FS appt booked...Now what should I expect??!!

[redbrick80]

Hey ladies,

Well we have been TTC for 14 months and we finally have an appointment with the Fertility Specialist July 18th!

I would love to hear your advice, do's and dont's and what I should expect!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Palladium]

I was about to ask this myself, my first appointment is on the 21st of June. I'm in Australia, been TTC for 10 months. I've been checked for PCOS and I've been cleared, but I'm overweight and my cycles have started becoming irregular, so I expect I have some sort of hormone-related issue. I'm hoping I just need some clomid to get things going, but I have no idea how much testing they are going to do. Anyone have some advice?

 

[BabyHopes1974]

It seems every doctor is different. They ordered a sa for my hubby so you might expect that. One thing I learned is to bring questions I had written down so that I wouldn't forget what I wanted to know. I wish you the best of luck. I was glad to get answers to why it was taking so long.

Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.

 

[Lbomb]

Just remember to ask any and every question that you need answered. I agree with writing down a list. That's a good idea. As you go along you will continue to have a ton of questions. I find a lot of my answers on here but never be afraid to call the office with inquiries. I found that I didn't feel as accomplished as I wanted after my first appt because it was just a consultation but once we went through the list of things we needed and we got a game plan in place I got excited. I just took my first ever Clomid tonight(5 mins ago)!! Best of luck and baby dust to you.

 

[Palladium]

Thanks! Asking questions won't be a problem for us, my degree is in medical science and DH's is molecular biology, so we'll probably drive her nuts with questions. I'm planning to print out my charts and make a list of dates etc. My DH is totally up for having a sperm analysis, he's actually hoping the problem is him because that's easier to deal with, but I'm pretty sure it's me.

 

[Lbomb]

Also, they'll probably put you on Metformin or Progesterone to bring on your period rather than Clomid.

 

[vkj73]

we had tried naturally since last summer. then in april,
we decided to see a fs. they did blood work on both of us.
for me, the blood work was on fsh, estradiol, and genetics. then,
an ultrasound to check my eggs (this wasn't all on the same day).
we went in thinking we were only going to use clomid, then after
talking to a friend who is a labor&delivery nurse, she explained
the iui procedure to me, which really helped to alleviate my fears.

we are now on cycle 3 of iui. it's all been pretty straightforward, painless,
and without any major symptoms.

i wish you luck. hopefully your visit here will be short and sweet and you'll be moving into the pg threads soon

p.s. we also had to attend an orientation

 

[Palladium]

Yeah, i was wondering about metformin, which is why i asked the gp for some tests, but all my basic hormone tests were normal, and no PCOS or insulin resistance. I was referred because i had one anovulatory cycle that lasted 48 days, then my most recent cycle i think i ovulated but my post-o temps were really bad so it was hard to be sure. But everything was pretty normal before that once the bcp was out of my system (aside from no bfps). Hoing the specialist can help.

Thanks ladies!

 

[redbrick80]

I was about to ask this myself, my first appointment is on the 21st of June. I'm in Australia, been TTC for 10 months. I've been checked for PCOS and I've been cleared, but I'm overweight and my cycles have started becoming irregular, so I expect I have some sort of hormone-related issue. I'm hoping I just need some clomid to get things going, but I have no idea how much testing they are going to do. Anyone have some advice?

I also think I have some sort of hormonal imbalance... I have regular 28 day cycles, but in the last three months have been spotting starting on day 19...just ridiculous.

 

[redbrick80]

we had tried naturally since last summer. then in april,
we decided to see a fs. they did blood work on both of us.
for me, the blood work was on fsh, estradiol, and genetics. then,
an ultrasound to check my eggs (this wasn't all on the same day).
we went in thinking we were only going to use clomid, then after
talking to a friend who is a labor&delivery nurse, she explained
the iui procedure to me, which really helped to alleviate my fears.

we are now on cycle 3 of iui. it's all been pretty straightforward, painless,
and without any major symptoms.

i wish you luck. hopefully your visit here will be short and sweet and you'll be moving into the pg threads soon

p.s. we also had to attend an orientation

Thanks! that is great info. I agree with how you feel about IUI - definitely take some of the worry away. Best of luck to you!

 

[redbrick80]

This may sound crazy, but i have kept all of my opks from the past few months - and glued them on a paper so I can see the progression (and remind myself that it looks like I do ovulate every month - just to keep my mind at ease) . I am going to be very diligent this month to make sure I have everything in order.

I should probably bring these to my consultation?

 

[vkj73]

This may sound crazy, but i have kept all of my opks from the past few months - and glued them on a paper so I can see the progression (and remind myself that it looks like I do ovulate every month - just to keep my mind at ease) . I am going to be very diligent this month to make sure I have everything in order.

I should probably bring these to my consultation?

I would bring whatever you think will be helpful. The doctor may or may
not need to see it, but at least you'll have "documentation" with you.
I had my app that documented my af cycle days. The doctor didn't look at it, however, he got the gist of how irregular my cycles are.

Good luck

 

[~Brandy~]

Things to Do

• Go in with a list of questions
• Ask for clarification on everything he/she mentions that you're not familiar with or do not quite understand
• Take notes and ask them to repeat if necessary
• Remember YOU are hiring them so if you're not comfortable with something voice your opinion
• If you want an aggressive approach be sure to tell them. If you would like a more less invasive approach tell them

What to Expect

• A battery of blood tests to be ordered on yourself. These will usually include Thyroid, Vitamin Levels, and the CBC panels
• A sperm analysis ordered for your husband. Some let you do the sample at home and deliver within 30 minutes.. others do not
• Blood work for your husband if you're going the invetro route. These tests will probably be ordered for you and they are normally including HIV and all STD's
• They will ask you to phone them on the first day of your menstrual cycle to have day 3 labs done to check your FSH and your Estro levels

This is just the beginning From there each test, med, or ultrasound will be scheduled depending on where you are in your cycle at that time.

I personally have had 26 doc appts, lab, or some type of medical event from 2/19/13 to today.... so be prepared if you go down this road it can be a full time job... or feel like it.

 

[redbrick80]

Thanks Ladies! Awesome responses.

July 18th seems like a long time away. We have 2 more chances to do it on our own. This week is is one of them so fingers crossed

 

[Palladium]

My appt is in 2 days, I'll let you know what happens. In my case I'm not aware of any specific issues, I'm hoping it's just some hormonal imbalances that can be dealt with easily, but I'm anticipating all the blood tests, SA for DH, etc. I've got copies of all my charts to show her and notes on when I stopped BCP, etc. Starting to get very nervous about it all, even though I'm a scientist myself.

 

[redbrick80]

My appt is in 2 days, I'll let you know what happens. In my case I'm not aware of any specific issues, I'm hoping it's just some hormonal imbalances that can be dealt with easily, but I'm anticipating all the blood tests, SA for DH, etc. I've got copies of all my charts to show her and notes on when I stopped BCP, etc. Starting to get very nervous about it all, even though I'm a scientist myself.

Good luck! It is very nerve racking, but at least you will have the ball rolling and hopefully with a few adjustments you will be good to go

 

[Palladium]

So had my appt today, here's what happened.

I told the doc that we'd been trying since late last year, and told her what had been happening with my cycles. She asked about my history, other medical conditions, etc, everything you'd expect. Same for DH. She didn't want to look at my charts, but she made notes on what I told her about them.

She looked at my blood test results, my gp had already done most of them, and she agreed that I don't have PCOS. My hormones were all normal, but she did say that in "normal, everyday life" they like to see a TSH level of 4 or less, but for TTC they want it to be 2 or less, and mine was 2.8. So she's ordered some more detailed thyroid tests including antibodies to see if I need any medication to correct that. I'm also getting my vitamin D level checked, and we're both getting a karyotype test as well (this takes 6 weeks to come back so she said we might as well get it done now).

