Re and other appts

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

No wonder I'm 15 lbs overweight (per BMI)- with all the french bread and spaghetti sauce!!! (Mr. A wanted ravioli with french (garlic) bread on the side instead, so no meatballs.)

This week is the week of doctors for our "family"...RE appt yesterday, eye appt for me today, shot for Banana tomorrow, eye appt for Mr. A on Thursday. I really, really need to go to the dentist (no problems, just for a prof. cleaning) but I am using the 2ww as an excuse and promise to make an appt in September if I'm not pregnant this time.

(Speaking of my eye appt, my eyes are still dilated, so the whole typing/reading thing is not the clearest yet- I apologize for typos!)

About the RE appt yesterday morning, and I have to say that I am continually impressed with his knowledge and patience and outlook. Basically, he said that the next thing he'd suggest would be a clomid IUI, but I told him that we'd talked about it and since clomid hasn't worked yet (that we know of, wink wink) and since IUI only adds a few percentage points to the success rate, we'd rather try a different medication that increases it more than just a few percentage points. That is totally okay with him, and since my insurance covers follistim (a HUGE blessing), we're going to do another clomid cycle (unless God has blessed us this cycle!) in September (since I will be sitting with my cousins and unavailable for u/s monitoring) and start a follistim cycle (w/ HCG trigger) in October. We'll try timing it ourselves first and move on to IUI in November if necessary. I am really excited! Obviously I hope and pray we won't be in November without having a third mouth to feed at Thanksgiving, but we are seeking the Lord in all things and trying to discern where He's leading us.

The funny part was that he was explaining IUI to me. I was thinking, really, you think at this point I haven't read about all possible treatments and procedures?! I guess it is great that he is so thorough.

I did ask him about his opinion on the relativity of a lap at this point, since I know that is a go-to surgery for some readers. He said that he is old enough to remember when the lap surgery was a normal part of every infertility workup, but what they found was that making everyone have that surgery didn't change the course of treatment/action that much. He said that many times (especially for people who had normal regular (cycle days, bleeding, etc.) periods), they would find nothing during the surgery that would inhibit fertility, therefore putting the woman through an unecessary surgery. Even though it is an easy surgery, it is surgery nontheless. Based on my HSG results, there aren't any blockages in my tubes and my uterus looks normal and healthy (I know this isn't the focus of the HSG, but they can tell in general). I guess nothing is 100%, but he does not think that it is necessary at this point, and I couldn't agree more.

Another piece of great news is that my friend T just received word that they have been accepted by their agency to start the formal application process!!! They got 2 more letters of recommendation from her hubby's doctors that were very positive and supportive of their desire to become adoptive parents!! Praise God for His goodness!!

In other random news, I ordered my very first "fancy" license plate- a Choose Life one! I am so excited- my check to the DMV cleared yesterday, so my new plates should be on their way! Mr. A thinks I will get run off the road by crazies, but as I was driving to work the other week and keeping a keen eye out for special interest bumper stickers/license plates, I decided that if people are still driving around with stickers supporting a certain, um, presidential candidate, considering the state of the country's finances/potential new policies, I can certainly drive around with a license plate in favor of life in general!! I totally encourage everyone I know to have the courage to sign up for one, if your state has one available!!!

6 comments:

Jen said...

your RE sounds great! i'm glad your insurance covers follistim!!! good news!!! i agree on the lap... don't do it unless you feel you NEED to!!! i'm hoping you do have a 3rd mouth to feed by Thanksgiving!!!! and congrats to T! what great news!!!!

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that you've gotten the go-ahead to try something new next cycle :).

I second the no-lap thing. If you're not having a lot of pain, and there's not reason to suspect endo or tube blockages, I wouldn't have the lap. You can create scar tissue from an unnecessary procedure. And even though it's an "easy surgery", you still have recovery times. Your body continues it's internal healing for months after they open you open, even though they have you return to normal activities pretty quickly.
Of course, if your doctor was saying that IVF was the next step and there were no other options, then I might think twice about the lap.

Baby Hungry said...

I am so glad you like your RE and that he listens to you. I am happy you have other options, but I really hope you don't even have to use them and that you are prego right now!!

... said...

I love having a game plan in place for the next cycle. I hope it isn't necessary for, but it always makes it better to have one in place . . . just in case.

Low Fat Lady said...

That italian food sounds yummy. I hope this cycle works for you. That's interesting to hear that IUI's only increase the chances of working by a small amount. I was asked if I want an iui and I said no, I wanted to do it naturally. I've never had a chance to try naturally so I want to at least have one chance before I move onto other options.

Hillary said...

So exciting! Plans are so helpful, and it sounds like you and your RE are on the same page which is a blessing. :)