Hopeful is spelled C-L-O-M-I-D!

Welcome back!  As you can see, I'm starting to catch up on all the things I've been meaning to post, but just didn't get around to it.


So, a few weeks ago, we had our "second opinion" appointment at the new fertility clinic.  As soon as we got into the waiting room, the feeling was really warm and welcoming.  The decor was really soothing and it looked very modern and almost upscale.  We waited maybe 2-3 minutes before being called in by Dr. M [since I already used Dr. Fertility for our previous doctor, I'm going to refer to this one as Dr. Miracle - we hope!].  Dr. M. kind of reminded me of an older surfer type, not quite a grandparent, but really nice and sweet. His office walls were pasted with more certificates and diplomas than I'd seen in my life - easily 40-50 there!  We sat down and he talked WITH us, instead of AT us.  The first thing was that he was shocked that we were referred from the other clinic, and I made it clear that WE requested this option.  Although he had all our files, he didn't want to read them but preferred to talk to us first, do our history, etc.  We talked fairly in depth about what we've been through.  He referred us to a few of his online articles.  He asked whether our cycle length varied at all and I was very frank that I vary between a 28-32 day cycle - his response was to pull up a paper he did where he looked at the rate of ovulation compared to cycle variation.  Basically, he concluded that the more you vary in the length of your cycle, the less you ovulate.  So in our case, the table indicated that with a  2-4 day variation in my cycle length, I am ovulating only 60% of the time.  In my case, he felt that I wasn't 'completely' ovulating.  What I mean is, I always thought you either ovulated or you didn't, but he said that there are degrees to ovulation and I might be ovulating a bit with/without the release of an egg.  It's only when you fully ovulate that everything works well.  So he felt that I wasn't fully ovulating.  

When I told him that Dr. F wanted me to go to IUI, his jaw dropped and he asked why?  He also thought that it was crazy to skip a few steps and go straight to ART when he didn't feel that we needed to be that aggressive. He felt that at 36, there was no rush and that egg reserves typically drop after 40.  So he made me feel like we still had plenty of time.  He looked at my reserve numbers based on my blood work and felt that I was bang on track for my age and that there were no problems [Dr. F led me to believe that I had few eggs left and IUI was needed now].  I can't remember which blood analysis this was based on, but I do remember that basically if the value was over 10 then the egg reserve was dropping - I tested at 6, which he felt was still pretty far from 10 and hence things were relatively ok.  He felt that since ovulation was the problem, we should start with meds....ironically, based on my BBT charts, this is the same conclusion that I had arrived at before the appointment, then as a way to test this new doctor I didn't announce this or show my BBT charts as I wanted to know whether he would get there on his own, and I was thrilled that he did.  I'm really confident that this guy knows what he is doing and has our best interest at heart.  Finally, he reviewed our files and medical info which was sent over from Dr. F's office.

Compliments of www.genericclomid.com

So needless to say we really liked him.  He gave me a script for Clomid after discussing both clomid and femarin [I think] and explaining the differences between them.  I asked him what we needed to do to transfer our care to his clinic as we really liked his approach and he laughed and said that since he has our files, we are part of his clinic.  The nice thing is that they have all the services as the hospital did plus better hours, free parking and a non-clinical feel.  He told me that in his clinic, only 3% of the couples have to go to IVF, as they like to solve fertility issues with 'easier' methods.  This really made me happy as I felt that we didn't have to rush to IVF right now.  He also told me that he ran a study based on the patients in his clinic only, and that in his practice the chance of twins from clomid is 5.7%.  Apparently, his clinic was one of the pioneering clinics that did trials on femarin to show that it was safe to use for infertility issues.  He also felt that we didn't need to spend $$ on our clearblue monitor, as they offer free cycle monitoring to their patients - this involves coming and getting bloodwork done and an ultrasound if needed and they can tell us exactly when we are ovulating.  

So all in all, he really made me feel comfortable and where I was so dejected and hopeless after our visits with Dr. F, I'm actually feeling really optimistic that this dream is not out of reach.  So I have my first prescription of clomid which I started last week. I have a script for a total of 6 rounds and we agreed that we would try one cycle on 'our own' and if things don't work out, next cycle we'll take advantage of their free monitoring and do the required blood work and ultrasounds to tell us when we ovulate - but I'm hoping that the ClearBlue monitor will help us this month.   So I really liked Dr. M, his approach and his common sense and encouraging way.  The nice thing is that it didn't cost us a dime. I didn't get charged for my files and Dr. M's visit was covered by our health plan, so this was time really well spent.

Today, the ClearBlue Monitor showed two bars, which means that I will ovulate within the next day or so. Typically, I thought I ovulated anywhere from CD16-22.  With the Clomid, Dr. M promised that I would ovulate between CD12-15.  And the best part is that Dr. M laughed when he said that the big O would be CD12-15 and after that I'm supposed to seduce Freddie - so Freddie keeps laughing that I have to seduce him, doctor's orders!  So it seems that we're both happier and more relaxed about the whole thing.