How Things Went with the Doctor

Yesterday's consultation with the RE went well.  He was very nice and started out by stating that usually a couple that has a miscarriage ends up pregnant again within six months with a baby that they take home.  Wow! 

I asked about the Fertil.Aid stuff I keep reading about and he said that he hadn't heard anything either way about it (he had heard of it though).  He felt that as long as I am taking a prenatal with enough folic acid, I am fine.  He asked what I was taking and how much (I am taking prenatals he prescribed, but I didn't let it bother me).  When I told him it's $120 for 90 days of the NeevoDHA that I am taking, he said that was outrageous and gave me stacks of samples and a "prescription" for some OTC prenatals that he says he likes.  The prescription is so that I can claim it on my FSA (flexible spending account).

I asked if our chance of having a miscarriage was increased now and he said no, not unless we have 3 did they consider us at risk to have more.  He said in that case if we decided to go the IVF route, then he would suggest the genetic testing, which has improved from PGD to another form where they actually biopsy day 5 blastocysts and can test about 8 cells as opposed to 1, which could always be the 1 bad cell in an embryo and then you've ruled out a perfectly good embryo.

I asked if he would recommend the Circle + Bloom.  He said that he didn't have any statistics but he was very interested in that and had heard of people loving it.  He seemed kind of glad that I was considering it.  He said that basically if it makes me feel better about what I am doing and more relaxed then it probably will help me.  He asked about acupuncture and when I told him how stressful making all those out-of-the-way trips to the acupuncturist were for me, he nodded and was fine with that.  I told him about my chiropractor and he said that while he had no proof that chiropractic helps, if it makes me feel like I am doing something and I feel better, than yes, I should keep it up.  He also said that if we needed a "prescription" for Circle + Bloom in order to claim it on FSA, he would be more than happy to write one.  It made me happy that he wasn't all anti doing more work just because the IRS is stupid.

I asked about testing and he wanted to re-do the STD panel since it had been almost a year, do TSH and thyroid antibody test, and test my prolactin.  So, we went ahead and had all that blood drawn yesterday.  I got stuck twice and almost passed out.  So embarrassing.

I asked what we should do if we got pregnant again on our own.  He raised his eyebrows and said, "Good question."  He said that he didn't think rushing to get progesterone was the answer.  He said that he really didn't think that helped in situations like mine.  If the HCG was low, progesterone would be headed down too.  Also, progesterone levels can change based on what you've eaten, whether you've been sitting, standing, or lying down, etc...  So, he said to call him as soon as we got a positive and come in for testing and monitoring and we'd go from there.  He said to also take some baby aspirin to increase blood flow to the uterus.  I think maybe I'll just get back on baby aspirin anyway.  I don't think it'll hurt, do you?

Then, we got to the subject that we had saved for last:  should we do IVF again now?  He said that if we really wanted to, he wouldn't stop us.  But, since we had gotten pregnant on our own, maybe an IUI with injectables would be the way to go.  But, he said he'd suggest no more than 2 rounds and then back to IVF if we aren't pregnant.  So, we are going to at least wait out the rest of this cycle and see what happens.  Then, give his nurse a call.

My husband and I went to lunch after the consultation and talked about how we felt about how it went.  We both felt good about seeing Dr. P and about the plan we had in place now.  We were relieved he wasn't all, "You have to go ahead and use your second round of IVF now or you'll lose it."

If we aren't pregnant after this cycle, I am going to give his nurse a call and order Circle + Bloom for IUI or IVF cycles.  I really want to be relaxed through all of this.  I am excited.  I am ready to get pregnant.

On a side note, I am trying really hard to pray and ask for God to give us a child in his time.  I want for our actions to glorify Him so I am asking for His leading.  My two best friends, who are sisters (14 months apart in age) are both pregnant, about 3 weeks apart.  One is pregnant with her second and the other is pregnant with her first following two miscarriages that they suffered two months in a row.  I am happy for them.  I am praying for them.  I want so badly to be pregnant with them because I think it would be so much fun.  But, I think I'll love being pregnant no matter when God decides it will happen for us.