1st Appointment, & A Human Reproduction Lesson All Rolled Into One!

It's Thursday morning, the day of my first appointment. I wake up, nerves, so far in tact. I get showered, dressed and ready to go. The Pacific Reproductive Center is located less then a mile from Martin's office, so I was going to pick him up so we could drive to the appointment together. They requested both "participating parties" (ha ha) be present for questioning. When I say questioning, this consultation, was nothing short of an interrogation. But I'll get to that a little later.
We arrived to our 10:00am appointment a few minutes early. Just in case they needed any additional paperwork filled out. Other then the rather large packet of forms and questionnaires they sent me to fill out prior to our appointment. They took my insurance information and showed us to the two chairs in the doctors office. This was weird to me. First off, I felt like I had gotten in trouble and had been sent to the principles office. Secondly, there were no paper covered exam tables, and no awkward stir-ups to fill. Just Martin and I staring awkwardly at the 3D modules of the female reproductive organs. Nothing like getting up-close and personal with a uterus first thing in the morning!
So we're sitting in the room, Martin has his boat magazine in hand. Trying everything he can from turning red from all the diagrams on the desk. About 10 minutes pass, still no sight of the doctor. The receptionist comes in about 5 minutes later, and says the doctor is running late, but will be here soon. No problem, we've waited this long to find out whats wrong with us, why not hang out for a little while longer while our doctor calms his coffee craving at the local Starbucks. If I come late, you make me reschedule and still charge me, if you come late, I wait longer? That's bogus!
Anyhoo, the doctor finally arrives, walks in and to my surprise, Dr. Salem was a women. She didn't look anything like the man in the newspaper article they sent me in my welcome packet. Oh but wait...he walks in right behind her. Also, Dr. Salem. Maybe a father/daughter team? Hey, double doctors means double duty and that means sooner results if you ask me. So they go on with that interrogation I mentioned early. How long have you been having unprotected sex? Have you ever fathered any other children? (that one was for Martin obviously) Had I ever been pregnant before? Pretty much everything I answered in writing on the forms that were sitting in front of them. But hey, double check my answers, Quality Control is never frowned upon.
They looked over Martin's semen analysis and said his sample was acceptable.
LESSON TIME: A semen analysis measures the amount of semen a man produces and determines the number and quality of sperm in the semen sample. A semen analysis is usually one of the first tests done to help determine whether a man has a problem fathering a child. A problem with the semen or sperm affects more than one-third of the couples who are unable to have children. The main things they look for are:

1. Volume- This is a measure of how much semen is present in one ejaculation


2. Sperm count- This is a count of the number of sperm present per milliliter (ML) of semen in one ejaculation.


3. Morphology- This is a measure of the percentage of sperm that have a normal shape.


4. Sperm motility- This is a measure of the percentage of sperm that can move forward normally.

There are a few more things they check for such as the pH, white blood cell count, and the fructose levels but the items listed above are the main factors. So they're determined that Martin is not the issue at the moment. So yea, its been me all along. So much for blaming Martin's moms' drug problem.

With the answers to the questions they asked me, they were able to come to general diagnosis. We will be running tests to confirm that I in fact have what they call Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Polycystic ovaries are where follicles have matured in the ovaries but are never released due to abnormal hormone balance. I could go on for days about what this is, what causes it, and how or if you can get rid of it. Believe me, I've googled till my fingers fell off. But I won't, not now. This is what they are assuming I have because I have many symptoms of this disease.

I, however, only care about what the next step is. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of PCOS is Insulin Resistance. Basically, type two diabetes. The next step is going back on Metformin. I was on this once before as prescribed by my obgyn. But after no luck after 6 months I gave up. Guess I shouldn't have done that. I went in for my blood panel today to ensure my body can handle the types of medication they will be prescribing. The Metformin will lower the insulin in my body, therefore helping my body ovulate properly. Next I go in for a Saline Infusion Sonogram (SIS) or water sonogram. This I've been told, not so fun. This procedure is to make sure that the endometrial cavity (inside of the uterus) appears normal. Sterile salt-water solution (saline) flows through a catheter into the uterine cavity. This extends the endometrial cavity and allows the doctor to see the entire cavity on the ultrasound monitor. The purpose of this procedure is to detect any abnormalities
of the fallopian tubes, uterus and uterine cavity.

