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the doc visit (or, small world, eh?)

School is finally calming down some and I have a bit of free time, so I wanted to give all of y’all an update.  As I said here, I think there may be something wrong with my cycles since my previous one lasted only 24 days (with only a 9 day luteal phase), and so I made an appointment with the nurse practitioner at my doctor’s office.  So I had my appointment today and guess what?  The nurse practitioner also happens to be in my Maybe Baby group and is preggers herself!  Small world, eh?  And who knows, she may even read this blog, since I did send the link to the Maybe Baby email list awhile back.  As far as I know, she’s the first queer doctor I’ve had (other than the docs at queer camp), and I loved it – no need to explain what I was doing or worry that she might be homophobic (not that I’ve had much experience with homophobic doctors in Seattle, but you never know.)

So, basically what she said is that she’s not sure why my cycle’s have been off but that she thinks I should start doing IUIs instead of home insems.  My original plan was to do home insems for 6 cycles and then switch to IUIs – I’ve done five, so that’s pretty close.  I just hope my sperm bank will let me exchange my pre-ordered ICI vials for IUI vials.  She also only wants to do one IUI per cycle, which means I will actually save money each month even though it’s more invasive.  Ha!  Oh, and she told me to stop using my fertility monitor and just use the clear.blue OPKs each afternoon (ideally between 2 and 5pm) – testing in the afternoon apparently tends to be more accurate and timely.  She doesn’t think I needed to start on clomid right now, though if I don’t get pregnant after 3 cycles, she wants to refer me to a fertility clinic, where they will most likely put me on it.

I did an insem this month and could be preggers right now (more on that soon), but if I’m not, I’m going to skip the next cycle because of the holidays and will try again in January.

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Posted: December 8th, 2008 under TTC, docs & the medical establishment, infertility.
Comments: 4

4 Responses to “the doc visit (or, small world, eh?)”

  1. Comment from Stephanie:
    December 8th, 2008 at 11.22 pm

    I used both the fertility monitor and the OPKs (as well as temp and mucous charting) – monitor in the morning, OPK in the evening. I think more data is always good, and can help you figure out what’s going on if one of the signs is ambiguous. And testing twice a day can help make sure you don’t miss a hormone spike. But maybe your OPKs are more accurate than mine, as I had the “is the line really darker???” kind.

  2. Comment from R:
    December 9th, 2008 at 9.55 am

    OHHHH!! That sounds good. Sounds like you got a good plan!! YEAH!! SO happy for you!! :)

  3. Comment from Bree:
    December 9th, 2008 at 11.49 am

    Yes, small world indeed. I’ll bet that I know that nurse practioner too!

    I’m glad that you found a less-invasive next step and don’t have to jump to Clomid. The last time I commented, I was pretty “Rah Rah Clomid!” I fear that I was insensitive to your level of comfort.

    [My context: I suddenly find myself facing injectables, which scare the crap out of me. Although it's been helpful to hear from others about their injectables experiences, I don't want anyone to prosthelitize about them. I'm scared. I'm hesitant.]

    I’m excited to hear about this month’s outcome (when you’re ready to share) and will be cheering for you if you need to move to IUIs.

  4. Comment from erin:
    December 9th, 2008 at 9.18 pm

    Thanks, y’all.

    Stephanie, the nurse practitioner specifically recommended the clear.blue OPKs because they’re more accurate. I know what you mean about more data though. Since I’m in school, too, it’s a lot to handle – I hardly charted this month at all – so only testing once a day does make it easier for me.

    Thanks, R. :) Your comments are always so sweet.

    Bree, ha! Funny, you probably do know her. I didn’t think you were being insensitive to my aversion/fear of clomid or that you were proselytizing it. I could see how someone proselytizing injectables would make you uncomfortable. At least, it certainly would me. I just want you to know I didn’t take your last comment that way. Thanks for checking, though. :) And I will definitely let y’all know what happens with this month’s TTC efforts.

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