The Big Appointment

Monday, August 27, 2012

Things just always have a way of working themselves out...  Over the past three weeks Lance and I have debated back and forth about going in and proceeding with our fifth IUI or just holding off this month and waiting for the fertility doctor to give us a better idea of what is going on.  I decided that if I had a positive ovulation kit on Saturday or Sunday of last week, then we would go into the office on Monday and have it done.  If I didn't get a positive then we would continue on with our trip to Las Vegas as planned and just skip this month.  Saturday passed, Sunday passed, and even Monday passed all with negative results.  I thought it was a little funny that I hadn't seen a positive, but I just brushed it off and went to Vegas leaving my pee sticks at home.  I'm not sure if the positive would have come on Tuesday or Wednesday, but on our way back to Salt Lake this past Sunday I started my period.  Rather strange and unusual because it was 8 days EARLY!?!?  That has never EVER happened to me.  Being on fertility medication is supposed to make me regular, and the shortest cycle I have ever had has been 28 days... here I was at 20 days!  Completely shocked and confused I kept asking the whole night "what the freak is wrong!!!"  Luckily we had our appointment scheduled for today so I was looking forward to getting some answers. 

....

Today was the day we have been waiting the last 8 weeks for... Infertility Consult.

We went all the way down to Pleasant Grove to the Utah Fertility Center to meet with Dr. Faulk.  I had great reviews from a few friends and figured seeing a good doctor (who also accepted my insurance) was worth the drive.  Once we arrived they took our picture (which I found a little odd), and after 10 minutes of waiting we were escorted back to Dr. Faulk's office.  He began to explain that making a baby is really quite simple (haha..)

All it takes to make a baby is 4 things.. Sperm, egg, a uterus, and fallopian tubes.  The average for a couple trying to get pregnant for longer than 12 months (which we are at 14 months) is that 90% of couples are pregnant.  We are now in that 10%.  Basically we can say that we are 90% positive that SOMETHING is wrong.  The first thing my OBGYN checked was my ovulation which they discovered back in December wasn't regular, thus I have been on Femara for the last 8 months.  After 4 months of being on Femara and still not getting pregnant the next thing that was checked by my OBGYN was Lance's sperm, which isn't all shaped normal, thus we were directed to do Intrauterine Inseminations which allows the sperm a much shorter distance to swim and increases our chances.  After "fixing" both of those problems and still not being pregnant we have narrowed the problem to the upper reproductive tract....

For my initial consultation we sat down and discussed the game plan with all of our options, had a full exam (gotta love those with the hubby sitting there! haha!!), a vaginal ultrasound, and blood drawn.  With the vaginal ultrasound we discovered there aren't any massive cysts on my ovaries (good), my ovaries have a lot of dark holes which indicates not releasing eggs regularly (which we knew), and that the path to my uterus looks likes a snake or a sideways S (which makes for a triathalon course for the swimmers). 

 
The next test is an HSG test which includes dye being place into the uterus and tubes and an xray is taken to determine if there is a kink or pinch in one of the tubes that is causing the problem. 

Now here's where my period coming 8 days early becomes a blessing.    The first set of labs that they run on a new patient are done on cycle day 2-3.  Because I started my period yesterday that made today CD 2 and I was able to get my blood drawn for a bunch of different tests instead of waiting another week to get the labs drawn.  Also because I'm 8 days early I was able to schedule my HSG test for next Wednesday.  All in all we were able to move up an entire week in the process because of the little "present" I got yesterday. 

After next week depending on what the HSG test shows we have a couple of options.

If the tube is open...

       1. We say I haven't gotten pregnant yet due to bad luck and continue with another IUI or two

       2. I have surgery to then determine if the problem is with my ovaries (endometriosis)

                  ** If positive for endometriosis:  1) Surgery 2) Skip ahead to IVF

       3. We skip ahead to IVF

If the tube is closed...

       1. I have surgery to open the tube, then...

              a. proceed with IUI

              b. skip ahead to IVF

      

All in all it is pretty crazy and mind blowing how Dr. Faulk literally "makes babies" for a living.  The entire atmosphere of the clinic is very optimistic, calming, and hopeful.  With numerous baby announcements flooding the walls and the extremely helpful staff it was such an uplifting day after such a long and rollercoaster ride of a journey.