Tom and I had our second consultation with our fertility specialist today. We went in for a vaginal ultrasound so Dr. X could take an upclose and personal look at my uterus. Afterwards, we sat down and had a chat about the most likely effective corse of treatment.
Good news: My uterus looks "surprisingly better" than he expected. My ovaries looked fine, and had several cysts in them. Dr. X says cysts in the ovaries are actually eggs that have never been released. So good news #1 - I do make eggs. And plenty of them. The trick is getting the little suckers to come out and play. Must be damn comfy in there.
Also good: Tom's semen analysis came back and the swimmers are normal. He has all the swimmers you want to see. The "A" swimmers that are like olympic athletes and head straight on the goal. The "B" swimmers that are more your high school swim team type. Then there's those Cs and Ds. The "C" swimmers are more akin to a water ballet team. They meander around haphazardly, but they will usually get there at some point. Then there are the "D"'s. Tom jokingly calls these his "Democrat" swimmers. Apparently, these few just prefer to sit still, wagging their tails, and have no interest in making it to the goal line. It's very normal to have all kinds, and Tom has a good percentage of A & B swimmers, with only a few of those ballerinas and democrats hanging around :)
Now for the bad news: My illness is too severe to treat with oral hormones. Clomid and the other ovulation inducing oral medications simply won't be enough to trigger my ovulation. Dr. X says the problem is too sever and has been around for too long. It's time to bring the big guns out. Go big, or go home I always say.
It seems our best chance at ovulating will be through injected hormones. Now, I know my mother is a nurse. And I shouldn't be such a damn baby about this stuff. But seriously, I HATE needles. I faint almost everytime they take blood. So, needless to say, I'm a little apprehensive.
The plan, when we are ready to give it a go, will require that I be injected daily with fertility medication, monitored closely by Dr. X and his staff for actual ovulation. Then, when the time is right, they will actually collect Tom's sperm and artificially inseminate it into me. Sexy, right?
I am happy that we finally have found a doctor who is giving us answers. A doctor who seems to care and understand what we are going through. And I'm also happy the he has given us a plan of action that will hopefully allow us to bring a baby into the world.
But, I'm disappointed that the severity of my condition rendered the less invasive and less difficult treatments useless. I just recently got comfortable enough to wrap my head around taking oral fertility medications. Now, I have to jump all the way to injections and insemination. Not to mention that if this doesn't work, the only other option left is InVitro, and I really don't know how I feel about that.
I know this is going to sound trivial. But I'm sad that we have to miss out on the ''fun' part of making a baby. The feeling and hope you get everytime you, well, you know. It would have wonderful to look back on a particular incident and know we were actually creating a wonderful little life. I'm not sure I'll have the same emotional attachment to paying turkey to the baster in Dr. X's office :(
Stupid, trivial concerns big picture wise. And if in the end, we get to hold one, two, or (God forbid) three precious babies - who really cares? (Did I forget to mention that the injection carry a significantly higher rate of multiple gestation)
***If anyone is reading this (who knows it may be just me), I would be really interested to hear your personal experiences with injectible hormones & artificial insemination.
No comments:
Post a Comment