Thursday 19 October 2017

The First Fertility Clinic Consult

So today was the first appointment I had at the fertility clinic, and Behr and I were there bright and early to make sure we got a parking spot.

So prior to seeing the specialist, I had to do another transvaginal scan (noooo I hate those things, but what can one do). The clinic has a dedicated sonographer that screens patients, most likely because their scans are more accurate I assume. Somehow trying to consciously relax your vaginal muscles when the probe is inserted is much more difficult to do that it sounds. 😑

We then met the specialist, Dr M, who talked really fast and walked us through the investigations that we had done.

So we were lucky that most of our scans were normal - ovaries were fine, tubes weren’t blocked, sperm analysis was better than normal (Behr was super happy lol), and all the hormonal assays were normal except for progesterone, which was below the normal range (that’s the culprit right there)!

Dr M basically told me I was anovulatory - that my ovaries were not releasing the ovums (why ovaries, why?). If we all remember our basic biology, the ovum is basically the egg that the sperm has to inseminate to make an embryo, and basically mine were just staying in my ovaries. 😑😑😑

So we had a few options, and he went through them super fast, so my head was spinning a little bit from the information overload.

The first option would be to try a medicine called Clomid, which would basically encourage ovulation. That would just involve taking pills, but I would still have to come in for a scan on the second day of my period to make sure that my ovaries would be ready.

Failing that, the next option would be for artificial insemination (intrauterine insemination or IUI), but apparently the success rate was pretty low.

The next step was in vitro fertilization (IVF), which costs a bomb, would need quite a few hormone injections, egg collection (under sedation) and the whole process of putting the embryo back in. That would most likely be the best option for us.

It would be fine to try a couple of cycles for the hormone treatment, but essentially the concern was that the longer we waited the lower the success rate would be (basically he told me my ovaries were old, even though I don’t feel old at all). 😪 Dang biology.

Sigh. So here we go, down the rabbit hole.

So I might be massively putting on weight, or I might be eating more than usual or having more mood swings (as Behr puts it, being more ‘woman’ than usual) on this treatment, so I’m mentally prepping myself for more gym runs and to eat healthier in the event that this might all happen (please hormones be kind).

In the meantime, anyone has thoughts or feedback about IUI or IVF? Any recommendations for centers, good doctors, experiences - I would appreciate any feedback!

No comments:

Post a Comment