Thursday, September 12, 2013

two steps forward, one step back

Well, as you know we had our appointment with the fertility specialist on Tuesday. We were given good news, and not so good news. Overall, very relieving. We started in Dr. Le's office discussing my history, what treatment we have used the past 8 months, looking at pictures of possible problems like endometriosis, and different paths we could take next.

I explained to him that my last Dr. diagnosed me with PCOS (polycycstic ovary syndrome). I also told him about my results for my AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) levels that she had informed me were a .4. I then told him where I read that if you have PCOS, your levels are high not low. Something just didn't add up. He then explained that if I had PCOS, my AMH levels would be high not low and when on to explain why. To top it all off, my previous Dr had explained that this number represented egg quality, which wasn't the case once again. AMH levels are egg QUANTITY. Quality of eggs depends on your age. Taking all this information in, and looking at all the pictures of what might be causing our issue, of course I start crying. If you know me well, you know that I cry just thinking about crying.

Dr. Le then asked what stage of my cycle I was in, and I told him I was cycle day 14. For those of you that don't know much about the whole cycle, that is around when most people ovulate. Although I had basically given up on the fact of anything happening this month considering I hadn't taken any meds at all, I still had faith that maybe, just maybe we would finally hear good news. He was curious to see what my ovaries looked like after all the PCOS talk and hearing about my AMH levels so we went into the ultrasound room. I don't know if I was more anxious and nervous Monday night before the appointment, or sitting on the ultrasound table waiting to hear what he had to say. As soon as he started the ultrasound, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "well you definitely don't have PCOS." Shocked? Relieved? Surprised? ALL of the above! He showed me my right ovary on the screen and sure enough, no cysts. He counted 5 eggs on that side, then told us that I hadn't ovulated on that side but we would check the left ovary. He moved to the left ovary and sure enough, I HAD OVULATED!! That isn't a big deal to many people, but after thinking I had PCOS for the last 9 months and didn't ovulate on my own ever, the man just told me I indeed ovulated. And the tears started flowing, again.

Overall, he said I had about 8 eggs. Good, right? yes and no. He said someone my age (almost 29), should have about 10-12 + eggs each month. Considering I only had 8, he said that means my ovaries are about 5-10 years older than my actual age. Basically, that I am about a 34 year old trying to get pregnant. Again, if you know much about getting pregnant and age, 30 is typically when things start to get a little more difficult. He said that if my AMH levels were really a .4, then I wouldn't have 8 eggs, instead I would only have about 2-4 eggs. Again, another relief. He did say however, that this means I don't want to waste a lot of time. He gave us a few different options and left it in our hands. We can either:
  • try Femara and an injectable hormone together for a couple months (he didn't want to use Clomid again because I informed him that it had thinned my endometrial lining when I did)
  • have a scope to see if I have endometriosis that is in the way
  • IVF
He said we didn't have to do the scope, but to me it's almost a given. I think we have decided that if it doesn't happen for us this month on our own, that I will have the scope to make sure everything is clear. I find it hard to continue with meds or jump straight to IVF, not knowing if there is still a problem. So now we wait to see if I end up starting, and if I do I will schedule surgery for the scope.

Thank you to everyone who follows us on this journey, prays for us daily, and keeps us in your thoughts. If it weren't for my support system, my amazing husband, family, and friends, I don't know what I would do or how I would get through it all. I will keep my faith strong and continue to hope for this miracle.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. -Hebrews 11:1

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