Oh, The Possibilities

My appointment with the PA was anything BUT typical. What do you expect when you go to see your GYN? Yes, I said in an earlier post I was going to see my OB, but that’s rather presumptuous, don’t you think? And my OB is my GYN. And yes, there are actually still some of those about, especially here in the Midwest.

Normally, after making wee in a cup, nurse will weigh and measure, and do an abbreviated H&P (History & Physical) by taking bp, heart rate, sometimes even a temp. Then the Pro comes in, does a repeat of the preceding, and if he’s a GYN, perform a pelvic exam/PAP…right?

Uh…no. Everything up to the “Then the Pro comes in” was accurate. After that I received the Royal Treatment, and I mean that in the good way.

It was shortly after 4:00 pm when PA came in; after being informed that since it was the CD1 any smear taken from my pap would come back positive, we happily skipped that part. No speculum, no cold goo, and not one stirrup was exposed. Instead, she asked me how things were going and I just started bawling. “Not so good,” I was able to sniffle out. I proceeded to explain what Mr.DD and I had been doing over the past year with the help of my detailed Excel spreadsheet, which numbered my cycle days, the drugs/tests we had taken, and more impressively, was color coded (I may be lazy, but when I get a notion, I go full bore!). PA was duly impressed and exclaimed that she loved me.

I then explained that what we were really trying to do was decompress from the past few months’ exposure to infertility treatments, and hope that the luck I have had in the past with her might somehow see us through the next few months. I told her about the SA from the two IUIs and the IVF; I told her about the IVF and the chemical pregnancy that resulted; and I wanted to know what she thought we should do.

In a nutshell? She said to relax.

Now hold on. Keep your pitchforks on the wall, and snuff out your torches. She explained that when she did her rotation at the clinic we happen to be going to, she saw many times how couples would call and say they just need some time off and a couple months later they would call and say they weren’t coming back. They were pregnant. She qualified her statement by saying it didn’t happen all the time, but it does happen. And she has a point. We have had these recent examples of fellow bloggers get pregnant while between treatments. It happens to others. Is it probable for us? No. Is it possible? Sure, and right now it makes me happy to see the possibilities.

She said three or four months off should be enough for us, as she knows I am very stubborn determined. As for testing, she is fine with doing another FSH on CD3 if I want. Demeter also recommended I look into a CCCT (Clomephine Citrate {Clomid} Challenge Test). PA had heard of it, but would have to research it to recall the details. She also recommends that since Mr. DD hasn’t had a physical since…EVER, that he gets one soon as blood pressure and cholesterol can impact, though slightly, male fertility. She even hinted at how clomid can increase sperm count in some men, but it’s still controversial and hasn’t been proven to increase pregnancy rates.

Then…we talked. And talked. We talked about our jobs, our husbands, our boys (she has a little one who will be two in March), etc. My appointment was at 4:00. I left at 5:45. And it would’ve been later but I had a dinner date with Mr.DD and the in-laws. PA said to call or stop by anytime. And she meant it as she gave me hug before I stepped into the now dark lobby of the office since everyone else had left at 5:00.

This morning I called my RE and spoke to Dr. Blinksalot about a CCCT. She said if we were just starting out, and I hadn’t responded to any of the medication, she would do the test. But since they were testing my levels at different times of the cycle during the IUIs and IVF and that nothing appeared out of line, the CCCT wouldn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know. She also said something that almost made me start crying all over again: she would never ask us to go through another IVF, or even donor sperm, just to get us to go through a treatment. She wants us to have a baby, and if that wasn’t even a possibility, she would tell me.

Again, the possibilities are there…it’s just a matter of time.