Any Tips for first meeting with RE?

vnegron87

After numerous BFNs and negative Beta results, my crazy self still was struggling with the reality of our first failed IUI (at home). I unrationally was at..."is it possible that all the tests and doctors are somehow still wrong and I am pregnant"... its CD38 and AF was nowhere to be found...well thank goodness that psychopath came down to earth when AF finally shows up right before bed. While i was sad because i had built up this dream of what ifs and beating all odds, where miracles do happen, i was also relieved. A little shortlived because as soon as i felt droplets of AF i quickly examined (TMI warning) those drops because i thought i saw something that vaguely resembled...what my creative mind was seeing...a microscopic embilical cord with what i could potentially make out to be 2 smaller circles...OMG are those....did I just MC after this long ride on the train of anxiety, hope, misery and despiration. Nope....just some CM and more psychopathic behavior....OMG I'm going crazy already and this was only our first try! Anyway, long story not so short, I've made an appointment on Monday to meet with a RE. Do you ladies have any suggestions in preparation for this? Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions you may have. GL to everyone TTC, on the 2WW and ready for testing Beta...basically best wishes to all of you ladies here that you get to begin the journey to meeting your little ones soon!

lily55d

I also have my first meeting on Monday, following to read comments! GL on yours! And don't worry, I also have the psyco crazy behavior haha

bsckgb7

Be prepared for lots of poking and proding.  Where are you in your cycle?  Has AF just ended?

vnegron87

@lily55d thanks you too. It's comforting to know that we're not alone :-D.

@kgbbsc7 no, she arrived last night. Hoping by Monday she'll be gone or on the way out the door, she doesn't usually stick around too long.

bsckgb7

REs like to do monitoring on CD1-3 to check for cysts before starting a medicated cycle. It sounds like your timing will be great!! Be prepared, depending on the doc, they may be aggressive and go ahead and start a medicated cycle on this first appointment. Good luck!!

mskeenan

Yes I would expect to go in around day 3 of your period . My doctor brings me in and does a pelvic ultrasound to check my lining and look for cysts in my ovaries . He measures my follicles and then usually starts me on a medicated cycle . I was shocked the first month how quickly things went - but also encouraged to start ! I was terrified my first appointment but don't be scared !

vnegron87

@kgbbsc7 @mskeenan thanks so much for the advice and heads up...there was a lot of poking and prodding...decided to wait for iui for next cycle so that she can check everything is functioning ok because of my PCOS. Did u/s and b/w and have an HSG scheduled for Thursday. Going on Clomid in Oct. Anything i should be weary about? Sounds like most of the ladies start on Clomid.

@lily55d how did your visit go today?

mskeenan

@vnegron87 glad you survived your first appointment! they get easier! I have heard mixed things about clomid-I know people that have had some side effects and some that have not.. I have never been on it-I have been on Femara and have had no side effects from it. But everyone is different. Are you doing injectables or just clomid? Good luck with the HSG. I freaked out about it before hand but it was very quick (a lot quicker than I imagined). It's great that you are getting that done to rule anything out!!

vnegron87

@mskeenan it wasn't so bad...but definately not a great idea to do during my lunch hour lol. I'll be doing Clomid with Ovidrel (sp?). Its kinda weird thinking about where the dye will be traveling through and I'm happy to hear it will be quick FX (attempting again during lunch hour, my boss is going to think that I'm dying or interviewing elsewhere, poor thing . Im not so nervous about the HSG anymore (thanks for helping with that) :-). Was there any particular reason they choose Femara for you?

mskeenan

@vnegron87 you know I'm not sure why they chose femara for me . I did ovidrel as well !

I did my HSG test over my lunch hour . I felt bad because I took off the rest of the afternoon because I thought I would be in pain . But nope - took the day off for nothing ! I just went home and watched Netflix . I am debating telling my boss what is going on because I am missing so much work ! I don't know what to do !!

vnegron87

@mskeenan that is a tough decision, when t9 tell them...my boss will probably be very supportive (he was even at our wedding in May) i personally just like keeping whats going on right now on a need to know basis, and with you ladies. You are all so welcoming and comforting. I'm scared that this will be a long journey for me and (even though its the pessimistic side of me) im afraid that if it does take a long time they may doubt my intentions or think that I'm taking advantage (even though more often than not i eat lunch at my desk and rarely get the chance to step away). And, i would like to keep it under wraps from my coworkers knowing until at least 3 months or I'm showing...less time of asking questions (how did you go about getting pregnant, Is DW also going to carry too, etc...).

I guess it all depends too...this is my first time with an RE and i still don't know how the appointments will effect my work.

At least you got to enjoy some down time after the HSG. I can't stop thinking about the dye going through the tubes and how the sperm and the egg will one day meet there and then we'll get to meet the little one(s) too!

I also noticed that you said you may be in NY during your next IUI...idk if its possible, but could a different doctor perform the IUI in NY if you had your RE call ahead? My RE is with RMA of NY. So far they seem really great and they are a group of REs so someone will always be available. They do the IUIs at their madison avenue location. Again, I'm new to all of this but thought I'd mention it just in case.

khochanadel

The tips I would give, but this is all based on my RE experience so take it with a grain of salt:

• Be prepared for your RE's office to always be running behind on appointments. Ours is pretty much always 40 minutes behind. Bring a book.
  
• Tell your husband not to be put off if the doctor talks mainly to you and ignores him a little. After all, it is your uterus we're talking aboout here.
  
