I was going to title this post "This and That", but then I figured it's been used and is totally nondescript so I ended up the other direction completely. What can I say?
Sorry for the long pause in posting. Life has been anything but dull. I thought if I waited a little to post it would be less like dragging out a situation and drama-ish (wow, I am clearly not articulate at 1:30am, but then again who is?!) However, drama has only increased. Since I am not writing because I am thinking "yeah, drama, good blog material" perspective and more from a "good grief we need prayers" and it's been so long I may start forgetting the cycle stuff...Also I didnt write before because I am not good at expressing how I feel. As a result, I dump the information, most people would think I am in a place I am not, and I don't want to give that impression and have you all feel sorry for me. We are okay. My sister, however, is not. More about that in a minute. Enough with the disclaimers. Time for info.
Last cycle is something I wanted to update on, mostly for myself and the sake of remembering. I took the usual CD 1-10 abx, only this time at night. On about CD 8 (lazy, not looking up), I thought I saw TEBB. I was sure, at the moment, that it was brown blood. I had total deja vu about last Dec when we conceived Nicholas when something similar happened. However, I totally forgot I was on Rifamp.in in that moment, which turns my urine orange about once a day. This was complicated by the fact I had recently switched to taking it at night. In hindsight, I am not at all confident that it was TEBB. When it occurred, I called Dr. Toth. He said he was sure it was the Rifamp.in. I called Dr. Hilgers in a panic. In my mind, ideally, I would sit out the cycle ttc and take Cipro the second half of my cycle. I would only ttc based on my period the next cycle and things being clear. Exactly what I had wished I had chosen with Nicholas. However, Dr. Hilgers was out of town. In Mexico. Stefani was as nice as could be, understood my stress over the situation, etc. But there was no one to talk to and it sounded super clear there would be no Cipro. It was Dr. Hilgers call. She offered to consult with Dr. Steve Hilgers, Dr. H's son, which came back to say don't worry. One time. One small observation. I thought, easy for you all to say. However, dh and I did talk and decide that, since I wasn't getting scripted Cipro, that nothing would be different next cycle. I could look at my blood to feel better and see if clear, but if it was brown now it would be brown then too likely and if it wasn't then it would be clear, as we were not getting any "intervention". It's hard to explain even to myself, but we decided to still try and just trust it wasn't TEBB. Well, the next day I got a call that the Cipro script had been called in. What?! We chose to not utilize any other days to ttc and let the antibiotic work on things. If we would have had TEBB and we would have still tried on the Cipro we would have exactly mirrored the Nicholas situation, one year later almost to the day. The Cipro was something we really "needed" anyway per Dr. Hilgers based way back on Aug cultures done on my lap. Toth disagreed and I never got clarity from Hilgers. Timing never worked out to take them due to being on pre peak abx since Toth treatment-it had to be worth taking off a cycle and we didn't get any clear answer from Hilgers on that. I am glad we have the Cipro done and have moved on. This cycle the blood looked fine. That meant a lot of abx though-pre peak, during ovulation (both Toth) post ovulation Cipro and don't forget the amox for CM. Dh is doing much better with his symptoms since I was sure they were yeast and got aggressive with the Dif.lucan. Dr. Toth and Hilgers are committed to us having the script whenever we want. We don't know the drawbacks of taking too much, but we def chose to utilize the scripts as needed and feel great. We know the abx anti yeast meds cycle will be relatively short term but there is the back of the head concern. Basically, we chose a path and we now have to follow it. I am not into diluting something or going rouge, if that makes sense. So we will play this out.
Needless to say, I was pretty relieved at not being pregnant that Dec cycle. This cycle the blood looks great, the CM looks great, and we are taking advantage of a lot of days. After all, its now cycle 4 post treatment and only the 2nd one we have really tried. It's now or never, time to learn if the treatment will bear fruit and move on from this antibiotic/antiyeast cycle we are stuck in.
I have so much more to say, not at all cycle related (meth and pregnancy in the family related) but I can't this second. Charlie and AJ have been taking turns (or together) sick since Halloween, taking turns waking at night. AJ is now potty trained at night, wonderful!, something Charlie isn't, but there was always him waking at least once to go sans 4-5 days in there. Add in Charlie's bad dreams, pottying out of pull-up until we found a solution, etc and it was a lot of disrupted sleep for us. It hit an all time low the last ten days when one of the two would wake AND STAY UP at least two hrs requiring multiple re-entry into their room. Now I am just dragging myself through the day. I can not live like this-it's def worse than newborn nursing IMO. Add family drama and I am spent. Here, tonight, both are sleeping, and an unusual event-I couldn't turn my brain off after my stomach waking me upset. So, at least I am into this update I have been meaning to do and I will come back this weekend and post about the family drama. For now, prayers prayers prayers for my sister JC and KT. Ah, and one question? If you use a Reader, which one do you use for blogs? I have got to figure out a new one and get it on my phone!
I am on the journey we are all called to-to accept God's will and perfect love. Whether I am white knuckling it with my eyes shut tight or standing up with my arms outstretched enjoying the ride, I try always to let God be the driver and not bail out the side when there are bumps (like IF!). On good days, I trust He won't run me into a tree. :)
Showing posts with label ttc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ttc. Show all posts
2.25.2011
Estrogen and Factor V-Updated*
You have to read this if you've been dx with any type of clotting disorder.
As soon as I had Charlie, just moments after, I was asked something about his name and if we had a girl name picked out too. I said something to the effect that we would just use it in the future. I wasn't confident we would have more children, I was confident we wanted them and we would try to. Everyone in the room (and there are a lot more than you'd expect) was shocked I was interested in thinking about #2 so soon. They joked no one speaks of #2 that soon. I said, of course-#2, #3, etc and grinned. My husband wasn't surprised. He just laughed and shook his head and he likes to retell that story.
Somehow, I don't remember the exact conversation, it came up again with Anthony. Again, I was quick to talk about wanting more children. Again, the shock. Again, my husbands' knowing smile. God willing is always part of that statement; whether spoken allowed or not, it is implied.
IF is never far from my thoughts. That is a big difference between moms after IF and other moms. I never take for granted I will be able to have another child. Hopeful, yes. Confident, no. Around Christmas I realized that if we were going to have #3, an additional challenge stood in our way. At the time, it was an unkown, and I wanted to post once I knew a happy answer. But, so far, there isn't one. It continues to be a waiting game so I decided to post about it now, to inform and also to ask for prayers.
I probably visit the doctor too often, but I feel better safe than sorry. The day after Christmas I went to the ER because I couldn't get into a doctor. I had been sick with that awful strep like virus, but at night I was getting the horrible feeling my throat was swelling shut. It probably wasn't, I knew, but just in case I wanted to be seen. It was really creeping me out. Well, my throat wasn't swelling, it was just all the junk running back and so thick (lovely), but I did learn something especially important. As the PA was taking my history she said, you know with factor V you should never be on estrogen. I replied that I was on estrogen to conceive both of my babies. No, never again, she said. She and her sister both had factor V. Her sister died on estrogen, she told me; it made clots more likely and it was a clot that killed her. There is evidently government website out there now to increase awareness. You are 80 times more likely to develop a clot, she told me, on estrogen. Its along the same lines of why we are told not to smoke and be on the pill. 80 times is what estrogen always does I guess, but this is a bigger problem with those with any clotting issues. Even though I just have one gene? Yes. Even if I am on baby aspirin? Yes. What about hcg I asked? She didn't know. What if this is just to get my level to where others already are, not higher? Doesn't matter.
Well, you can imagine I was in quite the hurry to call Dr. Hilgers. Due to the crazy business of their office and the holidays and snow, etc., it wasn't quick either (though I spoke to a new nurse, so they are hiring more people to handle the increased load). Basically I wasn't told much. Yes, they agreed, I am not to be on estrogen. The nurse asked if they knew I had factor V, but she saw it in my chart before I could answer. Clearly they had dropped the ball. Everyone makes mistakes. No harm, no foul. I am okay. I have two babies. But now what? She said I could still be on hcg. What if my estrogen is still low? Well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. It may not be. Hcg was enough for my peak plus 7 est level to be fine for my first two failed pregnancies (that isn't why they failed). But after my second miscarriage, it bottomed out even on hcg and it took 2mg of estrogen on top of the hcg post peak to bring my level back up to normal range. So maybe it will go up enough with the hcg this time. One can hope, even though it didn't go up enough on hcg alone after Charlie. But if it doesn't, I didn't get any sort of plan of action revealed to me. How important is the post peak estrogen level in getting and maintaining a pregnancy? No real answer was given for this. I am not much more knowledgable than I was in the ER.
The next steps given were ones I am intimately familiar with already. Wait for my cycle to return. Get a peak plus 7. We will medicate based on this. The soonest I can try is the third cycle. First cycle get a peak plus 7 level. Second cycle medicate based on tests and retest. Third cycle try and continue the peak plus 7 levels monthly as well as the cycle reviews until/if pregnancy is achieved. With Charlie, I nursed a year even though I faded way back after 9 months due to 5 bouts of mastitis severely affecting my supply. Despite this, I didn't have my cycle return until he was 13 months. (AJ was conceived on the first cycle we were allowed to try -the fourth cycle was what we were told that time). So, it may be another 13 months of waiting. But maybe not. I guess the first baby doesn't indicate the cycle will return at the same time. Still, it could definitely be awhile.
What to do in the meantime? What can I do except wait. Pray. Trust. Enjoy my two beautiful children.
TCIE or Dr. Gianna, if you are reading and know the answer to my question-how important is post peak estrogen to a newly conceived baby...and are there alternatives one can take in addition to hcg to raise the post peak estrogen without increasing my clotting risk...?
***UPDATE I went and saw my ob again recently (told you I visit the doc a lot!) The bleeding was still going on at 12 weeks. Of course, as soon I made the appt (Murphy's law), it stopped, but I didn't dare cancel it. Turns out I passed another nickel sized clot and that was probably why I was still spotting. After that I literally could feel my uterus contract a few days and now all is well. FINALLY. Except the freaking yeast infection I got from the mastitis antibiotics. Wow, tangent. Sorry. (I clearly write like I talk and I appreciate you putting up with all my typos, etc. I know if you do something, you should take the time to do it well, but right now taht would mean not at all and I can't imagine that right now) Anyway, visit the ob/gyn and mentnion the estrogen thing. He says since I am a) one gene not two and b) I wasn't on much estrogen and c) I wasn't on it many days or many cycles, he would feel comfortable putting me on it to conceive if needed. He said it was more like estrogen therapy for menopausal women or something that would be too much. Hmmm. He is very pro life awesome Catholic man who trained under Dr. Hilgers for a week so far and is very new to Napro. I am wondering, from his response, if Dr. H would have knowingly kept me on it thinking there wasn't much risked until I called and said "is it true there is this risk, etc". I mean, it seems like a liability if he kept me on it after that right? Or is their normal protocol not to? It seems news to the nurse, but then again, it seemed news to all of them I was factor V despite my dx in the chart. Anyway, I told dh and he is such a numbers man, he wanted to know what kind of risk we are talking about. It is hard for him, a CPA, to make a decision without facts. Whereas I am thinking, okay, I will go on it, but not for more than three cycles :) Man, what we'd do for those babies. Is that dumb? I mean, I want to be around for the babies I already have! I guess that is where the numbers come in...
My head is spinning. It is a long time to wait with the unknown. I am glad to have the info though, and I think it is important to share it with anyone who has a clotting dx. I have two sisters with the dx-one threw a blood clot in her lung 8 months pregnant and the other (though not officially dx) had a 2 inch clot as a result of an IV. My mom almost died of DIC (related?) where her blood wouldn't clot and she almost bled out during a D&C for a baby that passed at 5 months, and my mom's side has some crazy clotting issue we all tested neg for but I can't recall the name (very serious though). I am glad to pass this information on to my family and to you, my friends, in case it is helpful. I am sorry if it puts any stress on you like it did me, but I feel knowledge is power, even if it is sucky knowledge.
And sort of off topic (but aren't I always?)...I think there are a lot of things unique to IFers, both before and even after they have children. Once a part of you, always apart of you. That is why I am so grateful for this community. We have fellow Catholics to relate to, to pray for us, to give us hope, understanding, and compassion. I appreciate all of those that take the time to read my blog. I know that time is a comodity for sure, and I especially appreciate those with IF actively ttc that are still able to read given the content is very mother focused at this point. I don't want to apologize, it is where I am at right now, but I am grateful that you all can be truly happy for me and I can provide hope to you on your journey. I continue to read as many blogs as I can. It is entirely random who I read though, as I can't stand to shorten my blogroll which is already too short in my mind. I get on, read the most recent at the time I am on until my time is up, and that is how it goes. I often read but don't comment, but know that I am reading and doing the best I can. I appreciate each and every one of you, and love to stay updated on your lives. I continue to pray for you intentions. Please pray for mine- that I can patiently wait, and that I won't need anything to conceive that I am not allowed to take.
As soon as I had Charlie, just moments after, I was asked something about his name and if we had a girl name picked out too. I said something to the effect that we would just use it in the future. I wasn't confident we would have more children, I was confident we wanted them and we would try to. Everyone in the room (and there are a lot more than you'd expect) was shocked I was interested in thinking about #2 so soon. They joked no one speaks of #2 that soon. I said, of course-#2, #3, etc and grinned. My husband wasn't surprised. He just laughed and shook his head and he likes to retell that story.
Somehow, I don't remember the exact conversation, it came up again with Anthony. Again, I was quick to talk about wanting more children. Again, the shock. Again, my husbands' knowing smile. God willing is always part of that statement; whether spoken allowed or not, it is implied.
IF is never far from my thoughts. That is a big difference between moms after IF and other moms. I never take for granted I will be able to have another child. Hopeful, yes. Confident, no. Around Christmas I realized that if we were going to have #3, an additional challenge stood in our way. At the time, it was an unkown, and I wanted to post once I knew a happy answer. But, so far, there isn't one. It continues to be a waiting game so I decided to post about it now, to inform and also to ask for prayers.
I probably visit the doctor too often, but I feel better safe than sorry. The day after Christmas I went to the ER because I couldn't get into a doctor. I had been sick with that awful strep like virus, but at night I was getting the horrible feeling my throat was swelling shut. It probably wasn't, I knew, but just in case I wanted to be seen. It was really creeping me out. Well, my throat wasn't swelling, it was just all the junk running back and so thick (lovely), but I did learn something especially important. As the PA was taking my history she said, you know with factor V you should never be on estrogen. I replied that I was on estrogen to conceive both of my babies. No, never again, she said. She and her sister both had factor V. Her sister died on estrogen, she told me; it made clots more likely and it was a clot that killed her. There is evidently government website out there now to increase awareness. You are 80 times more likely to develop a clot, she told me, on estrogen. Its along the same lines of why we are told not to smoke and be on the pill. 80 times is what estrogen always does I guess, but this is a bigger problem with those with any clotting issues. Even though I just have one gene? Yes. Even if I am on baby aspirin? Yes. What about hcg I asked? She didn't know. What if this is just to get my level to where others already are, not higher? Doesn't matter.
Well, you can imagine I was in quite the hurry to call Dr. Hilgers. Due to the crazy business of their office and the holidays and snow, etc., it wasn't quick either (though I spoke to a new nurse, so they are hiring more people to handle the increased load). Basically I wasn't told much. Yes, they agreed, I am not to be on estrogen. The nurse asked if they knew I had factor V, but she saw it in my chart before I could answer. Clearly they had dropped the ball. Everyone makes mistakes. No harm, no foul. I am okay. I have two babies. But now what? She said I could still be on hcg. What if my estrogen is still low? Well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. It may not be. Hcg was enough for my peak plus 7 est level to be fine for my first two failed pregnancies (that isn't why they failed). But after my second miscarriage, it bottomed out even on hcg and it took 2mg of estrogen on top of the hcg post peak to bring my level back up to normal range. So maybe it will go up enough with the hcg this time. One can hope, even though it didn't go up enough on hcg alone after Charlie. But if it doesn't, I didn't get any sort of plan of action revealed to me. How important is the post peak estrogen level in getting and maintaining a pregnancy? No real answer was given for this. I am not much more knowledgable than I was in the ER.
The next steps given were ones I am intimately familiar with already. Wait for my cycle to return. Get a peak plus 7. We will medicate based on this. The soonest I can try is the third cycle. First cycle get a peak plus 7 level. Second cycle medicate based on tests and retest. Third cycle try and continue the peak plus 7 levels monthly as well as the cycle reviews until/if pregnancy is achieved. With Charlie, I nursed a year even though I faded way back after 9 months due to 5 bouts of mastitis severely affecting my supply. Despite this, I didn't have my cycle return until he was 13 months. (AJ was conceived on the first cycle we were allowed to try -the fourth cycle was what we were told that time). So, it may be another 13 months of waiting. But maybe not. I guess the first baby doesn't indicate the cycle will return at the same time. Still, it could definitely be awhile.
What to do in the meantime? What can I do except wait. Pray. Trust. Enjoy my two beautiful children.
TCIE or Dr. Gianna, if you are reading and know the answer to my question-how important is post peak estrogen to a newly conceived baby...and are there alternatives one can take in addition to hcg to raise the post peak estrogen without increasing my clotting risk...?
***UPDATE I went and saw my ob again recently (told you I visit the doc a lot!) The bleeding was still going on at 12 weeks. Of course, as soon I made the appt (Murphy's law), it stopped, but I didn't dare cancel it. Turns out I passed another nickel sized clot and that was probably why I was still spotting. After that I literally could feel my uterus contract a few days and now all is well. FINALLY. Except the freaking yeast infection I got from the mastitis antibiotics. Wow, tangent. Sorry. (I clearly write like I talk and I appreciate you putting up with all my typos, etc. I know if you do something, you should take the time to do it well, but right now taht would mean not at all and I can't imagine that right now) Anyway, visit the ob/gyn and mentnion the estrogen thing. He says since I am a) one gene not two and b) I wasn't on much estrogen and c) I wasn't on it many days or many cycles, he would feel comfortable putting me on it to conceive if needed. He said it was more like estrogen therapy for menopausal women or something that would be too much. Hmmm. He is very pro life awesome Catholic man who trained under Dr. Hilgers for a week so far and is very new to Napro. I am wondering, from his response, if Dr. H would have knowingly kept me on it thinking there wasn't much risked until I called and said "is it true there is this risk, etc". I mean, it seems like a liability if he kept me on it after that right? Or is their normal protocol not to? It seems news to the nurse, but then again, it seemed news to all of them I was factor V despite my dx in the chart. Anyway, I told dh and he is such a numbers man, he wanted to know what kind of risk we are talking about. It is hard for him, a CPA, to make a decision without facts. Whereas I am thinking, okay, I will go on it, but not for more than three cycles :) Man, what we'd do for those babies. Is that dumb? I mean, I want to be around for the babies I already have! I guess that is where the numbers come in...
My head is spinning. It is a long time to wait with the unknown. I am glad to have the info though, and I think it is important to share it with anyone who has a clotting dx. I have two sisters with the dx-one threw a blood clot in her lung 8 months pregnant and the other (though not officially dx) had a 2 inch clot as a result of an IV. My mom almost died of DIC (related?) where her blood wouldn't clot and she almost bled out during a D&C for a baby that passed at 5 months, and my mom's side has some crazy clotting issue we all tested neg for but I can't recall the name (very serious though). I am glad to pass this information on to my family and to you, my friends, in case it is helpful. I am sorry if it puts any stress on you like it did me, but I feel knowledge is power, even if it is sucky knowledge.
And sort of off topic (but aren't I always?)...I think there are a lot of things unique to IFers, both before and even after they have children. Once a part of you, always apart of you. That is why I am so grateful for this community. We have fellow Catholics to relate to, to pray for us, to give us hope, understanding, and compassion. I appreciate all of those that take the time to read my blog. I know that time is a comodity for sure, and I especially appreciate those with IF actively ttc that are still able to read given the content is very mother focused at this point. I don't want to apologize, it is where I am at right now, but I am grateful that you all can be truly happy for me and I can provide hope to you on your journey. I continue to read as many blogs as I can. It is entirely random who I read though, as I can't stand to shorten my blogroll which is already too short in my mind. I get on, read the most recent at the time I am on until my time is up, and that is how it goes. I often read but don't comment, but know that I am reading and doing the best I can. I appreciate each and every one of you, and love to stay updated on your lives. I continue to pray for you intentions. Please pray for mine- that I can patiently wait, and that I won't need anything to conceive that I am not allowed to take.
3.25.2010
"Well-Meaning" TTC Advice
I had to post an TTC video by Strirrup Queen-I think you will all appreciate the good laugh about the "well meaning" advice given by family members, etc. Though I have been blessed not to have to hear from many "aunt Jane's" myself, I was actually on the receiving end once. A supposed friend of a friend was talking to me about our mutual friend, who was actually in a very similiar IF situation to myself. This girl I was talking to, she just couldn't believe what a big deal her friend was making about getting pregnant. I can still hear her words she said since they stung in my ears "why doesn't she just relax and have se.x with her husband already?!" Geez, um, I'll be sure to let her know. Obviously this girl had no idea what she was talking about-or to whom she was talking to! Our friend had gone through years of heartache and tears, doctors and research, and miscarriage after miscarriage! And this girl was supposed to be a friend! There ought to be a manual! (Come to think of it, I have seen a few good ones on blogs!)
2.11.2010
Why Going to the Ob/Gyn Always Raises My Blood Pressure (and other randomness)
Today I had an appt with my relatively new ob/gyn (referred to as #4 in past posts, though I realized today he is technically #5-yikes!) This is the one I switched to after the birth of Charlie. For the story on that, click here. I have a tip for any of you who might potentially be switching doctors. Even if you think you are only doing it once, instead of sending a copy of your medical records to your doctor directly, get that copy for yourself instead (and then ask any doctors you see to copy them from yours). The reason being that there is usually a fee-sometimes cheap and sometimes ridiculous. One of my past ob/gyn charged $16 and then 56 cents a page (why isn't there a cents sign on the keyboard!). Anyway, thank goodness my state has a law that they can't charge over $50 as I have quite a chart! I made the mistake of paying that $50 to have them transferred to a doctor, and then the doctor couldn't transfer them to my new ob/gyn because of HIP.PA. They can only send records that have originated in their office. A pain!
Now I have had some bad ob/gyn experiences, but the worst is detailed here. Because it is a long post (aren't they all?!) that includes my 2nd pregnancy, I highlighted the relevant part in dark blue. I was going to my appt today for an annual as part of my "things to do before you start ttc" list (I had x-rays last week at the dental office, have consumed massive amounts of raw cookie dough and moderate amounts of alcohol-yes, sometimes at the same time).
Going to the ob/gyn is always a bit of a nerve racking experience, and I am sure you ladies can probably relate. First there is the fact that you have lots of information to tell them. And it's all very important. If you are like me, summarizing doesn't come easily. And you know they don't have a lot of time. And you don't want to come off psycho. To combat this, this time I brought my records from the 2 ob/gyns that matter-the one I had miscarriages with and the one that delivered my son. Then last night I drew up a summary sheet. This idea was inspired by another blogger, and also because I was appalled at all the errors I read in my previous charts (information that supposedly came from me was misquoted). I made myself limit it to one page, but I had to go front and back. It started with a chart-diagnosis in one column, treatment in another, and how it was discovered and by who in the 3rd. Then I had a short paragraph summarizing each of my 3 pregnancies. I often have my docs fax each other, so their names and contact information was in the header. I love organization and have a weird love of treating IF like an occupation (still waiting for the paycheck), so I was pretty proud of myself. He genuinely seemed to appreciate it. Secondly (have you forgotten point #1 already? I don't blame you, it was a lot of words ago!), the information is usually unpleasant to talk about. For example, why must they ask "how many pregnancies?" and "how many live births?" That has to be the most insensitive question ever! And then they confirm: "because of miscarriage?" Seriously? I mean, first I had to fill it out on the paper and then you have to make me verbalize it? But it made me think, why else?! And then I had that "duh" moment where I realize people who actually don't want to get pregnant but do, and in way too many of these cases, they abort. Sobering thought. Then I realized some of those women probably don't like that question either. I imagine there is enough of us, between both camps, to get a petition going. Anyway, between these two reasons, my blood pressure is always elevated at the ob/gyn!
The appt went as wonderfully as an annual can go. First of all, I had to get rid of some pesky yeast (sorry TMI), as you can imagine that would put a damper on ttc; getting it was unavoidable since my 40 days of antibiotics (nothing spiritual about the # in that context; also not the norm-I take 10 days of biaxin cyclically, then doubled amox last month so 10 days due to long mucus phase, 5 day z-pack for infection tied to respiratory junk that stays in your system 10 days and then, bam, time for another 10 days biaxin cyclically again!) I was a little dense though and let it get raging bad before I called Dr. H for diflu.can and it was not doing the trick. So ob/gyn did see that on the slide and gave me another script (this time with 5 refills for future-good to have! Esp b/c I forgot to ask for one for dh-Dr. H always gives it to both of us). Secondly, I was worried about bladder infection because despite the crazy load of antibiotics, I have had blood in my urine (my only symptom). They tested and found something. Interesting. They are going to do further tests since they hate to put me on more antibiotics unless it's necessary. Which leads me to wonder what the hell can survive all that has already been given? Scary. More on that later. The third thing I wanted to get accomplished today was to remind my ob/gyn who I am since I have only seen him once, and what my ttc and pregnancy protocols are. He totally wowed me by doing his homework before he walked in and confirming all of that before I opened my mouth. He got triple bonus points for rejecting my gift of "Physicians Healed" since he already owns it, read it, loved it (he doesn't prescribe contraception-part of why I switched). And he recently bought Dr. Hilgers' text book and is really enjoying it. Hoping and praying that he will get trained in Omaha as he is Catholic, totally living it even as an ob/gyn, and we have zero napro trained ob/gyns in my area, shockingly.
So, the appt went great and all continues to be on track to ttc when fertile CM decides to appear (CD 14 and nothing yet) if I can get rid of this UTI and yeast infection!
Now I have had some bad ob/gyn experiences, but the worst is detailed here. Because it is a long post (aren't they all?!) that includes my 2nd pregnancy, I highlighted the relevant part in dark blue. I was going to my appt today for an annual as part of my "things to do before you start ttc" list (I had x-rays last week at the dental office, have consumed massive amounts of raw cookie dough and moderate amounts of alcohol-yes, sometimes at the same time).
Going to the ob/gyn is always a bit of a nerve racking experience, and I am sure you ladies can probably relate. First there is the fact that you have lots of information to tell them. And it's all very important. If you are like me, summarizing doesn't come easily. And you know they don't have a lot of time. And you don't want to come off psycho. To combat this, this time I brought my records from the 2 ob/gyns that matter-the one I had miscarriages with and the one that delivered my son. Then last night I drew up a summary sheet. This idea was inspired by another blogger, and also because I was appalled at all the errors I read in my previous charts (information that supposedly came from me was misquoted). I made myself limit it to one page, but I had to go front and back. It started with a chart-diagnosis in one column, treatment in another, and how it was discovered and by who in the 3rd. Then I had a short paragraph summarizing each of my 3 pregnancies. I often have my docs fax each other, so their names and contact information was in the header. I love organization and have a weird love of treating IF like an occupation (still waiting for the paycheck), so I was pretty proud of myself. He genuinely seemed to appreciate it. Secondly (have you forgotten point #1 already? I don't blame you, it was a lot of words ago!), the information is usually unpleasant to talk about. For example, why must they ask "how many pregnancies?" and "how many live births?" That has to be the most insensitive question ever! And then they confirm: "because of miscarriage?" Seriously? I mean, first I had to fill it out on the paper and then you have to make me verbalize it? But it made me think, why else?! And then I had that "duh" moment where I realize people who actually don't want to get pregnant but do, and in way too many of these cases, they abort. Sobering thought. Then I realized some of those women probably don't like that question either. I imagine there is enough of us, between both camps, to get a petition going. Anyway, between these two reasons, my blood pressure is always elevated at the ob/gyn!
The appt went as wonderfully as an annual can go. First of all, I had to get rid of some pesky yeast (sorry TMI), as you can imagine that would put a damper on ttc; getting it was unavoidable since my 40 days of antibiotics (nothing spiritual about the # in that context; also not the norm-I take 10 days of biaxin cyclically, then doubled amox last month so 10 days due to long mucus phase, 5 day z-pack for infection tied to respiratory junk that stays in your system 10 days and then, bam, time for another 10 days biaxin cyclically again!) I was a little dense though and let it get raging bad before I called Dr. H for diflu.can and it was not doing the trick. So ob/gyn did see that on the slide and gave me another script (this time with 5 refills for future-good to have! Esp b/c I forgot to ask for one for dh-Dr. H always gives it to both of us). Secondly, I was worried about bladder infection because despite the crazy load of antibiotics, I have had blood in my urine (my only symptom). They tested and found something. Interesting. They are going to do further tests since they hate to put me on more antibiotics unless it's necessary. Which leads me to wonder what the hell can survive all that has already been given? Scary. More on that later. The third thing I wanted to get accomplished today was to remind my ob/gyn who I am since I have only seen him once, and what my ttc and pregnancy protocols are. He totally wowed me by doing his homework before he walked in and confirming all of that before I opened my mouth. He got triple bonus points for rejecting my gift of "Physicians Healed" since he already owns it, read it, loved it (he doesn't prescribe contraception-part of why I switched). And he recently bought Dr. Hilgers' text book and is really enjoying it. Hoping and praying that he will get trained in Omaha as he is Catholic, totally living it even as an ob/gyn, and we have zero napro trained ob/gyns in my area, shockingly.
So, the appt went great and all continues to be on track to ttc when fertile CM decides to appear (CD 14 and nothing yet) if I can get rid of this UTI and yeast infection!
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