Family Matters

At some point towards the end of summer, Scott and I sat down and had a serious conversation about what we would like to see our family look like in the not too distant future. As you may well know, we have been struggling to have children for many year (at this point it seems like our entire marriage, but it has been at least the last 5 years). After failing to naturally conceive, we turned to my OB/GYN for some advice and assistance. He put me on a couple rounds of Clomiphene Citrate (Clomid) to help with making sure I had some egg follicles developing. We were elated to find out I fell pregnant, only for that pregnancy to be short lived.

After no more luck, my OB/GYN suggested some testing to be completed by a local reproductive endocrinologist (RE) and seek out their assistance. After some testing and a month or two of IUI, I was expecting again. Our second sweet babe joined the first in Heaven after a few short weeks.

When I decided to start nursing school, expanding out family was put on hold. Now that I am still in school, with no end in sight, and my maternal age getting more "advanced" by the moment, we needed to figure out a game plan. I have wanted to adopt since we got married. I always envisioned there being biological children in our home as well as adopted children.

I told Scott that I was ready to put the fertility treatments behind me once and for all and move forward with adoption. He ultimately said it was my choice and he didn't care (when it is all said and done) where our children came from,he just wants to be a dad. We ended that conversation under the agreement that this is how we would grow our family.

I started telling a few friends and family members. They all were supportive (for the most part). It wasn't until I was questioned by my sister and a friend that I started questioning my decision. After much thinking and praying, I felt like I was possibly short-changing Scott by not getting a second opinion from another RE in our area. What was the hurt in getting a second opinion and having some more (new) testing done.

So five weeks ago we sought out a second opinion from a new RE. This doctor is known for having less than optimal bedside manner. I have read and hear from many people that you either like him or you don't. I went into the appointment with my expectations low...knowing that there was a good chance he could turn me away and tell me to come back when I have dropped 40-50 pounds (yes, he has said that to people). To my surprise, he didn't do that to me...that doesn't mean he didn't "highly suggest" that I lose weight. It may have helped that he is familiar with my husband and the company he works for (as Scott has done several jobs for this doctor at his office).

We went over my history and he gave us his recommendations. We had a crap load of blood work done, an ultrasound of my reproductive organs, and poor Scott had to leave a...sample. Scott is in the clear, as there is nothing wrong with his guys. My ovary has another big cyst growing that has to be monitored. And the majority of our blood work came back clear. There was an issue with my Lupus Anticoagulant test, so he had that redrawn and sent to a different lab for retesting.

Now we wait for that to determine our next step, should we decide to do anything.