Next Steps

So…….

I never went in for my beta on Wednesday.  I called my nurse and asked her if I could just wait an extra 2 days and come in for the test the same day I was meeting with the RE for my WTF consult.  Fast forward to today.

Well, it is snowing in North NJ today and of course I couldn’t make it in to my appointment.  I called to reschedule and RE’s assistant told me that we could do a conference call.  Thank goodness!  There is no way I could hang in limbo much longer. 

I will give the condensed version of our conversation.  Overall, I have the ovaries of a 23 year old and Mr. Lovey Pants has stellar swimmers, so there is no problem there.  I respond really well to injectables, so well in fact, that she keeps me on a relatively low dosage for fear of multiples and by multiples she meant more than twins....GULP!  Thank goodness, I was never in danger of more than twins.  The problem happens to be my pre-period bleeding, which the Drs refer to as luteal phase spotting.  Let me just tell you….I don’t spot…I get a light period before my period.  I typically start spotting 7-8 days after I ovulate, which is WAY TOO SOON.  All of my pre-IUI tests came back clear and I have no polyps, cysts, fibroids, blocked tubes, endometriosis, etc. and my progesterone is now normal thanks to supplementation.  So pretty much, I am still unexplained. The RE wants me to have another check of my uterine cavity to see if I’ve had any growths appear since my last test, so I am having a saline sonogram early next week.  If I do have something growing in my uterus, I will need to have some sort procedure done to remove whatever is there.  Providing that test comes back all clear, we have 2 choices moving forward. 1.)We can do another IUI with PIO (intramuscular progesterone injections) and progesterone bloodwork and uterine ultrasounds every other day in my luteal phase to try to address any pre-period bleeding before it happens.  She isn’t sure if the PIO is going to help stop the bleeding but wants to give it a try because sometimes people respond better to different progesterone compounds. 2.)We move to IVF with the same luteal phase monitoring and PIO.

This is a whole lot to think about and nothing is a sure thing.  Mr. Lovey Pants and I will need to seriously review our options and discuss what our game plan is.  Of course, our chances of conceiving with IUI are only 15-20% and it hasn’t worked yet, but PIO and luteal phase monitoring could help.  Or, we move to IVF, with our chances of conceiving jumping to 50-60% and include PIO and luteal phase monitoring.  I have no clue what to think, my head is spinning, but I am happy that there are a few other options for us. 

Please feel free to leave comments offering some advice.  Sometimes an objective opinion can add some perspective.  What would you do? 

Until then…..xoxoxo