Let's back up. This story begins in January of 2010. Yeah, that date is correct. January of 2010 I stopped taking my birth control pills with the anticipation of waiting 3 months before trying to conceive. That's the rule of thumb I've always heard and what my obgyn suggested to get my cycle back on track. In March of 2010, Scott and I were taking a 10 day cruise to celebrate my 3oth birthday. At this time we decided to "pull the goalie". We tried and and we tried and we tried.
Prior to going on birth control, my cycles were very irregular and infrequent. From March-August, there was no real opportunity to conceive. In August 2010 I decided to set an appointment with my doctor to discuss my situation with him. At that time, he prescribed me Clomiphene (aka Clomid) which is used to induce ovulation in women who do not produce eggs but wish to become pregnant. Basically, he told me it would be like "ovulating on steroids". The plan was to take the pills on days 3-7 of my cycle (with cycle day 1 being the first day of menstruation). According to most my doctor and everything I read, if Clomid wasn't successful in 6 cycles, it probably wouldn't work in future cycles. After several weeks, I still hadn't begun menstruation, so I called called the doctor to see if there was anything that could induce it. I was prescribed Progesterone. In women who are not pregnant and not going through menopause, this medication is used to restore normal menstrual periods that have stopped for several months (aka amenorrhea). This worked and I began my first Clomid cycle.
Clomid is notorious for terrible side effects - moodiness, night sweats, blurred vision. I was nervous about feeling like crud for basically a week, but luckily, I had no side effects to speak of. I fully expected to get pregnant that first month. We used ovulation testing kits to know when to expect my ovulation. Until this point, it was totally a guessing game - could be 15, 25, 40 days. I was so excited when I saw my first positive ovulation test. It was amazing to think my body was doing what it was supposed to (and WHEN it was supposed to).
Each month, we coincided our attempts with the positive ovulation kits. In March of 2011, I was getting close to the end of my prescription of Clomid - 6 tries if it's going to work for you, remember...I decided it was time to set another apt with my obgyn. It was set for the second week in April.
Our lives took a bit of whirlwind at that point. Scott's mom was in a major car accident and we had to fly up to Indiana, staying for 10 days. My apt was set for the time we were out of town, so I had to reschedule my apt. At the time, I thought it was odd that the next appointment available wasn't until May 17th. I was frustrated because the last time I told them I was having fertility issues, they got me right in. This time, I had to wait a month. ANOTHER MONTH. In the fertility world, that's an eternity. Every day and week felt like another missed opportunity. I felt deflated - but encouraged that this appointment would be very productive once I told him how the Clomid was making me ovulate, but I was still not pregnant.
When my appointment date came, I was called to the back. The nurse proceeded to tell me she had me down for my annual appointment. I looked at her in shock and told her that's not at all why I was there. I gave the nurse the quick rundown of my history and all she could do was ask if I wanted to proceed with the annual since I hadn't had one since 2009. She threw in that "after the exam, I could ask him about my other issue". Seriously? Oh, I was steaming.
I had my exam and it went as well as any of those can go. Then I told him how I had completed my final refill of Clomid and asked for suggestions or plans of attack. His response in a nutshell was "keep trying". His advice for moving forward was to 1) have Scott's swimmers checked 2) for me to undergo a laparoscopy.
From Webmd: Laparoscopy is a surgery that uses a thin, lighted tube put through a cut (incision) in the belly to look at the abdominal organs or the female pelvic organs. Laparoscopy is used to find problems such as cysts, adhesions, fibroids and infection.
Needless to say, I was a bit taken back. Surgery is the next step for me? Not blood tests? Ultrasounds? I thought it was a bit extreme. I asked him about the possibility of trying another cycle of Clomid, which he said was fine (no real advice here, just appeasement?) I mentioned that I'd read on the internet that some doctors will increase the dosage to 100mg. He paused and with no feeling, interest or information on why this would be positive or negative, said he'd write me a prescription for 100mg...
I inquired more about testing Scott. That seemed like the easiest, and least invasive first step (especially since he didn't suggest blood tests for me). We discussed "the only guy in town", who I found out was a local fertility doctor specializing in IUIs and IVFs. My obgyn said he could also do the test...stating it wouldn't be the official test or written report that would be done by the fertility doctor, but that he would be able to tell if there was an issue.
I walked out of the office with much less insight that I'd hoped for. My intention was to have a plan of attack and I walked away with nothing more than a prescription I requested and the name of another doctor in town I was itching to research.
After much discussion, Scott and I decided our best route was to set up an appointment for the fertility doctor. We both thought the laparoscopy was far to extreme for our current situation. I researched the fertility doctor and spoke with their office. We completed and submitted our paperwork and initial payment and waiting for the call to make an appointment. We set the apt for Thursday May 19th.
Suprisingly, my period had come just prior to the setting of the appointment. I called the office to see if they wanted me to begin the Clomid or if that would foul up any testing that would need to be done. In hindsight, it was very lucky that their office closes at noon on Friday and they didn't get my messages.
I began taking Clomid that Saturday and took it for 5 days. Our appointment with the fertility doctor was exciting. For about an hour, we discussed my history in detail along with a plan of attack. This was exactly what I'd been yearning for. We discussed the topic of performing a laparoscopy. He quickly mentioned that that was not necessary at this time, which satisfied both of us. Our plan consisted of testing Scott (which ironically was done that same day, lol), blood tests for both of us (much more extensive for me), and an Hysterosalpingography (hsg) for me. An hysterosalpingography is a procedure to look inside the uterus and fallopian tubes, using an x-ray and a dye to diagnose problems in the female reproductive system.
Ironically, the office called me the following day to see if I could schdule the hsg for the next Tuesday. The price was higher than I expected since it wasn't going to be handled by insurance. I told her I'd call her back when I figured out if I could manage with work. Obviously, I discussed it with Scott. He told me the decision was up to me, but he didn't know what the point in waiting was.
I can't explain it. In my heart, I just wanted one.more.try by ourselves prior to this major step. I called to tell them I would be holding off until my next cycle. I was instructed to call during the first few days of my cycle so we could schedule the blood tests and the hsg. We had one more chance to prove that my body could work properly.
We did a few things differently this round...who knows what was the deciding factor?
- After reading about FAM, I began charting my bbt, or morning basal temperatures.
- My clomid dosage was 100mg
- Since clomid is known to dry women out, I read about taking Mucinex during several days prior to and thru menstruation
- Didn't wait until a positive ovulation test to begin trying. In past months, we "saved up". Based on my research, I found the few days PRIOR to ovulation are the most fertile
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