Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Fertility Guru said....

Hi, all. Forgive me for not calling everyone; my cell battery is dead as a doornail.

We had our appointment with the almighty Fertility Gurus today at 2 PM. In case you're not sure, it's an hour and ten minutes to RMSCVA from here, so we had to leave (ideally) by 12:30. We left around 12:50, of course. We arrived at 1:55 to a gorgeous facility (click that link -- I'm serious, it's gorgeous). I've stayed in many an uglier hotel. We had filled our paperwork out ahead of time, so we had a long wait in the nicely appointed waiting room. Here, there were some clues that this is not your average doctor's office, but one that expects you to arrive as a couple, and may be serving either partner. There are Sports Illustrateds and hunting magazines on the tables. There is a copy of Dr. Williams' book, The Fastest Way to Get Pregnant Naturally on the table, too. There were several couples there today, and the men kept disappearing to other rooms.... And returning with "samples". Ever seen a man return with a packet of his own swimmers, hand it to his wife and watch her put it someplace warm? All this happened like it was completely a normal occurrence. I realized we were going to love it here :)

We were called back by Dr. Williams himself, not a nurse. He is apparently a PCOS genius/specialist/certified guru, and we are officially in couple-y love with him. He was kind, funny, and informative. He did not yell at me for being fat, humiliating me in front of my husband. He didn't make us feel bad about our shortcomings as breeding humans. He managed to do a pelvic exam (and visual! yikes!) and ultrasound without making me cringe in embarrassment. He managed not to tickle me while finding my ovaries externally, either, which is a Feat.

Basically, we're waiting on test results, but we have come to some conclusions. I have a lot of symptoms of PCOS, and a probable diagnosis, especially considering our family history of it. However, I have a lot of symptoms that are definitely not PCOS-related, and in fact are contrary to it. So, I gave up 5 vials of blood to have a complete panel worked up to see what it might be that's ravaging my body so. It may just be non-typical PCOS. Or there may be an underlying cause that is either in addition to or mimics PCOS. We'll know in about a week or two, depending on when results come back.

For those of you who are medical-minded:
My ovaries were normal sized, which is unusual in PCOS, and my uterine lining (up to 5 mm this month!! woot!) is thin, of course, which is directly contrary to most PCO women. I was referred for a hysterosalpingogram after ten days of Provera. Provera is progesterone, but about 4 times the amount that I had before. With 5 mm of lining (woot!) and stronger meds, we're expecting company. Good ole Aunt Flo!

Basically, what it comes down to is this: Barring any negative results from Brian's semen analysis, which we don't expect, Dr. Williams', certified Fertility Guru, thinks we should have no big trouble getting pregnant. He said to stop temping in the morning, as he is now in charge of manipulating my cycle. He said to stop using the fertility monitor, take my meds, and just let them handle my treatment. He doubled my Metformin (I'll be nauseous for the next year or so) and doubled my Clomid. We are officially medicated out the wazoo and ready to go, folks. And, here ya go....he said he fully expects drugs to work, and isn't even seeing IVF as a possibility or necessity. Which, since we had drawn the line on this side of that procedure, is reassuring. We won't need what we don't want and can't afford!

Needless to say, this is all a bunch of huge blessings and we are amazingly pleased. We are definitely giving praise tonight, and feel that lots of prayers are already being answered. Thank you to everyone who's been on their knees for us; we really appreciate it, and know it helped. I'm realizing just how stressed I've been about this appointment, and what we might hear. I have no big problem trusting the Lord in all this, but waiting to see His will is stressful! I slept like a baby the whole way home, and Brian passed out on the couch as soon as we were in the door. I think we've both been a little keyed up!

So, in closing, here is our prayer list for the next two weeks:
For concrete results from Andrea's bloodwork
For a clear analysis for Brian (poor boy, what he goes through for babies....)
For a decent menses (that's a period, ya'll) for Andrea
For a clear hyterosalpingogram for Andrea
For as few side effects from Metformin and Clomid as possible for Andrea
For patience for Brian with a nauseated, less-than-pleasant wifey laying around, trying not to puke.
For a baby, of course!

Smooches to you all, praise to God for good answers so far, and goodnight!

2 comments:

agoodwitchtoo said...

Great news!!! WOO HOO!

Andrea said...

By the way, love the new avatar!