December 9, 2014: Seriously uterus?! Still nothing? You know, as sucky as periods are, they're kind of necessary to "reset" the cycle, the cycle that is so necessary for the creation of human life! So, back to the lab for another pregnancy test (negative) and Progesterone challenge.
December 24, 2014: Merry Christmas, and welcome back Aunt Flo! Fabulous timing, but at least we can get back on track with the baby-making!
I started using OPKs (ovulation predictor kits) sometime in this in-between time. Little test strips you put in a cup of pee to tell you if you're ovulating. Bought a big batch from Amazon, I didn't really want the publicity of buying baby-making supplies in public. Believe me, I got over that pretty quickly too. The frustrating part was that in these three months, the strips only really showed a positive once, which led me to believe I wasn't ovulating regularly.
April 10, 2015: Well, they said if we weren't pregnant by now to report back. I called and set up the appointment, and we were sent a big packet of questionnaires to each fill out. If you're shy about your body or your sex-life, pray you're not infertile, because you have to be willing to lay it all on the table (literally and figuratively). So, paperwork in hand we reported to the clinic. Our (NP) Nurse Practitioner was amazing! I was worried that she wouldn't take us seriously since we're young, healthy, and really had only been actively trying for slightly under a year, but she was so warm and caring. She went through the different tracks we would potentially be pursuing, costs, tests, etc. The entire meeting was a bit overwhelming (especially the financial part), and then went down to the lab, for more blood work for me.
So, tests and results:
Blood Type: O negative
Rubella: Positive (meaning I have the anti-bodies, good for potential future babies)
Anti-mullerian Hormone: 1.7 (this test shows ovarian reserve, 1.5-4 is considered normal, 1-1.5 is considered "low-normal")
TSH: 2.00! That's right, my TSH levels went down on their own, which is great, but at the same time means this isn't the cause of our lack of womb occupancy. Which means no real answers.
I was instructed to continue my OPKs, and report for an ultrasound when I get a positive test, or by cycle day 16 to confirm ovulation.
April 16, 2015: Oops, I kind of forgot about the "by cycle day 16 at the latest" part. BUT I got a positive OPK today (cycle day 17), so off to the clinic I go! Now, maybe this was naive of me, but when I think of ultrasounds, I think of goo on the belly and a scanner similar to a grocery store cashiers. Nope, this was to be a trans-vaginal ultrasound. Basically, a phallic looking wand that gets lubed up and stuck up. Remember when I said shyness and infertility don't work? So, I'm laying there and the NP is waving her wand around taking pictures of my ovaries. Righty looks great, healthy sized follicle, perfect shape, she says I'll probably ovulate that night or the next morning. A wave to the left and..."Hmmm. Well that's...I wonder what that is. Hmmm. Have you had any pain or pressure on this side?" No...(internally panicking while simultaneously telling myself to relax). NP points to a gray blob on the screen that, to me, is no different than the rest of the gray blobs, and tells me that she's not sure what exactly it is, and she'd be asking the doctor to take a look. Most likely a cyst, but she wants to make sure.
April 17, 2015: I get the call, apparently it's likely a hemorrhagic cyst. When a follicle releases the egg, sometimes it bleeds and creates this kind of cyst. Good news was they usually heal naturally within 2 cycles. Bad news was that if I didn't ovulate in the next cycle and we wanted to try Clomid (medicine that encourages ovulation), I couldn't go on if the cyst was still there, since the medicine would likely encourage the cyst to grow, not heal. So, follicles don't seem the be the problem. Let's just hope for a missed period and positive pregnancy test, then we don't have to worry about it!
April 23, 2015: Blood-work confirms it, I ovulated! Progesterone: 15.63. Usually they want to see 10 or higher for an unmedicated cycle, so this was promising!
April 30, 2015: Sup Aunt Flo. How's it hanging? A day early too! We'd hate to give me even a day of false hope. Actually, that is better than a day late. Moving on, I guess I'll get that HSG scheduled. Did I not mention that before? That's the next test in line. And it gets a whole post all its own. So, to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment