2nd Date Update

28 May 2010

Here's my update from my 2nd date with Dr. H:

I arrived at the clinic and I was the only patient there. Last time the waiting room was so full we got the last seats. Dr. H. didn't blame Hubbie for missing the appointment said he wished we could all be in the Mediterranean right now with the lousy weather. He was happy with the results of the surgery that I had with the ObGyn, and thanked me for e-mailing the pictures of my insides, and having all the medical records sent to him. In his opinion there is nothing too major going on with my parts, and does not think it was the cause of our difficulties. He doesn't believe it should impact the success of future treatment at all. I asked about risk of damage to the ovaries by having 2 surgeries. He said ovarian function would only be affected if part of the ovary was removed. He said I had lots of antral follicles on both sides on the previous ultrasound, and I ovulate regularly so there is no reason to believe that this should be a problem. I asked about the endo growing back, especially since I have no pain symptoms to judge by. There are drugs that can prevent the endo from coming back, but they would also prevent pregnancy. If it did grow back, I could be looking at another laparoscopy again. He said the very best prevention for the endo would be for me to get pregnant soon.

He offered us 3 choices:
1. Continue to try unassisted
2. Try up to 3 IUI cycles
3. Straight to IVF

He thinks that we still have a reasonable chance of conceiving on our own, but it might take several more months/years. He thinks that the more minimally invasive option #2 would be a good place to start if we chose to go with assistance. IVF would give us the best odds, and control over multiples, but is much more invasive and expensive. At this point, I think I'd like to try the IUIs and see what happens. He gave me all the paperwork to take home to read over and discuss it over with my DH. If we decide to try the IUI, everything is in place to get started on this next cycle. I will need to call the clinic the day my period arrives (due around June 1). There is some preliminary blood work for both of us to complete. The protocol he suggested is an oral medication called Letrozole (aka Femara) that I take from day 3-7, and a baby aspirin daily. Starting on day 10 I have to take OPKs to monitor for an LH surge. On day 12 of the cycle I'll have to go for an ultrasound at the clinic and they will determine how many follicles I am producing and how mature they are. If there are 1-3 follicles he will give a shot to trigger ovulation and then we'd go back together 24-36 hours later to do the insemination procedure (this would be around mid-June). If there are 4 or more follicles the procedure will be canceled because of the risk of multiples. All that in a 20 minute appointment! I sent Hubs all the information and am just waiting for his reply now (it's the middle of the night where he is).

So after all that, my leg shaving was all for not -there was no wanding today, and therefore no reason to remove my fancy pants. We'll be having more frequent dates coming up soon so though, so I'm sure I'll see the magic wand again. Move over ladies who are already in Dr. H's harem, make room, looks like I'm joining in!