Ryan and I just got home from our one day workup at Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine in LoneTree. It was a trip, that's for sure. We got innundated with information, so hopefully I can regurgitate a little bit of it here so I can remember.
We both left CCRM feeling a little bit like cattle. We checked in and then were ushered to a conference room with four other couples (we were younger than all of them, thank heavens). We were given a binder full of information and then a nurse went over it with us. After that, we had a consult with our nurse, and we met with Dr. Famous.
Those two people gave us most of our information. Our nurse was amazing, and I've already called her once. She was really personable and knowledgeable. Dr. Famous had gone more thoroughly over our information, and had a list of things we needed to do before our actual cycle. I need to have an updated pap smear, since its been 2.5 years. I also need to have a letter from our nutritionist saying that I understand how to eat right. I also need to re-consult with the maternal-fetal medicine specialist I met with two years ago to be sure I'm still healthy enough for a pregnancy. Dr. Famous also wants me to talk to the MFM specialist about losing weight and maybe changing some meds around.
After those two consultations, we moved onto the testing phase of things. Ryan had to go down to the lower level of the clinic for his business, and I was whisked off to have my baseline ultrasound and doppler test. My ovaries both had about 15 follicles, which is classic symptomology for poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. The doppler part of the ultrasound was a little abnormal, but the tech said that many women have decreased uterine blood flow, and it can be helped tremendously with acupuncture. I also had a hysteroscopy done with Dr. Famous. He said my uterine cavity looked pretty good except for that my lining was uneven. He said that once I was out for my egg retrieval, he would probably just do a D & C, and I'd get a two for one deal out of the bargain.
We then ate something (because I hadn't eaten all day)--luckily the "lunch lady" can order something from a gluten-free sandwich shop, so I had a sandwich, and COFFEE!
When we were done eating, we went for our bloodwork. We are doing some genetic testing right off the bat, and I had some hormonal type tests done as well. I had ten vials of blood drawn, and Ryan had two. They have to send my genetic testing to another lab. We're holding off on doing the communicable diseases testing because its only good for six months (more on that later).
After that, we were all done with the medical side of things. We met with the business office, dropped $1000 off with them, and then talked to a representative from Fertility Labs of Colorado to sign consent forms for them to treat us.
I guess to summarize, here's the deal:
1. I need to get my outside appointments scheduled to get my pap smear done (if they'll let me...I hate our local clinic. They are absolutely ricidulous), meet again with the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist, and talk with the nutritionist. I need documentation from all of these people that we are ready to proceed.
2. We are NOT proceeding right this instant. Dr. Famous doesn't think that a six-month delay will affect our fertility in the negative. In fact, he thinks the opposite. Six months gives me time to get my health under better control. My goal is to lose 50 pounds before the end of May. It's kind of a lofty goal, but Dr. Famous says even losing ten or twenty pounds is advantageous, and losing fifty might even double our chances of having a successful pregnancy.
3. Dr. Famous is going to use a completely different course of treatment because I've been so hard to stimulate in the past. He's adding drugs to my protocol, and, unfortunately, my injections won't be given sub-cutaneously (small needles in fat) any longer. I will have to use the big needles to give myself injections intramuscularly. That's like when you get a tetanus shot, etc.
4. Unfortunately, we will also not be doing a fresh embryo transfer, and that adds about six weeks onto our treatment. We will stimulate, retrieve eggs, create embryos, and then freeze them. Obese people have better results with a frozen embryo transfer because your body has a chance to heal between all the stimulation hormones, retrieval, and in my case, that free D & C I'll be getting.
So that's where we are. Like I said, we feel kind of like cattle, but its been that way everywhere we've been. I think at CCRM they get all of the up front things done, and the doctors do lots of stuff behind the scenes and after hours. We have a regroup appointment with Dr. Farmous after my next cycle starts and I have some more blood work done on day 2 or 3, freeze the blood, and ship it to CCRM, because they require those tests be done at their lab.
They seem really willing to work with us so we don't have to go back and forth so much since its such a long drive, and actually, the frozen embryo transfer will be nice, I think. We can plan our vacation between retrieval and transfer, and that will be nice.
Overall, we are both positive moving forward. Dr. Famous said we could start our cycle ASAP if we wanted, but that if the goal was to have a healthy, successful pregnancy, that this would be the best option for us, and that's what we're going to do.
Also, I had coffee today after 3 days without, and I also had chocolate. And it was good. And now I have to phase it out of my diet because it restricts that uterine blood flow. I can live. If it means a baby in this house, I can do it.
I also had chinese food today after three months without it. We went to P. F. Chang's in Loveland. They have a lovely gluten-free menu, and it was DELISH. I will definitely be going back.
Anyway, that's it. Please pray for us as we embark on this heavy-duty weight loss journey and continue on our quest for a baby. Also, please pray that this bleeding and cramping stops from that scope. Blech.
Thank you, friends.
