Scene: New doctor's office, bigger waiting room, more staff. Slightly intimidated, our heroines wonder what they will lose in service by moving to a bigger group. They know this group has had at least one success...a handsome boy named Liam (who has the great distinction of being our godson). There are more doctors, different specialities. Surely, we can find solace in our decision to get a second opinion here. Remind me again why we feel a little guilty about there mere thought of changing doctor's? Why does it feel like we are cheating? After all, it's been two or three weeks since we've spoken with our old doctor's office. Still no call back with an answer on what Dr. Welden's opinion is on this protocol. We've texted. We've left messages. Goose eggs. This was the doctor we had been with for almost two years. We were friends with the staff. Why is it that we feel like we are cheating when they are the ones that seem like they have checked out on us?
Sidebar: We believe in the universe interceding when it deems appropriate. If the universe wants a path to be changed, it will make that change, with or without your consent. When we were contemplating making the consultation appointment, we talked about the universe interceding. We accepted that the universe decided it was time we moved on from Dr. Welden. We didn't want to. The universe decided to intercede. Apparently, it did that by breaking the dial-out feature of our fertility doctor's phone. So be it. The universe has spoken.
So, here we are back at the new place. The Reproductive Medical Group. In a waiting room. Waiting.
Now, our goal is to get a second opinion, maybe even find out what the RMG would recommend for a protocol. Standard stuff first, weight, height, vitals, yadayada. Then to the good doctor's office.
We start our conversation by talking about the protocol recommended by Dr. Braverman. My dear wife has done a wonderful job at putting together a very detailed timeline for the good doctor, letting her know what we've done up to this point, including dates, doses, and procedures. My girl, she's very articulate and detail-oriented. The doctor, who has spent some time at a little place called "Harvard" actually worked on a research protocol involving the impact of auto-immune disorders on fertility. Wait a minute...that's what we have. What? WHAT??? This is unexpected...sneaky universe, sending us to a doctor who has actually studied this stuff. Sneaky, sneaky universe. So, the good doctor, appropriately named Dr. Goodman, advises that her experience has been that ANA hasn't proved to be much of an inhibitor in fertility. Wait a minute, good doctor...that's not what we read on the internet, provider of vast amounts of information to the common medical practictioner...or us. In her words, you can find anything on the internet to match your situation and a diagnosis to match. If you get pregnant looking out the window, you can find something that says that's what causes it. Huh. What about that...huh. She says that while she thinks we put ourselves on a path exploring something that likely didn't need exploring, she would be happy to look at additional research if Dr. Braverman would provide it on any trials he's done. In her opinion, however, without additional research, she wasn't comfortable with a protocol using an off-label drug for the entire duration of the pregnancy, particularly without research that shows the impact the drug may have on a baby. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find anything published about it. She also didn't agree with keeping Heidi on Lovenux the entire pregnancy.
That led us to asking her opinion for a protocol for Heidi...what would she do different? Remember, we love Dr. Welden. If the same protocol is recommended, we hadn't fully committed to leaving their office. We just wanted someone to to help us with the decision about Dr. Braverman's recommendation. We wanted that to be Dr. Welden, we just never heard a word back...refer to that whole universe thing. So, we're paying for a consult, let's just see what the good doctor at RMG has to say.
First, she asked about the prednisone Heidi has been on since the third IUI. Flashback scene: Dr. Welden, in conjunction with the rheumatologist, prescribed prednisone as a possible solution for the pain Heidi experienced after the first two inseminations. We did a combination prevention effort: prednisone and changing sperm banks to see if the wash affected her. We don't actually know which of those worked; just that something worked because she didn't have the same pain with subsequent IUI's. Back to present day: Dr. Goodman said she would remove the prednisone from the protocol because it was a drug that was hard on the body and even in cases where an auto-immune issue impacted fertility, they didn't always recommend prednisone as a solution. She would also change from Clomid to another drug, Femara. Per the good doctor, it was less potent than Clomid and we all know how Heidi reacts to too much Clomid...she's a fricking hen with all the eggs she creates. She would recommend progesterone shots with the IUI, which we usually only did with IVF. Finally, she would only be doing one insemination instead of two. Some food for thought.
After the consult, Heidi had to do a little cervical scrape for some type of culture. Haha...poor Heidi. It seems like every few months, there's a new stranger looking at her hoo-ha. The doctor also calculated Heidi's BMI. In the memorable and deep words of Scooby Doo, "Ruh-roh". Heidi is below her BMI. Shocker. The doctor said that while Heidi wasn't sick or mal-nutritioned because of her weight, it was a statistical fact that having a low BMI impacts fertility. She recommended that Heidi gain ten pounds. Ha! Fat chance (no pun intended). When we explained that Heidi has tried to weight for several years, she said to at least try to five pounds...eat lots of protein and drink lots of milk.
Since she was a new patient, the doctor also wanted to have Heidi tested for chicken pox. Heidi had them when she was like 7 or 8. Why did she need to be tested? I don't know. Maybe I'll use the power of the internet to find out. Maybe I shouldn't... Then, the most amusing part of the visit, we were informed that I would also have to have a blood test. For STD's. LOL I find this incredibly comical. Um, we've been having S-E-X for almost twelve years. If I had a little hoo-ha bug, she would have said bug. And, just by the mechanics, well, it just seemed unlikely. Maybe the next test will be to measure my sperm count. Funny, funny...
After our visit, we discussed next steps. We both liked the good doctor. We felt like the universe was pushing us in a new direction. We liked her feedback on Heidi's ANA. We decided we'd give her a try.
Flash forward two weeks: Heidi has been eating like a teen-age boy. She has breakfast (pancakes, cereal, or muffin), mid-morning yogurt, late morning peanut butter sandwich, lunch, mid-afternoon peanut butter sandwich, dinner and if there is even one inch of space left in her tiny tummy, dessert. Needless to say, she is always full. All of this food, for about two weeks, have netted her 3.6 lbs. Now, despite the fact that I can gain that in an afternoon after a Twix bar and 12 oz. Sprite, that's a huge accomplishment for Heidi. She has a ridiculous metabolism. If I could bottle it, we would make Bill Gates look like a pauper. I digress. In addition to all of this eating, Heidi also had to have a pap smear. Despite the fact that all of these medical professionals have been treating her vagina like the water cooler, hanging out there all the time, no one had done a pap on her. She went to a new doctor...yep, one more stranger in the ol' hoo-ha. Poor Heidi's vagina...
And so as this episode comes to an end, we preview what is next for our heroines. Pan to Heidi eating. A lot. Add dramatic music as we wait for mother nature to bring Heidi's monthly friend. Unfortunately, for two years Heidi's cycle was more regular than an Exlax salesman...guaranteed every 28-30 days. Last month, 16 days. This month...still counting. We are on day 37. We had a blood test today to see what gives. There was also a pregnancy test thrown in there.
So like any dramatic comedy, I leave you with...
To be continued...bumm-ba-bummm!
