Rollin' Sixes

The appointment was only 20 minutes long...but I am NOT complaining. This was a gynecologist in the practice who no longer does OB. I had not met him before...but I may go to him from now on. He didn't give me any "you're not 21" or "you're fat" or "you don't deserve to bear children you horrible mean woman." He was just nice and helpful, differently from my NP.

He began by asking why we were there, so I told him all the "we've been trying since last August and still haven't gotten pregnant...." Blah Blah Blah...you've heard it all before.

Guess what he said!? "So you've been trying for a good year"....(wow, his math is so much better than my NPs...he understood that from August to August = 12 months. He told me after one year I am considered to be infertile (I'm official now), and that I should have some basic tests started to understand the cause of the infertility. (aaaaaahhhhhh) <--angels voices

He spent the next 5 minutes explaining the process if IF testing, the common reasons for infertility, and all the other stuff I am proud to say I already knew...but I didn't cut him off or anything because he was so nice and because my husband needed to hear all that stuff from the doc (he never trusts me with medical advice for some reason).

He then asked about how often we were having sex, and I explained we tried for every other day during my 'fertile' time and otherwise probably once or twice a week (more like once 'cause the 'fertile' time wears us out...but whatever. He seemed puzzled..."What do you consider to be your fertile time?"

Heh Heh Heh. Well...let me show you doctor *whips out 6 months worth of printed FF charts complete with OPK tests, mucous charting, and perfect temperature shift data* Doctor=shocked. He apparently had never seen a computerized BBT chart before. "Wait, explain this to me, excellent data collection, excellent record-keeping". Heh. I know. I'm a professional.

"Well from looking at your awesome perfect obsessive-compulsive BBT charts" <---not exact words "the problem really does not seem to be with ovulation." Really? Do tell? (my charts are textbook by the way).

Let's start with some basic tests first. Here's your SA order + specimen cup. Here's your HSG order (call to schedule on CD 1 so it can be ordered right after your menstruation). Here's your US order (call us to schedule near next ovulation so we can check your follicles). Here's a huge gigantic monstrous bag of prenatal vitamins (thanks).

And then, doctor? Then?

"Then depending on what we find we'll move from there. There are a few things we can try in this office, such as clomid ovulation induction and IUI, and that may be something you can do down the road, but I'll be honest with you...if you were my wife I would want you to see an infertility specialist, and there are several REs in the area now, I would like to refer you to one of them after these initial tests." (so respect him for saying it)

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh<---angelic voices again.

"And always remember, 5-10% of couples who didn't conceive in the first year, still go on to conceive in the second year without any intervention. I tell you that not because I think you should wait for testing, because you are 31 and it's important not to waste any time in case there is a problem, but because sometimes couples can do everything perfect, and still not get pregnant."

"Remember that each cycle, even if you have perfect timing, perfect mucous, a perfect egg, you still only have a 20% chance of getting pregnant. It's kind of like dice. One person may roll a dice and get a 6 on the first try. The next person may roll the same dice 12 times and never get a 6. *begin elementary statistics lesson* (again, I didn't interrupt because he was really nice about it). Everything may turn out fine, and you've just been unlucky enough to never roll a six."

Leaving the office with my big bag of prenatals and my husband by my side, I saw other couples there and thought, "they are here for pregnancy visits, and they probably think we are too." But we weren't. We were there for an infertility consult. And we got everything we wanted.