• Be kind to the nurses. You will see a lot of them and they take a lot of crap from people.
• Be prepared for them to be blunt with you. You don't want a wishy washy RE who will sugar coat things (especially when everyone around you is sugar coating things... "Oh just relax it will happen!")
• Be prepared for them to hedge about fees or try to surprise you with unexpected expenses. Be blunt when asking about how much you'll owe, to whom, and when.
  
• Track your mileage for every single appointment and track every expense in case you can deduct it your taxes next year.

Hope this helps!

lily55d

Sounds like your appointment went great! Did they let you know if you had any tubes blocked? Why are they waiting until october to start clomid, what are they doing this month? 

My appointment went well as well. She started me on clomid, which I started taking today, got DH a SA which came back great and I also got an HSG today, which came out good but I hated to do. I am doing 100mg from CD3-7 and then progesterone once I ovulate. Next cycle will be doing trigger shot and ovulation control as well. Hopefully won't need it! 

vnegron87

@lily55d had an HSG today too, everything was clear...so far Day3 hormones and reg bw came back normal, waiting on ovarian reserve results. RE was going to start me this month because i asked her to, but because i was on CD4 and hadn't done labs yet she suggested we wait, so we did. Good thing too because i heard back from one of the nurses today and dont have immunity to varicella....now i might not be able to start until November because i need to get vaccinated :-(

That's awesome that all your results are coming back positive. I hope you won't have the need to do trigger next cycle too FX!

Wasn't the HSG not so nice? I'm not sure if it was because i had a male doctor and he wasn't so gentle or if it would have hurt either way. Did you take Motrin before?

lily55d

Oh I see! I made sure to go before AF started so I would be set for starting this month. the RE actually suggested I don't take clomid on the same month as the HSG because she said she didn't think it was good for the embryo to arrive at an "oily" environment, but then she said the oil lasts 7 days and I had it done CD3 so I think I should be fine if I get pregnant. I am doing clomid kind of by myself I guess, as in I have no monitoring this month. I swear I just could not wait another month, I am just devastated as it is. 

I hated the HSG, I had a female Dr but she was condescending and judgy. She kept asking why I am getting this done, and how old I am, and then said that my daughter is so young to be having a sibling. I seriously wanted to hit her haha. I was nervous as it is so that didn't help relax me and I thought the whole thing was super painful, she kept releasing dye and it hurt a lot when she did. I did take motrin before, but I was in a lot of pain for the whole day so I don't know if it made a difference or not. 

What kind of hormone exams are you getting? Sorry if I am being nosy, your story seems so similar to me I am curious  

vnegron87

@lily55d how are you doing on clomid so far? I would be scared to take any meds without monitoring (but i also avoid at all cost taking meds, even like advil and tylenol lol).

I've just been getting the basic workup by the RE. They told me i wasn't immune to chickenpox so i just got vaccinated this saturday that just passed. They also told me today that my AMH (ovarian reserve) was normal (3.99, don't really know what the range is for my age but if they aren't concerned then neither am i :-D)

Are you triggering or just trying naturally with clomid? O should be soon?

junicek

@lily55d I'm sorry to hear your HSG was painful. I was super freaked out that mine would be bad but it didn't hurt at all and I had no pain afterwards. I didn't get any of the increased fertility they mentioned was possible. Good luck to you!

lily55d

@vnegron87 I am done with clomid, she gave me instructions for next month so I knew how much and when to take it. I won't be doing trigger or ultrasound this month. With the HSG, drs appointments and DH's SA we just couldn't financially have anymore appointments or scans. My insurance doesn't cover infertility. To be honest the clomid is not bad, I only was dizzy for a morning I think day3 of taking it, other than that no side effects. Also, it's CD8 and I have no sign of near ovulation, so it seems it worked, because before clomid I was always already starting to ovulate by now. I guess we will have to wait and see. I will be tracking with BBT and OPKs and will know if I ovulate or not, also I will be taking progesterone from 1DPO. 

@junicek I am glad to hear your HSG went well. To be honest I think I had such a bad experience because my husband had to leave town, so I had to go by myself, I was nervous, and the Dr that did it wasn't being supportive through it, so I guess my stress made things worse. 

vnegron87

@lily55d it is difficuly when insurance doesn't cover it. Please keep me posted and let me know how it goes for you this month FX, GL!

lily55d

@vnegron87 how are you doing? 

It's CD16 for me and I ovulated CD14 so that means the clomid seemed to work!  

vnegron87

@lily55d it's CD20 for me and i am resting this month because i got vaccinated for chicken pox on the 19th. I think i O'd yesterday because i got some major cramps but i wasn't monitoring so im not really sure. Doesn't matter anyway because DW can't impregnate me lol.

It's awesome that its working. Hope you have a lot of swimmers making there way, or already at your egg :-) Keep me posted on your TWW. I know it can be excruciating but try to relax, its all out of your hands at this point and hopefully little baby is being made :-D. FX

When are you taking an HPT?

vnegron87

@lily55d hey girl, how's your TWW going? Sending you luck and baby dust!

lily55d

@vnegron87 hey! The TWW is just awful. It simply does not even get better with TTC a long time. I have been so anxious and stupid. I have been testing since 6dpo and today is 9dpo. No signs of a line there. I know it's so early still. I just simply hate waiting. I continuously contemplate every month around this time in the TWW to get a blood test and be done waiting haha.