What dr actually spends 2 hours answering questions?

This girl's dr did! Travis and I met with Dr. Odem on Friday. He was super nice and a little sarcastic, so you know I liked him right away. It was really casual with no pressure. He wants to try the least invasive treatment before moving on to the heavy duty stuff, if need be. The plan is for some blood work which I had done at the lab at Pragress West (and they didn't leave a bruise). He is doing a Rubella Titer (to see if I need to be revaccinated), testing my TSH and my Prolactin levels. I will be having a CD3 ulstrasound to make sure everything is clear. Pending the results of the bloodwork and US, then I will be starting on Clomid again. This time, I will just be taking the Clomid and not taking the Cenestin that had been prescribed. Dr. Odem said that in some women, the Cenestin could hinder ovulation. He also made sure to reassure me that Dr. Jewell has done an awesome job trying to figure things out, and we have jsut gone beyond the scope of his practice. Dr. Odem said that right now, he thinks that IVF is so far away that he wouldn't even talk about it. He said that IUI would be a possibility, only if I am ovulating but not getting preggers. He wants to take it one step at a time. He was very reassuring and made both of us feel very comfortable. Hopefully, I won't be spending much time working with him and he will be able to send me back to Dr. Jewell soon!!!

The next, next step

So, plans have changed a little and I will no longer be holding a phone consult with Dr. A. I was never comfortable with a phone consult. Then, a few nights ago, a friend told me of her experiences with Dr. A and they got me thinking. I still trust my Ob/GYN's and his staff's opinion, but I have to go with what Travis and I are both comfortable with. So, I asked a few friends that have experience infertity, who they saw. Then I asked my MIL and she asked the dr that she works for (Dr G). He and his wife have experienced infertility as well and he recommended the dr that he saw (Dr.Odem). When I called to make an appointment I was told May at the earliest. That was not working for me. So my MIL talked to Dr. G and he called Dr. Odem's office to see if he could work a little magic and get me in sooner. When I called today to make the appointment I was told there was an opening on friday. This friday. Man, that Dr. G is a miracle man!! So, I have a consult at Dr. Odem's office at Progress West. He is a Washington University/BJC dr. I have a friend that used one of the dr's in his office so that is comforting to me as well. I am really excited, especially because Travis is off work and can go to the consult with me. I am ready to find out what is wrong and what we can do to fix it!!!!!

Self Portrait

Spring Training and warm weather

Baseball is back baby! Pitchers and Catcher, Contract negotiations, Jupiter, Florida!
I can almost hear the roar of the crowd and the crack of the bat!
I love Spring!
I can't wait to see this view again!

The next step

Well, Dr. Jewell and I have pretty much come to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, Clomid is not working for me. He feels that the time has come for me to see a specialist that will help diagnosis what is wrong with me. The simple diagnosis that Dr. Jewell had is proving to be a little more complicated. I have a phone consult with Dr. Peter Ahlering on March 16th. (That's my dad's bday so maybe that is a good sign). If I wanted to wait to talk to him in person, I would be waiting until April. The plan is for Dr. Ahlering to work his magic and then send me back to Dr. Jewell who will work with Dr. Bartlesmeyer to help me have a happy, healthy pregnancy. That's right, 3 doctors already, and I'm not pregnant. Sounds a lot easier than it is. It seems that each month a new problem or symptom crops up and none of them lead to a clear diagnosis. I have spent waaay to much time on Webmd and have pretty much convinced myself that I have every gynecological problem known to man. I have a new resolution to STAY THE HELL OFF MEDICAL WEBSITES!!!!!!!!! Dr. Jewell gave me the choice of doing one more round of Clomid while I wait for my consult with Dr. Ahlering but I am choosing not too. I have a dose sitting on my counter, but I don't like the side effects that Clomid has on me. Why put the drugs in my body if they aren't doing anything. I am still taking my daily prenatal, Extra Folic Acid (because of the MTHFR) and baby aspirin (because of the ANA) so I have enough pills to swallow each day. I won't miss the 2 more of clomid and 4 more of cenestin each day!
I am not sure what testing Dr. A is going to want to put me through or how many months will pass before we get any results. I feel as if we are starting over and the last 21 months have kind of been wasted. Hindsight is 20/20 and if we had known then what we know now, we would have attacked this in a very different way. More aggressive treatment and testing. But, we have had some results and are now aware of the potential complications and can do what we can to prevent them in pregnancy, if we ever get there.
I don't want this to become an infertility blog, so I promise I will post more and they will be way more upbeat.

ramblings and rants

I have really slacked on this blog thing. I read blogs everyday, but I have been bad about writing on my own. I think that it is because I have been in a really dark place lately and don't want this blog to be a downer all the time. However, sometimes I need the release.
This is where we are at with the whole baby making process. This will probable be my last cycle on Clomid. I am getting blood drawn on Thursday to see where my progesterone level is and if I actually ovulated. Dr. J doesn't want to keep wasting time if the Clomid is not working and since we are now at 21 months of TTC he feels that it may be time to move on to a specialist. Even though I am terrified, I have to agree. The simple fix of "getting me to ovulate with Clomid" isn't working. That said, if my levels look really good but I don't get pregnant, he may decide to have one more month of Clomid. But, those levels have to look really good, like perfect.
I am not sure what the next step would be. Dr. J said that it could be a different type of ovulation inducing medication along with ultrasounds to check follicles and a lot more blood testing. This could include injectible medication. IUI has also been thrown out there for the first time in this whole journey. However, IUI is a waste if I don't ovulate, so we have to solve one problem at a time. Obviously I have ovulated both on and off the clomid (miscarriage 1 was on cycle 2 and miscarriage 2 was drug free) so we are not sure what exactly is going on. All of the blood work that I have had done is not giving a reason. I will no more in a week or so, as to what the plan may be.
I am determined to not let this rule my life. It is really hard for me to realize that I am not in control at all. I refuse to become upset when someone tells me they are pregnant! I have a lot of friends that are having little girls in the next couple of months and I am so excited for each of them. Travis and I are not living our life ruled by infertility. I feel like that is all we have thought about for almost 2 years. We are working through this together!
I have signed up for 2 5K's, one at the end of March and the GO! 5K in April. I have convinced a few friends to run the GO with me! Training has sucked because I don't have a treadmill to run on and all of the ice is making it pretty scary to run. I am pretty excited to beat my time from the last race and want to train pretty hard!
Civil war reenacting is about to get underway. I know it is kind of a dorky thing, but I love dressing up in these big beautiful gowns. This is the start of the 150th anniversary battles so there are a lot of HUGE events coming up.
I finally printed off pictures from our honeymoon and can't wait to get my scrapbook together. I am slowly catching up but deciding that 2004-2006 are just not going to get done. (There are a lot of pictures that I don't even want to remember so it is not worth the time!) Right now I am focusing on the big events (wedding, honeymoon, anniversary) and then will slowly work on my year by year albums!
Ok, I guess that is enough ranting for today! Thanks for listening!