just didn't understand why I would not want to go to the office she suggested (how about because she NEVER wants the OB to see me, and rather fix problems at home- ugh to her!).
After that phone call, I called my dad crying because I was very upset that we were unsuccessful. He suggested I talk with my aunt who had her own issues trying to conceive and it took them 7 years and thousands of dollars. Which, nothing worked until after they spent all that money and just gave up.
Now for my appointment with Fertility Care:
I was nervous all day long. I was leaving early from work so that I could go, as the appointment was at 2:30. No one really knew about the appointment except for family. Which was hard because explaining to my principal that I had to leave for a doctor's appointment and end of story was worrying her!
We arrive at Fertility Care. We talk with the doctor (Mark Trolice, totally would suggest him - we've had nothing but great interactions with him!). We got to know each other, he's from Jersey woot woot! We discussed my early period flows - before going on birth control, etc.
As soon as we finished talking, he's like, "I know what you have, but let's do an ultrasound to be sure of it." In my mind, I kind of knew what I had, but didn't want to admit it...and honestly I can't diagnose myself... LOL
We go into the ultrasound room. It wasn't bad at all, just like a normal yearly check up. But he discovered that I have PCOS.
PCOS stands for Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Meaning, I have a whole bunch of cysts on my ovaries. The cysts prevent eggs from dropping, which prevents ovulation, which in turn prevents a regular, normal period.
Now that we've discovered that we went back and talked to Dr. Trolice again. He explain that there are a few things we could do if a) we didn't want to conceive or b) if we wanted to conceive. Of course, we chose option B. Like pronto :)
He explained that the first thing we need to do is get normal blood work back from him (showing not pregnant, normal thyroid, and something else I forgot). After that, I'll be put on provera to start a period. Once my period starts I'll go in for an HSG test and then be put on clomid! Then I also had to get other blood work done because with PCOS I'm pre-diabetic. Another step was a semen analysis test for Brian, just to make sure all hurdles are down before we begin with medications.
I'm glad we were able to figure some things out and had a plan of action. We met with the nurse and she explained in depth each of the next steps. She told me she would call me once I was able to take provera to start it.
The next day, the nurse called me. Everything was normal with my thyroid and the other thing, and obviously not pregnant, so I started provera.
I had a normal AF with provera and once I was on my AF, I was told to call to schedule my HSG test. I scheduled my HSG for Tuesday of break and while I was at it I scheduled Brian's semen analysis.
Which leads onto: Now I'm on break, and Tuesday was the day of my tests. I had to take antibiotic pills prior to testing in case of infection that could occur.
The Semen analysis appointment was at 11:30. Brian got his thing done and then at 12:30 was my HSG appointment. An HSG test is where they inject radioactive dye into the cervix and watch the dye flow through the tubes to make sure everything is open and not blocked.
So, I go back for my HSG test. Brian could not come with me. He injected the dye - not too bad. I could actually feel the dye travel up through my cervix ... weird huh. But then he wanted me to roll around to make sure it's flowing out. Oh boy, that was crampy, crampy, crampy!!!! From what I could tell (and my limited expertise) it looked like one tube was blocked and the other was opened.
After the procedure we got to sit down and talk with Dr. Trolice (I love that about him, he sits with you in every aspect of the procedure and explains everything!). He shared that he thought one tube was having issues, but after seeing the pictures... EVERYTHING WAS FINE AND OPEN!!! Woo hoo! What a hurdle to jump over!
THEN, we got Brian's semen analysis back... And EVERYTHING WAS ABOVE NORMAL!!!! Seriously, like the average is 50 on something, and Brian was 92! The average was 4 for something, Brian was 8. He said he had great results!
Dr. Trolice wanted to start Clomid right there...but I unfortunately did not have my other tests done (glucose tolerance, etc). I told him I was getting it done yesterday (Wednesday). So he said, if the results come back Thursday, then we can get you in Friday for an ultrasound and start you on clomid. If they don't come back until Friday, then we'll do the ultrasound on Tuesday and start then.
Which is VERY uplifting! I was actually thinking that we'd have to wait ANOTHER cycle and Provera 10 days before starting clomid, putting me at clomid around January 23rd. Well, he said there is no problem to start now because I don't ovulate anyway, and I don't really have a period on my own.
Woo hoo!! The funny thing - Brian and I were teetering between what to do for New Years. We had 2 options really - 1) Go to his best friend's house party 2) have a party of our own...Well the night before the Tuesday exam I told Brian I just wanted to do a me and him party. And he said okay. Which...this works perfectly! If I start clomid next week, we will want to be bding as much as we can...and you can't do that with having a party (or going to a party).
Woo hoo!! I'm just so excited for the possibilities and I know God is guiding us right along!
I also found out my cousin got pregnant on her first round of clomid! She also has cysts and was messaging me back and forth prior to the procedure.
Friends, the future looks great! I may be pregnant in January, maybe in February. But all I know is God is holding our hand through it all!!!!!
There is my long update! Hopefully I won't go as long without updating you all! :)
<3 Kim
P.S. My best friend also got engaged in September!! Woo hoo, now onto planning her Bridal shower! :)
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