On 2nd Opinions

I had an appointment for my beta test after the 2nd IUI on the same day as my "next steps" appointment with the head of the practice, Dr. S. While I was at this appointment, he broke the news to me that I had already known from my obsessive POAS - that I wasn't pregnant. He then went on to tell me that the oral medications had thinned my lining too much (duh, I was the one who brought that up before), and that I NEEDED to move to injectible medications in order to get pregnant. He suggested a "break cycle" and then moving directly to them.

This information shocked me - when did things get so dire? I was always under the impression that I may be able to get pregnant on my own, but that due to my own desire to "be aggressive", that's why we took the medication route. Now he's telling me that I need the injects to get pregnant? This news was beyond devastating for me. I consoled myself with a pizza, a bottle of wine, and my jacuzzi tub that night. I literally cried through the night, and when DH came home from work, I was still sobbing in bed.

The next day, I started some online research and chatting with a friend who I knew had suffered from infertility before (but now had 2 healthy children). She told me of her similar experience at the RE practice, and convinced me to make a "2nd opinion appointment" at another RE practice about an hour away. I called and made the appointment, which was about 3 weeks away.

I went and got a copy of my chart from the old RE's office, and much to my surprise, throughout the chart, there were things indicating that "patient may be able to get pregnant on her own", which was certainly different from what was portrayed to me in that last appointment. Was it possible they were only recommending this treatment because they knew my insurance would cover it?

During this time, I had a "break cycle" with no temping, no OPKs, nothing. This cycle, I'm assuming due to the oral meds still in my body, lasted only 18 days. That frightened me. Had I done irrepairable damage to my body?

I ignored the calls from the fertility pharmacy and the old RE's office about starting injectibles, I needed some sort of indication from an outside source that my situation WAS that dire and I anxiously awaited my appointment with the new RE.

From the moment I met the new RE (Dr. C), I knew things would be different. First of all, the appointment lasted over 3 hours. He spends the majority of that time talking to you (a foreign concept this day and age, it seems), and telling you about research & studies he's done, and papers he's published, relating to your certain issue. He goes over everything, including his recommended "next steps". For me, he said he wanted to give DH a more comprehensive semen analysis to check for antibodies. He also wanted to do an ultrasound and bloodwork that day, and have me come back in a week. His suggestion was to just monitor my cycle, add progesterone after ovulation, and possibly use Menopur to "boost" my follicles if the monitoring showed they weren't maturing fast enough on their own (a common issue for women with luteal phase defect, apparently). He also wants to do a post-coital test (to make sure DH's sperm are able to thrive in my cervical mucus), and then IUI, if I want. He said he doesn't see a need for oral ovulation medications or injectible medications to stimulate my ovaries - exact opposite of what the other doctor said.

I left that office feeling so confident. Not only did he have expertise in my problem (luteal phase defect) but his treatment plans were based upon research and studies that HE conducted. Absolutely amazing.

On Charting

R & I started discussing babies almost as soon as we started discussing marriage - which was about 2 weeks into our relationship, lol. We had been friends for years and years, and had been teetering on the edge of a relationship for months, so really, this was a natural progression for us.

I knew that I wanted to start trying for a family soon after marriage. My initial concern was our housing situation, but we signed a contract to build our house a few months before our wedding - it would be completed 2 months after we were married. We both have great jobs, an awesome support system, we would have a beautiful home to fill with children, and most importantly - we both wanted to be parents more than we could describe.

So, in the plan I drew up in my head, I'd go off my birth control pills (which I had been taking for the better part of my life since I had turned 18), and then I'd get pregnant. I had even thought that I may end up pregnant for our wedding, a risk I was willing to take. Haha, what a fun little plan that was!

In reading online on some of my favorite message boards, I heard about a book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I bought the book and began reading - I think I finished it in the better part of a day, lol. I learned all about charting and ordered my basal body temperature thermometer.

I started charting the month I went off birth control. I use Fertility Friend's VIP service to do all of my charting, and really, it was a no-brainer. I even went ahead and ordered some OPK's and sperm-safe lube for our honeymoon.

I was surprised, although not shocked or concerned, when I wasn't pregnant for our wedding. My charts showed obvious ovulation, albeit a bit late, every cycle on CD18. I was definitely shocked when I wasn't pregnant after our honeymoon - we did everything "right", which you'll learn in TTC world doesn't always mean a thing.

After analyzing my charts after our honeymoon, I noticed a pattern - I only had a luteal phase of 10 days or less, and this was often accompanied by spotting after ovulation and spotting after AF. After reading about the importance of the length of the luteal phase, I made an appointment with an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist).