Monday morning Chris and I awoke to horrible thunderstorms and a monsoon of rain, hopefully that was just the rain before our rainbow. We dropped Logan off and headed to our appointment with Dr. Lisa Hasty with Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Hasty was one of the starting partners with this practice over 20 years ago.
When we went 5 years ago, we saw Dr. Carpenter in the Perimeter office, but when we scheduled this appointment we decided to try their brand new Marietta location. We walked into a beautifully decorated office and were very anxious to hear what they had to say. Natalie, our nurse practitioner that we will be working with, called us back and went over our paperwork and our history. She was so welcoming and calmed our nerves immediately.
After meeting with her, she led us into Dr. Hasty's office and within seconds I was in love with Dr. Hasty. She spent a few minutes just getting to know us and asking all about Logan. Then she listened as I went over the last year, and I never once felt rushed or felt like she wasn't listening. She would respond and ask questions and I could tell she was truly interested in my care and helping us get pregnant. I had my emotions in control up until she started going over the possibilities she believe that might be contributing to us not getting or staying pregnant. As my first few tears escaped she was so understanding and told me it was completely normal to have so much emotion with this. As much as I didn't want to, I continued to cry for the next 10 minutes as we made our plan. (Once my tears start I pretty much have to keep crying until I've gotten it out.)
Here is what she is thinking. She took blood from both of us to do a chromosome analysis. She explained that if we have an abnormality, that sometimes our chromosomes make a good match (Logan) and sometimes they wouldn't (miscarriage). This test takes 3-4 weeks to get back. She said this only accounts for 5-10% of her patients with multiple losses so she didn't think this was it, but she wanted to rule it out. She also went ahead and scheduled a SIS - Saline Infusion Sonohysterography. This test will be done in the middle of my next cycle. Saline solution is instilled into my uterine cavity and then an ultrasound is performed to check for any polyps, fibroids or scar tissue in the uterus. Again, she didn't think this was it, but wanted to check it just to rule out anything else.
She also drew several vials of blood yesterday to check for PCOS - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, as this is what she believes may be going on. She said I do not have many of the classic symptoms, but she believes I still may have a mild case of this. After doing some reading, I found that this is very common and actually affects 1 in 10 women in the U.S. I will be going in next week for more blood work and an ultrasound to check my ovaries. If the ultrasound and blood work confirm that I do indeed have PCOS, then she said she will immediately start me on Metformin, a prescription drug that is usually used to treat diabetes.
Lastly, she drew blood to check my thyroid levels. She said they are very particular about the TSH level, even more picky than my general practitioner. In order to conceive it's ideal that the TSH level be in an exact range.
She felt confident in saying that there were likely no issues with Chris or his "swimmers". Chris was quite relieved, and so am I. I know I would stress more if I knew we were dealing with problems on both sides.
Chris and I left feeling great, especially after hearing Dr. Hasty say she had no doubts about us being able to bring a baby home soon. So, now we are just in a little waiting phase until my next cycle begins. Once it does, we will get going on our new plan and hopefully rule some things out or get confirmation for what to do next. *There is a possibility we could be pregnant this cycle since I'm waiting to test. It's not likely, but it is possible. If I am, the baby's due date would be Christmas Eve!! (Perhaps that Christmas miracle I was hoping for last December?) I'm excited for the new plan, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't praying this was our month.
Thanks for the prayers and please keep them coming!
circumcised?
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