Right now we are at a stand still. I've had the blood panel done. Just waiting for them to schedule me for the water sonogram. After all these test have been completed, it will be time for me to start the Clomid Cycle. Clomid is the fertility drug that we will be trying first. A friend of mine who was having the same issues, got pregnant with all three of her children on Clomid. So I'm crossing my fingers. Three would be nice...just not all at once please! More on Clomid in the next post.

To Be Continued...

Introducing the 'I' Word

This whole escapade started because my husband Martin and I started to feel a little left out when most, or should we say ALL our friends started having babies. Not kidding it was the Baby Boomers era TAKE 2. But really, we love all of our friends children as if they were our own. But that's just it. They're not our own. Sure, we can pick them up and take them out to do fun stuff and have pool days and give them lots of yummy candy and ice cream before we send them home to mom and dad. But that's just it. We had to send them home. We don't get to have family dinners, fun bath times, tuck them in at night and teach them to say their prayers. Its a huge void in our marriage. I feel it, and I know he does too.
Now, We're creeping up on 30 here. We don't have much time. We really need to get this whole parenting thing going before we are buying two packs of diapers at the store. One for baby, and one for us. Don't get me wrong, I understand that thirty is not that old. (I say that now. Ask me when I was 9 and being thirty meant you must have been birthed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.) But having a child at thirty, means you're close to fifty when they graduate high school. Fifty five to sixty when they finish college and settle down to start a families of their own. (I know, wishful thinking in today's society huh-Sad.) That means though, that when I get to experience being a grandmother, the kids will practically have to pry my butt off the rocking chair.
I don't know why I've always dreamt of being a young grandma. Maybe because I see my mom doing fun stuff with Hunter, whom by the way you'll be hearing a lot about throughout this blog. Also, my best friend Candice's mom, Connie. She's in her, lets just be nice and say early forty's *wink-wink* and she has a blast with her grandchildren. She's young at heart and a little accident prone for the most part. But even when the kids step on her screws or leave bruises on her legs from climbing the human jungle gym known as Gramma Connie, she smiles, laughs and absolutely loves it.
That's what I want.

So the time is now.
I've met with my doctors many times over the last year and so far, none of the simple "try this, then that" stuff has worked. Time to bring out the big guns. I finally got my referral to the Infertility doctor. Uh Oh! Yup, I said it. Infertility. The big 'I' word. I know, scary huh? Wake up people! Infertility affects 6.1 million people in the United States. It breaks down to 1 in 10 couples in which the woman is of reproductive age. This number demonstrates that infertility affects a large percentage of our population. We can't be scared of it. There have been major advances in this area to help men and women all over this nation, to have the families they have always dreamed of. With God on my side and a little help from Dr. Salem and his team at the Pacific Reproductive Center, I can definitely see babies in our future.

Every Happily Ever After Has A Once Upon A Time

Hello. My name is Cathy and I'm a Baby-A-Holic.
Whew! I feel better already. I guess this blogging thing really does work, huh.
Well, alright, lets get started.
I've decided to blog about my presumably difficult Journey to Gestation for two reasons. One, unless I rein act, with monologue, every moment of each and every phone call or doctors appointment, My mom and a certain duo of friends will never be satisfied with the tidbits of info they get over text messages. Secondly, I honestly think that this could end up being very therapeutic. I mean, if you need some incite into the wonderful world of infertility or maybe just a laugh...log in and read this blog. Oh...you thought I meant therapeutic for me? How cute! I don't need therapy! Therapy is for people who moan and groan over life's everyday challenges. Like gas prices, Sitting in traffic for 70% of your life, Attempting to buy a house in this economy. Or how about trying to get pregnant after hundreds, no wait THOUSANDS of attempts. OK wait! Litttttle to far there. (And it was a total joke mom if your reading this.)
Man oh man. I think I just described my life, in a nut shell. Money goes as quick as it comes. I feel like I should be writing my rent checks to the 91 freeway. Buying a house even when you make decent money is stressful enough to give you aneurysm. But besides all of that, the whole getting pregnant thing. Its not as easy as these little hoodlums in High School make it look.
This Blog is to share with you, my family and friends, the sometime graphic, but always informative and hopefully funny details of how I plan to get pregnant.
So sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a FAITH filled trip!