Then she went through the various stages of the cycle to explain all the points where there could be problems, and how common they were. At this stage DH will be doing an SA, and I'm starting cycle tracking tomorrow, where they test my hormone levels and say to either come back in couple of days, or that I'm about to ovulate, etc. Then they'll confirm ovulation and check my progesterone, and give me some supplements if it's a bit low. We'll do this for 2-3 cycles to see if I'm ovulating properly, and if not they might put me on clomid, unless our tests come back with some other problem. She gave me a form to do an HSG as well, but said I can wait on that for a month or so, she doesn't recommend going to that immediately in my case.

So I guess we'll see what happens with all that. She did say that she can't refer me for IVF unless my BMI is 35 or less, so if we have to go down that road I'll need to lose a chunk of weight (it's 39 now). But unless there's some major sperm issue we hopefully won't need that.

So I will hopefully be ovulating in the next week, so we'll have another try and see how the tracking goes. DH will probably do his SA after I've ovulated, there's not really enough time for him to do it before. He did say it would be ironic if I got pregnant this month after starting all this, but that would be fine with me.

So I'm feeling pretty good about things so far, we'll see what the tests say. I'm really happy to be getting the tracking, so at least I'll know when I'm about to ovulate and if it actually happened for sure, even if it does mean getting stuck with needles every few days.

 

[~Brandy~]

So had my appt today, here's what happened.

I told the doc that we'd been trying since late last year, and told her what had been happening with my cycles. She asked about my history, other medical conditions, etc, everything you'd expect. Same for DH. She didn't want to look at my charts, but she made notes on what I told her about them.

She looked at my blood test results, my gp had already done most of them, and she agreed that I don't have PCOS. My hormones were all normal, but she did say that in "normal, everyday life" they like to see a TSH level of 4 or less, but for TTC they want it to be 2 or less, and mine was 2.8. So she's ordered some more detailed thyroid tests including antibodies to see if I need any medication to correct that. I'm also getting my vitamin D level checked, and we're both getting a karyotype test as well (this takes 6 weeks to come back so she said we might as well get it done now).

Then she went through the various stages of the cycle to explain all the points where there could be problems, and how common they were. At this stage DH will be doing an SA, and I'm starting cycle tracking tomorrow, where they test my hormone levels and say to either come back in couple of days, or that I'm about to ovulate, etc. Then they'll confirm ovulation and check my progesterone, and give me some supplements if it's a bit low. We'll do this for 2-3 cycles to see if I'm ovulating properly, and if not they might put me on clomid, unless our tests come back with some other problem. She gave me a form to do an HSG as well, but said I can wait on that for a month or so, she doesn't recommend going to that immediately in my case.

So I guess we'll see what happens with all that. She did say that she can't refer me for IVF unless my BMI is 35 or less, so if we have to go down that road I'll need to lose a chunk of weight (it's 39 now). But unless there's some major sperm issue we hopefully won't need that.

So I will hopefully be ovulating in the next week, so we'll have another try and see how the tracking goes. DH will probably do his SA after I've ovulated, there's not really enough time for him to do it before. He did say it would be ironic if I got pregnant this month after starting all this, but that would be fine with me.

So I'm feeling pretty good about things so far, we'll see what the tests say. I'm really happy to be getting the tracking, so at least I'll know when I'm about to ovulate and if it actually happened for sure, even if it does mean getting stuck with needles every few days.

Its entirely possible!! I got pregnant 2 weeks after my first appt with my specialist without any intervention haha.. Unfortunately it wasnt meant to be and I MC... BUT it's possible

FX for you

 

[Palladium]

Well I won't get my hopes up, but we'll give it a go!

 

[redbrick80]

FX Palladium!

Brandy - I see your IVF is starting at the end of this week coming up. FX for you too!